Why are there little tortoises beside grass in a Papermaking Museum?  Among the places we visited on Open Doors Day was the little museum in Penicuik.   The town grew up as a result of several mills which were operating between 1709 and 2004 and produced high quality paper including for banknotes.  There were descriptions of the history of paper and a demonstration making simple handmade paper and how the watermarks were added. Since paper production began over 1200 years ago in China, hemp, linen, cotton and rags have been used.   With a shortage of rags during the Napoleonic Wars the mills at Penicuik began to import esparto grass from North Africa which sometimes included tortoises that had been hiding in the grass.  Many of the locals took them home and now there are knitted tortoises for children to find at the museum.   Most paper is made using wood pulp now and the former mills have been demolished and no longer is Penicuik called The Papermaking Town.
Another venue that we visited was the Cockpen and Carrington Church where there were many things of interest  including floral displays of the seasons. Following my blip of yesterday the one for autumn seemed appropriate.