My work here is done.....

.....for this year, at least!

7.45 this morning...

I was up early~ish this morning to see to Matty ~ the sky was just so beautiful!  

This is the view I have from my craft room, across to the Orphir hills.  I wish I was more proficient at taking photos, I just can't seem to do justice to the beautiful views we are so lucky to have from our home.

This is a view over to Graemsay, taken from the corner of our front garden!  Not a very good photo at all, I'm afraid!

And this one is even worse LOL  It's a view over to the oil refinery on Flotta ~ I just thought the blurry twinkling lights looked pretty so early in the morning 😊

Horror movie bonanza!

Last Sunday, the Horror Channel ran back-to-back, old black and white horror movies ~ frankly, the only kind of horror films I can really watch without terrifying myself LOL  I've recorded the whole lot to amuse myself with at my leisure.

I watched Dracula earlier this week, a film that is older than my Dad by five years!  As you might expect, the acting is rather over-the-top and the special effects are really quite funny ~ the "flying" bats in particular made me chuckle 😉  But still, it was an amusing way to pass an hour and a half or so, and there is something quite pleasing about a black and white film.

I've still got these gems to watch ~ I might even get some popcorn in 😋

Little words of wisdom

Peace...

www.allposters.co.uk

Father, Mother, God,

Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days.

For then we have you to lean upon.

Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days.

For then we can share that which we have with those who have less.

And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days.

For then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends

For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak.

For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness.

For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing.

For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company.

For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most.....PEACE.

Maya Angelou

(4th April 1928 - 28th May 2014)

Quite the revelation!

I have been merrily chucking my used teabags in our compost caddy for years, only to discover recently that they actually contain a small amount of plastic and should therefore be put in the household waste bin!  Actually, if I'm honest, I feel a wee bit ashamed that I didn't know that most teabags contain plastic 😟  Still now that I do know, I no longer compost the bags.  Instead, because I had bought quite a few boxes when they were on offer (Adrian doesn't drink tea or coffee!), I have been cutting open the bags and tipping the contents into a Kilner jar to use the leaves loose.  This meant that I had the ideal "excuse" to treat myself to a lovely new teapot, complete with its own infuser 😉

There is just something so cosy about a little brown teapot, really "hygge", and if it's possible to be in love with an inanimate object then I suspect that I may well be 😍 

I've had the tea-cosy for years ~ no idea why I originally bought it, actually, as I've never used loose tea or even put tea-bags in a teapot!  Still, it's certainly seeing plenty of use now LOL  I may even crochet myself a second cosy to use up a little more of that yarn stash!

The revelation, though, has been the difference between brewing the loose tea in a teapot and just pouring boiling water over the bag in a mug!  I have been amazed at how much more flavour and scent there is brewing in a pot.  I mostly drink Lady Grey tea at home and Earl Grey in the main when I am out-and-about, both of which are "scented", but it's still been quite eye-opening for me at the difference between loose tea and the bags.

The only drawback to making this changeover is that I haven't been able to get hold of loose Lady Grey in Tesco, which is where I do most of my shopping.  I'm not actually sure that any of the supermarkets sell loose Lady Grey, to be honest.  Tesco do sell loose Earl Grey, though, so I've bought a pack as I drink it at home from time-to-time.  I have been a tad naughty today, though, and have splurged out on a 500g caddy of Lady Grey from the Twinings online shop ~ I know how to live, eh 😉  

Little words of wisdom

Bathroom progress

Well, things are slowly moving along in the bathroom ~ the work in there seems to have been going on forever!  Still, the various hiccups along the way couldn't be helped or anticipated.  It just seems to be the way life at St Abbs unfolds 😉

There has been so much old pipework to be removed and new put in ~ the walls seem to be full of copper pipes!  Although this was originally an exterior wall to the house, it is now inside the bathroom extension.  The lagged pipe on the right is on one of the exterior bathroom walls.  This is where our new shower will be.

And here it is, with the new plasterboard in place; there is  insulation there now as well.  Beneath the dust sheet is the new shower tray.  At two metres long it was quite an effort for the guys to get it lifted into position!

This is the other side of the bathroom, where the toilet and basin will be.  This is an external wall, so plenty of insulation has been installed.....

.....along with plasterboard to replace the horrible lath and plaster.  You can see here where Callum (our decorator) has been taping and filling the joints and screw holes.

View into the bathroom from the utility area.  It's so nice to finally have a new window in there, too.

It's been a very "bitty" sort of renovation, what with the water cylinder having to be temporarily moved out into the dining room and then the expansion tank being moved across to the other side of the utility window.  

There's been lots of to-ing and fro-ing between Shug (our joiner) and Greg (our plumber), somewhat like the proverbial ships passing in the night 😃  This was the last section of lath and plaster to be removed.  When we had the new water cylinder fitted, I cleaned the walls as best I could and painted out the old cupboard.  The awful black area is a section I just couldn't get to properly.  It's years of damp and mould ~ extremely yucky!

Now we have a nice new cupboard for the cylinder and all it's gubbins LOL  Everything has actually been moved back now but I am a tad behind with photo-taking ~ as per usual, eh 😉

And this little alcove is where the washing machine and tumble-dryer will be stacked.  As you can see it's only a tiny space so our electrician suggested putting the plug socket high up on the back wall, above the white goods.  I think it would have been very difficult to use if it had been fitted on one of the side walls.

  The plaster boarding is all finished now but as I said, I am a little behind with the photo-taking.  Callum was here today to do a third coat of filling and Shug is due back tomorrow for woodwork.  More photos to follow in due course!

Peace...

www.allposters.co.uk

Father, Mother, God,

Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days.

For then we have you to lean upon.

Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days.

For then we can share that which we have with those who have less.

And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days.

For then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends

For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak.

For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness.

For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing.

For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company.

For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most.....PEACE.

Maya Angelou

(4th April 1928 - 28th May 2014)

Little words of wisdom

Remembrance...

Peace...

www.allposters.co.uk

Father, Mother, God,

Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days.

For then we have you to lean upon.

Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days.

For then we can share that which we have with those who have less.

And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days.

For then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends

For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak.

For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness.

For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing.

For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company.

For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most.....PEACE.

Maya Angelou

(4th April 1928 - 28th May 2014)