The Devil is in the Detail

By Christmas I had all of the rooms of my Dolls House decorated, and with enough furniture in them to look real. My next task is to continue to "dress" them. To make them look lived in, with different scenes in the rooms.  This is fiddly, and quite expensive if you buy everything. I'm trying to make as much I can and pick up pieces where ever I can.

The pink bedroom (this belongs to a teenage girl I think), has a box of chocolates and box of photographs

as well as various toiletries on the bedside table and a gift box on the floor

and jewelry, shells, combs and mirrors on the chest.

It's important in the nursery to have toys, and books on the bookshelf (all of these are readable)

as well as bottles, nappies and bedding for the baby:

My dining room is set for a sumptious afternoon tea

and I'm trying to get as much detail in as possible, so there are glasses and bottles in the dresser, and cutlery in the drawer

In the living room there are ornaments, flowers, teapots and even a goldfish in a bowl.

Finally the kitchen - there's a dresser with coffee and grinder, herbs and various bits of crockery, as well as a table set for breakfast and a vegetable preparation area:

Oh, and I almost forgot, the music room now has a banjo in it:

Graves, rain, mist, snow and photographs

Got back last night from lovely weekend in Scotland. Stu's family had bought him a photography course for his 60th birthday last September, so on Friday we set off for Kirkcudbright. Interesting trip across the Snake Pass in freezing fog, with lots of snow on the hills, but none on the road.

Stopped in Kendal for lunch, and got to the hotel by 4pm. We were staying at the Selkirk Arms Hotel, allegedly where Robbie Burns wrote the Selkirk Grace, and if anyone is in the area, I would recommend it. After a rest, we went down to meet the rest of the group - we were in the capable hands of Philip Dunn and his wife Norene, and including Stu there were 5 photographers and me! A very friendly group, and Philip and Norene went out of their way to include me in the group. Great food, some nice wine and good company.

Saturday dawned damp and misty. The photographers did their thing, and in the morning I went for a walk round the town (which is pronounce Kirk-COO-Bree). Lots of things to like about it -  the brightly painted houses:

The tendency for local residents to stack things in their windows:

and lots of interesting passages:

and of course, the shops! The town has a reputation as an artists town, and there are many art galleries and designer shops to look round. I had a very pleasant (and expensive!) morning. It didn't really clear up, but I was sure the photographers would have plenty to go at. This was the view of the harbour:

Joined them for lunch back at the hotel, which was at the bottom of a misty bank

Then after lunch went to find the Stewartry Museum,  which was just behind the hotel. It was amazing, and as someone commented, it needed picking up and putting in a museum itself:

While I was there I picked up a leaflet about the Kirkcudbright cemetery, and decided to walk up the hill to it. It was very atmospheric

I was the only person there, not another soul in sight. Lots of mist and elaborate graves, including those of martyrs and a Gypsy King.

There was supposed to be a fantastic view over the River Dee, but I couldn't see it. Just mist and drizzle. Had a great time though - lots to look at, including some "table-top" graves with carved legs.

Not a lot of colour up there, apart from my newly acquired bright pink hat!

Back to the hotel for afternoon tea, homemade shortbread, and a long soak in the bath before dinner. Another lovely meal, although Stuart wasn't feeling too good so missed it. Next morning we woke to more rain, but not the snow that had been forecast. Whilst the intrepid photographers went in the rain to photograph Colin in his shed (!), I curled up in the lounge of the hotel with my iPad and read the newspapers and a good book. After lunch it was time to say our goodbyes - I had had a thoroughly good time with some lovely people, and am told that Philip is an excellent teacher and photographer so Stu had learned a lot which he now needs to put into practice. You can read a post about the weekend on Philip's website here. He does week long courses in Menorca, which sounds good to me....

So, set off about 2, expecting a 4 hour journey. I kept my eye on the road situation, and although the M62 had snow, the Snake Pass was reported clear. So, we got to Glossop and there was just rain. Looked out of town towards the Snake, just rain. So we set off. on the way to the summit, the rain turned to snow. It got thicker, cars slowed down, we started to skid, and I wanted to go back! Eventually a car coming down warned us off, so we turned round. Then we saw a snow plough going up, so turned round again to follow it (not my idea!!). Snow plough disappeared, snow got thicker, road got slippier, we skidded sideways several times, all automatic braking systems went berserk, and went we started getting warning messages that the whole braking system had failed, we had a full and frank exchange of views about whether to continue or turn round. We turned round. Decided to try a different route, which was snow free till we got to high ground at Owler Bar  where it was terrible again. But, we made it home 6 and a half hours later, to a cooked meal which Dan had prepared for us, and made it to the pub quiz! Interesting end to a great weekend.

Mallet Finger?

On Saturday evening, as I was rushing to go out to a Burns Supper, I was hurriedly taking my socks off, when I accidently bent by finger under my foot. I know, sounds stupid doesn't it. I felt a twang, and before I looked at my hand, knew what I'd see. A bent middle finger tip that although I could straighten by pushing it up, bent straight back down again. Bit like this.

Was a bit sore,  not really hurting, but felt really weird. A Mallet Finger! And the reason I knew what one was - I did it to my other middle finger a few years ago when I trapped it in a drawer.
It's an injury to the extensor tendon, which normally keeps the finger straight. The tendon tears, and sometimes takes some bone with it.

I also knew what the treatment was. Off to minor injuries unit, where they were all really amused that I can done it taking a sock off. X ray showed that only a small amount of bone had come off with the tendon, so I had my splint taped on, and was given strict instructions not to take it off for 6 weeks, only to clean it and then I mustn't be tempted to bend the end to see if its fixed.  Put paid to my knitting for a bit.

Anyway, made it to the Burns Supper, and it was an excellent one too, you can just see the first whisky in the corner....

