Cornflower

Fish and chips

   

     For those who say they enjoy the mixture of topics on these pages, well today we have .... a chip shop!

    This is not just any old fryery, though, this is The Anstruther Fish Bar, winner of Fish & Chip Shop of the Year 2008/09, and patronised by Prince William when he was a student at nearby St. Andrews. Right on the harbour in the attractive East Neuk fishing village of Anstruther, it's a destination in its own right for tourists and locals alike, everyone drawn by the quality of the food.

    Not exactly a slimmer's meal, but once in a while fish and chips just hits the spot! But what to put on this traditional dish? Salt and vinegar? Salt and sauce - that Edinburgh 'condiment'? Tomato ketchup? Tartare sauce?

Kellie once more

     One more look at Kellie Castle - though I could mention the wonderful plaster ceilings, the Phoebe Anna Traquair panel (follow that link and scroll down a bit), the blue bedroom whose two alcoves house only blue-bound books, the charming tower room nursery, Hew Lorimer's studio in the former stables, a room whose atmosphere was markedly different from the rest of the house....

     But no; go there if you can, otherwise enlarge this picture and the ones in the previous posts and you'll get a bit of a feel for this unusual and beautiful place.

Kellie Castle: the kitchen garden

    This is my idea of a kitchen garden! At Kellie Castle (see below) there is a peach house (it's small, but nevertheless...), bee skeps set into the wonderful stone walls, rhubarb brought on under terracotta forcing jars, lantern cloches in vegetable beds and onions hanging like a still life. 

    Produce is set out for sale in the garden house:

 

apples, plums, courgettes, beetroot, broad beans, potatoes....

Kellie green

     If you are anywhere near the East Neuk of Fife, a visit to Kellie Castle is a must as while the house itself is interesting, the walled garden is magical. I was rushed round it yesterday (NB Mr. C., we are going back to look at it properly!) and I have more pictures to show you, but to begin, here are some of the details.

     What is it about a door set into a high stone wall that triggers anticipation? You have no idea what is beyond the entrance, so all is a surprise, and when you have stepped into what you find to be a place of peace and calm and beauty, the door closes behind you and keeps out the world - or so it seems. Originally seventeenth century but restored and redesigned by the Lorimer family (see Sir Robert, etc.) in the late nineteenth century, it is 'Arts and Crafts informal' with box-edged paths, productive kitchen garden beds, benches tucked away in quiet corners, and decorative gates and doors leading into other areas.

    You can read a comprehensive piece on the garden here and I'll put up more pictures of it later.

Friday fruit and flowers

 

 

 

Taken in the walled garden at Traquair: wonderfully lichened apple and pear trees, and butterflies galore!

Do visit the house if you get the chance. It's the oldest inhabited house in Scotland, very intimate in feel and a family home. When we were there it was even more atmospheric than normal due to the estate's having a complete electricity blackout - this made catering in the charming 1745 Cottage Restaurant a bit tricky, but nevertheless we had a good lunch.

Photography inside the house is not permitted, but you can see more exterior shots here.

Far over the misty mountains

This is Uig Beach, site of the discovery of the Lewis Chessmen, home to the Brahan Seer.

 

Virtually empty of people, even in early August.

 

 

That's my kind of beach.

Light on water

    This is what I've spent the last week looking at. We were on the Hebridean island of Lewis, enjoying absolute peace and quiet, far away from people, mobile phone signals, the internet (apologies if you've emailed me and not had a reply yet - I shall catch up soon).

We walked, fished (that's Mr. C. in a state of utter contentment), stalked deer, rowed boats, swam in both the loch and the sea, explored an uninhabited island, read (but only a very little), saw Harris tweed being woven (and more on that later) played Scrabble, and had a very good time.

The ever-changing light on the water and the hills held my attention for hours, so simply doing nothing was often the order of the day.

The restorative powers of such a beautiful and secluded place, even in wild weather, are great; I for one can't wait to go back.

A quiet sit down

     Do go and visit Sarah's (other) blog A Quiet Sit Down and take a moment to pause and picture yourself on some of those wonderful benches.
Here's one I snapped (but didn't have a moment to sit on) yesterday. It's in the beautiful grounds of Scone Palace where it fits well with the Georgian Gothic style of the house.

I could have done with a quiet sit down after walking round the orchid festival, the butterfly garden, the pinetum, the maze, the old graveyard and going to see the donkeys and the house itself  - complete with two enormous bears in the hall (every home should have one!).

Stone and glass

To Dalmeny, and St. Cuthbert's Parish Kirk, "the best preserved Norman parish church in Scotland", and fine it is, both in scale and stonework.

While the building is 12th. century, its stained glass is of a much later date, the gift of a Polish officer stationed near here during the war. He fell in love with the church and gave the windows in memory of his mother.

They depict the Madonna and Child, St. Theresa of Poland and St. Margaret (above) with her chapel at Edinburgh Castle.

I love visiting churches but am quite ignorant as to their architectural history - however, I've had my eye on this book for a while now, my only reason for not having bought it yet being geographical relevance!

PYO

    They say time flies when you're enjoying yourself, and it certainly did for us in the berry fields at Craigie's. Here's the view from in among the raspberry canes - that's the Firth of Forth, looking across to Fife, with the island of Inchcolm in between.

 

 
The photo opportunities did distract me from the job in hand - the hens were enjoying a dust bath, and below we're looking south across Edinburgh to the Pentland Hills -

but we managed a respectable haul of rasps and blackcurrants, all gathered in warm sunshine and with the lovely location just adding to the pleasure of being out in the open (the weather here has been inordinately wet of late, and while I don't mind that, it's hopeless for fruit-picking).
Visit the farm if you can as they have a cafe with an outside eating area to take advantage of the great views, and a delicatessen, and you can buy their produce ready-picked if you've no time to pick it yourself.

Scott-land explained

    For some reason, I couldn't get any text at all in the post below, so here are the explanatory notes:-
This is Scott's View in the Borders (where I was the other day), looking west to the Eildon Hills which was the site of Thomas the Rymer's meeting with the Queen of Faerie, and a fine but windy vantage point it is. A loop of the River Tweed  - with man fishing - is visible, and if you click on the smaller pictures you'll be able to read the inscriptions on the plaques.

Scott-land

Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside...

 

 

....especially when it's as empty as this stretch of the East Lothian coast was today!