The Royal Botanical Gardens of Edinburgh (Part One)

Last weekend I visited my daughter in Edinburgh.

We had a lovely girlie time together doing things that we love.

Painting in Pj's, shopping, eating and generally nattering whilst having copious amounts of tea.

We also have a love of plants and photography, so what better to do together, than to visit 

The Botanical Gardens of Edinburgh 

To say we took a gazillion photographs between us, may be slightly exaggerated, but not by much.

Therefore I'm having difficulty choosing what to show you...there was just so much to see and appreciate.

A real feast for the eyes. 

I don't think I've even seen so many varieties of plants and trees in one place.

The garden entry is free and there's only a minimal charge to enter into the glasshouse...but so worthwhile.

So there may be a few parts to this post because I would take up far too much of your time if I posted all my photos.

If you are visiting Edinburgh then try to ensure you put aside a day to visit and I can guarantee you will not be disappointed. There will be something for everyone. 

For this particular post I'll concentrate on the Glasshouse which were established in 1670.

It's an incredible building.

The Temperate Palm House measures 15.24 m (50ft) to the top of the stonework - sandstone from a quarry at Bishopbriggs near Glasgow, with each glass dome 3.35 m (11ft) giving a total height of 21.95 m (72ft).

Shall we go in?

Can you feel that heat....ahhh

Everywhere you look there are amazing plants. 

I'm sure that if you were to visit numerous times every season, then there would still be something new to see. 

The humidity and heat took me right back in time to my days when we lived in the tropics.

So different from the North East of Scotland!

The ponds in the Glasshouses are at their best in summer with exotic sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera), tropical water lilies flowers like Nymphaea 'Pamela' and particularly the giant Victoria water lilies (Victoria cruziana), whose leaves reach 1.5m to 2m in diameter.

Okay okay...that's probably enough for today.

As I said before it's been so difficult to decide what to include in this post... I hope you've enjoyed your visit and will return to see more in part two.

If you'd like to check out the Royal Botanic Gardens website then click HERE.
I'm linking up with
Mersad Photography.Blogspot.co.uk
 Image-in-ing.blogspot.com/
and Our World Tuesday

Have a great week and I look forward to seeing you again soon.

Veggie Plot (Part 2)

Easter Weekend is renowned for being the biggest gardening weekend of the year here in the UK. 

But we've actually been busy since February, when we decided to finally tackle the land at the side of our house, that had been left to nature and untamed for the last 20 years.

I know crazy, but I needed to give my hubby a mission now that he's retired.

(Click on the link if you'd like to see the first post about The Birth of our Veggie Plot)

But we didn't just grab a spade and start digging...oh no...hubby had to measure, draw and cogitate for a few days before any of the garden equipment saw the light of day. 

See... this is what happens when someone retires...they have time to do all this preparation and every conceivable connotation.

But there's no need to rush into anything....just so long as we actually manage to grow something before the seasons disappear.

Below is a photo of his plan. 

He insisted that I include it in the post for you.

My answer was..."you should start a blog of you own and write your own posts about the whole journey"

At this stage he appeared to go deaf!

(cough)

Anyway...let's get started.

It's been hard work, but hubby has loved being out doors every day.

I'm afraid I have to confess...I'm a fair weather gardener.

I need sunshine to inspire me.

 Here's hubby measuring the drills for the early potatoes (or tatties as they call them up here) 

I have mentioned before that he has a touch of OCD haven't I?

Here they are... the early potatoes, but he's a little disappointed because there's no sign of them now and they were planted on 1st March. 

He blames me for nagging putting pressure on him, saying that they needed to be planted as time was getting on. 

But we are in the North East of Scotland and so the ground has hardly had time to warm up yet.

Patience is needed and fingers crossed!

So with the ground bed dug, it was time to move on to the raised beds.

We liked the idea of using reclaimed timber sleepers for the raised beds.

It was a good job that our son was available to help with the muscle work. 

I have tossed a caber in the past (now there's a whole new story and not one for today) but I thought I'd let the guys flex their muscles on this lot.

Once again measurements were meticulously executed with spirit levels, tape measures and string.

And things started to take shape.

Thank goodness that we didn't do the three layers of sleepers that we first thought would be ideal. That would have taken a huge amount of soil.

At last planting could begin.

Initially carrots, garlic and onions (both red and white)

The centre cones are very technical...they're empty toilet roll holders!

Hopefully, they will protect the precious little carrots from the elements until things start to warm up a little.

The rest of the seedling are cosy and enjoying the sunlight in our study! 

Isn't that where they're supposed to be?

(I'm making a case for a greenhouse...so seedlings are crammed onto every window sill, all over the house)

See I wasn't kidding...they're everywhere!

I'll be sure to give you a progress report when these little darlings head out into the big wide world of our veggie plot.

In the meantime... enjoy getting outdoors and having fun.
I'm linking up with Image-in-ing.blogspot.co.uk and Our World Tuesday

Thanks for visiting and I hope to see you again soon.

Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY...it's still not too late.
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The Birth of the Veggie Plot

We have been back in Scotland for nearly four years now and we've always thought that at some stage, we would like a vegetable plot. 

Finally in the last few weeks, the work has started.

Our house is situated on land that was once a farm cottage. 

I've mentioned in the past that when digging in our garden, we've surprisingly found cobblestones under flower boarders. 

Both delightful, but at the same time terribly hard work.

There's also the ruined barn (the folly) and an old outbuilding that we use for a wood store.

So it was with extreme trepidation that my hubby started excavating the new proposed veggie site.

I thankfully was only recruited to keep a photographic record... which was fine by me. 

Don't worry the fields behind have had a farmer with his plough to work them and not my hubby.

They're not on our plot!

