Menoggling; Peering At Pictures

After satisfying my shipping 'buzz' at Ferryden, I spent a couple of nights at Friokheim, then headed down to an overnight in Fife, before finally drawing back into Edinburgh. More exhibitions to see! 

For the first of them, Aitch once again boarded the train from south of the border, and we toddled up to the National Portrait Gallery on Queen Street. 

The building itself is something of a Victorian work of art. You can see that quite clearly in the lovely wee video on the history page of the gallery website. I do recommend that, it's less than ten minutes, and it explains these two photos without requiring me to get all wordy!

Tucked in behind the lamp on that second shot, where two folk are using the bench, there is the most recent modern portrait, the winner of the Sky Portrait Artist of the Year 2024... 

Although it is not a style one would wish on one's own wall, I can appreciate its painterly merits - and it is the one the sitter herself chose, so who's to argue with that?

Now, you'll have guessed by now, I'm sure, that there were a number of artworks meriting inclusion on the Menonday Art Vibe series, so this post is going to keep that sort of thing brief. However, I would like to share with you a little bit from a limited exhibition that has been on at the gallery, which focuses on James the Sixth (Scotland) and First (England). There were lots of items from his childhood, including some delightfully penned letters to his hosts and various carers. There was a lot of such ephemera, as well as some amazing portraits...

...which will be showing up later! I didn't go crazy with photography on all the exhibits because, frankly, I was simply enjoying taking in the information and feeling the ambience of time shifts as these characters came alive.

Take this embroidered 'waistcoat', for example...

Then there is the handbook of advice... what teenager of today would welcome a bound tome of fatherly instruction like this?!! (I think it rather cute that James Simson of Melrose decided to make his mark in 1857 - showing interest in history is nothing new.)

There were some truly exquisite jewels and trinkets, and although the exhibition was confined to one room, there was a real sense of fulfilment at the viewing. One other thing that really caught my eye and interest was the sketching of possible flag configurations for the joined throne. It would take a hundred years until the Union of Parliaments before things started to get more familiar. (Read about that on this link.)

The write-up states 'unknown artist' despite there appearing to be a signature on the paper... I have no idea why. Anyway, after enjoying this visit, Aitch and I had lunch at the cafeteria, before taking in the modern portraits section (a lot to like and a lot to truly puzzle over!), then up to the top floor. We got only halfway through that before we both sat and decided we were at saturation level! It will warrant another excursion at a later date. Before leaving this post though, let me share two portraits that are, perhaps, a little plain, but are of two very important, much romanticised figures of Scottish history... and we'll end with a wee portrait sculpture not in the gallery, but sitting waiting for company in his picnic - a figure I'm sure you'll recognise!

Menorganikul; Edinburgh Botanic Gardens

As mentioned in earlier posts, Aitch got on the train south of the border and came all the way up to Edinburgh for an afternoon shared at the EBG.

We got lucky... the summery weather that had brought the country close to announcing drought conditions had changed over the preceding weekend: indeed, on the Monday before this Tuesday visit, it had poured rain on the Scottish capital and turned really rather chilly once more. However, our day shone bright, very warm, and just perfect for a saunter around some of the park - no way to cover it all in one visit. There will be more trips!

I drove The Grey over from the usual southside park-up by Mac1's place to spend the night on Arboretum Place, by the gardens. It's free overnight, and—for the city—relatively inexpensive parking rates through the day. In the morning, I was able to take my time for ablutions, breakfast, puzzles, and blogs prior to walking around by Inverleith Terrace to the East Gate, where, within five minutes, the bus carrying Aitch arrived. First order of the late morning was a cuppa and a bit of cake! As we sat and enjoyed the sunshine and the very good tea and carrot cake, we assessed the route that would optimise the finding of caches. There is no way Aitch could travel without her GPS unit and cache plotter!!! It turned out there were five to find - but two were on one side of the quite large park and three on the other, so we opted for the three, leaving something for another visit.

The peachy-coloured line is the meander we followed. You can see we only covered about one-third of the garden area. We were in no hurry and took every opportunity to stop and appreciate the bits we did see.

