Hi Folks

Just to let everyone know that I'm doing my best to dip into Blogland when I can.

It's been an interesting week or two and I'm now in and out of hospitals for the next week. It's all routine with no need for any concern but it is very time consuming.

In the meantime here's a photo for Jill. I'm sorry it's not a magnolia but the jacaranda trees gave me extraordinary joy when I lived in New Zealand and we had them in the drive as well as in many of the roads in and around Napier. 

A Winter Canal Walk

A month or so ago when I was down in Bishopbriggs we went for a walk alongside the canal. It was a driech morning. Yesterday we repeated the walk on a bitterly cold but beautifully sunny afternoon.

Berthed at The Stables pub in an iced-over canal

We walked under the bridge to the left of the photo and towards Kirkintilloch.

Pleasure cruise canal boats were operating.

Homeward bound into the setting sun

The reward back at The Stables.

Bountiful Summer

Everywhere there is evidence of the bountiful fruits of summer.  The Rowan Trees (Mountain Ash to some people) are particularly beautiful this year:

Evening Sun Through Trees

When I was in Strathblane recently I went for a walk and was quite taken with the effect of the evening sun through the trees:

Tree House in Lews Castle Grounds

I think that I might now be getting into area where some of my postings duplicate postings CJ made whiles he was here. I came across these photos of a tree which was damaged in the storm in 1987 (was it really that long ago?) although quite a few more were damaged in the hurricane in January 2005. The Stornoway Trust which owns the Lews Castle Grounds have been undertaking a great deal of woodland repair and management since the storm but have also managed quite a lot of lighter sculptures and artworks.