Burghley House:

Burghley House is lovely. Went there for a picnic today, which was also lovely. They have deer which are allowed to just roam free around the grounds, which is pretty cool! Um, yeah - the excitement of it all has made me rather tired and I can't think of what else to write...

Regarde le photos: Flickr

Just to let you know, I think I may have given myself food poisoning - yoghurt must be kept in the fridge and not in the car/pantry. I thought it tasted weird because it was supposed to be healthy...


F xx

Things that probably won't change your life:

I've been thinking a lot lately about things I have to do, not want, have to do before I get too old or kick the bucket. It's not my bucket list though -  I don't want to do these things because I'll die one day, I want to do them because I'm alive!

I want to go on an adventure. A real one - not base jumping or swimming with sharks (hell no!). Two of my friends and a randomer have separately told me that they want to travel through Africa á la Long Way Down, and the more I think about it, the more I want to do it! Alternatively, I would really love to travel through Mongolia, if only for the Gers (Mongolian for yurt) and the landscape.
Maybe I'll take a few months off after uni and do it then. Not on my own though - I'll have to find like-minded people to make sure I get back...

I want to be as self-sufficient as I can be - I'm making a start on that already, but can't wait to do it for real.

I want to live on an island. Not forever, but a year or two, perhaps in a crofter style cottage or something.Self-sufficiency should help here... If an island is too problematic, the coast will do. I love the sea!

I want to see the Northern Lights. I just have to.

Think that's about it... They're not all  my aspirations in life - they're just things that I want to do.

F xx

Ps. Desert island songs please!!

Things I built:

Yesterday was a strange day.

In the morning we said goodbye to our lovely guest, and as she left she said something that made me feel warm and very loved. I'll not tell you because it'll take away from it, and make me seem egotistical.

Then it got a bit surreal. We were invited over to the neighbours' for a BBQ lunch (they didn't have a barbecue, so technically it was an AGA lunch...) and some sort of lemon/lime take on Pimms. Marvellously refreshing!
I know, that doesn't seem weird - it was the building of a trebuchet that was surreal. Before I knew what was happening, I was stood in a field with my Pimms, waiting for a golf ball to be flung at me by a huge trebuchet!
The first three attempts didn't make it out of the sling. The fourth did, but only just! Five hours later, it worked perfectly!
I should probably explain why we are building the trebuchet. It's for the World Egg Throwing Championship that is held in our village and one of the events requires a trebuchet of sorts. Not a catapult, they're not within the guidelines... It's going to be messy!

So after that rather tiring afternoon I went home for a (much deserved) rest. Just as I got comfy, Mummy B phoned, asking me to go back and take some pictures. It wasn't until I got there that they handed me a bee keeper's suit and told me I was photographing them and their bee hives. Tits.
It wasn't too bad. Except my hair was in my eyes, I couldn't see through my camera, and apparently my hair smells good to honey bees. Then they opened the first hive, and the lovely little bees started to get a bit pissed off! One landed on the net visor right in front of my left eye, and stared at me until I flicked it off.
I'm guessing this didn't make it happy as it proceeded to land beside my ear and buzz so loudly, that I didn't hear the bee keeper telling me that bees apparently love stinging ankles, if you're between them and their hive.
I took as many photos as I could and ran!

Photos are on Flickr.

I have one question: What would be your desert island disc? 
That question has been bugging me for over a week now. I want to know other people's for a project-type thing I'm thinking of doing...
Answers on the back of a postcard please. 
Or in the comments, or via text. 
THANKS!

F xx

Things I'm telling you now:

Firstly, I am going to have a little rant. Just a little one.
You know I've been excited about Hop Farm Festival, well now they have announced Van Morrison is playing Friday night! Only thing is, this isn't included in the weekend camping and Saturday tickets I've already bought. The only tickets on sale up until now. With not even a hint that there would be another line-up and more tickets to buy. In all fairness, they have said there will be 'entertainment' in the campsite for those that don't want to buy another £45+ ticket. Though I can't help but imagine a begrudged Festival rep doing lame card tricks while the 20 die -hard Van M fans scream in the next field... I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed in you HFF.
I still love you though.

In the UK, it's the run up to election, and while I am taking an interest (first time voter! Woo!), I am getting a bit tired of all the catty media comments and it being the top trending topic in twitter. I know, I know, it's important but when it comes to choosing the worst of a supposedly bad bunch, it's hard not to lose morale. I like Nick Clegg though - he has nice eyebrows.

When we lived in Australia, we met a lovely family. They are, if you will, our best friend family. They have 2 sons, my parents have 2 daughters. Wedding plans have always been going on - one point it was a hindu wedding in a tub of vaseline... I don't know how that one occured!
But now we're all grown up, and no longer share baths, I no longer get 4th hand clothes. I do, however, have a shopping soulmate! The mother of said family, who I have literary known all my life has the same taste in clothes, style, shopping ethic and she encourages me to buy lovely things! Oh, and she bought me the sweetest,softest, most beautiful jumper from White Stuff - I love it!

