Monday 20 November 2017

Luss, Loch Lomond

Had a fabulous trip to the village of Luss on the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond last week and the sun was shining!


It is the most beautiful setting, no matter what time of year you visit.  The village has a variety of little shops and cafes as well as some lovely views across the Loch.  If you think the place looks familiar - the Scottish soap opera "Take the High Road" was filmed there!


We had lunch at the Loch Lomond Arms Hotel - the food was fabulous.  The interior is wonderfully decorated - full of great vintage bits and pieces to look at.



If you are planning a holiday in Scotland, Luss is a great place to visit.  Find out more here.

Love, Liz

Monday 20 March 2017

Cute cottage cross stitch

This is a cute cross stitch cottage which I finished a wee while ago.


I set it in some pretty fabric to make a wall hanging.


Love the simplicity of it.


Hope you are all well and enjoying the first signs of spring!


Love, Liz

Wednesday 1 March 2017

I still love Time Team

Ok, there I've said it!  I absolutely love Time Team - do you remember it?


It was a fabulous programme about archaeology presented by Tony Robinson and had a wonderful cast of clever, intelligent archaeologists and historians and for my family it was must-see TV.  We even joined the Time Team Club and got little pin badges to wear.  I'm still watching the repeats on channel More 4 - there are two a day on at the moment- some I remember well, some I'd forgotten. The great thing is that I still learn something new each time I watch.  I've been interested in archaeology since I was a young girl, but was laughed at when I told the school careers adviser that's what I wanted to be.  It didn't dampen my interest, I still love reading about digs and finds.  There's a great site called Dig Ventures which is all about digs taking place and Raksha from Time Team is one of the archaeologists involved.


Time Team used to be shown on Channel 4 on Sunday evenings and I would make sure that we had finished our tea and the dishes were all done before we sat down to watch together.  My sons were young at the time, but I do think it gave them a love of history.  I happened to mention to my elder son that I was watching it again and, even although he has a family of his own now, he said that he remembered us all watching it together on Sunday evenings.

I do think that most of its success was down to the wonderful people who worked on the show - they never talked down or patronised.  (Nor did they repeat themselves like so many documentary shows now which drive me mad with their repetition - do they think we are all idiots?)  Time Team was intelligent TV.  I loved the late Mick Aston, Phil Harding and his digging, Carenza Lewis, Stuart the landscape guy, John geophys and all the other wonderful, cheery and knowledgeable workers on the programme.  The illustrations by Victor Ambrus were always a great way seeing how things would have looked in the past.  It is a shame that the last series or so seemed to show less archaeology and were sort of "dumbed down".  But for me it was a fabulous, intelligent and interesting programme, and do you remember ... they only had three days to do it!

Love, Liz

Friday 24 February 2017

Red, white and blue knitting

I've gone a bit majestic for my latest knitted tea cosy.


Red, white and blue in honour of Her Majesty the Queen.



Quite jolly isn't it?


It is for sale, so email me if you would like details.

Love, Liz
If you love the Hornblower novels, you might like the latest blog post on The Greenockian - espionage, and imprisonment during the Napoleonic Wars!

Tuesday 14 February 2017

Queen Victoria close up

These are just some of the amazingly intricate details from the statue of Queen Victoria by William Silver Frith (1860 - 1934) which stands at the top of the Doulton Fountain.  It was sculpted as a celebration of Victoria's golden jubilee.  The fountain is sometimes called the Victoria Fountain.


The Doulton Fountain is just outside the People's Palace in Glasgow.  Originally it was situated in Kelvingrove Park as part of the International Exhibition of 1888 and later gifted to the city by Sir Henry Doulton (you may have heard of Doulton Pottery).



The fountain itself was designed by Arthur Ernest  Pearce (1859 - 1934) who worked for the Doulton Company.  It has lots of other beautiful sculpture and it is hard to believe that the fountain was almost destroyed by vandals in the 1990s before it was moved to its present position. 


You can read more about this amazing fountain at Glasgow - City of Sculpture.



Love, Liz

Saturday 4 February 2017

It's the Polis!

Got another fabulous vintage Ladybird Book from my collection to show you today.  It is The Policeman from 1962 and how much of a different world does this show!  Look at those old traffic signs in the background.


Personally I think these uniforms are so much smarter, but where on earth would the modern police officer keep all their kit?


The book comes from Ladybird's Easy Reading, People at Work Series by L & J Havenhand with illustrations by John Berry.  Published by Wills & Hepworth Ltd, Loughborough, England in 1962.


