Royal wedding drawings

I hadn't originally planned to watch the Royal Wedding, but then I had the idea of drawing the hats and dresses, and ended up spending all day glued to the TV from 8am to 1.20am the next morning! You can see more of my drawings from this royal wedding and others here.

Recent vintage and thrifted finds

At an antiques fair recently I got:
A Chinese mother and baby fabric doll (£4)
A pretty dish with cherry blossom type flowers, by Winterling, Bavaria (£1)
A gorgeous (supposedly 1930s) Japanese koi dish (50p) which I just spotted by chance when my dad lifted a watch that was on top of it!
Bright green and orange vintage beads (£2 each). These have turned out to be "in" colours this season, and I'm wearing them a lot!
Japanese paper box (£1 I think)

In the local charity shops at the weekend I got:
A tiny bamboo steamer (50p)
A Royal Doulton Frost Pine jug and bowl (£5)
A bowl similar to the one I already use for green tea (99p)
A vintage brooch (99p)
A St Michael scarf with lovely orange, gold and navy colours on it(99p)
A tiny wooden bed with two teeny people in it (25p)
A little dish with apple blossom on it (seems like I'm starting a collection of little dishes!) (50p)
A bangle with little baskets hanging from it (25p)

In another charity shop last week I got this tiny vase, marked Foreign, for 10p! And I had found 10p on the ground shortly before that, so it seemed like fate!

Another recent find at a charity shop was a little blue birdie, I think he was about 99p.

Royal Wedding memorabilia

My souvenirs from Charles & Diana's wedding include postcards, a first day cover, a Ladybird book, the commemorative coin, and a photo album full of newspaper clippings from their engagement up to Prince William's birth. I used to have the supplements from lots of the newspapers about the wedding - I don't know why I ever got rid of them. I also used to have a book of photos of Diana, but must have got rid of that too.


The Charles and Diana book was found in my local charity shop last year, and the deciding factor that made me buy it was the dozens of newspaper clippings hidden in the back. It's quite sad to think of someone spending time cutting all these out of newspapers, only for them to eventually end up in a charity shop.


From Andrew & Sarah's wedding I have a newspaper supplement, the Ladybird book, and postcards.

Birthday balloon burst

Just a little bit of silliness, and a little bit inspired by Amelie!

Sarah Ferguson

In the run-up to the royal wedding, I decided to rake out some of my old drawings from the 1980s of the royal family.

My first march!

Today I went on my first ever march! It was organised by Unison to show opposition to cuts in public services. It started at Kirkcaldy Town House and went to Beveridge Park, where there were speakers and also activities for children. It was quite exciting going on my first march, especially because my friends and I were almost at the front! I was also pleased that I managed to get some photos of Gordon Brown.

Diana

In the run-up to the royal wedding, I decided to rake out some of my old drawings from the 1980s of the royal family.

Craigtoun Park

I'd driven to St Andrews last week on quite a dull and drizzly morning, but by the time I was finished there the weather started to improve, so I set out towards Craigtoun Park, and by the time I got there the weather was glorious. This was somewhere I loved to visit as a child, but I hadn't been back since. I was worried that I might find it a disappointment, but it was actually just as good as I remembered (apart from the fact that the little train doesn't run any more).

I was also able to see the building where I was born 40 years ago, which was Craigtoun Hospital. Sadly it is all boarded up at the moment.

Blossom

I spotted these blossoms in my town one day and had to go back the next day with my camera. It's strange that I hadn't noticed these particular trees before, because I pass them quite often! They looked like fluffy pink cotton wool from the distance!

Japanese exhibition and event

On the first day of my week's holiday, I went to Glasgow to see an exhibition and event which were raising funds for Japan.

The exhibition was called The Way To Northern Cherry Blossoms, and consisted of work by five artists. One of the artists, Campbell Sandilands, had taught me Japanese woodblock printing a few years ago. Another artist, Stuart Kerr, is one of my Flickr contacts. The exhibition was in the studio of another of the artists, Blair Thomson. The art was lovely, and it was great to see Stuart's work close up after looking at it online.

