Pairs in the orchard

Lots of nice contrasts at Apple Day in the Community Orchard.

the crab apple tree was laden with fruit (free to pick so I suspect empty by the end of the day).  The fruit are small and tart but make great spicy chutney.

Strange to think that all apples used to be about that size and breeders have carefully worked to create bigger and sweeter fruit until we have the tasty variety available today.  The biggest on our tasting table (top right bowl) was bigger than my fist and I ate it in 2 sittings.

I know I'll enjoy the variety in your pairs too

sorry link up wasn't working - I'd managed to put in the wrong start time!

what links in pairs will we discover this week?

1.	Maggie	4.	Karen	7.	rinda
2.	Mary-Lou	5.	Eileen	8.	Missus Wookie
3.	Miriam	6.	marsha	9.	Fiona

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

me on Monday in October

sitting in a beam of sunlight as I wave to you all.  I’m really noticing the lower sun at the moment with how it comes in the windows and great light for photos.

And on Saturday I was delighted to capture another bit of sunlight magic with a half circle rainbow

I love how the sky looks darker above it – as though the rainbow is a barrier.  There was a slight second rainbow but the camera didn’t register that.

Only one game of rugby each day (happy with both results and looking forward to an antipodian final) which meant I actually had time to do other things each afternoon.

Saturday I helped my Dad run a tasting table at the Community Orchard Apple Day – more photos later in the week.  Interesting to taste the differences and see how people reacted to them.  Good to see lots of interest from kids and one boy of about 9 who methodically tasted them and decided on his top 3 and persuaded his mum to let him buy some.  Several people went for the red ones first but I didn’t think they were the best tasting – interesting how we associate red with sweeter.

Sunday I set our for the shops to get 3 specific items but came home with only 1 and instructions from the other 2 shops to go online to get the items i wanted.  So really I could have just spent 15 minutes at home on the computer to get the 3 items but my first impulse is still to go to the shops.  Have any of you made the switch to thinking online shopping first?

Wishing you all a good week.

pair in flight

Two fortuitous captures of the local birds in flight and I realised they go together nicely as a pair

they really are such different creatures in all their habits, even though they live together on the river.

Thank you for all the nice comments on my new haircut last week.  Looking forward to all the pairs you have to share this week.

what links in pairs will we discover this week?

1.	Sandie - itchifingers	5.	rinda	9.	Barbara
2.	Eileen	6.	Missus Wookie	10.	Miriam
3.	Mary-Lou	7.	marsha	11.	Karen
4.	Maggie	8.	Sian

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

me on Monday in October

A weekend of edge of the seat rugby and ‘wow’ rugby and my NZ self is very pleased and my Scottish self sad and amazed how close they came to winning and sympathies to my Irish friends.

And in between the excitement there was some bits of crochet – my finished Halloween amigurumi trio and trying some ideas for items to sell at festive craft fairs.

Also a visit to a craft fair with some of my crafting group colleagues to assess its suitability for us (probably) and to look at stalls we thought looked great so we can apply that to ours (some useful coalescing of views).

And some contemplation of the National Theatre staging of Hamlet – I saw the live broadcast on Thursday – Benedict was, of course, amazing as Hamlet and I loved the set with the larger than life doors and massive table and how dirt and destruction blew in for the second act.  But the costumes annoyed me (I confess to a strong interest in costuming and having done it for amateur groups in the past). Every tie Horatio came on stage I wondered why they chose to illustrate his otherness in plaid and Gertrude’s dresses seemed wrong.

Waving to you all and hoping you have a good week.

Story of the middle

Last week my sign language class got to talking about middle names and it turned out that everyone who had a middle name had a story that went with it – named for a relative or place etc.

My middle name is Dee – because I was born in Aberdeen and the Dee is one of the rivers of Aberdeen, the one beside the maternity hospital where I was born.  When I was 6 we moved to a house very close to the river – here is a photo I took when I was back in Aberdeen in January and walking around old haunts

So I was wondering – does your middle name have a story?

pair of pairs of selfies

tada - I had a lot of my hair cut off - no nits or chemo (as some of my rather blunt friends asked!!) just a desire for a change.  This is the shortest I've ever had it and I love it although it does take some getting used to in terms of less shampoo and not brushing for such a long stroke and not needing to retrieve my ponytail when I put on a sweater / coat etc and having a cold neck.

keep those pairs coming - I love the themes and stories that appear each week

what links in pairs will we discover this week?

1.	Maggie	4.	Miriam	7.	Missus Wookie
2.	Eileen	5.	marsha	8.	Karen
3.	Mary-Lou	6.	Barbara	9.	Fiona

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

me on Monday in October

a big wave to Sian (and her victorious boys in green) and all you lovely blog readers – on a sunny autumnal day – lovely blue skies but I know I’ll need a jacket when I go outside.

Yes it was a weekend of fabulous rugby – all set for 4 interesting northern vs southern hemisphere games in the quarter finals. 

And yes there was more crochet with good progress on my big project.  I was also enticed by a fun Halloween amigurumi and made a start

I’m claiming the slight blur as Halloween atmosphere!

