37. Royal artwork

On Thursday morning the older children of Johnshaven Primary School hosted a very posh Royal Wedding garden party in the playground.  This photo shows one of the colourful posters that adorned the outside of the school building.

36. Street Party

I  couldn't just post one photo today - it's not every day there's a street party in the village!

On the day of Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding Johnshaven had (what we believe to be) the only official outdoor street party in Aberdeenshire.  What a fab afternoon it was - warm and sunny for the most part, loads to eat and drink and good company.

Two teams were challenged to create a wedding dress out of newspaper, sellotape, net and pipecleaners.  This is my daughter, Eilidh, preparing to become a bride...

...and here she is in a one-off designer pink creation.  Beside her is Katy modelling the other team's equally glamorous white dress.

The kids were very excited when a scramble took place - this is a tradition at Scottish weddings where a handful of coins is thrown for the children to collect.  In this case, a bucket full of coins was thrown into the air and the kids scrambled on the grass to grab as much as they could.

35. Training

Here's a photo of last night's training session for the Johnshaven girls' football team. 

They are currently basking in the glow of success following their resounding victory at a tournament held on the pitch at Montrose FC last weekend.  They defeated 6 other teams and not one goal got past our keeper - YAY!!

With a school roll of just 36, when it comes to competing in sporting competitions the teams have to be made up from a wide spread of ages.  For several years the Johnshaven girls have entered an enthusiastic team with some children as young as Primary 2 who then have to face teams from larger school where the very best footballers are chosen from their Primary 7 girls. 

Last year our school had no girls at all in P7, and the year before that there was only one P7 girl who was interested in football.

Now it's our turn to shine with four P7s in the team!  There's also a P6, two P5s, and a P4 plus wee Calli in P2 came on towards the end of the tournament.  Unfortunately when the four P7s move up to secondary school this summer the team may be struggling for numbers again. 

34. Blues

A lovely, tranquil scene in the inner harbour. 

Funny thing - if I was painting this I wouldn't do blue sky, blue sea and two blue boats.  I'd make the harbour wall purple and one of the boats would be red, but it actually looks lovely just the way it is!

33. Up the hill

This is one of those great spots where the village meets the countryside.  The gate in the centre leads to a lovely tree-lined walk along the old railway line.

This wee bit of road links Seaview Terrace with Station Place.

32. Just lovely :)

This is one of my favourite signs of spring.  These gorgeous purple flowers appear on this wall every year.  Unfortunately I know absolutely nothing about plants so I can't tell you what kind they are - any idea?

31. Rainbow

Yesterday I was weather watching more than usual as our friends were riding up on a Harley Davidson all the way from Bedfordshire - a 1000 mile round trip -  their first visit to Johnshaven, and I was desperate for the haar to disappear in time for their arrival so they could to see the village at its best.

They arrived in a bit of light drizzle, but fortunately it did eventually clear and we enjoyed the beautiful evening lighting that you only get when sunshine follows rain. 

This photo was taken by my friend, Craig, and shows the recently fire-damaged old church on the left.

30. Looking down

The sun came back yesterday, so I took advantage of the blue skies and went for a short walk with my camera.  This one's looking down to the harbour from Seaview Terrace.  My youngest daughter has walked past this view on the way to the primary school for the last seven years, and I'm proud to say that she does appreciate it!  Soon she'll be joining her big sister on the long bus journey to secondary school in Stonehaven and things will never be quite the same again. 

29. What's lurking out there?

I took this one yesterday afternoon.  My friend said the haar always makes her think of the Pirates of the Caribbean films, so now I'm fantasizing about the Black Pearl sailing into Johnshaven harbour... her black sails slowly emerging through the mist...Capt Jack Sparrow swashbuckling his way into my shop...

28. Easter Fun Day

Today it was Johnshaven Primary School's Easter Fun Day.  I took loads of photos that I'd love to share with the followers of this blog, but there are very tight rules about these things, and although the school has permission from the parents to use their children's photos online, I don't.

