The Gardens

I thought I would post some of the shots from the Burns Monument and Gardens. There are quite a few so I apologise for that - mind you I have whittled it down a wee bit. 

 

 What a nice place to sit and ponder.

 

 A monkey puzzle tree

 

 Imagine this with all the leaves.

 

I love these shaped hedges.

Not many flowers but plenty of lovely trees. 

Note to self - I must go back in the Spring/Summer.

Ornamental Apple Tree

We saw these wee tiny apples lying on the ground. They were from an ornamental apple tree. I didn't know they could be so small.

Aren't they cute?

Well after the half decent day we got on Sunday the weather is now really horrible. Really heavy rain, gale-force winds and it's cold - but not frosty cold. Today has been a duvet day if ever there was one. Unfortunately I have had to work, hmmmph.

Hope it's better where you are!!!

It was a much better day today, just a bit chilly and  windy. So, we ventured out with gloves and scarves. 

We went to Alloway in Ayr - the birthplace of Robbie Burns. 

This is the cottage where he was born.

We also visited the gardens and the Brig O'Doon which I will do a post on in a couple of days. While in the gardens I spotted this red rose and it made me think of one of Burns poem.

He penned lots of famous poems and songs. One of which is 'A Red Red Rose'.

A Red, Red Rose

by Robert Burns

O my Luve's like a red, red rose
That’s newly sprung in June;
O my Luve's like the melodie
That’s sweetly play'd in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I:
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a’ the seas gang dry:

Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi’ the sun:
I will luve thee still, my dear,
While the sands o’ life shall run.

And fare thee well, my only Luve
And fare thee well, a while!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho’ it were ten thousand mile.

Mmm, now isn't that a wonderful poem? 

 
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Going Shopping

 I found this wee dandelion head in the garden (that will probably tell you something about the state of my garden lol). It was a tiny wee baby one. I've never seen one so small before, I'm not sure you could call it cute bit it kinda was :) - I know, I'm daft. Anyway I liked it, so as with anything that I like the look of, I took a picture of it.

This morning Emma had an away game for hockey and had to get the bus at 7.40am. Well, she slept in and didn't wake up till 7.30 - you can probably imagine the huge rush. She was all dressed and ready in time when she discovered it had been cancelled. Aaaargh!!!!  It was cancelled due to the weather which is awful, torrential rain, howling winds and it is cold. Give me snow anytime.  I woke up in the middle of the night and wind was really blowing hard.

I'm hoping to do some Christmas shopping today - yup I'm making a start.  No clue what I am buying for anyone but I've got to start. I'm going to Silverburn shopping centre which is an indoor shopping area (ideal for bad weather days) near Glasgow. I'm hoping to go early to beat the rush - which there is bound to be. I like to shop when it is quiet.  Emma is coming with me as she want's a new dress for her school Christmas party. We will see how we get on - wish me luck!!!!

Lavender and a Happy Birthday Wish

 

My lavender that I bought a couple of months ago is doing very well. I think the flower heads are very pretty so I thought I cut some off and take some pictures of them. It made my kitchen smell lovely as well so that was an added bonus. Aren't they a lovely colour. Hey Debbie I'll bet you will like them.

Thank you for all your good wishes for Karen, I think she is beginning to feel better - just a sore throat now (Karen just told me that all your good wishes must have helped her to feel better :)) Hopefully in a couple of days and she will be back to her normal vocal self again lol. 

It's my mums birthday today 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM

(I know she will read this he he). I've been to see her already this morning but I think she will get a wee thrill at it being noted in my blog - I hope so anyway.

Have a great day mum and enjoy your meal out tonight.

 My dad got her a kindle for her birthday - that's another convert!! :)

I'm also linking up with 

Deb

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Go and check it out there will be some lovely images there.

Boston Seashells

 

When Emma came home from her school Boston trip she brought me this back. I love it! Look at all these lovely wee shells. 

 I thought it might be a good idea to take some pictures of it.  Some close up shots to see the shells in more detail. I'm quite amazed at how well they turned out cause I wasn't expecting them to be much good to be honest.  

 Karen has been feeling a bit unwell the past wee while. She has flu like symptoms but I think she is starting to feel a bit better. Just hope nobody else comes down with it!

I also just wanted to wish all my American blogger friends a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. 
We don't have that holiday here but we do have a lot to be thankful for. 