First, we went up around the rockery garden, which is always one of my favourites. It was on this part of the park that we found the dedicated area to those who had experienced transplants. I took the opportunity to remember my late niece, "The Maestro", who underwent a kidney transplant among many other health invasions. I didn't have a stone, so used an ivy leaf. This little haven is where you see Aitch sitting in the first photo above.

From here we sauntered a little uphill to reach the hilltop waterfall - you will see that in action in tomorrow's post, but here is the still shot...

There were further waterways and lots of botanicals - but I am reserving most of those shots for other posts!

The first cache Aitch picked up was at Caledonian Hall. Then we traipsed down the hill to view the Himalayan Blue Poppies, which were in their prime.

Then it was back up the hill, past the azalea garden - sadly mostly past, clearly affected by the recent spell of exceptionally hot weather - up to the pond by Inverleith House for the second cache. By this time (about two-thirty p.m.), we were ready for a meal, so we dropped down the west side of the hill to the main restaurant at John Hope Gateway. I had a very delicious veggie mousaka with salad, followed by a Moroccan orange pistachio cake, while Aitch enjoyed a well-filled roast chicken foccacia, then Isle of Arran Ice Cream. 

From here, we once more went uphill to the viewing point on the south side of Inverleith House. It has to be admitted that the line of sight over to the key spots in the city centre are a little obscured by the ever-growing trees, but we still managed to enjoy the line from St Mary's Cathredral in the west, travelling over to the castle, the camera obscura, the spires of St Giles' Cathedral, the drop of the Royal Mile as it heads down to meet The Crags and Arthur's Seat. Then there were all the bits between us and that... the 'new town', Dean Village, Stockbridge... it really is a little jewel of a city!

After taking that in, we were on our final stretch. A quick visit to the Aolian harp, then back down the slope following the Chinese Hillside Garden, zig-zagging past more of the aforementioned waterways, finally reaching the pond and pavilion - and the third cache. That's Aitch looking very satisfied in the third of the first lot of photos!

It only remained to find our way back to the West Gate and out to The Grey for a welcome cuppa, some fresh berries, a try-out of the summer jacket (as seen on recent stitches post), and before we knew it, time had come for Aitch to get back on the bus to the centre and to Waverley Station for her train back south.

It was an absolute delight to introduce my pal to these lovely spaces. I hadn't realised that she'd never visited there before, despite many trips to Edinburgh over the years. It may have been her first, but I am sure it won't be the last!

I spent another night on Arboretum, then took off north into Fife for a period of 'cocooning' ... I do love all my sisterly and old pal visits, but I do find more and more that I need lots of recoup/recharge time afterwards! Anyway, the weather really did turn nasty after this, dropping back into single-figure temps and blattering rains. Hey ho...

Menondallying; The Bit Between

Christmas at The Hutch was a very quiet, unceremonious affair. Having arrived back in Dunoon on Christmas Eve eve, to relatively mild temperatures but extreme overcast skies and thick haar (sea mist), I hunkered down with some binge-watching. It has been a while since I watched quite so many television shows/films in one hit. Several of the items were one-off Christmas specials of shows that I watch during the year: Great British Bakeoff, Sister Boniface, Dr Who, Beyond Paradise, Death In Paradise, Great Pottery Throwdown... one or two others, but the mind is going blank now. There were a couple of Hindi films and then one that surprised me how much I enjoyed it... Red One. Yes, the Dwayne Johnson action pic. And yes, it's nonsense, but a whole lot of fun! So much so that I watched it again a week later when Aitch came to stay.

Yes, my good pal arrived on New Year's Eve eve and stayed until last Saturday. Again, the weather kept us indoors until New Year's Day itself, when Aitch went on a solo walk to do some geocaching, and I caught up on puzzles and made soup for lunch.

On the second, the sun shone. There was a layer of snow up on the hilltops, hoar frost on rooves and cars, and the temperature never got above freezing the whole day. But I say again - the sun shone! Windows were opened, and we indulged in a binge-watch of the latest (and final) Vera double bill. On Friday, it was very cold and bright again, so we decided to take a walk around town. I fetched the Rolls-later from The Grey, and we wandered up the back street first - quickly realising that the walk would be treacherous due to ice. We both slipped a couple of times but managed to stay upright. Mostly, we walked on the roads where some gritting had taken place - although this was not necessarily entirely successful. Many folks called out to us to take care and share a giggle about the skating conditions. 