I may have made a very real, very stupid mistake. I think I may have taught myself the guitar wrong. Not everything, but a very large portion. And before you think I'm a fool, it's not as stupid as it sounds. Actually, it might be - I have no idea about the extent to which I have messed it up. Tits.

A quick YAY! for sunny weather, planes brining people I like back home, M&S elderflower presse, Lincoln's Vegetarian cafe/irregular choice shoe shop (it really is my heaven!) and being one step closer to learning to surf this summer!

Fxx

Things that I shot this morning:

I've done a quick shoot!YAY!
Basically I was lying in bed last night, listening to Laura Marling's first album (I'm trying to learn most of it on guitar - quite hard!) and I thought This music conjures up so many images in my mind, I wonder if I can capture them on camera. I can't. Not on my own anyway.
I had fun doing these though, so I posted them and included the lyrics that prompted the photos.
I think I shall redo this when I have more people/time/technique!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fionafbaillie1_photography/

F xx

Ps. Hope it doesn't look too teenage angst/'myspace'... Let me know if it does.

Things that made me paranoid:

Ok, so I really am starting to suck at writing posts.
Because I'm crap.

I'll make you read about this weekend anyway!
So I went to London, and experiences all those horrible things I wrote about last time, (except I wasn't stood on nearly as much this time...) but the sun was shining,so I was H-A-P-P-Y!

Shopping in Windsor was quite fun, though I bought more things for my dad than I got for myself - I'm sure it's supposed to be the other way round...
One of the things I bought him was the Truman Show dvd. I've seen it a few times before, and always go away feeling super-paranoid. This time was no exception! I should explain that there was a lot of things 'coincidentally'  happening in the run up to watching it this time.

Firstly, less than a week ago  my sister and I were sitting in my room, and for some reason I can't remember, ended up talking about the movie and how I sometimes think my life is a tv show (how dull it would be!) and made her promise to tell me if it was true...
Not sure I believed her, there's just far too many coincidences!

So when dad and I walked into HMV and he asked me for the name of 'that movie where the guy is in a giant dome and his life is a tv programme and people try to tell him but he doesn't understand his life is a tv programme... doesn't get it' I got a little paranoid! But we bought/watched it anyway. The rest of the weekend was filled with little things like the train arriving just as we stepped on the platform four times and meeting some very chatty Americans (one of them kept pointing her button-covered bag at me. Bet one was a camera.). There are more things that support the secret camera theory, but I came back from London today so am tired and therefore I can't be bothered to think.

But enough of my irrational paranoia.

My sister has gone back to university now, and I am sad because I like my sister and miss her already.
But this means I can sing whatever song I want without annoying her - particularly this one. Actually, I'm going to go one better and figure out the tabs for it! Mwahaha!

I realise this isn't a very interesting post. If you've read this far, you've got further than I did!

My deepest, most sincere apologies.

Yours, F xx


*UPDATE - I just choked on my toothepaste in the bathroom - really  choked and no one ran to my help. I am therefore sure that either I'm not on a tv programme or they really didn't mind if I snuffed it whilst brushing my teeth* 

I am going to London for the weekend. You know how much I just LOVE London! 
Post when I return.


Fx

Things.

There's a bit in scrubs where Turk has an 'awesome' ringtone, and defies anyone not to dance to it, and as you can see, nobody can! My sister has a ring tone like this - perhaps with a little less bump'n'grind and a little more finger clicking, foot stomping (hear it here). As you can see, it's from Disney's The Princess and the Frog, which my sister loves in a way that no 21 year old ever should! You can find her posts (yes, multiple) here and here.

Don't get me wrong - I liked it - there were the jokes for older audiences, the occasional catchy tune (as you now know) and the most lovable Cajun fire-fly called Raymond!

But I do not love it like my sister does.

There are few things that can tear a sisterhood apart. This isn't one of them, but I wasn't willing to risk it. So in a bid to show my sister that I too find this film  'a beautiful return to the classic Disney' and 'lovely. Just lovely', I chose my favourite line from the film made her a picture: 

( View in Flickr for better quality)

This took all of ten minutes, whilst also chatting on Skype, so as you can guess - not the picture I'm most invested in. It is, however, the most popular image on my Flickr, and has the most views in recently uploaded. Hmm. I was told if I got rid of the little crown and words I could sell it. I think that misses the point slightly, but thanks for the advice! =] 

My darling mother bought me a gift - a really beautiful Birdcage candle holder. I love it! Expect to see it in future photos...

In other news, I'm still playing the guitar. After years of biting my nails, I have finally stopped, only to have to constantly file them so I can play. Pah.

I've learnt some Laura Marling (The Captain and the Hourglass is my favourite at the mo) but have also got the tabs for Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah. (By the way, I've loved JB for years. He blows my mind!)

I'm not the nimblest at picking, and with the capo on 5th, it makes it difficult for my stubby fingers, so I play it at a quarter of Buckley's speed. I call it real speed because I don't want to call it stubby-finger-slow.  I think I may have driven everyone here mad. HAHA!

I forgot what else I was going to write - I got distracted by Hop Farm's amazing playlist. 

Oh well! 

