A Crafty Treat

Today was a very good day to treat myself. There has been a fair bit happening recently and by this afternoon I decided some 'be-nice-to-myself-time' and a bit of retail therapy was in order.

I haven't visited Queen Margaret Drive in ages but I was visiting nearby and decided it was high time for a tiny wander as two of my favourite shops are just a couple of doors from each other. QMD follows on at the top of Byres Road and runs past the Botanic Gardens and over the River Kelvin. It also used to be the location of the old BBC Scotland Headquarters before they moved to the riverside.

 

Kibble Palace at the Botanic Gardens and the spire to the left is is Oran Mor which does A Play, A Pie and A Pint at lunchtimes.  

View over the Bridge and along the River Kelvin 

No idea what this tree is but it looked amazing. If anyone knows please do tell.

 My first visit was to the marvellous Opal Moon which stocks a wonderfully eclectic range of pretty and mystical things.

 I love that they even think of the four legged customers who might be passing.

It's a tiny tardis of a shop and there must be magic afoot as I've never known how Joan packs so much stock in. It's also the kind of place you can never leave without a perfect little something for yourself or as a gift. The first thing to catch my eye, or more accurately my nose, was the beautifully scented wax tart which is already in my burner and bringing a calming aroma to the room right now.

Then I was totally delighted when I realised they had managed to get the lovely little angel cards back in stock.

Many spiritual shops will have a bowl on the desk for you to randomly select one as a message from your angel. They are lovely and I've been after a set for ages. Today was obviously my lucky day!

You can store them in their own box but mine are now in a gold bowl on the chest of drawers beside the front door for me to choose one each morning and for friends to select one when they come to visit.  

They even came with some bonus angel stickers which is nice.

The next visit was to Yarn Cake for yarn, cake and to see if they had any handled crochet hooks.

Its taken me until the last few rows of my chenille poncho to realise my carbonised bamboo hook is kind of dragging the yarn and a handled hook might make things more comfy for my wrists. I lost my  5.5mm aluminium hook on the train journey down to London.

Obviously, cake, coffee and chatter had to be partaken of before any gruelling decisions regarding what to buy. The hook choice was simple though, and I bought a 5.5mm Clover Soft Touch for the poncho and a 4mm KnitPro Waves for general use. I was also delighted to get a snap of their new sheepy cake label holders but less delighted I couldn't get one to follow me home.....*big petted lip time*.

I decided to save my yarn purchase till next week when they are having their Yarn Shop Day with discounts. Technically, this means I will SAVE money but I think we all know I will use the saving to buy more yarn. I may also have to have more cake and coffee while I ponder what I'll purchase again.....! Apparently, to get the discount you have to tell Antje, the owner, that you love her. She said she'd tried this last year and it was quite hilarious from the extravagant expressions of adoration to others whispering it in an embarrassed tone.

I hope you've enjoyed our trip to QMD. It certainly cheered me up and I'm just sorry I can't send you a piece of the amazing warm from the oven Rocky Road Brownie, handmade by Antje. It was exactly as scrummy as it sounds!