The headteacher was very supportive and keen for me to use them, but I don't have the time to contact individual parents for their permission.  Instead I'm passing them on to the school for them to use as they see fit.

So, not wanting to upset anyone, I'm erring on the side of caution and using this photo that doesn't easily identify the children. 

My daughter tells me that later on the teachers were brave enough to take a turn in the stocks - always an excellent way of raising cash!

The ugly wall behind the stocks is a 'temporary' classroom which, like most temporary classrooms, has been there for decades.  I did hear a rumour that it's due to be removed as it's no longer in use.

Until 2007 this was in full time use as a classroom, but sadly the school was reduced to just two classes due to a decline in the school roll.

27. 80s night

OK, I'm cheating a bit here as I didn't actually take this photo but I do want the Photo-a-Day blog to reflect all aspects of life in Johnshaven and I wasn't there to see this stunning pair in person (I was at home being a party pooper).

Big thanks to Jimmy for this photo of him (on the right) and Gary (landlord and chef extraordinaire) taken on Saturday at the Anchor Hotel's 80s night.  Looks like I missed a fun night!

26. Haar

The haar has rolled in from the sea and is covering the village at the moment.  I hear it extends about five miles inland and as far up the coast as Kinneff. 

Yesterday, on my way back from Aberdeen, I saw the haar sitting out at sea - an amazing sight which I hope to capture for this blog sometime if the conditions are right in Johnshaven.

25. Moon

Last night, from my living room window, I saw the most amazing moon with its beautiful, sparkling reflection shimmering on the sea at the harbour mouth so I grabbed my camera and dashed outside.

What the photo unfortunately doesn't show is the heron that was standing quietly on the beach until it saw me coming and flew off, silhouetted briefly by the sparkling water.  Absolutely stunning!

24. Picturesque cottage

This has to be the most photographed cottage in the village - the pan tiled roof, crisp white walls and blue shutters make it picture perfect!  It must also have one of the best views in Johnshaven as it's at the bottom of Anchor Lane, looking directly on to the harbour.

23. Phoenix from the flames

It's great to see Tom working on this boat which was right outside Richard's shed when it was destroyed by fire a month ago.  (If you haven't already, you can read about it on my other blog.)

Miraculously the boat only received minor damage which can be easily repaired (or so Tom says!).  If you look carefully you'll see the top part of the boat closest to the camera is blackened.

22. Lobsters beware!

It's another lovely sunny day here in Johnshaven :)

Here's one I took this morning.  Mark's off out to sea, presumably to check his creels.  Lobster for tea?



21. Even more daffies

I didn't have to go far to take this one - these daffs are right outside Starfish Studio.
I have a tendency to kill plants, but daffies are so easy peasy that even I can grow them!

20. Tulips

A wee change from daffies - these tulips make a lovely splash of red against the blue shutters.

19. More daffies

This one was taken today, down by the harbour in the beautiful early morning sunshine.

18. Crows

Looking skywards from Barons Pade.  I'll try to remember to revisit this scene when the trees are all leafy and green.

17. New houses

After what seems like an eternity, these four new flats at Golden Acre are nearly complete.  Next door there will also be two semis built in the same style.  These have been built on the site of a house that was destroyed in a fire a few years ago. and, as far as I am aware, will be owned and run by the council. 

16. Bags

I'm just back from my holiday and am far too up to my eyeballs in unpacking and washing to go out and take a photo today, so here's one from shortly before we went away.

This is my hubby, Ewan, owner of Johnshaven Stores, showing off our new jute bags.  These have been available for several years in various different colours - this new batch feature green printing and for the first time, there's a funky black version.

15. Red earth

Just look at the beautiful rich, red clay soil that this area is well known for.  I wish you could smell it - there's nothing quite like the smell of a freshly ploughed field! 

FYI - this is the field between the main coast road and Cemetery Road.