Scots Corner - The Lady of the Lake is where?

There's a beautiful area in the Trossachs called Loch Katrine. It's the main drinking water source for Glasgow so strict guidelines are in place as to what can and cannot happen there. Queen Victoria did the honors of "turning the handle" in 1859. Originally is was considered a remote area to visit until "The Lady of the Lake" by Sir Walter Scott was published in 1810. The loch was the central location of the poem, based on older Arthurian legends. The painting "Landscape with a Tourist at Loch Katrine" by John Knox was inspired by the poem.

Tourists, and locals, can take a pleasant boat ride on the screw-driven steamer SS Sir Walter Scott which has been sailing round the loch since 1920. If you enjoy hill climbing then there is a grand view looking down on the loch from Ben A'an.
For all US born natives - did you know that "Hail To The Chief" was inspired by the poem?
For more background information about the poem visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lady_of_the_Lake_(poem)

Blog of the week - Polka Dot Pineapple

ALOHA. Arlette or "Lettie" from Hawaii has a lovely blog with great tutorials that I have been visiting, on and off, since last summer.
It's a fun blog to read and I enjoy her sense of humor.

http://mousechirpy-polkadotpineapple.blogspot.com/.
At the moment I am re-reading all the pincushion tutorials she has since I am participating in a pincushion swap. The photograph shows her "Heart to Heart Valentine" pin/brooch which seems appropriate for the month of February :)
As part of my learning how to do fabric origami I'm going to try making her folded hexagon yo-yo. You can find that tutorial, along with the others, in her sidebar. (Very convenient). The project I am really intrigued by is the wire edged flowers. Now if I could just get me and my "all thumbs" fingers to cooperate with liquid glue then maybe I might tackle that one :)

Some recent postcard additions

From some of the ladies at Postcard Pizzazz
Landscape - Ildika
Circles - Mary and Maureen
Stress Free - Cindy (2) and Pam

Scots Corner - Carry A Poem 2010

There's an interesting event called Carry a Poem, going on in Edinburgh at the moment. Their City of Literature reading campaign started on the 1st and will run all month. Lots of events are planned and thousands of books and poetry pocketcards will be given away (presumably to the locals).
Visit http://carryapoem.com/ to find out more.

So what is your favorite poem and when were you introduced to it? What memories does it bring back to you? Do you carry it around with you and how?

Snow Day

Blog of the week - Cherry Hill Cottage

Every so often the "happily retired" interior designer in me still needs to go check out what is happening in "that" part of the planet,  blog wise. Tina at http://cherryhillcottage.typepad.com/ is fun, bright and cheerful AND she has a loooong list of design links that I am slowly working my way through. Design wise I think I would call Tina's style "fun vintage". Her sister Kathy does "pretty country".
I openly confess to liking Tina's recipes (check out her pineapple upside down cake)  and that sweet dog of hers could just melt your heart :)

Magic Carpet Ride at A Whimsical Bohemian and other stuff

I confess I have been blog hopping. My little carpet has been on supersonic. I've visited almost all the sites and now I'm going back to the ones I really like and hang out for a while. There has been a plethora of scrapbooking/paper crafts, jewelry, glass work, paintings, doll makers, etc. Not a whole lot of quilting or stitching, and so far I'm the only one doing a genealogy feature (#536) :)
My photograph is to show you what I have been writing about at my hand stitching blog. http://stitchacrosstheborder.blogspot.com/ It's still a work in progress but I am really pleased with it so far.
We have a snow day today and YES we do have snow happening :) Kris is working on her ceramics project and Nik is watching Scooby Doo and The Food Channel. He spent a good chunk of this past week building a model of the Globe Theatre for a school project.
My fabric postcard basic supplies are now replenished and swaps are in the process of being made. I'm going to try out one of Mrs. Moen's tutorials for some of them.

Scots Corner - Robert Burns

Don't anyone reach out and smack me from across the "big puddle" but I am not a huge lover of Robert Burns poetry. However it would be cheap of me not to acknowledge Burns Night (last night), which if you've ever participated in one can be a whoooole lot of fun (once the speeches are all taken care of).
If you want to try reading some of his poetry out loud here's the complete works http://www.robertburns.org/works/ don't forget to roooooollll your R's :)
The vintage postcard is courtesy of Wikipedia.
The Bard visited my home town of Stirling on a couple of occasions and this is what he had to say after his first visit in August of 1787 '..... just now, from Stirling Castle, I have seen by the setting sun the glorious prospect of the windings of Forth through the rich carse of Stirling, and skirting the equally rich carse of Falkirk.'

Blog(s) of the week - two for your delight and delectation :)

Recently I was talking with one of my girls about fish recipes which led me to look at cooking blogs. (That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.) I found this GORGEOUS one and got totally side tracked :) I'm also biased since it comes from Britain. Marie Alice Joan Rayner is a Canadian living in England who has gotten totally turned on to the cooking culture there. Her blog is a delight to look at and her enthusiasm is infectious. I love her "What's in Season" side bar feature. http://theenglishkitchen.blogspot.com/ MAJ if you want a "clean up behind you person" I'll be happy to oblige :0

So spring will be here soon and those of you with gardens know what that means :) Planting time (in our case small). If you live state side,  what better way to create some of the dishes at The English Kitchen than to plant, grow and harvest your ingredients. (I heard some of you impatient ones out there saying ...... cann't wait that long). Chelsea has an interesting concept called Survival Seeds at their site http://hometownseeds.com I love the picture of the little red house/barn on their main page. Cute.

The very eagle eyed amongst you will notice a common link between the two sites. Hint - The Trumpet Shall Sound.

On a totally different subject. There is a major event going on at A Whimsical Bohemian. Click on the link on my side bar and go check out the world wide giveaway participants on her side bar. It's filling up VERY fast. Enjoy "The Magic Carpet Ride" as you visit many wonderful blogs and maybe make new friends from around the world :) (Hop on over to my other blog http://ourscottishheritage.blogspot.com
to find out what I have decided to do.)

Tutorial - Origami Windmill Doll Cushion

A fun project that takes about 90 minutes. (This is my prototype so it will probably take less time next time round.)
I used scraps to make mine.
Materials
4, 3" cream tone on tone squares
4, 31/2" background fabric squares
11/2" strips of both fabrics to sew together for the back
Stuffing
Neutral color sewing thread.

For this project you are going to be using up some scrap fabric. (Most of us have scraps from other projects.)
Before we do any sewing we are going to play at the iron.
You will need your 4 small squares for this.
Step 1 - Fold square in half, diagonally and press flat.
Step 2 - Take left bottom corner to right bottom corner and press flat.
Repeat this for each windmill section.

This is a "precaution step". Lay all your windmill sections out to make sure you have them going in the right direction.