Catching up - at last!
[UPDATED OCT 11 2017]

Part 1: The Queensferry Crossing

Here we are (were) on the No. 35, making our way to our "Hub" near the Gyle shopping centre, where the official buses would be waiting to take us to the start of the new bridge.  [This was taken through the window of the bus, and is a merging of two photos!]

Click on the images please, to see them bigger.

The start was very crowded, but the atmosphere was cheerful. An open door into a loo was rather unsightly, so Alice closed it digitally. Hee, hee. [Photo by The Telegraph.]

Near the beginning of the walk. Even this little post had been designed with the fan motif of the huge towers and cables. The whole structure was fabulously beautiful. And it was lovely weather for everyone too.

Further along, some panels had been removed from the wind-shields, so we could have a good view of the Forth estuary.

For information on the building of the bridge, see Queensferry Crossing ARC.

This is Alice's prize photo, with both the Rail Bridge and the Road Bridge framed by the crossing cables, plus a few decorative clouds.

This collage shows views of the towers and cables as we approached the central one (it's 210 metres, the tallest of the three towers) and then looked back. Stunning!

Here's a screenshot from a fascinating animated video by the Centre for Digital Documentation and Visualisation (yes, that is what the organisation is called!) which gives you a jolly good understanding of how they set about building this amazing construction. Do check this one out - it's fun as well as informative.

 
Our bus was waiting for us at the end. We realise now it was to become one of the new 300 airport buses, which have replaced the rumbling old 35s.

Driving back over the Road Bridge, we had a good view of the old rail bridge as we neared South Queensferry.

To finish this part of our catch-up, here's a lovely distant view of the gorgeous edifice, seen on the way back home on the (now defunct) No. 35 - taken through the window of the bus again.

Part 2: "Doing Art" again

We went along to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery recently, to catch their exhibition of historical photos by the pioneers, David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson .

They set up their studio in Edinburgh in 1843, not long after photography was invented. They used a process which involved treating paper with special chemicals to make what we would call a "negative" from which prints could be created on another type of treated paper. The first required large cameras, patient subjects and exposure to natural sunlight. Sun was needed for the prints also.

We particularly liked this image, both the negative and the print, of Lady Mary Hamilton (Campbell) Ruthven.

It's interesting that the photographers chose to take her back view, to show off her beautiful cape and over-skirt. See this interesting article about the Calotype process, and another about the different types of photographic process.

The top image here is a photo of Miss Elizabeth Logan, who was the daughter of the Sheriff of Forfarshire. I imagine the doll, and the pretence (was it?) of sleep was a way to keep her still for the exposure required. Notice the leaves in the top left corner indicating the outdoors setting.

The lower photo is called The Gowan, meaning a wild white or yellow flower, such as a daisy. See the Burns reference in the Scotsman.

The two girls were the sisters Margaret and Mary McCandlish. I bet it was hard for the one girl to resist really tickling the other, as movement would have spoiled the long (many seconds) exposure time.

These charming studies of young girls reminded Alice (of course) of those by Charles Dodgeson (Lewis Carroll), who took many photos of children, not just of Alice Liddell and her sisters.

See this article from the Smithsonian musem, which says, Of the approximately 3,000 photo­graphs Dodgson made in his life, just over half are of children. The one on the right here is one of Alice posing as The Beggar Maid: one of our Alice's favourites.
[She says you must click please, and see it bigger.]

The front entrance to the Scottish National Gallery is right on the main part of Princes Street. They often put up huge banner ads here for their exhibitions. This one was due to finish the day we eventually decided to go.

Ba, who doesn't "Do Art", only consented to be included in this photo, because there was some Nature about with the plants in the planter on the street. They used this painting of A Man Singing by Candlelight by Adam De Coster [ not by Caravaggio himself ] as the "Beyond" referred to other artists who followed him in style. The lighting effect is pretty dramatic, isn't it?

As soon as you say "Caravaggio" to Alice, she thinks of the marvellous 1986 film of that name, by the talented Derek Jarman. It had a young Sean Bean and Tilda Swinton in it, plus lots of inventive anachronisms, like a stylus with tablet; a motor bike, and a typewriter.

