St Andrew's Day Celebrations Part 2

Happy St Andrew's Day.

As I mentioned yesterday some of the shops have a Scottish theme in their window, so I took some photos and as usual the batteries on my camera ran out before I could photograph them all. The town centre is looking well as there are a number of new shops which have opened, which can only be good.

St Andrew's Day Celebrations

St Andrew's Day is the feast of Saint Andrew, celebrated on the 30th November. Saint Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland. This weekend 29th/30th November in the town there is pipe bands, Christmas market, storytelling, classic car display, ceilidhs and a firework display. There is bunting out around the town and many of the shops put on a scottish themed window display. Thoroughly enjoyed the pipe band this afternoon, bit chilly out to put it mildly!

All the events are organised by our local tourist association Bepta.

Scottish saltire

Saint Andrew

Fancy Buying a Castle?

*Click on picture to enlarge for easier reading.*

Blairgowrie Christmas Lights

Took some pictures of the lovely Christmas lights in the town, unfortunately they didn't come out too well, never mind, maybe try another time. All the trees in the Wellmeadow are festooned with white lights and one large tree is particularly eye catching.

More Wintry Scenes

Woke up this morning with about an inch of snow lying outside. Had an enjoyable early morning walk in the crisp white snow, strangely enjoyable making footprints in it!!

Wintry Weather

Had a few light snow flurries last night and this morning, didn't come to much though, but it is bitterly cold.

New bathroom units and towel rail now fitted.

This afternoon the Christmas Lights will be officially switched on in the town and there will be a parade by the local pipe band.

Refurbishment Update

Dining-Room has now become my sewing room.

Room 3 en-suite all re-tiled.

Paintwork back to a classic off white, why did I ever paint it yellow!

Downstairs Lounge, new store room.

History and Harpers Garage

The wallpaper in Room 3 was stripped right back to the original wall revealing an interesting piece of history. It says 'Papered by Charles Brown, George Street 16 Oct 1899, paste by James Stewart'. It is identical to what we found when redecorating another room about 18 months ago. The date corresponds with the information I have about the house. In 1899 a feu contract was recorded in favour of Alexander Neilson by the trustees of Allan McPherson of Blairgowrie, Mr Neilson must build and maintain a house of value £400. 1899-1911 Mr Neilson now known to be an inspector of poor at Inveresk Musselburgh remains proprietor but Gilmore is tenanted by James Millar, merchant of Trinidad. In the 1901 census the people recorded in the house were, James Millar(72, widower, retired merchant) Mrs Marion Davidson(32, daughter) Grace Davidson(grand-daughter) Mr Robert Todd(visitor, grain merchant) Annie Leith(Housekeeper) and Maggie Donaldson(Domestic Nurse).
In 1911 the property was sold to John Harper a motor and cycle maker for £515, the house remained in the Harper family until 1973. In 1896 John Harper had a business at 27-29 Perth Street as a blacksmith and cycle agent, as the business grew and cars became more common the cycle part was phased out.

Agricultural machinery, cars and tractors were all sold and repaired from the premises.

An old granite plaque we have inscribed J Harper 1901

Blair in Bloom Awards

Yesterday evening I attended the prize-giving awards for Blair in Bloom where I picked up my certificate for 2nd place in the Establishment providing tourist accommodation category. There was an array of silverware and plaques for the various categories, I shall aspire to win one one day!! It was a very enjoyable hour and there was a computer display of photos of all the gardens which had entered into all the categories, some fantastic floral displays and gardens.

We are replacing an old electric shower with an up to date thermostatic shower and re-tiling the shower room, so the picture above shows mess in progress, thought we would tile over the existing tiles, but decided it was best to take the old ones down. Found an old door frame behind the plasterboard which the last owners blocked up. Work sort of ground to a standstill this week, but has picked up today. Starting to panic ever so slightly because once everything is done I will have to clean the house from top to bottom, make curtains etc, etc in time for the in-laws and other family members arriving in December and guests just before and over New Year, mind you having a deadline to work to will keep me motivated. On another note it is unbelievably mild for the time of year.

Work in Progress

New built in wardrobe in Room 3.

My shiny new fire alarm system.

The wall stencils from when we moved in, still intact behind wallpaper.

Room 2.

Old wallpaper behind radiator.

Work is progressing well in the house, had fun putting a new shower cable in from upstairs down to the main electric board, it was interesting going right under the floor downstairs as it is very deep, didn't find any old relics though. The whole house is a bit of a mess and furniture stored in various rooms, but it will soon all come together, hopefully!!

Colourful Time of Year

The fantastic weather is still continuing and the colours of the leaves changing are gorgeous, there is still some flowers out and my geraniums are still going strong. When we drove back from Edinburgh on Sunday the views and colours were amazing with snow on the mountains against the blue sky. Yesterday saw the start of my fire alarm installation, so all the smoke/heat detectors and call points are interlinked to a main board. I was expecting a real mess with cables and holes everywhere, but I am very impressed with how tidy and well hidden it all is, very good job.

A Trip to Edinburgh

We all headed off to Edinburgh at the weekend for a special birthday celebration , I will omit to tell you how old!!. We stayed down at Leith and couldn't have asked for better weather when we were out and about on Saturday. I was astounded at how busy Edinburgh was with tourists for the time of year. We wandered everywhere, Scottish Parliament, Holyrood, Dynamic Earth, an open bus tour round the city, Royal mile etc. There was so much I wanted to look at, but ran out of time. We had a fabulous meal in the evening at Loch Fyne Restaurant at Leith, a good time had by all.