Well, despite the chill winds from the Forth it looked like spring was really on the way, as these prety (and brave) flowers sticking their heads up show (right in front of the White Tree of Gondor no less)







but by today at the (empty) beach on North Berwick taking Bruce for a walk we were back to more normal slate-grey clouds coming in over the Forth from the North Sea and past the Bass Rock, now a seabird sanctuary but once a monastic retreat way back in the 8th and 9th centuries, then later a prison and fortress (in fact the fortress was taken over by Jacobite prisoners and held for several years until their impressed opponents negotiated an 'honourable' surrender). You can check a webcam from the island here.