I thought it might be a good idea to perhaps ask the farmer, if he could swing his tractor with the digger attachment in through our gate. 

I would provide fresh baking and copious cuppa's, but apparently there might be a gas pipe running along this plot, so it's gently gently for now.

So far he hasn't found any cobblestones...
just huge granite boulders!
Like this one...











Hubby has had to devise and engineer a solution to be able to lift them....
























An old scaffolding tube came in handy as a lever... plus a lot of huffing and puffing












There's a saying that gardening is a matter of your enthusiasm holding up until your back gets used to it.

I'm wondering how long hubby will enjoy spending his days digging, now that he's retired.

It's certainly different from what he used to do.

It's hard manual labour, but so far so good... he's enjoying it.

I've always thought he had a touch of OCD and seeing the way in which he's working the plot does nothing to alleviate this thought.

There's still such a long way to go, but as long as the weather isn't too bad we'll hopefully get there.

The tatties (potatoes) are apparently in the post, so the pressure is on.

I'll be sure to give you a progress report when there's something more exciting to report.

In the meantime... enjoy getting outdoors and having fun.
I'm linking up with Image-in-ing.blogspot.co.uk and Our World Tuesday

Thanks for visiting and I hope to see you again soon.

A day trip to Fyvie Castle

It's been quite some time since we had a trip out, so I'm hoping you are free and up for it!

How about a trip to another Castle?

A 800 year old castle in fact... Fyvie Castle.

Shall we go in?

(The castle lies off the A947 just 8 miles SE of Turriff and 25 miles north west of Aberdeen).

It's a stunning historical treasure that has been beautifully looked after and now is a Scottish National Trust property. 

It really is an amazing place.

So much so in fact, that it has just achieved a five star rating from VisitScotland. 

This year the castle is celebrating it's 30th year of a visitors attraction, so it's a great time to visit.

As you can see the weather was spectacular (at last).

There wasn't a cloud in the sky and there was actual warmth in the sunlight.

How stunning is that? 

Tradition claims that the castle’s five successive families – Preston, Meldrum, Seton, Gordon and Forbes-Leith – each added a tower to this magnificent Scottish Baronial fortress.

I love the saltire (Scottish flag) flying against the glorious clear blue sky.

Shall we go inside...?

Unfortunately, as is the norm for a National Trust property, I was unable to take photo's inside, but let me tell you there is so much to see, that if you ever have the chance to visit I highly recommend that you do. 

You can also follow on their Instagram account #fyviecastle 

They post lots of interesting photo's and facts for your delight. 

Also if you want to know more about the castle, history and it's contents then click here

I couldn't possibly do it justice from my little knowledge.

As is our wont on such occasions, we 'had' to sample their afternoon tea... accompanied with millionaire shortbread. 

All enjoyed alfresco of course!

The 18th-century walled garden has recently been redeveloped as a garden of Scottish fruits and vegetables. This veggie garden is something I aspire to for my own plot... well I can wish!

We came across this incredible tree that must be so old.

Imagine what changes it has seen over the centuries. 

To finish our visit we wandered around Fyvie Loch, which was created by the 18th- century owners. Previously there had been marshland protecting the castle.

. This picturesque landscape feature now covers a large part of the estate’s 49 hectares and supports large numbers of wildfowl.

These cuties came waddling up to us obviously thinking we might have a few crumbs for them. 

I have lots more photo's, but I feel that this is probably enough for today. 

There's 

Once again here's a link if you'd like to know more about Fyvie Castle.

I'm linking up with the following...

Mersad over at Through My Lens
Wordless (on Tuesday at image-in-ing)
and Our World Tuesday

Have a great day and thanks for visiting my place.

My Photo... River Dee

Today was like a game of football... a game of two halves.
In the morning we had glorious warm temperatures, but by early evening it was back to grey rainy weather. 

It was the kind of day that reminded me of my time when I lived abroad.
Outside of the house would be warmer than the inside.
Thankfully I captured images of the better half of the day. 

I had just taken my newly retired hubby back to school... cookery school that is.

The cookery class was part of a birthday gift and thankfully he loved the idea. 

He even had ideas of grandeur.... commenting that he could be the next Paul Hollywood!

All he hoped was that by the end of the day he didn't have a soggy bottom!

(that's a Great British Bake Off reference by the way, just in case you are wondering what on earth I'm referring to)

After I finally got my laughing under control, I was ready to do the school run! 

 As I  passed the River Dee I just had to stop the car in order to take a few photos. 

It looked so beautiful.

In the photo below you can see the Bridge of Dee which is one of the oldest bridges in Scotland. 

The Bridge of Dee or Brig o'Dee is a road bridge over the River Dee and dates back to 1527.

If you look closely in the centre of the photo above, you can see a fly fisherman.

He is casting his fly for salmon. 

The River Dee is renowned as one of the great salmon rivers of the world.

I can't help thinking that even though it was a beautiful warm morning... it would be pretty cold standing waist deep in the river.
The pink flowers looked incredibly like orchids but I'm not sure.
I'll have to go back and take some detailed shots of them.

The cooking class was a huge success by the way.

He even managed to save a sample of one of the dishes out of the three he'd made and brought it home for us to sample.
He ate the other two, plus samples of the chef's work!

I dread it now that he'll probably be so fired up... he'll no doubt start to preach about not using jar's for sauces anymore! 

I may have created something I may later live to regret!

So that's it for today folks. 

I'm linking up with Photoalife once more.

Just before I go I'd like to link up with  Mersad over at Through my lens over in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He has lots of great photographers link up, so if you'd like to see more then please just click on the link above.
Also Wordless (on Tuesday at image-in-ing) 

... and

Have a wonderful week and thanks for popping into my place.

I hope to see you again soon.