Belt buckles for kilts have all sorts of designs on them, from celtic knots to Scottish saltires, to the rampant lion or a clan crest. We picked a nice Scottish thistle design for Paul’s belt buckle.  I really like the thistles on it and think compared to a lot of the design’s I’ve seen, it’s quite unique. You can’t see it here, but the belt also has a Scottish thistle design, and Paul’s sgian dubh also has the shape of a thistle on the hilt.

Well, I finally got a shot at one – with the camera!!

And here’s my pheasant:

I was finally able to get a lovely picture while I was visiting friends near Leeds. We made a trip to Harewood House while we were there, and that’s where we found this old boy just hanging out along a path.

The Angel of the North is a large piece of sculpture that is just off the A1.  We’ve driven by this piece of art a couple times, when we go up to Scotland on the route that takes us past Newcastle. We don’t normally go this route, so I’ve only been by once or twice. The weather has never been particularly good, or we’ve been in the frame of mind “must get to Dundee,” so photographing it has never been foremost in our minds. This time, however, we made a special stop to capture Flat Stanley in front of this artwork, and a quick pic for my blog. So, here you go!

We had two options at our disposal, take full advantage of being in Scotland and find a good pub, or take advantage of being in Scotland and do some outdoor activity. So, we decided to go on the Three Brethren Walk, a walk up a big hill with three cairns at the top. And boy was it something.

Here’s the view down the first hill in the walk that we went up. This was a wooded area and there was a stream running along side this road. Once at the top of the hill, the scenery changed slightly.

The hill leveled off and there was a nice bit of flat space to walk down, with a nice stone wall along side it. The landscape opened up here as well, and the ground gradually sloped upwards.

And another scenic picture of the heather and the inclined walk. Not to mention the sheep. There were sheep all over the place, and I can’t tell you how many pictures of sheep I have. But there were lambs everywhere as well, so I think the excessive photo taking was justified. The landscape here just continued in a similar way, with more and more heather (the dark bit on the hill in the distance). And the path became increasingly rougher and steeper.

And after the last arduous bit of the walk, we were greeted by the three brethren (cairns) at the top of the hill and a glorious blue sky. Once up there, we took a break and had a look around and enjoyed the view.

And what a view it was, too. Overall, it took us about 3 – 4 hours (we didn’t time it precisely!) and the walk was around 9 miles long. What a great walk, apart from the wet foot. But that’s a story for another day.

And the weather here does seem to be breaking.  It’s definitely not summer time, but it is certainly starting to be more like spring here. The sun is shining a bit more, and the entire mood is starting feel lighter. I’m loving it.

Next the bluebells will be out in full force.

Brighton! You would think that in the years we’ve been here in London, we would have spent some time in Brighton by now. But no, we’d only been once before, and that was just a quick drop by on our way someplace else. So, we thought that since we wanted to go somewhere, and conserve holiday time, that Brighton seemed like an ideal spot. And overall it proved to be a wonderful place to spend a weekend.

We left work on Friday night, caught the train and arrived around 8:00 or so. It was pretty dark and frigid cold when we got there. We had no idea what to expect the next morning. We were pleasantly surprised when we opened the blinds to this:

Yep, this is the West Pier that burned down a few years ago. If we looked left, we saw the pier in the picture above. All in all, not a bad view.

We started the day with a brisk walk down to the lively Brighton Pier, and spent about 20p playing the penny drop slots. The majority of the rides at the end of the pier were closed due to high winds, (I wasn’t too crazy about the look of them, either) so we turned around and headed back in to town. We then spent the rest of the day wandering around the city, doing some shopping in the Lanes, where we bought a clock for our living room, and then finished the evening off in a pretty nice pub. Not a bad way to spend the day.

Of course, it was all made the better because it started off with Paul’s breakfast in bed…

Doesn’t he look happy?

Not as happy as he was when his robots showed up in the mail!! Sadly, there is no photographic evidence of that. Anyway, I think it was a pretty successful birthday for him this year!

It started when Paul brought home my birthday cake:

Absolutely yummy. Paul brought this home for me from Patisserie Valerie last Friday. Granted, that was October 31, but we were on our way out the door for my annual birthday trip. This year it was a bit low key, completely different from the year before. But that’s ok, because I had a fabulous time, and I finally got to celebrate Bonfire Night in the UK.

My birthday falls on November 5, which  in America is most often just a normal day, unless it happens to fall on an election day. Which it doesn’t this year. Close, but not quite. In the UK, November 5 is Bonfire Night. Bonfire Night – what is that, you ask? Well, it’s a holiday the UK has to celebrate the foiled plot of Guy Fawkes’ attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament.