The Japanese event was held at the STUC. I've been to a lot of Japanese events before, and thought this was one of the best organised. There was Japanese dancing, a kimono fashion show with about 20 participants, a Japanese man in a kilt playing the bagpipes, and a recitation of a lovely piece of poetry in both Japanese and English "Ame ni mo Makezu" which really captures the spirit of the Japanese people, especially at this time. There was also a local choir, singing a variety of songs, including one of my favourites, Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring.

Highland Wildlife Park

The weekend after my birthday, I went with my brother and his wife and my parents to the Highland Wildlife Park. It was a little surprise for me and my mum - we knew we were going somewhere, but didn't know until the night before where we were actually going.

It was a really good day out, and I particularly liked the red panda, the Japanese snow monkeys and the wildcats.


On the way back we went to Anstruther for a fish supper, and it was the first time that I'd actually been inside the restaurant (having usually eaten "à la car" in the past!).

40th birthday

On my birthday my parents and I went to Glasgow to have lunch at the Willow Tea Rooms, because I love Charles Rennie Mackintosh's architecture and I'd never been to the Willow Tea Rooms before.


We all decided to have the "Scottish Rarebit" (toasted cheese) with bacon, and we had the Willow Tearoom's own green tea to drink. The main course was great, but the sweets were even better! Dad had an enormous meringue, Mum had a huge strawberry tart, and I had the warm chocolate brownie which may well be the best thing I have ever tasted, and I'll definitely be going back again specifically for the brownies!


After we'd eaten we were able to see inside a room where the original stained glass doors and some other pieces of furniture are kept, then we had a look at the shop downstairs.

We had a look at the shops on Sauchiehall Street and I bought myself a cuddly Moomin!

When we got home I opened all my lovely presents, which included a vintage enamelled silver pendant that I had chosen, some other vintage jewellery and a jewellery box to keep it all in! After that we had one of my favourite meals - a haggis supper!

40th birthday - pre-birthday day

I had an amazing time on the day before my birthday. Because my birthday was on a Saturday, we had to celebrate on the Friday at work. On the way up the stairs first thing in the morning I was stopped by one of the German teachers - I thought that she was going to report a computer fault but instead she presented me with a bunch of balloons with greetings written on them in German! She then told me there were some photos of me on the staffroom doors, so I went to look at those.

By the time I got upstairs I had spotted my photos a few other places around the school, and when I walked into the workshop I found my desk (and in fact most of the room) was covered with balloons, streamers, cards and confetti! There were big banners across the window and on my chair. There were also two huge badges with the number 40 on them, one of which I proudly wore all day!

Just before breaktime one of our colleagues came in and started chatting to me, but it wasn't until other people began arriving that I realised we were having a little get-together! There were sausage rolls and other nibbles, and a chocolate cake with candles to blow out. Later I took some birthday cake round to the staff who couldn't make it.

Because it was Red Nose Day (a charity day) we were all able to wear our jeans, which added to the party atmosphere. At lunchtime there was a charity event in the hall, the loudest teacher competition, which was loads of fun. It really felt like the end of term!

One of the best moments of the day happened by chance. I'd gone to a classroom to fix a DVD player, and as I was looking at it I realised that the class had spontaneously burst into song, and were singing Happy Birthday! The teacher had not told them it was my birthday, they had spotted my badge and started singing of their own accord!

I think it was probably the most fun day I've ever had at work!

40th birthday - meal with friends

Two days before my 40th birthday I went out with my colleagues for an Indian buffet meal. We'd been planning to have an Indian meal for ages, and my birthday was the perfect excuse! Before we left work they gave me a wonderful present of a beautiful book - Geisha by John Gallagher (they know my tastes so well!). After the meal we had drinks at my house. I had a great evening!