Equilibrium, Coffee and Kilts.

Hello friends,
here I am, making online visits at six a.m. I am still trying to find an equilibrium in this new life in Scotland.
Outdoors here is so beautiful, as you can see in the pictures below, that at every possible opportunity, I want to be outside.

Plus, we found a little cafe in Cupar, called "Coffee and Kilts" where they allow you to bring your dog!
So after a walk in the countryside, all three of us can pop in for refreshment. In one of the photos, you'll see two bowls behind Paddy, one with water - and one with biscuits!
The human food is pretty delicious too. 

Because my outdoor life has been so enjoyable, it seems to be that I've neglected my internet life. I don't mean to, but there's so much here to do! I've also joined a new art club, which allows me to go along five days a week, should I so choose.
I will find a balance, because I've no wish to lose the online friends I've made; plus I've a book to finish, which is written online. Maybe I should take the netbook to the coffee shop. An internet cafe writer I would be ;-) 

A Royal Visit

We've been out exploring and found a Royal Palace to visit!
Falkland Palace was a summer palace beloved of Mary, Queen of Scots.
This is it from the outside.

Photographs weren't allowed inside, but we do have a pic of an old dolphin doorknocker, that was on the entrance

The local village church was a matter of feet away

as were some old estate buildings, which now have been converted to dwellings and shops

Finally we have the Village Cross, with heraldic symbols

Only one thing would have improved our visit - if you'd been there when we stopped at the tea shop for a cuppa!

Sparkles, sunshine, orchids, Paddy and book news.

Life in Fife continues to be delightful.
Despite getting an infected insect bite, (all healed now) it's been a lovely month.

I've created a new sparkly canvas to add a pop of colour in my new kitchen

We continue to be blessed with a very mild winter and some sunshine!

My darling hubby, instead of buying a bouquet of flowers to say get well soon, bought me some orchids

and throughout, I had a very attentive nurse. If I called for OH, Paddy would run and fetch him, barking all the while. He's a little treasure!

I am continuing to write "The House in the Leaves", book three of my Leaves Series. The editor and I have been conversing and we're getting it right! I hope to have it published sometime this year.

If you haven't seen the first two, look HERE

 

Snowy Lomonds, stunning skies and new gateways!

Here we are in February, we've been so busy, I'd almost forgotten my blogs!
We had a little dusting of snow over the Lomond Hills, enough to look pretty, but not enough to cause problems.

We've also had some gorgeous skies - and I've even seen the Northern Lights since we moved. The stars here are phenomenal  - well, they are full stop - but what I mean is the visibility here is so much better than we ever had in Essex. I'm a lover of stargazing, so this makes our move even more magical.
I haven't any star skies to show you, but a sunset - oh yes...

We had a couple of storms, where there were some gale force winds and they knocked our old driveway fence apart. We decided we'd replace them with wrought iron. The blacksmith came over to give us a quote, stayed for a coffee and a chat and when he returned with the gates, not only had he produced the driveway gates and fence, he'd given us a pedestrian gate for free! He told us it was because we were genuine folk. How lovely to meet such wonderful people.

and in book news, I am still writing "The House in the Leaves" and hope to finish sometime this year. All in the Leaves and Leaves for Chloe are available online, should you wish to read the first two in the series.

Catch up again, soon!

Paddy's Christmas and a new kitchen

Since we moved into the new house, we've had some work to do indoors, firstly a new kitchen!

I'm pleased to say that it's almost complete. We installed this ourselves and I'm delighted with how it's coming into shape. We're waiting for the sales to buy new flooring.

and little Paddy, like us, thoroughly enjoyed his first Christmas in our new house!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas - and wish you all the best for the New Year.

Christmas Eve 2015

Christmas Eve- and the year has flown past!
Looking back, it's been a tough year and then, a beautiful one.
We have been through the mill with hubby and his workplace, but thanks to the kindness of the legal and medical professions, we have made it through -  and find ourselves in a much nicer place.

In the process we have lost some friends. Friends of the season, I like to think of them as. Farewell to you, at the end of this year, I wish you well for the future. As they have left, there has been room made for new friends. Hello and welcome to you all. I hope you prove to be friends of a lifetime.

If you read this blog regularly, you know that we have moved to the beautiful country of Scotland, where we have been welcomed with open arms.

You may also be wondering, what's happening with the storytelling? I can tell you, I have picked up the computer and the third in the Leaves Series is progressing well. I hope to bring you Anna and Chloe, Angus and Seamus in their new adventure, some time in the summer.

Paddy, our jack russell, adores his new lifestyle. The countryside he finds himself in is rich in smells and friends. We see him grow in confidence daily.

I'm all ready for Christmas, and this new chapter. I wish you the blessings of the season. See you in the New Year.

On my wall, the amazingly talented Kim!

Today I picked up a couple of paintings that I'd had professionally framed.
Do you remember when we were raising funds for Lottie to have a dance wheelchair? The amazingly talented Kim Lintern donated some of her paintings to help raise funds.
When I saw these two included in the sale, I had to have them.. and today they came back to me and are on my wall..

Trying to photograph them was proving tricky, due to reflections  -

So I popped them on the floor, on the patterned rug to give me contrast, then cropped the final picture..

So now you have a better idea of the beautiful work, hanging on my wall.

If you'd like to see more of Kim's art, you can visit here website HERE
or connect with her on Twitter  - @kimlinternart