A little Saturday walk

This morning we went to the farmers market and bought some goodies.

Tomatoes, super friggin expensive asparagus, and



a leek so big it doesn't fit in our little fridge.


We walked around the castle hill,


to the front of the castle (no idea what the bleachers are for)


and started our walk. We've had the book "24 great walks in Edinburgh" since we moved here, but our Camond Island walk was the only time we used it. And this nice, sunny (mostly) day was perfect for another walk.

We followed walk 1 of the book, which went past the castle, through little alleyways,


and past Deacon's House, which was where we had lunch, and down the Royal Mile.



Deacon's House was once the workshop of the William Brodie, a respected cabinet maker who secretly copied the keys of his wealthy clients, and then at night burgled their houses. He was eventually found out, fled to Amsterdam, was captured and then hanged by the gallows which it's been said he helped to design.



Sadly the food in the cafe was mediocre (we didn't find out until after we had ordered that they served a drink of hot chocolate mixed with whiskey, so we might give the cafe another try). It did however have a few comical statues out front, and inside there was plenty to read about the history of the place and walls painted with scenes from Brodie's life.




And ...
When we came back home I finished off another finger of the glove! Woohoo. Only one more finger, and the thumb to go!

Lovely Spring Day

I had a lovely day today. I went to the spinning and weaving guild's open house in the morning. I didn't get to speak to people who helped me learn last time I was there, I have a weird thing against interrupting two people in a discussion. But, I did buy this:

100 grams of lamb's wool. And I bought A LOT of other fibers too, but I'm most excited about the lamb. Last week I checked out the Beginner's Guide to Feltmaking by Shirley Ascher & Jane Bateman from the library and one of the projects in the book is a simple little 2D(ish) sheep, and the lamb's wool looks perfect for the project, not to mention an amusing choice. I'm a fan of the sheep.

In the afternoon Jessamy and I took a walk along The Water of Leith, which is actually not that far from where I live, but I hadn't made it over in that direction until today.


ummm, I thought I was in Scotland.

It was a lovely day for a walk, so lovely in fact that I actually took my coat off at one point (gasp). I guess it really is spring. Horrah!

Of course this means that I really should finish Jessamy's gloves, because it's going to be summer before I know it and J would probably feel a bit silly if, after all my hard work, I make her wear the gloves out into the outside world during the hot(ish) summer months.
So ... I'm giving myself a deadline of Friday to finish them.

I think I can do it. Probably. Maybe.

Anyone else have any self-imposed knitting deadlines coming up?

Day 14 of Hadrian's Wall Walk

Happy Halloween!

Today was Day 14 our our coast-to-coast walk.
The weather report for today predicted clouds in Newcastle and rain in Carlisle.
We decided to take a risk and walk, even though at this point in the journey we're closer to Carlisle than Newcastle.

We were only rained on briefly, and fortunately were armed with two umbrellas, so weather-wise it turned out just fine. I found myself singing several times during the course of the day, so I think that means I enjoyed myself.

Just to shake things up a bit I'll start at the end.

The last thing we saw was Lanercost Priory. A portion of the priory, built in the 12th century, has been restored and is currently a working church. The rest has fallen into ruins.
Complete with tombs.
And, oddly enough, the disrepair hasn't stopped two burials, with two "recent" tombs, one dating from the Victorian age.



At first we thought this was just a random little gate as there was no signage near it. After a few minutes of walking though we saw a sign on the other side of this wall and realized we should have gone through it to continue on the path. Still no explanation why it's so small. I think we ended up deciding it was made by the English gnomes.


A furry cute cow.
Rain cloud!

This is the start of our trip, at the Birdoswald fort which we saw last time. This is the site of an old orchard which they are in the process of reviving. It was one of our shorter walking days, with the trip being only 4.3 miles and just under 4 hours. But, if there is a next time we will probably make up for it as Carlisle is only 12 miles away!