Wednesday 30 November 2011

232. Creels


Some time ago the Photo-a-Day pic was of a new delivery of creels sitting at the harbour.  Some of them have now had the netting added.  I'm sure there's a technical term for this - can anyone educate me?

I think I've changed the settings so that anyone can post comment without having to register/ sign in.

Tuesday 29 November 2011

231. Impending storm


It's not actually impending, there is a storm blowing right now, but at least it wasn't raining when I took this photo at about 9:30 this morning.  What the photo doesn't show is the fact that I was struggling to hold the camera still as I was being buffeted about by the wind.

No doubt these plastic boxes and all of that seaweed will be thrown onto the road at high tide.

Sunday 27 November 2011

Saturday 26 November 2011

228. Christmas Fair


Here's the Christmas Fair in full swing in the Village Hall today.  It is organised by a different village group every year - they hire tables out to other groups and provide refreshments in the wee hall at the back. 

This year it's the turn of Johnshaven Primary School to run the event - you can just make out the Santa hats of some children on the stage, singing Christmassy songs.

It is a great fundraiser for all the participating groups and is always very well supported by the community. 

Friday 25 November 2011

227. Now you see it, now you don't!


I've tried to add short video clips to the Photo-a-Day blog but, infuriatingly, they've never actually uploaded properly.  So, these photos will have to do - a wave - now you see it, now you don't!
These were taken this morning.  It's beautiful here but very, very chilly.

Thursday 24 November 2011

Tuesday 22 November 2011

224. Unseasonal growth


Even a plant ignoramus like me can see that these bulbs are popping up a bit early in the Starfish Studio tubs.  On Radio Scotland this morning Fred Macaulay said that there's snow on the way, so I hope they're not doomed. 

Monday 21 November 2011

223. Narrow road


This is a perfect example of why everyone should drive slowly in the village.  
At this point, as you move from South Street to Dock Street, the road is extremely narrow.  

Friday 18 November 2011

220. All gone


Waird's Park caravan and camping site is now closed for the winter.  I think 2011 was a good season for them, it certainly seemed busy.  Now all the tourers are gone and it's very quiet along there. 

Thursday 17 November 2011

219. Play House


In the school playground is this gorgeous wee playhouse, recently given a beautiful makeover by Kelly Shankland.

Wednesday 16 November 2011

218. Harbour from the beach


I think this photo's a little confusing - it looks like there's just one great big harbour wall which makes the whole perspective seem wrong.  Can you see what I mean or is it just me?!

Tuesday 15 November 2011

217. The bigger picture


Here's the fork in the path revisited and from a different angle so you can see the bigger picture, looking across to Montrose and Ferryden in the far distance.

Monday 14 November 2011

216. Old railway line again


Here's a pic of this popular path lit by the early morning autumn sunshine.
It's lovely but a bit muddy underfoot at the moment.

Sunday 13 November 2011

215. Lest we forget


The annual Remembrance Day service was held in the church today and followed by the laying of wreaths at the village war memorial.


The flag bearer for the Guides was Kirsty MacKenzie and for the Brownies it was Molly Pennington.  The piper was Sam Collins.  Wreaths were laid by representatives of the Mearns Coastal Parish, Benholm and Johnshaven Community Council, the Guides and Brownies and Lathallan School.



Friday 11 November 2011

213. Teasles?


Regular readers will know about my ignorance of all things plant related - are these teasles, or have I just made that up?!  Sounds like a Winnie The Pooh kind of word...

Thursday 10 November 2011

212. Exit


This is the way out of the grounds at Lathallan School. 
The former gate house to the castle can be seen on the left.

Sunday 6 November 2011

208. Baron's Pade in autumn


Just lovely.  I think this looks almost magical.

I believe that 'pade' means path, and given that this is close to Brotherton Castle (now Lathallan School), does the Baron bit refer to the local landowner who would have lived there and frequently travelled up and down this path?

Saturday 5 November 2011

207. Field revisited (again)


Regular readers will have seen this field full of a waving barley crop and, more recently, with it all harvested and just the stubble remaining.  Now there are signs of new growth - no idea what it is yet. 
Watch this space...

Friday 4 November 2011

206. Lathallan Grange


This wee cul-de-sac is right on the edge of the village.  Some of the houses have turrets, and the orange bricks on the corners make them quite unusual.  It's certainly very different from the old cottages of various shapes and sizes that make up most of the village.

Thursday 3 November 2011

205. Gap in the rock


A few days ago (no 199) I posted a photo of the former road beyond The Narrows.  Here's the wide gap in the rocks as seen from the other side.  I presume that this was blasted away to make way for the road, many moons ago.

Wednesday 2 November 2011

204. Autumn Leaves


Early last week I took lots of photos of gorgeous autumnal colours for the blog but my memory card became corrupted somehow and they are all lost.  Unfortunately the high winds have already removed most of the deciduous leaves around the village, but this morning I snapped this beautiful example in the Beechgrove Garden beside Golden Acre.

Tuesday 1 November 2011

203. Hallowe'en

At Hallowe'en we always have lots of guisers coming to Johnshaven Stores to earn a bag of sweeties in return for giving us a joke, song, magic trick, poem or whatever.  Usually they just come up to the counter where we have a few decorations, but this year we did something bigger and better.

In a corner of the shop there's a secret door which, until last night, hardly anyone knew about.  It leads into our old living room (the new one is above Starfish Studio) and eventually we intend to extend Johnshaven Stores into this space.  Until then it's lying empty and inaccessible other than through the secret door, which is usually covered in gift bags. 


 Eilidh had the excellent idea of decorating the room and using it for Hallowe'en, so over the last week or so she and Kirsty have been sneaking in there with all kinds of spooky decorations.


It was really dark and spooky, but the flash on the camera has lit it all up, so it's hard to show you how it really looked.


The hosts for the evening: Kirsty, Eilidh & their friend Lisa, assisted by some mad witch woman and a vampirey shopkeeper. 

 















Those brave enough were invited to put their hand into a box of slimy gunge and remove an eyeball, and here's Calli doing just that.


We had children queuing at the door for most of the evening, and handed out 75 bags of sweeties to a fabulous collection of witches, monsters and all sorts.  In amongst all the jokes we were told, there were also two songs and a poem.  It wasn't just kiddies coming in - one of the songs was brilliantly performed by these big guisers!


I don't know whether we'll be able to repeat this next year - ideally that room will be part of the shop by then, but it was certainly lots of fun last night!