Summer July North Fife

East Lomond from Auchtermuchty Common viewed over The Howe of North Fife.

A wee boat on The River Tay off Parkhill farm, towing something?

Wheat Barley North Fife

Texture.

Looking at Wheat and Barley from the point of view of colour and texture. These images are best viewed enlarged which you can do with a click. Much of my photographic work involves these qualities along with composition, patterns, light and form. The mundane can be really rich. We all tend to be too busy to notice. I am indebted to John Ruskin.

Fungi North Fife

Today I came across these wonderful pristine fungi sprouting out of a dead horse chestnut tree. I suspect they are called Dryad's Saddle but certainly a Polypore anyway and probably edible, you can go first.

Passing Clouds North Fife

We still bask in a wonderful summer though right on the edge of a low pressure area which give very occasional showers, not enough to really water the garden but heh who's complaining, the days are good.



Passing clouds over Brunton North Fife.

North Fife July 6th

Flisk North Fife 6th July. Tonight the perimeter of the house is being patrolled by bats, it's true there are many moths on the wing which form their food. I used to be able to hear them when younger but now I rely upon the signs from moths which suddenly drop down when bats are about. They know.

Ewe and lambs near Flisk North Fife, the attention of one was drawn to me when I mentioned mint sauce.


I don't think it's a fetid rose but it seems unusually attractive to flies.

A sea of Barley North Fife

Yesterday after a long settled high pressure period an Atlantic low came sweeping across Scotland, whilst enjoying the random swirl on the barley fields the same wind was flattening my garden peas, beans and herbs. Such is life.

Rock Plants Lindores Abbey North Fife

Rock plants along with mosses and lichens resplendent on a wall at Lindores Abbey Newburgh North Fife. They just arrive, not planted but benefit from the lime mortar holding the whinstone wall in place.

Mother Hen Flisk North Fife

Mother hen at Upper Flisk North fife. Today the first of seven eggs hatched it looks an unusually white chick compared to the normal yellow, could be the camera of course but anyway we're looking forward to the others emerging over the next few days. It's a cross of Lohmann Brown and Orpingtons X, or cross cross cross. They lay good eggs anyway.

Monimail Tower Project Permaculture Course North Fife

Yesterday I visited Monimail Tower to return some books to the community library housed within and show my visiting daughter and children from LA America one of the riches of North Fife. Well worth visiting.

Monimail Tower is steeped in history with its situation upon the two roads that link Scotland's religious capital with two of the kingdom's most important cities would have made Monimail an attractive property for the Bishops of St Andrews and from the time of its earliest documentation (1206), Monimail was an estate belonging to the Bishop. Around 1319 William Lamberton (Bishop of St. Andrews 1298-1328) constructed a manor house of some quality at Monimail "in the period of stability that followed Bannockburn" ("Historic and Architectural Information relating to Melville House" - or HAIRMH). More History





Monimail Tower Project Permaculture Course.










A reviewer: An excellent, well written and to say the least, timely book. If you've found your way to this page, you NEED to read this book. It's full of practical advice, and above all else shows the beauty and integrety of the ecosystem that is planet Earth. Whilst highlighting our present lemming-like rush towards oblivion, what this book has to recomend it are its practical, common-sense solutions to our present environmental problems. As the auther himself says
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Read this book and invest in a future.
Buy here. Permaculture: A Designers' Manual: A Designer's Manual

Jane Wilkinson teaches Willow Basket Weaving. Newburgh North Fife

Jane Wilkinson, happy in her teaching.
Summer School with Jane Wilkins Decorative Willow and Felt Basketry.
Make a decorative vessel using traditional willow weaving techniques combined with felted pieces. This course is suitable for complete beginners in both disciplines. Over 3 days you will learn to make a circular willow basket using Scottish grown willows and transform the structure by adding felted pieces into the side weave. You will also be able to thread or tie found objects such as shells, twigs, feathers and beads into the structure in order to produce a unique, sculptural vessel.
Jane Wilkinson makes traditional baskets, woven fences and coracles. She also produces contemporary willow work and has exhibited her craft throughout Scotland, the north of England and New York. She has been weaving since 1995 and has been both chair and vice chair of the Scottish Basket Makers Circle. She has also judged the basketry class at the Royal Highland Show.

Finished baskets of the second day of the course at The Steeple Arts Newburgh North Fife.

Handmade Baskets from nature's colourful materials [Paperback].
In almost every country of the world, there is a tradition of basketmaking, using plants that are indigenous to that particular area. But today, the plastic bag and cardboard box have replaced the basket's role of years gone by. However, there is something quite irresistible about the smell and the tactile appeal of a country hedgerow basket which is not only home-made, but is sometimes even homegrown, and this book aims to revive interest in this traditional and useful craft. The book offers a step-by-step account of how to make a selection of strong, natural-looking baskets using materials gathered from the annual prunings of a wide selection of bushes, and those which are farmed and can be bought in shops. There are step-by-step photographs of the five basic stages of making a simple round basket, followed by photographs of variations of design and weave, such as oval baskets, handles and borders. Finally, there is a picture gallery of original creations which incorporate other gathered materials such as pine cones, leaves and shells. A very useful book. To Buy Now.Handmade Baskets from nature's colourful materials

Basket work in progress and felting.

Class in action.

Jane Wilkinson teaches Willow Basket Weaving.

Jane is offering a further course at Kindrogan Field Studies Centre, Pitlochry in mid October. Phone 01250 870150

Redcurrant Food North Fife

Redcurrant flowers earlier this year at Flisk North Fife.



Redcurrants. Now is the time, each day I do battle with a huge population of Blackbirds as we compete for the ripest, they tend to win of course having been at them since day break, 4-00 am, I'm out 3 or 4 hours later making a clatter to chase them off. Today I gathered a Kilo or two and so we share.
Here is a recipe for redcurrant sauce which is a mouth watering accompaniment with fish and meats particularly duck.

450 grams of redcurrants
1 tablespoon caster sugar
a pinch of salt.

Add all to a pan and bring to the boil, remove from heat immediately, let stand and then puree most through a sieve, return to the pan, stir with the few remaining whole fruits and pour over the fish or meat.