Get back to the point! There were oodles of dramatic paintings in the exhibition.

We rather liked this one, of Christ in the Carpenter's Shop by Trophime Bigot, with the light source hidden between the two figures.

This one is a real Caravaggio painting. It's of a Boy Bitten by a Lizard. [ Don't forget you can click on any of these to see them larger. ]

According to Wikipedia, there are two versions of it, both genuine.

One critic has proposed it's a disguised self-portrait, as the subject's hands – one stretched out, the other raised up – are in a similar position to those of a painter holding a palette while painting. Well, there you go now!

We just loved this one. Click to look closer and you'll see why!

It was painted by one Orazio Borgianni (1574 - 1616).

Titled St Christopher Carrying the Infant Christ, it features an extremely tiny Christ Child on the saint's shoulder. Maybe his size is supposed to be symbolic? You could read about the legend.

For more on the picture and the story behind it, see the gallery's website here.

Part 3: our beloved Begonia again - really the very last time . . .

Wasn't it doing well! The pot in which its roots must be all curled about, isn't actually very big at all when compared with the stalks and leaves and flowers. A week later, the flowers on what we had called the "baby" shoot have grown and blossomed even more still. Click, click!

Ba can't see them so well here (on the right) but agreed to pose so that you can see the lovely flowers really clearly. Aaah.

Part 4: an exciting cinematic event - can you guess?

Yes, we went to see the terrific Blade Runner 2049, directed by Denis Villeneuve, who made the fiendish Sicario and the amazing Arrival. It's the long awaited sequel (35 years for some of you lot) to the 1982 Blade Runner, or the superior 2007 Final Cut version.

Avoiding any spoilers (because there is a big secret) we can report it is definitely a most worthy successor to Ridley Scott's original. It's very philosophical, too, asking the Big Questions about what it means to be human. Right up Alice's street, in fact. What street?!

Visually it's stunningly beautiful, even when depicting the horrors of the future. It has been meticulously shot and edited, so renowned cinematogrpher Roger Deakins must surely get an Oscar at long last.

How did I get to be  in this poster? Go here and you can make one for yourself, using any name or photo. But you need someone to add the bit about the "cameo". Thank you Alice!

Well, we have finally caught up at long last. I hope you're glad you stayed with us.

Preview: the Bridge, a Bit of Art, and our Begonia (yet more still)

Yes, there are some photos of our wonderful walk across the sparkling, new Queensferry Crossing. Be patient.
[Pease click on the photos.]


And we did see, rather in a hurry I'm afraid, some Art well worth seeing.


Some of which was old master paintings, and some of which was fascinating historic photographs.

Plus a surprise bonus: you've not seen the end of our flowers yet!

The so-called "baby" Begonia produced even more blossoms still.
[You just must click on this one.]

 Alice has been horribly busy (her usual excuse) but we'll get her up to scratch next week - or else we'll go on strike.

Awesome alliteration, ain't it! How many did I manage to get Alice to type in?

An Exciting Trailer plus Farewell Begonia?

Some exciting stuff recently arrived in the post, in the big navy envelope you can see at the back.

It's our "Official Invitation" to the Queensferry Crossing Experience on which we won a free place in the online draw. We were among the lucky 50,000 out of over 226,000! It included a lanyard, and an ID card with a photo on the other side. Security will be very strict indeed, of course.

Ba wanted to wear the lanyard as well. [Click the photos to see them bigger, won't you.]

There's a website about this beautiful bridge online here. There are also lots of videos about its construction on Youtube.

The inside of the invitation was a wonderful cut-out design.

It was hard to get the details clear in a bright image - but see the next photo in the composite Alice created. By making it a bit darker, the details stand out more.

We're looking forward to our actual walk across in September, and hope it doesn't rain on the day, so Alice can take lots of photos.

Watch this space!

Here's a photo (by Wave102) of all three bridges, including the rail bridge and the troubled Forth Road Bridge, with the new one nearest to us, taken when it was almost complete.

The Begonia
We think our amazing begonia (see our previous post below) is reaching the end of its flowering life. And maybe we've reached the end of your interest as well . . . 

