A Lovely Day

 Today is a glorious day - huge orange sun in the sky and a bit chilly - just the kind of morning I love. 

 I even been to the gym (are you impressed - I am lol).So feeling quite good this morning. 

 Poor Emma is sitting exams at school at the moment and on top of all that she has a very sore throat and has had for over a week now. Got her an appointment at the doctor this afternoon I don't want her getting any worse. Hopefully it will just be a simple throat infection that can be cleared up with a course of antibiotics.

 Anyway that's my day so far. 

 I was taking lots and lots of pictures of my tulips (as I normally do) and I came across these two. I just love the gorgeous colours - it's amazing how different they look when you get in really close.  

Hope you like them too!!!

Have a great day everyone!!!!

Sharing them today with 

Lisa 

at

 The Creative Exchange 

and 

Lisa 

at 

 Macro Monday

Tulips To Brighten My Day

Well today has been a sort of a boring day - do you ever get days like that?  Nondescript grey days!!!

 This morning I went with Danny to get his eyes tested and order new glasses - that took a good couple of hours!! 

When we got home it was time for lunch - I made sausage rolls the other day and we had what was left of them - they were quite tasty!!!

 Then we went to buy the paint for our hall walls, ceiling and also for all the woodwork. Hopefully Dan will start that tomorrow - but we will wait and see. I've learned just to take it as it comes.

I had to drop into town the afternoon to buy some birthday cards and I thought to myself "I know what I need - some flowers""  he he.  So I bought myself some tulips - they are such  bright and cheery flower don't you think?  

Anyway it gave me something to take pictures of. I've not been out to take photos for a few days - the weather here just isn't  calling out to me :(

We will see what tomorrow is like. 

A Few Pics

Well, I was going to post some bathroom pictures but Dan said it's not finished yet and we should really wait until it was totally finished before showing the world. 

 So what  I did instead was take a few shots of the bits I like. 

Spot the reflection of the wall tiles.

This handwash is just delicious.

And these are the wall tiles - the wee ones that run up beside the larger ones are very sparkly - you can't really see it in these pictures though.

 This is the - wait for it - toilet flush lol.  So different to what we had before.
Danny has still to build a couple of cabinets for it in the wood that you see surrounding the flush. It has such a lovely grain.

I can hardly wait until it is completely finished - and then I promise to do some better pictures to show you.

The Masked Man

I just had to post this picture - mainly because it made me laugh so much!!!

Now don't be scared it's only Danny kitted out to do the sanding of the walls in our hall.  It may be a wee bit over the top but it certainly gave us all a laugh - and let's face it everbody needs a laugh :))

 

 This picture was taken on Sunday and I'm pleased to report the sanding is now complete. 

We will be doing the painting at the weekend.  

The walls are going to be a lovely creamy colour and we are going to get a nice red carpet.

I've always wanted to have a red carpet  :) 

Hopefully it will all look lovely!!!

Our Coatstand

 Since we are re-decorating our hall, our coatstand has no coats on it.  I've remembered how nice it is. 

We inherited it from Danny's mum and dad  and I love it.

It has some lovely features and I thought I would show it to you. 

Please excuse the bad state of the walls, they have been plastered and are waiting to be painted next weekend. Yipeeee.

 It has a bronze moulding of a ship.

 I think it is quite similar to some of the Rennie MacIntosh pieces with its design features.

 There you have it,  I hope you like it.

Linking today with

Lisa 

at 

 The Creative Exchange

and

 Lisa

at

Macro Monday 

Our Sunday Afternoon

 What we did today.

Well Karen and I decided this afternoon that as it was a lovely bright, but windy, day we would go out.  We decided to visit Eglinton Country Estate.  So off we went. 

I spotted this unusual lamp at the entrance. (see that blue sky).

We weren't really dressed for a walk in the mud - and it was fairly muddy - but we persevered, even when it started raining 

We kept going for a wee while until it got heavy when we decided to cut our losses and head back to the car.

By the time we got to the car the rain had eased off a wee bit and we saw this lovely rainbow.

And then the heavens opened - but all was not lost I quite liked the rain on the window and thought it might make a different kind of picture.

 

 Then we drove back to town to go and see Emma at her work (she works as a waitress in a cafe/restuarant)  When we got there she was just finished her shift so we stayed and I had a very lovely coffee.

And the girls had a lemonade.

So all in all it wasn't a bad day.

The End, lol

Hope you all had a good Sunday.

Another Oldie!!

Now you all know how I HATE to moan about our weather.  So I'm not going to, lol.  

I've not been able to get out to take any pictures for a few days now and it is a bit frustrating. So I've been pouring over all of my old pictures - I have got quite a few you know!!!

