Hands across the World & Sprio; together we make a difference!

Hands united

Last night all the parents got to visit their child's school and see the new classroom they are in and see all the stuff they have been doing during the first term of their new year.  Of course, Anders and I went to see Dexter's new classroom.

Hands across the world tapestry by primary school kids at Dexter's school 2010

The big thing however is that the whole school have been working on an art project which has involved them all making a hand and it being put onto a huge piece of material which will be made into a collage entitled "Hands across the World".  The hands symbolise hands of children working together from all different backgrounds and how if they do things together then they can make a difference.  I was pretty blown away by it, the work and quality of it was just amazing, genuinely.  I think all the parents were impressed by it as it was that good.  It reminded me the process behind people making patchwork quilts either from knitting or making square patches of material.  

Dexter's hand he made for the tapestry

tapestry hands

tapestry hand

Talking about working together, there was also a blind auction on Friday evening to raise money Dexter's school.  All of the money they raised is going to fund getting new play equipment in the playground for all the kids to enjoy.  The event raised £5,000, and Anders and I won a couple of things, one of which was a print of a painting by Mike Turpie (he made and donated it for the event), who is one of the dads of a boy that attends the school.  Here is the picture:-

Sprio print of painting by Mike Turpie

This print of the original painting is of the coffee shop which we all go to regularly as it is in our neighbourhood which is really lovely.  The couple who jointly own it (Paula & Marchello from Italy) with a friend of theirs (Kathleen, a Scot, who married an Italian and lived in Italy where she met Paula & Marchello) also have a son who attends the same school too so this print has a connection to us all and it is great to know that all the parents getting together with their friends and family helped get some money to make play at school even nicer for all our kids.  We are so pleased to have won it as it is really pretty and is depicts something that is part of our everyday life in a really lovely way.

Mike is an expressionist painter, based in Scotland and Santa Fe and here he is in Sprio where we had coffee and I told him that Anders and I had won his donation - whilst he looks like he is saying "get away from me you nutter" he isn't as we regularly chat in Sprio and have a laugh over things that have happened!

If you want to see more about Mike and his works, he too has a Blog Mike Turpie's Art Blog.  If you go over you will see his other works and the little entry where he has talked about our picture.

So a whole lot of kindness and togetherness bundled up and depicted through art.  The print which for us is like a photograph of a place which holds nice memories for Anders, Dexter and I and helped raise money for the school all our kids attend.  This and the art works that the school kids have done make you realise that there is a real sense of working together and belonging, just what being part of a nice neighbourhood should be!

A walk along Dean Village in central Edinburgh

Now I have to say, I am lucky enough to stay in one very picturesque and beautiful city. This is a walk that takes you from Leith (basically the old port of Edinburgh) right through the city centre and beyond!

It joins with cycle paths and is just so lovely to stroll through, and you can make it as long or as short as you want. Stockbridge & the Dean Village are only about a 5 minute walk from each other along the water of Leith and from there you can go on and reach the Museum of Modern Art.

Edinburgh is an old city and consists of the Old Town (where the castle is situated and St Giles Cathedral - and the original St Giles Cathedral where there are records dating back to 854 of the original parish church)!

The New Town of Edinburgh was basically built in the 1800's and prior to that The Dean Village & Stockbridge were villages outside the city walls of Edinburgh itself and were the working areas. To get from Stockbridge to the Dean Village, you walk past The St Bernard's Well, and come out at the Dean Village. One of the first mills you come across belongs to RMJM a firm of architects. One of our friends is the artist they use who designs buildings for them to have aesthetic WOW - this is one of the buildings she designed.

And now you are in the Dean Village.....

....coming out at Miller Row!

The Dean Village is really pretty as you can see.

There are places you can sit and catch the sun, look out onto the river and even dry your clothes on the line!

Along the river, you find people fishing, and dogs (like Marvin & Carly) going in for a dip!

There are several waterfalls along the way....

....and bridges that connect to the banks so you can continue your stroll. It is just really lovely and we are so lucky to live here

St Bernards Well was open!

You may recall I mentioned the St Bernard's Well in June: http://rmontalban.blogspot.com/2010/06/wonder-of-woman.html - today it was open!

I have never seen inside the building until today and it was beautiful. Opened in the year the French Revolution started, this humble well has the most impressive architecture both inside and out.

The entrance to the well is underneath the statue of Hygena

Inside it is beautifully tiled

And centre stage is a marble font with a gilt pump and Lion's head spout.

As you can see it still works

Above it is a stunning blue ceiling, Roman. Apparently Italian mosaicists were brought over from Italy and used to build it.

As the well was originally manned, there was a fire place inside too to keep the well keeper warm.

So Sunday had another first, getting to see inside the St Bernard's Well, and the Stockbridge Duck Race!

So being inside this well with all its history, silence and days gone by footfall - I mean just thinking this was built at the same time as the French Revolution started with what must have been going on in France and here is this beautiful architecture being built for everyone to share and use the clean water it provided - really makes you think about the bigger picture of life now and that of times gone by and what is going on somewhere else at this very same time now - wow indeed!

Chum me along the road for some shopping.....

Well today, I am going to take you on a wee stroll in our neighbourhood. After going to the gym this morning, I did my usual Saturday trip in Stockbridge, let me introduce you to a couple of our great wee shops:-

First stop, the butchers:

This is George Bower the butchers, and it has been in existence since the early 1900's. It is fantastic, there is always good banter there and the meats are unbelievably good - they specialise in game, but you everything you get from there is always of great quality.

This is the son who has started to run the business full time since his father retired (although he does still come in now and again and he is very very funny and always gives his customers cheek (and not the meat kind!)). And this is the son's lovely wife....

Now we are off to the Dry Cleaners:-

This is Joyce and she is just lovely, always has a smile to greet you when you go in.

She is getting married soon, and her wedding dress belonged to Jean Harlow and is just beautiful. It was in need of repair when she got it, and I did it for her as she couldn't find anyone to restore it for her which I thought was such a shame. We both love vintage clothes so for me it was something I was very happy to do as it was such a beautiful dress.


After this, I went to the park to get Andrew, Dexter & the dogs as they had Marvin & Carly had a walk whilst I did the errands I needed. Whilst strolling to the park I went past the Duck Pond:

Clearly, their encounter earlier in the week with Marvin, Dexter and Carly had not harmed them. Funnily enough, Anders had been there with them on Friday, and he said there were lots of dogs round the duck pond off leash - the Swans are not bothered by dogs, good thing really living in the middle of a park and city centre!

And here is my fridge and cupboard filled with the food that I got from the butchers today, and also last night from Sainsbury's. Sainsbury's was really not a great supermarket to go to, Waitrose is a much more pleasant shopping experience, however it served it's purpose and my cupboards are full!