#east lothian

[zou-san]

Prestonpans, East Lothian, Scotland

[livesunique]

Seton Castle,  East Lothian, Scotland,

The house was Robert Adam's final project in Scotland.

[pershing100]

Fencing, East Lothian

[orofeaiel]

Blue Poppies at Dirleton Castle Gardens

[sparkysparklesuphigh]

Some beautiful fossils and rocks

[scotianostra]

January 9th 1811 saw the very first women’s golf tournament at Musselburgh.

It always puzzles me how, even though they had women’s golf tournaments over 200 years ago, it took nearby club at Muirfield, The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers 228 years to allow Women members.

Anyway on with the story at hand, Mary, Queen of Scots, is noted by some as the first female to play golf., possibly on the very golf course at Musselburgh where this tournament took place. Mary is credited for creating the term “caddie” which was derived from the word “cadets” used by her when referring to her assistants.

The first recorded golf tournament for women only occurred on January 9th, 1811, it was open to local fishermen’s wives of Musselburgh and Fisherrow, a neighboring town. The event was organized by the Musselburgh Golf Club and took place on their eighteen hole pitch and putt course. The prize for the winner was a creel and a shawl, with the runner up receiving two handkerchiefs from Barcelona. The event was won by the ‘charming Sally’, though other than her first name, her identity is not known.

In 1843 the St Andrews Golf Club was formed in Scotland. Later in 1867 the very first women’s golf club was formed, which was initially formed as The Ladies Club of St Andrews. The club later became known as the St Andrews Ladies Putting Club and is currently known as The Ladies Putting Club of St Andrews. After initial struggles to gain members the club grew to 500 members after its first 19 years.

Women’s golf nowadays is big business, especially in the US, where according to a recent report is increasing the overall prize money payout of its signature women’s championship from $5.5 million in 2021 in 2024 a schedule $116 million in prize money is on offer with a record 10 regular tournaments offering at least $3 million. It’s still way short of the men’s game though, the USPGA tournament alone had a prize fund last year of  $12,000,000 the winner receiving $1,800,000 compared the men's $19,000,000 and $3.42 million respectively.

[diemelusine]

Ruins of Tantallon Castle, Scotland.

[witchothebogfolk]

WHERE I LIVE - FEBRUARY

Looks like: Lighter grey skies than January. Sprays of bright white snowdrops against rich brown earth. Beautiful hellebores, so richly coloured. Seeing loved ones again as we all wake up for the year.

Sounds like: Rivers rumbling past, full of winter rainfall. Hundreds of starlings filling the air with noise, then silencing all at once. Laundry flapping in the wind - now it's not quite so cold, we can occasionally hang it out rather than having it cluttering up the house, hooray!

Feels like: The hope and anticipation of spring meeting the ongoing lethargy and depression of winter. Sun on my skin at last. And, unfortunately, sunscreen now too (sensory issues suck!)

Tastes like: Warming breakfast porridge with honey. Birthday takeaway for my sister's 41st. Hot chocolate. Fruit crumble with ice cream. And hope.

Smells like: Fresh air. Damp earth. Clean, aired laundry off the whirligig (like many middle aged Brits I am obsessed with the joys of good drying days - you don't even need sunshine, just dry skies and a good breeze!) Moments of warmth, of the scents released by the warming air and ground.

Thanks for tagging me @hillbillybubbeleh this was so much fun!

Tagging @sagittariuswitchery, @heatherwitch, @moth-kissed-witch, @mosswood-witch & @chaos-of-nyx to join in if you'd like!