View from the window

An intense sunset in February really lifted my spirits when the days were still relatively short but definitely getting noticeably lighter. Every window offered a different silhouette.

Hard to believe we are already almost at the Spring Equinox (Autumn Equinox the Southern Hemisphere) and we'll all share similar amounts of light and day before it heads back along an increasingly diverging path.

Here in Scotland we get the double treat of the Equinox and a partial Solar Eclipse (94% in the North) on Friday, which feels very fitting to mark the change in the balance of light.

Spring shrubs enjoying the sunshine

Today was cold but oh so very sunny and many bushes and trees were filled, or filling, with colour. I love when the sun shines through the leaves of the flowering currants providing a glorious contrast in colour from the pink flowers.

Elsewhere I've been delighted by the flowers on the Winter flowering Honeysuckles - Lonicera Fragrantissima, which have been flowering since early December and this month have been providing a much used early nectar source for some huge bumble bees in the garden.

It's funny how in October 12C means jumpers on, and in March it means jumpers off. Beautiful sunny weather and no cold wind! It's hard to believe that this time last year we were under snow that lasted right through April so we could barely see the snowdrops or crocuses. Not so this year, they are abundant and basking in Spring sunshine. They hovered as 'drops' from mid Jan through Feb and then when the warmth came they all opened up in crisp white perfection, just like the clouds.

Edinburgh Christmas lights 2013

Sunset with Robin

Sunset 14th November Autumn into WInter

It's been great to see the return of some lovely sunsets this week after a period of cloud and rain. Tonight was a real pleasure to watch, it looked lovely in all directions and changed from pale pastels to quite intense shades of pink and purple in the North...

And fast changing oranges and yellows with hints of purples in the South West (which became very fiery near the end before softening off at the end as the street lights came on. The trees have lost nearly all their leaves now but as long as some are still clinging on my head thinks it is Autumn, but dropping temperatures and early sunsets are telling a more Wintery story (this took place over 12 minutes from 5.17pm)

September, tiny ponies, red Rowan

Autumn came early to many plants in the garden after a brief dip in night time temperatures, meaning the baby Rowan in the garden turned red long before the mature ones. Also the young Spindle and the Virginia Creeper making seasonal leafy splashes of brightness sooner than expected. Lovely. And then a surprise, tiny ponies 10 minutes from home.

A few early August sunsets

Sunset today (above), last week (middle), and after sunset (bottom).
It's been so nice to have a break from the rain and get some washing dried outside.

Summer Solstice 2012

Sun setting at 10.30 on the Summer Solstice.

Sun setting at 10pm a day later.

The Soltice sunset was quite impressive, for about 15 minutes! I love the way you can see the pale blue and faded mint sky behind the more dramatic gold dusted rain clouds. I was hoping to get a nice shot at midnight since the previous night had looked bloody gorgeous (but could I find my camera? Nope). Sadly it was a bit too cloudy for a good photo at midnight but there were some lovely red hues in the north sky over Edinburgh.

In the March garden

Kerria buds, Spirea, Hellebore, Daffodils unknown, Daffodils 'Tete a Tete', Lilac leaves, Pieris 'Cupido', Cricus 'Ruby Giant' with Heather unknown, Kerria in flower, Flowering Currant.

So much grew and flowered in March, especially blossom which I would have expected in April and May. There will be a bit of a blank period in those months now but it was amazing to see everything flowering at once - Magnolia, both Cherry trees, Forsythia, Amelanchier, Kerria, Flowering Currant and so much more. I've not had time to get my other 100's of plant pics on to the computer yet. Will try.

Ulrika Kestere, Hair, Blue Clothes

Ulrika Kestere - Winter horse poster €22 here

Ulrika Kestere - Ice Princess

I was originally directed towards the top photograph by Ulrika Kestere by someone saying she had a similar wardrobe to me. I thought they meant furniture wardrobe but clearly they meant likes to wear lots of different blues with a touch of red. The clothes are nice but it's the photo itself I like most. It is part of a series called "Girl with 7 horses" and she has made this one available to buy as a print here. You can see more of her photographs on her blog Ulicam. I liked the wintery one because I collect blue dresses and have long wanted to photograph them in snow, but it's always been too wet, too cold or too windy. She is tougher than I am.

I was looking at old photos this week and found one of me as a kid on the banks of the Mississippi River wearing blue with a touch of red (loved my bandanna) in 1984 when our parents bundled us all into a Camper Van and spent the Summer driving from LA to New York (having been living in LA 2yrs but returning to live in Scotland). I didn't realise I was doing non traditional hair buns in '84, I thought I didn't bun my hair until college in '89. Ulrika has an animated gif of braided hair that reminds me of why I put up with my really long but infuriatingly prone to tangling hair for so long. I loved playing with it, so many ways to express my mood. But when you have ME every bit of energy is precious and it's pointless wasting it on a daily battle with tuggy hair (you can see the tugs beginning to form a blur in centre of the bottom photo). Last January I chopped nearly all of it off and last month I did it again. But it's nice to find photo's of it long.


Me with my Brother. Watching Mississippi paddle steamer 1984

Me at Big Bear Lake, California 2008

Winter returns

All photo's from Winter 2010, near my parents house.
Top 3: Frosty Umbel, Dried Rosebay Willowherb, Village House.

After a pretty consistently mild and gale filled few months Winter, in the sense that we are used to it here in Scotland, has finally returned. The gales have stopped and even the strong winds have eased in the last week or two, such a relief. This week much of the country is blanketed in snow so it seemed fitting to post some snowy shots (from 2010), though the snow seems to have missed us here. Instead we are getting hard frosts every night so a lot of the plants, especially the supposed annuals, that had been unnaturally surviving the winter are starting to peg out. I was thrilled they lasted at all so losing them isn't too sad, and their winter longevity meant I was able to get an extra season of cuttings to replace the Summer cuttings that didn't all do well. It's good to get a proper run of cold as it keeps things like greenfly from getting out of control outside (let's not get into my neglectful plant care which has allowed them to flourish inside!).

Winter Garden Colours

Winter sunset behind the tall birch trees

After the last post of silvery frosted leaves I wanted to show that the garden isn't without colour. And Liz, the little colour palettes are for you, so you could see what the family version of my plant book looks like in places.

The Hydrangea above it was a bit of a surprise, I was convinced the heads would have been ripped apart by the gales but the constant winds all year have toughened up all the plants so many things have held up well. Although I'm not really a fan of bright blousey Hydrangeas I do love them once they start to fade though I'd never seen them that way until I inherited this one with the garden.

Heuchera 'Georgia Peach' is a favourite with varying shades of deep pinks, mulberry and marmalade shades depending on season and weather conditions. I've got several new Heucheras with equally wonderful colours but they are tiny plug plants just now. Heucheras take a long time to bulk up in my garden so I'm giving them 3 years until they have enough leaves for good photos.

We've not had as many lovely sunsets as usual so when I spotted this one I had to capture it. If only I could have successfully photographed the 1000's of starlings that were doing their daily sunset flight in front of it. Absolutely mesmerising, but impossible for my camera to capture in such dim light.