Well, I found this sunset picture from 2010, it makes me feel all warm and summary. There sure were a lot of wee yachts out that night it must have been a lovely day. I'm not sure if I have posted it before but if I have I hope you don't mind me re-posting.

It was taken from the same hill that the picture from my last post was taken from, the camera is just pointed in a slightly different direction.  The hill is a good vantage point - when it is a very clear day you can see for miles. 

Today has just been a housework day - cleaning kitchen cubpoards and the like.  Dan is sanding and re-plastering the hall walls in readiness for painting - so there is dust just about everywhere yukk!!!  I will be so glad when everything is finished.  Which reminds me - our bathroom is very nearly finished - I must do an updated post.

Hope everybody is having a great weekend.

The View From The Top Of The Hill

We were coming from Dundonald on Sunday evening and driving over the hill towards home. When we came over the top of the hill this is the sight that awaited me. 

Do you know that moment when your mouth falls open in awe of a wonderful sight? Well that is what happened to me. :)) So I just had to pull over in a lay-by and take the picture.

I couldn't decide which view I liked best so decided to put both up.  The 2nd shot is zoomed in a wee bit.

I hope you like the view as much as I did.

Linking up today with Deb

at

Dundonald Castle

 On Sunday I visited Dundonald Castle. It is very close to where we live and can you believe it's the first time I've visited it - is that shocking or what!!!

There is a visitor centre and a museum but it is only open from April to October, so I will have to go back then.  

The other thing about going later in the year is that the weather and visibility may be a bit better. The views from the castle are lovely so it will be well worth the visit then.

There is a fairly steep climb up to the castle.

Now for a little bit of history that I found on the Dundonald Castle web page.

Dundonald Castle is a fortified tower house built for Robert II on his accession to the throne of Scotland in 1371 and it was used as a royal residence by the early Stewart kings for the next 150 years. It was said to be Robert II’s favourite residence and it was here that he died in 1390.

On a separate note - I managed to motivate myself and go to the gym today. Yay for me, hopefully that is me back on the health track again. Watch this space!!!

 

Garden Surprise

I was wandering around the garden this morning trying to find something interesting to take a picture of. 

I had just about given up hope when I spied a plant pot holder full of  water and leaves.  I loved the colours and shapes.

Sharing today with 

Lisa

at

 The Creative Exchange

and

Lisa 

at 

 Macro Monday

Birthday

 I can hardly believe it - my baby has just turned 17 today. Where have all the years gone?

 

She has turned from the cutest wee girl into a beautiful and thoughtful young lady.  She is in her last year of school and is hoping to go to university when she leaves school. 

Her whole life is ahead of her - who knows where it will take her. I am sure she will be successful in anything she wants to turn her hand to. 

Karen asked her what she wanted for a birthday cake. Emma said - wait for it - a 'Jammy Dodger'. Now if you don't know what a jammy dodger is it is a biscuit with a jam filling.  Rather tasty I might add lol.

This is what Karen produced.

i

 The smaller version at the front is the biscuit the big one at the back is Karen's cake. Emma was well chuffed with it :))

 Laura has had to go away to Milton Keynes with her work this week so she is missing Emma's birthday which I know she feels bad about. We will just have to celebrate again when she comes home.

Emma's Guitar

Emma is the musical one in our family.  

 She can play violin, ukulele and and has taught herself how to play the guitar which is her instrument of choice. 

She also sings and writes her own songs. 

Wow, where did she get that from.  Definately not me or her dad that's for sure lol. 

 I thought I would take some pictures of her guitars - there are two of them - and acoustic and an electric acoustic. 

The intricacy of the guitar is amazing - there is some workmanship in them, don't you think?  I wish I was talented in music but I'm afraid I'm not.

Driftwood and Berries

Another shot from the beach walk the other day.  Mmmmm I did take quite a lot of pictures that day!!! 

 I really like the splash of colour - I don't know what these berries are but there sure was an awful lot of them. 

I really enjoy walking along the beach - there is usually so much to see. Mind you there is an awful lot of rubbish lying around due to those hurricane winds we had recently. 

There is lots of driftwood and bottles etc. that have been washed up. There were some quite large bits of tree on the beach  - Karen wanted to bring this one home. I just love the shape of it.

Goodness knows where we would have put it though lol.

 Some of the wood was a much better size.  I quite liked this one.  Don't you think it would have made a lovely candle holder or something along those lines?

Sharing today with 

Deb

 at

Shades of Green

I really like all the different shades of green and brown in these grasses. I had to snap it quick as it was a bit blowy.

I was supposed to go to the gym (curves) today - start of my new year health kick. But when I got home from work I couldn't work up the energy to go. How bad is that!!! You know the thing is I know I will feel better if I do go.

I can just imagine what Dan will say when he reads this.

Oh well, I'll see if I can manage to go tomorrow.