F xx

Things that I did yesterday/last night:

Ok, so I didn't go for that really long bike ride. I did end up cycling to the farmshop for lunch with my mum, sister, friend and dog though! The weather was so good that I even managed to get a little burnt on my nose... and one new freckle!

The weather was so good we lit the brazier (not brassiere), invited the neighbours round and  got out the vintage cricket set. The light was fading by eight, so cricket became a bit dangerous... (I was out on my first bat, but got five runs! Yeah, I don't know what that means.) and we have a bit of a pro cricketer for a neighbour, so it was a bit short lived!

Camp fire shenanigans continued - we had a few rounds of Chinese whispers;
'I went to the market and bought butter and bread' became 'I went to the market and pounded/powdered my breasts'...

Next game was Slap, Click, Clap... I can't describe it, but all you need to know is our neighbour can read my mind and steal my thoughts.

The rest of the night consisted of tipsiness and frivolity, a quick rendition of Christmas songs on the piano, a debate on vegetarianism, and a house tour that ended in the first room. Such fun!

And eventually bed.

I did wake up at 5am to check the garden wasn't on fire. It wasn't.

F xx

Oh, and I've uploaded some new pics onto Flickr. I'm not happy with them, but thought I should load something!
Ps I've swapped one of the pics for a better edit - Check it!

Things that make me think it's Spring:

Just to let you know, as I write this I am touching wood...

Yay! I think Spring may be here, and I'll tell you for why (practising my Welsh lingo) :

Today I wore a T-shirt and shorts! Ok, so I had tights under the shorts, but still, a T-SHIRT! I was too hot at one point too. Flip flops were the shoe of choice, until I got downstairs and realised driving is not fun in sandals!

I took this as a hint to get the bikes out of the sheds and completely fix them, which was no easy feat! That's done so I'm planning a super-long bike ride tomorrow ending at the village brewery/farmshop/café...
We'll pretend I'm doing it for the long, healthy ride - not the yummy lunch at the end!

Also I have my freckles back. They're not like they will be in summer, but they're definitely making their comeback!

You can probably guess my sister and I didn't do a shoot the other day, but I'm planning to take the camera on the ride tomorrow, so we'll see! I'm going to try and find an old photo in Elements and fiddle with it a bit so I can post something!

F xx

Things that I may or may not do today:

So scrabble wasn't such a big success. I was on a team with my very clever mum, and a very clever (and seriously competitive) man, so there was no room for fun on our team! This, juxtaposed with the hilarity of words being conjured by my sister's team (more than half were unusable on grounds of decency), was enough to dampen my spirits. Therefore my only used contribution (because it used a triple word and a double letter) was 'Lovebunny'.

The Ben and Jerry's was good though. I had half baked in a cone! Yum yum yum.

My sister and I might do a photo shoot. I would write about the ideas I have for the shoot, but as I said, it may never happen - I wouldn't want to get your hopes up! If we do one, I'll write a post tonight to make up for this crappy excuse!

Not much to say, apo-logies! (Seen that episode of Blackadder?)


Fxx

Ps. Had a dream I was a naturally amazing, world-class surfer... Nice!

Things I am doing aujourd'hui/hier

Ok, so I don't have any idea what to write about today, though feel I should. 

Today for breakfast I had warm chocolate pudding and ice cream! Before you think that's gross, it was 12:30ish and I had been awake for hours, so not first thing in the morning. And it was yummy.

Oh, I also sat outside and played the guitar for quite a while, before I realised that the neighbour was in their garden and probably didn't want to hear me playing the intro to Laura Marling's 'Failure' twenty or thirty times - my short, fat, immovable fingers make it tricky to play guitar sometimes! 

Scrabble. With my imaginative spelling, you can guess that it's not a game I can excel in, unless I'm playing with dyslexics (luckily for me, a rather large amount of my friends have the magic D, though I don't play them at Scrabble nearly as much as I should). Tonight, the Baillie clan is heading East, by about 100m, to play the neighbours at Scrabble. You may think that sounds a little villagey, perhaps a bit dull, but I can guarantee it'll be one of the most competitive, entertaining nights that Lincolnshire has ever seen. Ok, so maybe that won't be hard, but I certainly hope it's true!

Also, we have bought 6 tubs of Ben & Jerry's, I'm happy.

F xx

Things that I'm not doing today:

I am not in Scotland. You may have seen the horrendous weather conditions on the news, and together with the fact that my car is made of plastic, meant that we decided it was too risky to attempt it! Shame, but we'll go soon. Also means I don't have amazing photos of a family reunion. Oh well.

Today I am playing guitar. Lots. I have been listening/writing tabs for Laura Marling's 'Failure'. I know there's good ones on Ultimate Guitar, but I find it fun/therapeutic! I am rubbish, but will (hopefully) improve!
Oh, I am also looking for a super-sexy cut away acoustic (not jumbo) guitar... Lovely!

I wasn't really planning to write this post, but thought I should put something here. That's why it's a bit incoherent and about nothing in particular. Apologies!

I promise to write better in the future, (x heart, like in 'UP')

F xx