A couple of weeks later and some flowers, plus a leaf or two, had died and fallen off, though the plant was still producing new blossoms. But it was drooping rather more, again, and it was hard to view it from a comfortable position! So Alice tied it up a bit more still and shunted the geraniums round, so then there was room for us to admire it at close quarters. [Click, please.]

The flower we tried to press didn't come out very well, as it got folded over with the paper by mistake. Ba was most upset. So Alice actually cut off another bloom before it dropped (while Ba winced) and has set the process going again. Fingers crossed. We'll let you know.

Beautiful Begonia

Ba has been nagging Alice to make a blog post about her beautiful Begonia. Sorry, she didn't mean the singer, though that lady does have a beautiful voice. You can listen on her Soundcloud account.

Alice replied that although Ba loves it dearly, it's not really Ba's begonia, for she has been the one who climbs up beside the draining board (very cautiously, of course, so as not to fall off) and waters it, and provides it with care. Moreover, she has been busy, and is tired, and wonders what she could possibly say about several photos of the same plant, albeit taken at different dates.

So, before they fell out over it, I said, "Why not put a few of them together to fill the page! Like before." Fiddling about with images (I mean being creative, of course) usually cheers her up.

The three above were all taken in June, about a week apart. Once it got going, there was no stopping this begonia producing more buds and flowers - though the leaves did progressively get a bit tatty, as you can see. [ Do click on these composites, to get the full picture. ]

Eventually the main stalk got so long and heavy I was afraid it would pull the whole caboodle down. So Alice carefully tied it up. Then in July we found it's got a baby! The flower beside Ba is one that fell off, which quite upset her, but we're trying to press and preserve it. Just how much the little one will grow, we'll have to wait and see: it was already taller by August.

We'll finish this very special post with Alice's favourite pose of Ba among the flowers. And I hope you noticed she gave the photos a tasteful yellow border, to match the beautiful blooms.

Mostly flowers . . . 
[UPDATED FRIDAY 7 JULY 2017]
This will (eventually) be a proper Roundup of our recent holiday in Spain, at the marvellous "alternative" centre of Cortijo Romero. And No! It's nothing to do with Cowboys and cattle: that's yet another of your bizarre, human, often somewhat misleading figures of speech. Sigh.

Those of you who know Alice personally, may have already seen all her photos - edited, at last, despite some illness and other commitments. Whew.

This first one shows us on the sign at the beginning of the driveway. The next is at the impressive gates to the lovely grounds. [ Click on any of the images to see bigger versions. ]

We had a really nice room, with a screen door as you can see here, to keep out the nasty insects. Luckily they weren't around yet in May.

Being in the "quiet area" was a bit more expensive, but worth it, as Alice didn't want to be woken from her sleep by noisy revellers or midnight splashing and diving in the pool. Mind you, the birdsong alone was quite abundant most of the time, but relatively pleasant and almost soothing.

Ba just loved all the flowers, as you'll see below. We both enjoyed the fun of setting up our photoshoots, even falling off from time to time. We're pretty resilient, of course, not like you humans with your breakable bones and all that. [ This link is fun! ]

Alice also took a video of the delightful garden, to include the birdsong: but it's too big to look good embedded here (she tried) so she'll edit it for YouTube and put a link IN HERE later on.

[ Do click on this one, won't you. ] 

We did a bit of exploring on the first night. Ba was rather nervous clambering about, even though there were plenty of strategic lights around the place.

Just round the corner we came upon this delightful window box in the side wall of the laundry.

Even though a few were fading, the pink geraniums look even more dramatic in the flash, I think.

But it was good to get back to bed with a favourite book and a cup of tea before settling down. Poor old Alice has had some awfully bad insomnia lately, so she also did some catching up in the afternoons.

The next day she bought me a present from Cortijo Romero's own little souvenir shop. It's a real obsidian pendant. You'll have to guess what it's for. Clue: what's our favourite TV series? [ You'll find the answer at the end of this post - when we finally get to it. ]

Alice was here for a week of doing those Five Rhythms she's so keen on. She said the teacher, Jo Hardy, was really good, especially as some people in the group had never done it before, while some others were familiar with the practice but to varying degrees.