The weekend before my birthday, Paul took me up to Derbyshire for my annual trip. We went there specifically to tour the house Chatsworth and go to their Bonfire Night celebrations. Not to mention enjoy the beautiful countryside up there.

Chatsworth celebrated Bonfire Night in style. Not only did we get to see this massive fire, but they also put on an impressive display of fireworks.

It was a great night. Not too cold, and only minimal rain. The event started at 6:30, and they had food vans selling pasties and sausage sandwiches, along with beer, tea and coffee. It was a bit of a carnival, with people on stilts all dressed up and then they also had performers who were juggling fire batons and all sorts.

It was a quick weekend, with the Saturday spent touring the house and exploring the gardens. I was having a terrible afternoon with the camera, though, and didn’t manage to get many pictures, which is a bit disappointing. It was a nice break and one I’ll definitely remember for a while.

The purchase of this sgian dubh (pronounce it like “skeen doo”) was my introduction into kilt wear. I bought it as a wedding gift to Paul, with advice from my mother-in-law. I didn’t know anything about what I was doing at the time, so I picked what I thought looked good.

This particular sgian dubh wasn’t outrageously expensive but it is a serious knife. It’s got quite a sharp edge and the whole knife is about 6 or 7 inches long. Sources say that the word “sgian” means knife or dagger, and that the word “dubh” means black, which generally refers to the color of the handle, even though you can get sgian dubhs which are made from wood or horn. It’s worn tucked into the top of the kilt hose, normally on the right leg. The purpose for wearing it is only ceremonial and for decoration mainly. In the UK you aren’t allowed to carry weapons of any sort, but an exception is made for when traditional Scottish dress is being worn.

These knives can be quite elaborate, and I think this one falls on the modest side. You can see the Scottish thistle on the handle, with a piece of topaz glass inlaid at the top, and Gaelic design in silver on the scabbard. Considering the scabbard is hidden withing the hose, I think it’s really the handle that you want to concentrate on for design and embellishments.

Believe it or not, it happens more often than you would think.

Each time we need a kilt, we have to rent one. Unfortunately we’ve found that renting a kilt down here in London can be a bit awkward and complicated. Wait a minute, I bet you’re thinking – rent a kilt? Didn’t he come with one? No, no, they’re not built in, and that’s exactly what I thought when the first black tie do came around. I soon discovered that’s not how it worked at all.

Problems that arise from renting are numerous. Besides the obvious fact that everyone and their brother has worn the kilt before you, there’s the crucial bit that you might not be able to find the correct tartan. Apart from that there are other things, such as the quality of the accoutrements. The sporran may be a bit low quality, the shoes may not fit well, the coat may be a bit worn, there are kilt hose to think about as well and to top it off, the person fitting you may not know the proper way and you could end up with a kilt way too short!

I’ve also found good reason to believe that a black tie event is not required in order to wear a kilt. One could happily wear one to a ceilidh, or a wedding, or anytime you might want to look smarter than average. (That’s better looking than average, not more intelligent!)

This has brought me (and Paul) to the conclusion that it would simply be best to invest in a kilt of his own. Not only would it be nice to have things on hand here in London, but when we eventually move to the States, I have a feeling we won’t be able to rent a kilt at the drop of a hat.

And so, my kilt project was born.

Buying a kilt isn’t as straightforward as you may think, especially when you live in London and the man wearing the kilt tends to be a bit snobby about some things. There are tons of things that go into it, and these items will vary depending on what ocaission you’re dressing for.

There are:

• The Kilt (obviously)
• The Kilt Hose (socks)
• The belt and belt buckle (to keep the thing up!)
• The sgian dubh or skean dhu, or skeen dhu or knife, or whatever you want to call it. (in case you want a snack, or need to defend your honor!)
• The sporran (to keep you bits and bobs in)
• The brogues (the shoes)
• The kilt pin (to make sure the kilt doesn’t fly open! – I saw a guy lose his mid-dance at a ceilidh once – oh boy!)
• The flashes  (to keep those hose up!)
• The stuff for on top: shirt and tie, jacket, and vest/waistcoat

Now that’s a lot of stuff!

The plan is to get things gradually, one at a time, simply because things can be expensive, and Paul can be a bit picky about where we get them. We will mostly only be buying items in Scotland, so we have to be patient about actually acquiring these things.

As we start to invest in things, I’ll then blog about them. I’m strangely proud of the idea of Paul and his kilt, and I think it will be quite an interesting experience. There’s a lot for me to learn. Also, as you can see, there’s quite a bit that goes into traditional Scottish dress like this, and I thought this would be a good place to record the 21st century version of the process. Not to mention the fact that if we’re doing it, it’s guaranteed to be an experience!

So, don’t hold your breath, as things may move slowly, but please enjoy the posts that come under this subject in the future.