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Golden November afternoon

We had a beautiful sunny afternoon today, and in the golden afternoon sunshine a friend, the dogs and I had a short walk along the coastal path from Gullane towards North Berwick.  We were only out for an hour from 3pm but during that time the November sun quickly changed from being warm on our backs on the way out, and sinking very low and dazzling in our eyes on the way back.  
The sea buckthorn bushes growing throughout the dunes behind the beach at Gullane, are laden with their glorious orange berries.  They are rich in vitamin C and I would love to be able to pick and cook with them, but they seem to be impossible to harvest.  If I try to take one off the tree, it just squishes and explodes in my fingers!  If anyone has any good tips for picking these berries, please let me know!  I once had a sea buckthorn souffle at Tom Kitchin's restaurant in Leith, and it was absolutely delicious, but any attempt to recreate it has been thwarted by the tree, every time!
At this time of year large skeins of geese commute daily across our east coast skies.  Out in the morning, back in the evening.  They are a wonderful sight.
By the time we were almost home, the sun had gone down and the bay between us and Edinburgh was a glowing golden yellow and the sunset picked out the distinctive outline of Arthur's Seat.

Comments

  1. The first photo really is beautiful... the colours are warm & wonderful... so inviting! Lucky you ... looks great! X

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  2. Here ya go! http://monicawilde.com/how-to-pick-sea-buckthorn-berries/ I look forward to seeing the resultant cookery photos.

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  3. http://monicawilde.com/how-to-pick-sea-buckthorn-berries/

    My 1st post disappeared!

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  4. A berry picker - it looks like a comb in a box - is what you need. Ideal for foraging! Something like this: https://www.raymears.com/Bushcraft_Product/549-Jonas-Swedish-Berry-Picker/

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  5. What treasures you all are! Thank you very much. I will consult the links and hopefully get myself a berry picker! Hooray! A xx

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  6. Gosh, I wish I had all your lovely photos in a large book to flick through they are just stunning. But to be honest you have such a huge collection I doubt whether I could afford it!

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    Replies
    1. What a lovely thing to say! Thank you! And I agree, I have so many photos I doubt whether I could afford to put them in a book! Well, I know I couldn't!!! Anyway, it's fun taking the photos and because I can't let the blog lie fallow, I am on the lookout for a picture all the time. Makes me very much more aware of my surroundings than ever before. A good thing to do, and all the more worthwhile when people enjoy them! Thank you! A x

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