Edinburgh.

I have been studiously changing the date of the upload to this Blog to match the day that the photo was taken, but it's really such a bother that I don't think I'll do it any more. Therefore don't take any notice of the date with each entry, it'll just be the upload date.

 

 I wonder how these sentries cope in the cold wind and rain and I wonder what they think about. Maybe how to avoid being photographed with silly tourists?

 I rather liked this fellow in his niche on the entrance to Edinburgh castle, obviously an old Scottish King, but I have no idea who he was.

 No visit to Scotland would be complete without a visit to a tartan weaving facility, or so I'm told.

              Here's me walking back to the hotel in the bitterly cold wind and intermittent rain.

The Angel.

 With Australia being such a relatively young country, we just don't see tombstone inscriptions as old as this one below. I couldn't quite read the name of Patrick's spouse, surely not Belly?

View from Cairn Gorm.

It was a wonderful view, but the howling cold wind very quickly sent me inside away from the viewing platform.

Snow at the end of May!

 There was still plenty of snow on Cairn Gorm, enough for the locals to be planning to ski for a few more days right at the end of the season.

                                                           Snow on a distant hill top.

British Flowers.

 These small daffodils look to me as if they are facing into the wind and it has blown their petals backwards. However it's just another variation I'm sure.

These I think are called Snakes Head Fritillary, and you can see why.  I've never seen them growing before, only pictures in gardening books.

Tombstones and Lichen.

 These wonderful patterns of lichen remind me of lacy doilies, though the colours aren't quite right.

These tombstones on a windswept hillside must remain damp on one side as they were all covered with lichen on the downhill side. This is the old cemetery at Blackford Scotland.

Heading into the Hills.

                         Now this is one sign road that I haven't ever seen here in Australia!

    Nor have I seen this animal in a paddock in Australia. Note the snow on the distant hillside.

Burrell Collection.

The foyer of the marvellous Burrell Collection Museum in Scotland. The museum houses a most amazing collection of artefacts all collected by the late William Burrell. The range of items is astonishing, from ancient Egyptian pieces,  tapestries, armour, pottery, embroidery, stained glass windows and many other things. The building itself is wonderful, enabling the exhibits to be displayed to their best advantage.