Hollies and Berries

I hope it's not to early to post a picture like this. 

It makes me think Christmas is coming.  And I really need to start thinking like that because I'm totally NOT organised for it.

 I haven't even bought one present yet - not one!! I reallly need to get myself into gear. So I thought I'd post this picture in the hope it spurs me on.

Anyway I hope you are all more organised than me!!

Little Red Leaves

Thank you so much everyone for your concern and care over my silly fall the other day.  I can say I felt very foolish. I just wanted to let you all know that I am feeling fine after a few slightly painful days - bruises are fading and cut healing nicely (mind you I did feel as if all my muscles had a major workout). When I think  back on it I will either be cringing from embarassment or smiling as it was quite funny. One thing though it will teach me to check where I am walking  in future!!!.

This is one of Karen's plants. I just love the wee red leaves but I also love the fact that there are a lot of green leaves as well.

So I took a picture looking down from the top to get the full effect.

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Apple Spice Muffins

Tonight I got to do something I haven't done for ages. I did some baking!!! I love to bake but Karen is now chief cake maker in this house. But she is out tonight ha ha - so I grabbed my chance.  I made some Apple Spice Muffins and they are rather good - if I do say so myself.

Do you fancy one?   

 Well, here is the recipe.

Apple Spice Muffins

 Makes 10-12

 9oz (250g) plain flour

 3 teaspoons (15ml) baking powder

 1/2 teaspoon (2.5ml) salt

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

pinch of ginger

 3-4oz (85-110g) white granulated sugar

 1 egg

5 fl oz (150ml) milk

 6 oz (170g) finely chopped apples (any type, cored and peeled)

 3oz (85g) melted butter

1. Prepare muffin tins. Preheat oven to 375-400oF (190-200oC).

 2. In a large bowl, sift together (or stir well with fork): flour, baking powder, salt and spice. Stir in sugar.

 3.  In another bowl, beat egg with a fork. Stir in milk, followed by chopped apple and oil, melted butter.

 4.  Pour all of wet mixture into dry. Stir until just combined. The batter is quite thick, the apple will release juice as it cooks.

 5.  Spoon into tins. Bake for 20-25 minutes until tops are lightly browned and spring back when pressed gently.

 Cool for several minutes to make removal easier. 

There you have it - enjoy.  We certainly did!!!

Parent's Night with a Difference

Random Dandelion Head Picture

Well Laura, Karen and Emma are all off out to the pictures tonight to go and see the new Twilight Movie.  I kind of wish I was going with them but it's nice to see them all go out and having fun together. 

My poor Karen has been struggling with a headache all week so I'm hoping she is ok in the cinema!

Well, wait till I tell you what happened to me last night. My face is going red just thinking about it!!! Ah the anticipation, I bet you can't wait to find out what it was now ha ha. 

 It was Emma's parents night at school last night and 

Danny wouldn't be home in time from work to go to it so it was just me and Emma. We drove to the school in plenty of time and were wandering around the side of the school where it was extremely dark. There are a couple of steps there and of course I didn't see them - remember it was extremely dark. Well I tripped on the first step and tried to save myself and then I tripped on the 2nd step and went flying through the air.  You know that sinking feeling you get when you know you are going down in a big way and why is it when you do it goes in slow motion?  

Anyway I put my hands out to save myself so they hit the ground first, then my knees, my shoulder and then my cheek. It was raining and miserable and I also managed to wash my face in a puddle. I lay on the ground for a minute trying to work out what exactly had just happened. Emma turned around on hearing the thudding noise to see me lying prostrate on the ground. She started saying "mum get up" - she was worried somebody might see me!!

Let me just assure you I was FINE, just had sore knees and hands - and was really wet. Once Emma found out I was ok she was doubled up laughing - all night!!!

Well, I laughed a bit as well, it must have looked awfy funny.

I had to sit through 3 teachers meetings and try and pretend everything was ok all the while thinking 'I wish I could check my knee is ok'. Anyway I survived it all and when I got home I discovered I'd skint my knee and had a nice big bruise on each of my palms. My cheek is fine though so that is something. 

 It is a long time since I had a good fall and hopefully that will be my last. I don't wish to do it again any time soon. 

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

My First Shot of Picture Editing!!!

Well, I've had my first proper shot at Photoshop. Wow is that difficult or what?  - or is it just me!!!

