Botanical gardens

My youngest son's future mother-in-law and I had a very enjoyable wander around the Botanics in Edinburgh on Thursday. The weather was glorious. We walked through some of the gardens, and then went and had lunch on the cafe terrace, outside Inverleith House. There was some wedding stuff to chat about.

We entered the gardens by the east gate,

and headed for one of my favourite parts of the gardens, the Scottish Heath Garden. It's wild, representing the Scottish Highlands, and not frequented much - hence the attraction for me. A 'tumbledown' croft, constructed a long time ago now, has really been taken over by nettles and other wild plants. There is a little pond there too, which a couple of mallards were enjoying.

Colour is beginning to return to the gardens, after the browns of winter.

We enjoyed lovely hot sunshine as we meandered past the different areas of the gardens.

These beautiful anemones were my favourite find of the day. I've got the grand total of two soft blue ones out in my garden. They were everywhere in the Botanics!

After we parted company, I walked on through Inverleith Park. I was meeting my granddaughter from school, and the park's allotment site was en route. It's been there since 1942. There's a pretty impressive selection of huts, which I am rather envious of. I had a wonderful hut on my allotment, on the other side of the city, but some lesser specimens of the human race burnt it down one January night, about ten years ago. Broke my heart.

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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

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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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