A few special things

It's grassland survey time of year again. The last couple of Saturday mornings, and with a few more to come, I have been at the Aberlady Nature Reserve with my fellow conservation volunteers, rummaging around in the undergrowth. We found sixteen different species in this 2m square site, and in the surrounding area a few other special treats.

The common spotted orchid

a big clump of hairy violet, which was quite a find,

and the Northern Marsh Orchid.

Ragged robin

and viper's bugloss are two of my favourite wild flowers, the latter also beloved by bees!

And here are two firsts for me. For a long time I have known that butterflies love to lay their eggs on stinging nettles, but I have never seen proof of that, until now! We passed dozens of these black caterpillars crawling around on nettles. They are the caterpillar of the peacock butterfly. What a transformation they are will be undergoing!!

Finally, this dainty little thing is a moth. The latticed heath moth, Chiasmia clathrata.

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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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