You can tell that it was taking all our concentration - I never thought to take any photographs whatsoever!

Aitch, whose father was a Scot, had never spent Hognamany in Scotland before. I made sure we had plenty of pick-and-nibble foods and a tipple (neither of us is really a drinker, but it's one time a year). I also made up a collection of Scottish music to listen to as we went through the evening until the BBC Alba Ceilidh started. We saw 2025 in and managed another half hour or so before calling it a night. We each picked five highlights of our 2024 and thought about one or two things we would each like to achieve in 2025. No resolutions. We don't need that kind of pressure!

Thus, the year is off and running. 

A while back, when sharing podcasts I enjoyed, I included a series from Australia called Stuff The British Stole. It has subsequently been made into a television series. One episode was particularly of interest to me. I provide the promo clip below. I heartily recommend the full half-hour episode if you can access it - the series was an international collaboration, and I know that CBC (Canada) should have it available, and ABC (Australia) too, so in the USA, it might be where you get your BBC programs? It's on U (used to be UKTV) here in the UK. 

Menoffagainorrhoea; There Aren't Enough Hours

Aitch's train back to Morpeth wasn't until early evening on Sunday, and we had people to see and things to do. I collected her from her B&B at about 0830h and gave her brekky in the carpark. Then, by nine, we were setting off toward Brechin Show Grounds to see a lot of doggies—and Nobby—participating in agility tests. (If you haven't seen his post on that, with the wee video I managed to capture, click here!) Here's a still...

... and one of the wider area to give an impression of how the place looked.

We saw teeny-weeny dogs, middling-sized dogs, and really quite big dogs all having the time of their lives—not necessarily following the orders, but definitely loving life! Whether some of the owners were quite so waggy-tailed might be up for discussion... I drew the conclusion that 'dog agility' required equal agility from the handlers - and that to 'have a good temperament' is probably just as important for the peeps as the pups!

It was lovely to see that at the rosette presentation, quite a few of the dogs seemed to know it was for them and were happy to carry the ribbons themselves, whether the owner wanted them to or not.

A latish lunch was enjoyed back at our vehicles. I was quietly thrilled that my two besties were finally meeting - and Nobby to watch over us, of course.

At about 1400h, Aitch and I took our leave and headed into the town of Brechin in search of some caches. It's an ancient place, built on the side of a steep hill, with some quaint streets and architecture...

The main focus of our visit was the cathedral. Sadly, it was closed so no internal inspection could be made, but the exterior was attractive enough. I would have liked to have seen the rose window with light through it, though...

Come back tomorrow to see the rest of the photos taken around this historic site, particularly the Round Tower.

Before leaving this spot, Aitch was in search of another part of her cache collection that involved a significant number of steps. I sat and waited...

... which was no hardship, for again, the day was warm and bright, and the churchyard was so peaceful. It didn't take long for my pal to be back, and then we traipsed uphill some more to reach the House of God ruins for another cache.

The front door made a better picture - it will be the last of the piccies in tomorrow's post.

Back down the hill and to the van, then a brief drive through town to get to the Caledonian Historic Railway/park, where further caching was completed. Then, the fifteen-minute drive back to Montrose rail station and a quick cuppa before farewells. 

I drove back to Kinnaber Forest and was parked and settled for the night by the time Aitch had boarded her train! What a wonderful three days we had and agreed that we must do this again before too long.

Meanwhile, back in The Grey... 

Menoffagainorrhoea; House Of Dun

For the Saturday of our three days together, Aitch and I opted to wander around the grounds of the historic House of Dun. Had the weather turned unpleasant, we would have taken the interior tour. However, summer decided to stick around, so it was easy to remain on the exterior. That doesn't mean we didn't appreciate the architecture from that angle. Back, front, side-on...

The last one was taken from within the walled garden, which was beautiful. Lots of pretty pictures from that to share here tomorrow. Here's a teaser, though...

There were several little nooks like this to sit and enjoy. From this tended and tamed section, we moved outwith the walls and down a path to the little burn, across a bridge, from which we scanned foliage and waterfall that hinted at possible dinosaurs... or, at least, a lizard or two.