Flying owls, cocktails and pool

Wednesday was my birthday, so woke up to a coffee and glass of bucks fizz in bed. Very nice!  Opened my presents which included perfume, a gothic mirror for the garden, a candle holder made out of a silver ladle, and a whole day's falconry experience!  Fab.

Got up to find bacon sandwiches had been cooked, so we washed those down with more Bucks Fizz, and then I set off to my falconry hour as a birthday treat. Love flying falcons, owls and hawks. Flew a brown owl, a harris hawk:

 

A buzzard and a young kestrel who was spooked by the snow and flew into nearby trees for about 20 minutes. My favourite was a Great Grey Owl. He was lovely.

Looks like I'm holding a glove puppet doesn't it? He was only a baby, about 4 months old, and he let me stroke his head which was really soft.

Owls have very bad eyesight close up, and rely on movement to catch prey, so when he flew to my glove he couldn't find the food on it, and had to feel around with his beak till he got it. Birds of prey live up to 30 years, so build up a real bond with their handlers, but one of them was not in a good mood - the last couple of times I've done this I've flown Shadow, the Golden Eagle, but this time she was in a bad mood, and Darren didn't want any of us to hold her because he didn't want any of us to end up in hospital! But we did get to see her close up and take pictures.

Really enjoyed it, and looking forward to my whole day. Then it was back to the villa for tea, coffee, hot chocolate and cake. Some of the hot chocolate might have had additives in!

More pool was played, then some of us set off to the spa, whilst the others headed for the sauna and hot tub. The spa is great - about 11 different steam/sauna rooms, as well as a heated outdoor pool, foot spas, a zen garden and an outdoor balcony where sat wrapped in blankets looking over the snowy forest. We even had a lie down on the water beds which was a weird experience, don't know how people sleep on them! Very relaxed, we walked back for champagne and nibbles before going out to eat:

Then back to the villa for the funniest hour of the holiday. One of our party was having a bit of a moan about playing games on Christmas Eve with his wife and her family when he'd rather be in the pub, and describing the worst game of all - Winkles Wedding. His wife then produced it, and we played it.

It was absolutely hilarious. Not particularly the game, but everyone's reaction to it. Annie was in stiches reading the story, and Pete was really keen to play it!

Basically, someone reads a story, written I think around 1920, and there are blanks in it, which the players have to fill in by reading what it says on the first card they turn over. Some examples are a pickled onion, and a giddy kipper. What a good time was had by all!
More late night pool and a very late night in the hot tub, and some of us were a little delicate in the morning, so we went for another walk, this time round the lake, but finishing at the bird hide again.
This time we were rewarded with a woodpecker.

We were directed to another hide which we didn't know about, and saw a nuthatch

and a beautiful Bullfinch which looked so bright against the snow

Slow wander back, coffee in the village coffee shop, back to the villa for a rest, and them some of us went into the Dome. Very warm, we swam outside,  tried some of the flumes, then sat in the hot  tub and the tropical atmosphere chatting.

Back for another home cooked meal, more pool, more cocktails, more hot tub, more games.

Next morning we had to be out by 10, so up earlier than we had been before, skipping breakfast, but calling at Cafe Rouge later for eggs benedict, which was lovely. Then another walk round the lake, which was still frozen

More wildlife spotting

Coffee in the Country Club which had been closed all week for maintenance but was now open, and a last look at the bird hide, where there was a flock of long tailed tits

And then home. A great week with friends - lovely company and a great way to spend a birthday.

Center Parcs in the snow

Time for another Center Parcs trip - being going here for about 25 years, usually in January for two reasons, mainly because there's a lot of family birthdays, and also because its cheap!  Booked a villa with a hottub, steam and sauna suite and a games room, and set off on Monday to meet our 6 friends who were joining us. arrived early and had lunch in Strada, then went off to find the villa. There was a lot of snow!

Whilst the men sorted the cars out, me and Jane went to hire a couple of bikes. The bikes were a bit buried:

Luckily there were some undercover so we didn't have to dig them out. we were told to keep only to cleared paths, and bring the bikes into the villa to thaw the brakes out before using them. The view from the villa was stunning

and we didn't go out for the rest of the day, just unpacked - we hadn't coordinated bringing drinks, and I think we all brought enough for all of us! Good job the games room had a long shelf.

Had a great afternoon and evening playing pool, drinking Prosecco  in the Hot Tub, and having a lovely home made meal.

Woke up on Tuesday to bright sunshine, there had been no wind, so the snow was still on the tees. this was the view from our bedroom window, taken whilst having a lovely coffee in bed.

Our garden had been visited in the night by a largish animal, the paw prints were too big for a fox, so we thought it might be a badger. We decided to go for a walk, round the edge of the forest, everywhere we went we saw beautiful frozen ponds and trees.

Eventually we reached the bird hide

Sat for a while watching the birds feeding, and I loved the trees which are full of little patches of different colours

We showed one of the rangers a photo of the pawprints we'd seen in the morning, and she confirmed that they were from a badger, and that there was a set near our villa. Then we walked back through the forest, which was beautiful.

Had coffee and lunch at The Pancake House overlooking the completely frozen lake, then back to Villa, and straight back into the hot tub!

Then we went bowling, the the bright, neon lit bowling alley. It's fair to say some were better than others, but we had a fun time anyway!

Back to the villa for another home cooked meal, beginning with champagne and canapes. Then we made our own entertainment - lots of pool was played. Stuart mixed cocktails - mainly banana daquiris and white russians. We played games, including doing a couple of pub quizzes and some board games. The hot tub got some more use, and two of us stayed in it till the early hours, hoping to catch sight of the badger, for whom we'd left food out. Needless to say, we didn't see him!