Traffic duty wearing a white coat - the neon of the day!


Hope you've enjoyed this wee trip back to the 60s.


Love, Liz

Friday 3 February 2017

What games did you play in the Brownies?

I used to be in the Brownies when I was a wee girl.  I loved it!  Working towards badges and being with my friends - it was great fun.  For some reason a game we used to play just came into my head - perhaps you know it - "port and starboard".


Everyone lined up down the middle of the hall and then one of the leaders would shout port - and we'd all run to the left hand side of the hall.  If she shouted starboard we went to the right.  Last one over was out!  There were lots of other things too like man overboard - you had to lie down and pretend to swim.  Captain's coming - salute.  Crow's nest - pretend to climb up a rope.  I'm sure there were others too.


A great way to get the smarty pants or big girls who could run fast out of the game was when the leader, once everyone was at port would shout "port" again and a lot of them would have started to run to the other side and were then "out".

Happy days.  Good exercise too.  Did you play "port and starboard" when you were young?

Love, Liz

You might be interested in the latest post on my other blog - The Greenockian.  It tells the story of a riot that took place in Greenock in 1820.  This is a memorial sculpture to those who died or were injured.


Monday 23 January 2017

Big hair needs even bigger hats!

I love vintage adverts!  These really made me smile - I think it was the name more than anything - "non-collapso" hair pads.


The ad says that they were "manufactured from the finest unbreakable watch springs".  Self-adjusting too! Essential for the stylish woman of 1906 - these ladies don't look too impressed!


Of course big hair needs big hats - have a look at these.



Poor women - they must have had strong necks to carry all that around on their heads!


What a great name for a hat - a large flop!

Love, Liz

Saturday 21 January 2017

Monkey Puzzles

I took this photograph this morning.  Where do you think I was?  Some exotic island paradise -enjoying tropical beaches and sunshine?


Actually the photograph was taken up at Greenock Cemetery!  There are a lot of these monkey puzzle trees there.



Although cold, it is a lovely bright winter day here in Greenock.  There was just enough of a lingering mist to make some areas look a bit spooky.  I was doing a bit of research for my other blog The Greenockian, thus my reason for a cemetery visit.


How are you spending your weekend?

Love, Liz

Monday 16 January 2017

A present from Millport

Look at this fabulous charity shop find!  Two gorgeous cups and saucers in perfect condition and with the most marvellous thistles and tartan design.  They are obviously souvenir items and are marked - A Present from Millport.



Millport is a small Scottish town on the island of Cumbrae a short ferry ride from Largs, not far from Greenock.  When I was a wee girl it was a very popular place in the summer for day trips and holidays.  Still is, to a certain extent.  A popular thing to do there is to hire a bicycle and cycle round the island.


I was delighted with my find - these lovely bits and pieces are becoming rarer at affordable prices.  They are bone china and marked Thistle.


Just love the decoration - so pretty.  I love finding Scottish items!


Joining this week's Monday Social at Let's Add Sprinkles - come and have a look at some of the marvellous things there.

Love, Liz

Saturday 14 January 2017

Feared by the bad, loved by the good ...

I came across this vintage Ladybird book - The Ambush - A Ladybird Robin Hood Adventure.


Fabulous illustrations by John Kenney and story by Max Kester.


Being of vintage age, the mere mention of Robin Hood sets the theme tune from the 1950s Adventures of Robin Hood TV show running through my head -

Robin Hood, Robin Hood riding through the glen.
Robin Hood, Robin Hood with his band of men.
Feared by the bad, loved by the good,
Robin Hood, Robin Hood, Robin Hood.

Does anyone else remember it?  Richard Greene played the hero, Robin Hood.


Here's a reminder of the show's theme on You Tube.  Enjoy!

Love, Liz

Thursday 12 January 2017

Great British cross stitch

Isn't this lovely and pretty as well as patriotic?!


I finished it just before Christmas - it's the one I was having trouble with before I got my brilliant new craft light (thanks again No 2 Son!)



The pattern is from a little booklet that was given away with the Telegraph newspaper some time last year. It was originally a tapestry pattern for a Union Jack purse, but works just as well with cross stitch.  Not sure what I'm going to do with it - any suggestions?

Work in progress
I had forgotten just how cute these little Cross Country Stitching patterns were - look at that gorgeous little face!


Here's a finished one that I made a few years ago - isn't it just lovely!


If you are in the UK then I hope that the snow isn't too bad wherever you are.  Here in Greenock we've had a couple of flurries, but not too much ..... so far!  Fingers crossed!


Stay cosy,
Love, Liz