Bartimaeus

After the visit to the V & A Margaret and I met her son for lunch. Finlay is studying in Dundee and the afternoon's entertainment was going to the graduate are show where he knew some of the exhibitors. 

First of all we headed to the book illustrations area. What an amazing range there was, even though the book titles were sometimes the same, presumably there was a range of choices rather than a free rein to illustrate any book. This one seemed to have a pigeon theme. This piqued my interest since I had with me the second pigeon that I am knitting.

Students had also made accompanying products, merch, that would accompany a book, such as pencil cases, or key rings, depending on the topic. Illustration was not their only skill.

 A lot of the books were fantastical in nature e.g. witch or vampire themed but also a few were Sherlock Holmes based so they weren't writing their own books. One seemed to be not illustrating a story but a "zine" on a theme of Scottish mythical creatures, creating her own creature, half salmon half human.

Finlay had a friend studying architecture so we looked at their exhibits too. I find it hard to think of things in 3D so some plans are meaningless to me but some were models that were easier to imagine. This one was based on a future reimagining of the space in a hospital in Porto.

We moved on to some art and design exhibitions, which were very varied. I remain unsure if these are sculptures of fungi in another medium or actually grown from mycelium.

Some of the exhibits had a sociopolitical statement. Not all guys are fun guys to be with. One room was about violence against women, and was called The Daily Male. I don't usually do a scratch card but the "lottery of women's safety" item revealed a new crime statistic with each card.

We went in search of a cafe but seemed to have stayed too long enjoying the art. Finlay came up trumps by offering a cup of tea at his flat. It was a surprise to discover during the afternoon that while I had been knitting pigeons, Finlay had recently visited a pigeon fanciers meet. He was there as part of a medical placement where he had assisted in sample collection from people who breed pigeons, for medical research. It was an unexpected topic of conversation and over tea we shared each others' pigeon pictures. He had ones of unusual breeds that he had seen with fluffy crests and unusual colours. If I had made one like that, people would not have thought it realistic! I showed mine of a visit to a doocot where I had tried out my pigeon for size. I had to prop it with a stone since it is front heavy, but it is a rock pigeon! Others were in straw so that will work when the time comes to add both of mine to the collection.

Finlay then gave me a lift to the station, and drove his mum back to Aberdeen. 

It had been a surprisingly warm day and I decided I needed to look out my summer wardrobe. Most of my shorts are on the boat so I took the unusual step of selecting a skirt to cool down in the heat. Shane and I went to North Berwick for a walk around the town since my arm was still a bit achy, so I didn't need cycling togs.

Shane had located a cafe I hadn't seen before which took us past churches and a sign about a bell. Usually we just go to the shore and High Street but today was good for a more general explore. 

It was cooler by the coast and I was glad I had a cardigan too. We decided it wasn't a day to do a bumpy boat ride but I was intrigued to see that the harbour had slots and what looked like stop planks and a crane to put them in place.

We bought some sunscreen and headed to another cafe. The salads were all sold out but the soup and cheese scone was delicious and left a space for sharing a cake. Then we went to the station where I could admire the yarn bombed bicycles.  

To increase Shane's fun and my comfort, the plan was to get the train home while Shane cycled back solo, just as well we didn't go back on the tandem - we had already had a comment from someone on wearing matching outfits. If I ever wear red, that's going to happen. So Shane cycled off and I got on to the train and did knitting that matched my outfit and the station bikes.