There was also reading as I finished The Martian (Andy Weir) in 3 days – a real page turner and excellent story of survival.  Then there was a visit to several local charity shops to find some new books for my shelves – a good haul.

And there was some unpacking of warmer clothes and packing away of cooler clothes – some of which only saw the inside of my wardrobe this ‘summer’.

Wishing you all have a great week

5 in 5 in Liverpool

Last month, when I was in Liverpool for a couple of days, I had a quick wander around the Albert Dock area – for those of you who don’t know the city this used to be a busy working port with lots of massive brick warehouses and is now the home to several big art galleries and museums.  I was intrigued by the modern buildings that have been created amongst the old brick ones and how interesting the contrasts were.  I though it would be a great subject for a 5 in 5 – so here are my favourite 5 from 5 minutes of taking photos.

I love how the wheel is still dwarfed by the buildings

I love how the old tiled roof in the front is represented in the white stripe on the roof behind it – and of course the famous Liverbird on top of the clocktower

I had a lot of fun trying different angles to see which of the surrounding old buildings were reflected in this mirror glass section

I love how the angles and textures of the new building are framing the old

I love how the shape of the new buildings match the shape of the old

Thanks to Sandie for the monthly suggestion to take photos in 5 minutes then choose the best 5 to share – I enjoy both the taking of ltos of photos and later the curating of a set of just 5 to post.

pair of autumnal beauties

Earlier this week I gathered some poppy heads from my garden to bring inside in a vase - I love the soft colours and the flower shape on the top.  I shook out all the seeds into appropriate corners of my garden first so that I can have more lovely read petals then seed heads next year.

Later that day when out walking I noticed a teasel growing and thought it would make a good pair - 2 seed heads with very different shapes

looking forward to all your pairs this week

what links in pairs will we discover this week?

1.	Maggie	4.	Eileen	7.	Missus Wookie
2.	Mary-Lou	5.	Scene Through My Eyes
3.	marsha	6.	Karen

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

me on Monday

waving to everyone on a decidedly autumnal day.

It was a third successive weekend of rugby and crochet – with 4 more to come as the Rugby World Cup works through to its Halloween final.  I thoroughly enjoyed all the games but recognise some of my lovely blogreaders will be disappointed by England’s loss.

I did spend some time away from my sofa – at some free book related events at a local library including an interesting discussion on the idea of bringing wolves back to Scotland and how their return would drastically change the landscape as the number of deer and rabbits would decrease and so more plants would survive and thus new habitats emerge.

And I spotted a recent resident on my river – I’d heard one had been spotted in the spring but had not seen it until this weekend when not only did I see the Kingfisher but it stayed still long enough for me to get a nice photo

Wishing you all a good week.

September was

September was nicely busy with plenty of crafting, sports watching and visits.

Crafting has mostly been around planning a crochet project gift which I can’t share but has fabulous colours. Plus a successful craft fair with my crafting for charity group where we raised over £200 which has now gone to Mary’s Meals and will provide a meal for 16 children at school for a year.

As well as hours in front of the TV watching rugby I also saw the  Cycle Race of Britain when it passed through my local high street.  20 minutes of waiting then the whole peloton come past in seconds – fun to see once but I’m not going to become an avid cycle race spectator.

 

September brought 2 assessment in my sign language class – in one we had to have a conversation with a classmate, including interruption and questions and in the other we watched 2 videos of a signed story and then answered question about one and wrote a summary of the other (I passed both assessments).  Class is now finished for the year and I haven’t decided if I’ll continue to level 3 next year.

September was a month of visitors.  My Aunt was in town for a look see and my cousin delivered her daughter to university (who is enjoying her studies and busy social life in halls).  A friend from NZ passed through town long enough for a good chat and catch up (and rugby discussion with her husband).  And I spent a lovely afternoon with blogfriend Sandie who had been at a workshop nearby – and of course the camera timers were used to record the (windswept) meeting.

And I went on a trip to Liverpool with my sister and parents.  Mum wanted to see the Jackson Pollock exhibition (abstract paint squiggles) and we visited the Gormley display of statues on the beach (photos shared on Monday).

September was another good reading month – all on my kindle this month

An interesting and exciting dystopian future Britain where robots are fighting humans for dominance – the beginning in Edinburgh was scarily accurate in details of the city.  A good read if dystopian thrillers are your thing – Barricade by Jon Wallace

A happier imagined world, set in USA, follows the norms of a fantasy quest story set in modern USA, with a Googler as the wizard and lots of clever use of tech to solve the central puzzle –good fun and an easy read if you like this genre -  Mr Penumbra's 24 hour Book Store by Robin Sloan

A different kind of imagined reality, where the lives of a couple are followed in 3 alternative versions all based around what happened at a chance meeting.  an interesting idea and well developed once I learnt the basic premise of each version.  The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett

And finally The Hummingbird by Kati Hiekkapelto - a Finnish police drama ( a nice change from the Swedish ones) – good characters and a compelling mystery.

September was definitely a change in season – although I was appalled to see Christmas decorations appear in some shops already. Out and about lots of lovely autumn colours appearing and wonderful reflection on the water with the lower light