Up the other side of the little valley and through to the old walled garden, now overgrown with cow parsley and other wildflowers. Tucked to the back of this stands the ruins of a chapel and the burial grounds of the Erskine family and other denizens of Montrose. Lushly green and refreshing on what had turned out to be quite a hot day.

After this, we drove a little way north of Montrose to Kinnaber Forest, where we walked to the back of the dunes in search of a cache. Despite lots of beating about various fallen trunks over quite an area this one had to be recorded as a 'did not find'. Just occasionally, despite all efforts, the target eludes the seeker. It wasn't a waste of time to have made that side trip, however, for we spotted lots of wee jumping things, heard the Yellowhammers (with one possible sighting), sighted a Peregrine Falcon... and I realised I had found yet another fine little spot for a night park up.

I dropped Aitch back to the B&B and rolled back to the Ferryden waterside park for one more night. Sunday was going to be quite different again...

Menoffagainorrhoea; Montrosian Memories

Picking up from last Thursday's post, where Aitch and I had discovered the statue of Bamse and were heading around to the south side of the channel with a thought to visit the lighthouse...

It turned out that the road took us into the ancient wee fishing enclave called Ferryden. Lined with higgledy-piggledy wee homes that were, we discovered from a third generation local, originally all single-level, and then built up to second, and some to third, levels. Proper multigenerational homes. Aitch was taken, as was I, by the pulley-system laundry drying facilities...

We found a parking spot right at the end of the road, beneath the cliff with even more higgledy-piggledy huts leaning against it. Trying to find a way up to the road leading to the lighthouse, it became clear that it was beyond me. Steep and very narrow at one end, precipitous steps at the other. Aitch did go up the steps but didn't get as far as the lighthouse - it was further out than it seemed at first! She did get some lovely photos, though, and I will share a couple here, plus more tomorrow.

Meanwhile, down by the huts, a fellow was pulling in his boat after having had a successful morning's fishing. Mackerel. Paul does this just to keep himself busy, as well as goose-herding, car maintenance, and grandad duties. He offered us a fish. He gutted and prepared it for us right there by the shore...

While Aitch was doing her solo clifftop wander, I took that fish and seasoned it, oiled it, wrapped it en papillote, and baked it in the air fryer for twenty minutes at 160' C. The meat came away from the bones like butter, and we ate it just with bread and butter. It was all we needed after our big lunch, and it was beyond delicious. That's me having my once-in-a-while break from vegetarianism!

After that scrumptious morsel, I took Aitch up to book into her accoms, then we wandered onto the main street of Montrose for her to chase a few caches. Like so many towns, there is a sense of faded grandeur. We found some little gems to keep us interested, though, and agreed it was a place we would revisit as there was so much more to explore.

I got to know Paul and Nancy quite well because Ferryden turned out to be my park-up spot for the two nights of our stay! What a fabulous wee tucked-away place. I found out that the huts were all owned, but the land belonged to the fishing boss along by the quay, to whom a rent was paid. Paul had nabbed the last available plot. Dang. I'd've been tempted. This is such a peaceful, uplifting spot. Watching the ships come and go (mainly related to the off-shore wind farms), seeing dogs and kids enjoy the water on the beach over the other side, watching the Gulls and Terns and Eider as they engaged with the currents of the South Esk... yes, industrial, but with a charm it is hard to convey. And then there are the mornings... four in the eh and emmmm... four and thirty of the eh and emmmm... five in the eh and emmmm...

Menonderings; The Third Trip's Turn!

I got back on the road a tad earlier than expected. More on that soon. First, let me tell you about my week back at The Hutch.

First, and notable, was that the sun shone!!! Finally (mostly), the rain and the wind died down, and we had proper spring days. My first three days were spent doing laundry and housework, sorting through the mound of mail (a lot of junk, but quite a bit of stuff needing attention), and getting The Grey re-registered with the DVLA and re-insured. Then getting a new crochet project or two on the way. First, another beanie, because, well, I like to colour-coordinate and I just don't have enough headwear......

Then, as the days were starting to show promise of actual warmth - but let's not get excited and think about heat - I decided it was time to create a lighter-weight woollen top. I opted for a poncho pattern and am using some of the Temu stash I ordered at the start of the year. It is a multicoloured 60/40 wool/acrylic mix, 4ply, and it is an absolute delight to work with. I am using a 4.5mm hook to give the stitching more air and flex for draping. It's not finished yet but here's how it's working at the moment.

