This month on emuse

I got a bit ahead of myself, and had all of November's posts written and scheduled by the time I went on holiday on the 24th October! This means that there has been a bit of an autumn theme going on this month.

Autumn leaf filter
Sunday self-portraits: Autumn Leaves
Stones of Falkland
Autumn in Falkland
Glenrothes in Autumn
Mushroom spotting

Preparing for my holiday (which was why I wanted to get a bit ahead on the blogging) meant I had holidays on my mind:
Identifying your holiday photos
Holiday reading
Holiday memories: Maiko of Kyoto


I had a day in Glasgow last month with an arty theme, and some of my purchases led on to a craft project:
The Nature of Art Nouveau
Glasgow arty purchases
Cat-ear face stamps

And there were a few other random things:
Library books
Sunday self-portraits: Sarah Lund
Recently thrifted

This month I have been mostly...

Reading:

Finishing off the books I started reading on holiday and ordering some more to remind me of my holiday!

Watching:

Catching up on watching all the TV I missed when I was on holiday, including Arne Dahl, River, and The Returned. It was also really good to see an episode of Great Continental Railway Journeys that covered a number of places I'd been in Italy!

Singing:

The choir I'm a member of had a performance at the switching-on of the Christmas lights in Dundee on the 20th, and a rehearsal in Perth a few weeks beforehand. Learning the songs was not too difficult, but coordinating myself enough to do the dance moves was tricky!

Mushroom spotting

Despite this autumn being quite dry, it's been a bumper year for spotting mushrooms in my garden and around the local area. Here are some of the interesting specimens I have seen.

In my garden

Thought this was a funky mushroom in my garden... it was a broken-off piece of a brush!

On Falkland Estate

In my garden

In my garden

In the town park

And, of course, when it comes to mushroom "spotting", can't forget these brightly coloured ones!

Glenrothes in Autumn

Perhaps it's because the weather had been so lovely, or because I was looking forward to my holiday and knew I only had a limited time to enjoy the local autumn leaves, but the colours this autumn seemed really spectatular.

I had a week's holiday at home before heading off to Italy, so I made the most of the great weather by enjoying some walks around town and the local woods.

The variety of leaf colours was amazing!

Autumn in Falkland

It was a beautiful autumn this year, and when I went up to Falkland for my geology walk and to take my autumn self-portraits, I also got some general photos of the area in all its autumnal glory.

And this is how I felt after my walk!

Stones of Falkland

Falkland is one of my favourite places to go for a Sunday wander, but this time it was something a bit different - a self-guided geology walk. 

I recently found out that the Living Lomonds Partnership had published a leaflet about the stones used in the buildings of Falkland. I'm interested in local history, and in researching local buildings I had come across lots of terms like whinstone, ashlar, rubble walls, etc, but didn't really know a lot about them.

Sharpe's Close is paved with angular and rounded basalt cobbles

Contrast between rubble and ashlar sandstone walls on Falkland Palace

The varying colours of basalt, dolerite and cut sandstone on the Weaver's Cottage

The leaflet guided me around many of the buildings in the centre of Falkland, showing the different types of stone and construction. I found it really fascinating - I love learning new things.

Whinstone with painted quoins on the Gift Shop

It was also a good chance to look at many of the interesting stone carvings and marriage lintels, which I've always found fascinating.

It's great to know that there are always new things to discover, even somewhere I visit all the time!

Stone carvings

Stone carvings and lintels