The treasures of Athelstaneford

I made my first visit to Athelstaneford's Book Nook yesterday. I took some books along and came away with one which I am looking forward to reading, once I have finished Donna Tartt's 'The Goldfinch'.

Every time I drive through Athelstaneford I make a mental note to visit the little building, Hepburn's Doocot, which sits behind the church, housing an exhibition about the Saltire, the Scottish flag. Having dropped off my books I went to see what goes on in the doocot!

We have misty grey days at the moment but one of my favourite line of trees was just visible in the gloaming, viewed from the back wall of the churchyard.

To enter the Hepburn Doocot you have to bend in half to get through a tiny door.

Once inside there was a little gem of an exhibition.

Press a button and a rich deep Scots voice recounts a local battle which took place in 832 AD.

The day before the battle, the story goes, there was a cross of white cloud set against a blue sky (without the trickery of aircraft vapour trails in those days) which the Picts saw as a good omen. One thing led to another (read all about it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athelstaneford) and we now have the Saltire as Scotland's flag

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In a vase on Monday - colour

The intense colours in my vase this week come from nasturtiums, sweetpeas and a single glorious zinnia! Their beauty and love of life speak for themselves and need no further words from me! Enjoy!

Early morning light

There have been some cracking early morning skies this week. The sunrise has generated a strong rose gold light which has been picked up not only in the clouds but also through the silver-white grasses around the edge of the golf course. I always marvel at the clouds. Constantly changing, formations that have never been seen before, never to be seen again.

Coastal walk from Gullane to North Berwick

By the time I have walked about four miles, my toes are screaming at me - it's the arthritis, you see. One of the joys of being that little bit older than I was. However, for a long time, I have been keen to walk along the beaches, and follow the coastal path, between Gullane and North Berwick. So, having worked out the tide times, I decided today was the day, and off we went. Below is our starting point, the bay at Gullane. It's a lovely beach, very popular with dog walkers. This is looking east, the direction Tilly and I were going to take. Looking back, up the Forth, the unmistakable bulk of Arthur's Seat, and Edinburgh's skyline, just clear enough to see. For most of the walk, there is the choice between wandering along a series of beaches, or following a path along the top of each. There's no denying it, at heart I am a shell-seeker. I have loads of shells at home. We lived on one of the out islands in the Bahamas for a just over a year, ...

the running wave

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