Another very frosty day

 

The golden hour

Sunrise now coincides with going into the garden and letting the dog out, and it was a golden start today

Walk near Eddleston

FlowerFriday

Peonies

Towards the horizon

Spot the white owl!

New Life Emerging

Let there be light

Field views

A Visit to Paradise

A cold and damp day was left behind in order to visit paradise, located for now at The Queen's Gallery at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. It's an exhibition called: Painting Paradise; the art of the garden. It's a beautiful show incorporating not just paintings but also ceramics, botanical drawings and even beautifully embroidered chairs. I loved the audio tour the gallery provides for visitors. It was very informative and also had lovely music to accompany the exhibits. The catalogue too is gorgeous although I recommend buying it after visiting the show. It's a very hefty tome and you don't want to carry it around while looking at the exhibition.

At the entrance to the gallery there are two facing doors, featuring the lion and the unicorn respectively, symbols of the United Kingdom, the lion being the one for England and the unicorn for Scotland. The unicorn is accompanied by a view of Arthur's Seat in Holyrood Park while the lion features Edinburgh Castle and the skyline of Edinburgh.

The show will continue till the 26th February so plenty of time for a visit. I then treated myself to a cup of tea and a scone in the coffee shop next door before walking back to the car park nearby in the streaming rain.

It was good to get out of the house, that feels so very empty at the moment.

An unexpectedly glorious day

 

The weather forecast hadn't mentioned the gloriously sunny conditions that came our way today but they were gratefully received. I went on a little photography expedition in the field next door to see what had changed over the winter months and to find interesting pictures.

Some of the beech trees are so old and large that you can almost walk into them and that made for interesting through views.

The old railway path goes through this field too, and from it you can look up. This is looking to the left ( and spot the dog on the bottom right).

And this is looking the other way, to the right, and there is the old platform with a glimpse of our roof in the background.

 

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The garden is coming to light

 

After thick fog this morning the sun managed to make it's way through and it proved warm enough to sit outside and go looking for colour in the garden.

 

 

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Hollyhock

 

 

 

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One long, sunny day

 

It might have been very windy but also warm. A blue sky was present all day long. And oh, the difference it made. I literally soaked it all up after what was a dismal summer and before the cold winter arrives. Filling up my batteries to bursting.

The rare sunny days we have had were extensively photographed and looking back over the past months make it appear the summer was better than it was in reality.

But these pictures will remind me of this very special, radiant day.

 

 

This time won't come again but it has not been wasted!

 

 

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