There's a great video, A Conscious Dance Practice, about the classes Jo used to teach in Devon, which shows you a lot of the actual dancing: it might even inspire you to have a go too.

We don't have the right sort of feet to join in, so we sat and stared at Alice's slippers (no footwear allowed in the Group Room) and looked over towards the enticing bright blue of the pool.

There was a much better view from the top of the roof, with sight of some really bright red geraniums by the stairway.

And down in the courtyard itself, we found this cheeky cockerel in a little niche. Someone had even given him a couple of corn cobs to peck at.

The pool looks very inviting indeed in the hot afternoon sun.

Alice did get in a couple of times after dancing, with a number of Ooo's and Aaah's. She said it was "most refreshing."

What she really meant was cold. But we reckoned that since our constitutions aren't made for water sports, we'd just enjoy lazing and looking.

Alice is somehat of a perfectionist (you must have already grasped that!) and doesn't like leaving odd-shaped spaces in this blog. So she's amalgamated some of her remaining photos to include as many as she can, but still avoid "filling in" gaps with unnecessary text. That process, of course, took longer than she anticpated, or you would have got this completed post much sooner.
I hope it's worth the wait.

Above is such a one, showing the Honeysuckle we sniffed on the way to the drying area. A shame we can't include the wonderful scent. But use your imagination! It's been put together with one which includes the mountains you would have seen in the background on the left, had you been with us.

And here we are, overseeing the hanging up. With the hot weather and the bright sunshine, everything dried really fast.

There are some beautiful knarled old trees in the gardens. This one is just outside the little room where the lovely Brenda gives massage to those who want to take advantage of this optional extra to their course.

Alice had booked her place as soon as possible: Brenda is very popular indeed. We waited at the tree for her to emerge glowing with pleasure and new relaxation.

One day during our stay, we made the walk to the neighbouring little town of Orgiva, where there's a market once a week.

There are some very pretty houses next to the road, with flowers beside them, or on the roof in pots. Looking back along our route, you can see more mountains, and pointed cedars against the sky.

The second is a shot of us looking at one of the many orchard gardens along the way. [ You'll need to click on it to see the details in both of them. ]

Further on, Ba just had to get up close with these bright yellow cactus flowers! It was quite a tricky job removing all the little spines afterwards.

Alice composed a jingle of a haiku for the occasion:

Though Ba finds it tickles 

She loves the bright cactus flowers

And even the prickles.

Not one of her best poetic creations, I'm afraid. . .

 .

The market itself was very busy indeed, so we didn't get out of Alice's little orange rucksack to explore, in case someone took a fancy to us and we were kidnapped.

When we got back to Cortijo Romero, and cooled down a bit, Alice tried on the amazing gament she'd bought at one of the shops in the town itself. 

And we took a proper look at a real, "live" orange growing on one of the trees in the orchard. Ba was suitably impressed.

Other items of interest in the grounds included this unusual statue, en route to the group room. It's in memoriam to one Alastair Macmillan. We don't know who he actually was, but the plaque at his feet adds Thanks for some serious fun! so we guess he was well liked.

Someome had left a little bird's nest on the figure's hands: we were very careful not to disturb it.

On our last day, Ba said a tender farewell to one of her favourite flowers outside our room: she loves even the very smallest. Aaah.

Above are the only two photos Alice managed to take of the resident cat: she nearly always looked away or ran off as soon as she sensed there was a camera around. The last one was sneaked when she was apparently asleep. We're terribly sorry we've forgotten her name.

Ah yes, you may have been waiting to find out about that obsidian pendant! Well, here's the answer.

Alice spent some time hunting for just the right background online, then editing the original photo. . . . so that I can valiantly ward off the White Walkers with my very own dragonglass dagger! If this is a mystery to you, have a look at the Game of Thrones Wiki.

If you've never seen Game of Thrones, or even heard of it, and haven't yet read any of the books, then all we can say is that we're sorry for you.

This has been a long blog post for us to create, so please be patient waiting for our next one.