My poor blog - it has been very neglected.  Will anybody even read this, I wonder.  Summer has been very busy with a mix of shows and events and my focus for social media has been Twitter and Instagram - quick to leave a quick comment, and the 2 platforms seem to be well used.  The new workshop has been a hive of activity with dyeing, and preparation for shows, and visits from folk passing by on the North Coast 500 driving route, or staying locally and looking for yarn to use on a rainy day.  There have been visitors from all over the world, and it has been lovely to meet them one and all.

At the moment I'm in the middle of a run of big shows which means I'm either packing boxes to head off to the next event or dyeing yarn!  Last weekend was my first showing at Perth Festival of Yarn. It was a lovely event.  The venue, although busy, had a very relaxed layout and feel, and visitors to the event really enjoyed themselves.  Stevan and I took the opportunity to have a couple of days off and do some really touristy things which we don't often get the opportunity to do.  Going to shows tend to entail getting there, doing the show, and getting home again, with little time to explore the area we're visiting.  But last Monday I finally got to see the Kelpies - I've been wanting to see them ever since they were erected, and they did not disappoint!



Despite being a Monday, there were a lot of folk around, and it was good to see so many enjoying this wonderful piece of art work.  You can take a tour inside the Keplies, but we preferred rather to sit and admire them, while enjoying a coffee and a bite to eat.



We also had another "first" while we were in the south - we crossed the new bridge which spans the Firth of Forth - The Queensferry Crossing.  None of the photographs I took of the bridge, as a whole, do it any justice, but I did like this one that I snapped while driving over the bridge:



We also took the opportunity to visit Dundee - I wanted to see the new V&A building that is being built alongside the river in Dundee, and again, it did not disappoint.  I look forward to the day when it is open to visitors.



I'm off to Yarndale later this week, but we took advantage of the good weather this morning and headed to Little Assynt to have a good walk.  Autumn is definitely showing itself now, with the days getting shorter, and chillier.  There were so many mushrooms out - I only wish we were slightly more knowledgeable about which to pick and eat and which are safer to leave behind.





Peggy, now 14 years old, has had a few health issues lately, but with the care of her wonderful vet, Lucy, she is almost back to her old self, and this morning's walk didn't seem to daunt her at all.  A few months back we would have had to carry her around parts of this walk (see previous blog entry), and we were considering getting a doggy sling to help us do that.  But now she's doing the whole walk on her own, albeit slightly slower at times.



The colours are definitely autumnal now



and I suspect we are seeing the final flourish of flowering heather for the year



One of the best things that a walk around Little Assynt offers you is the best view of our favourite mountain, Quinag.



So now it is back to work getting ready for Yarndale next weekend.  I hope to see a few of you there.  Then I'm home for a couple of weeks before it is time to pack up again and head to Loch Ness Knit Fest in Inverness for a few days.

If you've read this, leave a comment and say hello - it may encourage me to try harder at keeping it up to date!  Twitter and Instagram are all very well, but I do miss blogs.