Yesterday was so much fun! Norma Nairn and I left Comrie bright and early (well, the weather wasn't so bright, but we were) for our day-long outing at the quilt show in Edinburgh. The first leg of the journey was to Crieff where we joined Jenny who drove us to Perth where we joined about 35 other women on a coach that had been chartered for us by one of the Perth patchwork groups. The trip to Edinburgh from Perth was under an hour.
The exhibition centre was adjacent to Edinburgh Airport and was abuzz with excited women happy for a day out among patchwork, patchworkers, and vendors! See the lady in the picture above? Doesn't she look happy? See that great smile? I put that smile there by handing her money. Magie Relph and her African Fabric Shop had the most wonderful array of fabrics and beads from all over Africa. I had to refrain myself from buying all that I would like to have made mine. But I chose 3 interesting pieces of fabric and moved on. (Over the course of several hours, a number of other vendors gave me that special smile too.)
The quilt exhibition was quite good. There were traditional bed quilts and modern ones too, and there were lots of wall quilts. Quite a few of them were outstanding and worth spending some time in front of, studying techniques, use of fabrics, quilting stitches, surface design, and so forth. All in all it was a most enjoyable show to browse through. Refreshments were available on site which gave us a chance to get off our feet and restore our energy occasionally.
The bus ride back to Perth was a lot more animated than the trip to Edinburgh had been. Every woman showed her seatmates what she had purchased and told what she intended to do with it. There's nothing like a coachload of enthusiastic quilters fresh from a show with bags bulging with new quilt supplies and books.
Last night, Don and I took our friends Haig and Trish Hamilton to The Bank Restaurant in Crieff to celebrate Haig's 65th birthday. (Sorry, Haig, your secret's no longer safe.) Several of our friends have mentioned the excellent service and food at this "mom and pop" restaurant where he's the chef and she's the waiter. It has been written up in Scottish newspapers recently as it just collected yet another Michelin star. We were not disappointed. The food was delicious, the surroundings quite cozy, the wine list thoughtful and wide-ranging, and the evening didn't break our bank. The restaurant is called The Bank because that's what the building used to be. Fortunately, it was a relatively small bank and so is not cavernous, cold, and noisy as a former large business space might be. We had a thoroughly enjoyable time with our friends and we all raved about our food, so you can be we'll be back.
Today we had another technological first. Every Saturday we have a Skype (more on this below) session with our daughter Molly who lives in Albany, NY. This time, we could see as well as hear her as she had plugged in her Webcam. So we plugged in ours that she and Mark had given us several years ago but which we've never used, and lo and behond, she could see us too. The transmission wasn't totally smooth and the microphone sometimes cut in and out, but we got to see Molly and our 3-year-old granddaughter, Iris. Once Iris realized she could see herself on their computer screen, she spent a lot of time mugging to herself which was delightful to watch. What a treat to see as well as hear the kids. (I must confess that as Don was setting up our camera, I ran into the bedroom to comb my hair and put on lipstick!)
Skype is free software you can download so that you can talk to people you know who also have computers and have downloaded the Skype software--for free! You talk over the computer. All you need besides the software is a microphone and speakers, which many computers have already built in. If you're interested, just Google Skype. It's a great way to stay in touch with kids.
Don played golf this morning but has spent the rest of the day working on his distance ed courses. I have done laundry and played with fabric. What else?
Reunited at Prestwick Airport
Upon my return from Aix-en-Provence
About Me
- Lynn
- In September 2003, my husband, Donald, and I moved from Bethesda, Maryland, to the Highland village of Comrie in Perthshire. It was the fulfillment of a dream that we have nurtured since our first trip to Scotland in 1986. Beginning with October 1, 2003, each month I have written the Highland Line to family, friends, former colleagues, and acquaintances who were interested in following our adventure. Donald is a consultant/teacher in distance education and an avid golfer, although he hadn't played until he began taking lessons in 2003. I am a quilter, specializing in smaller art quilts rather than traditional bed-sized quilts, although I sometimes make one of those as well. We have four daughters back in the States and 6 grandchildren. We make two trips to the States each year to visit with them and as many friends and relatives as we can manage to squeeze in. Welcome to our dream come true.
2 comments:
Hey, Lynn, if I smile at you like that, will you give me money, too?????? Oh, that's not how it works...damn!!! Sounds like you had a great day.
No, no. These people smile AFTER I give THEM the money. But I would be happy to see your smile, any day.
By the way, I don't seem to be able to send you e-mails from my regular e-mail account. I can post them here, but even then, I get bounce-back messages in my e-mail In-box each time I do. (I know they get through because I can see them on your blog.) That only started when I got my blog accocunt. Any clue as to why that might be?
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