Anyhoo... along came Wednesday and I still needed to get back to working on Grey. That day, I unloaded stuff and shifted what wasn't coming upstairs into the front cabin to free up space for the stage three build. Thursday morning was spent doing more housework... because my good mate Aitch announced her visit for my birthday! The bed was made, the guest room was halfway decent, and the bathroom and kitchen were scrubbed. She made good time coming over and was sat with me for a cuppa by about two in the arvo. After an hour of catchup, we went out to the van to get part one of the work done. This was to complete as much as possible of the insulation. I had done all the walls and ceiling (after a fashion), but the stuffing the stancions bit I had been avoiding. It's a tedious sort of task but a necessary one, as not doing them leaves the insulation lacking. I am genuinely grateful to my pal for her assistance in this. My shoulders really suffer from any work that requires my hands to be raised above them for any length of time, and this job needs quite a bit of that. Aitch is that bit taller, so better angled for the overhead work, and managed all that for me. I did as much as I could from the shoulders downward. Between us, it took almost three hours to get that task done - but how satisfying it was! Too tired to cook, I ordered a meal delivered, and we sank into the evening feeling well-pleased with ourselves.

My birthday dawned still bright if a tad cooler. We lingered over breakfast, feeling the effects of the previous day's efforts. Nothing to do but get on with it, though. I was determined to get my circular saw working from the power-on-board and cut down the material I had ordered for the walls. All I will say about that is, after only one plank and a bit, there's a rethink going on! The vinyl is nearly impossible to manage, even with the power saw - the blades were ruined after only half a dozen cuts. 

It was all a bit of a conundrum, but we got enough done to cover the first wall (ish) so that the shelves could be built and raised there. But not that day. Another four hours disappeared, and it was exhausting. Not just the physical work but also the mental workout as problems were presented and solutions were sought. Again, having someone there to think out loud to - and drop in some suggestions that helped move things along - was a boon. The extra hands for holding stuff in place and lifting were also fab. It was an order-in meal again that night! And despite both being really quite tired, we talked long into the evening and reminisced, and all-in-all, it was a great way to mark my 65th year.

Saturday came along, and Aitch wasn't leaving until after lunch, so it was time to build shelves. The first half of the double set was done..., and then the next issue presented itself. They weren't level. And no amount of propping them up would make them so. It also looked like the second set would not be aligned with the relevant holes for bolting... big sighs shrugs of shoulders and left it alone for a while as I saw my friend had a cuppa and a snack before saying farewell to her once more. 

Sunday... and I awoke realising the shelves would never be level... as long as The Grey was parked on William Street, which is angled at approximately 30' off level...

Duh! There is a slight rise within the van base to allow for loading, but it ought not to have caused the nonsense we were both wrangling with the day before. Honestly, I cannot believe it took me 24 hours to figure out that basic fact! Sigh. Getting over myself, I was determined that the second part of the shelves was going to be built and the fitting done—alone. Several bruises and some choice language later...

Along came Monday of this week, and I had to pack in again. I'd had a call from Mac1 to say that Aunty Jenny was on her last days (though that could still be weeks, as those of us experienced in 'last days' know) and that she would be there on Tuesday. It made little difference to me to leave four days ahead of plan. I spent Monday night at Carnwath -

 - then on down to Hawick on Tuesday, meeting up with Mac1 at the home by lunchtime. I packed a sandwich for her, and we sat by our aunt's bedside until about three in the pee and emm. Aunty was not really with us, but our chatter about all sorts of things would have registered to some degree, and it meant a lot to be able to brush her hair and hold her hand. 

Mac1 came with me to the supermarket for a toilet break, some shopping, and then a cuppa and food before she headed to the bus stop back to Edinburgh. I stayed at the aire I used on the previous visit. I had yesterday to myself—with more sunshine! The morning was spent reading and catching up on tubular channels and podcasts, and then I spent most of the afternoon wandering the town, shopping, and generally enjoying myself. Then I realised I had to prepare a post!!

Today, I will have headed toward Moffat. From tomorrow, I will again be with Aitch, as we spend a different sort of week—which you will read about in due course. Hooroo the noo...