 I took these pictures a couple of weeks ago and they weren't the best (very dark and flat looking) so I thought I'll get Dan to show me how to use Photoshop - it'll be a breeze. Ha, little did I know. Took me bloomin' ages to do this. 

Anyway they say practice makes perfect so I'll keep practicing.

I have to say though, I quite like the end result - pats self on head!! I may just give it another go.

 Linking up today with

Deb at 

Deb Duty with

 

You should go and visit - lots of lovely pictures will be there.

Trees

When we were wandering around the grounds at Dean Castle the other day - did I mention how lovely it was! - I noticed that a few of the trees had been cut down. What a shame some of them were very big trees - obviously been there a long time.

Although I have to say there is a lot of re-planting going on. Something else I noticed was that there were quite a few memorial trees there as well.

 

 

I tried counting the rings on this one but lost count numerous times - any guesses on how old it is?

Lots of Bubbles

You know, when I used to wash dishes I just washed them and that was that. But now that I like to take photographs I do things differently!!
  I saw the bubbles on the black plate and I thought picture.  So I went for my camera and shot it!!  

I've been looking at it and wondering what I liked about it - I think it might be the reflections in the bubbles or maybe it's just doing something different. Who knows!!! 

 Who would have thought washing dishes could be such fun. :)) Just thought, I'd better not tell my daughters that I enjoyed it or they will have me doing it all the time, ha ha.  
No chance!!! 

PS added 11/12/11 - I've noticed a lot of people have viewed this post from Stumble, if you come from Stumble I'd love it if you would drop in and say 'hello'  :))

Greens and Browns

I was amazed at just how much greenery there still is out there - a lot of it was on the ground mind you. I love all the different shades of green and brown in this shot.

We are having such a mild spell of weather here just now - it's great and I want to be out in it all the time. As a result very little housework being done - naughty me!! I'll have to do it sooner or later though. I think I'll wait until later when the weather breaks - this nice spell won't last that much longer unfortunately.

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Have a great week everybody.

Dean Castle

Well today I decided to visit a place called Dean Castle Country Park which is in a town called Kilmarnock which is about 10 miles north east of where we live. We didn't get there until about 3pm which was a bit late as we were losing the light at around 4pm.  Which was not good for picture taking - that's my excuse anyway lol.

I used to bring the girls here when they were wee -it's a great place for kiddies as there is a small pet area and a play area. It's been a long time since we visited but we liked it so we will be back again soon.

 I even managed to get a sneaky shot of Karen - she hates getting her picture taken!!! I don't know why because I think she is lovely - look at that smile!!!

 Look at these two beauties - they were sooooo cute. 

So we had yet another lovely afternoon out and the weather has been great once again - we have to take advantage of it while we can!!

Yay It's Friday

Oh, I'm so glad it's Friday, have had a bit of a stressful week at work and I'm glad it's over.  Two whole days off before doing it all again. 

I'm just wondering what I'm going to do this weekend and where can I go to take more piccies.  I'm not sure - I'll have to think about it and you will probably get to see the results (whether you want to or not he he).

Anyway I spotted this strange prickly thing the other day. As usual I'm going to say, I've no idea what it is!!! Any ideas anyone?

It's actually a Burdock seed pod - thanks Eileen :)

 I also spotted these two plants and wondered if they may be the flowered version of the prickly one.

They are quite pretty aren't they?

 I did end the week on a high note though - when I turned on my computer and logged onto my blog I discovered I had won a prize!!!  Kimberley at A Fresh Perspective  ran the draw which I won and the prize was The Christmas Lodge dvd.  Have I told you I love Christmas films and my all time favourite is - now don't laugh - "Polar Express", mind you I also love "It's A Wonderful Life".  Now what you have to remember is that I never win anything so it was a great surprise. Thanks very much Kimberley. 

You should go and visit her blog she takes the most wonderful pictures. 

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Quiet Contemplation

I was going through my pictures from our walk on Sunday afternoon - phew I did take a lot!!!  I hadn't realised how trigger happy I am with my camera. I see something I like and I shoot. There is method in my madness though, I think the more I take the better the chance of getting a decent shot - although there is a lot of rubbish in amongst it  I'm afraid.

This picture I quite like!!  I think it looks a nice and peaceful setting and like a place you could go and sit and contemplate life in general.

Linking up today with

Deb 

at debduty with

You should go and pay a visit - there are a lots of beautiful pictures there.