Spring time in Scotland

It's, Scotland, it's Easter, it's spring time... So, plenty of snow then... Walking in the Pentlands today, snow left from the dreadful weather earlier this week which dumped snow over a lot of Scotland and storms that have made a mess of a lot of bits of the coastline. Some of it has melted away but in the Pentlands on the edge of Edinburgh it's still lying there, from light dusting on some spots to seriously deep snow in other spots, coming up our shins almost to our knees.







Walking up the hill the skyline gave a great effect, making it look like the clouds were rising up from below the horizon:










Walking through snow is tiring, time for a breather; this also means time for Bruce the dog to scrounge a biccie from his master:






You can see Edinburgh spread out in the background here (click for the larger version on Flickr):

sunset in Edinburgh

Crossing North Bridge a few days ago after work, the setting spring sun splashed across these statues with a lovely, warm, copper light:

Spring blooms

As the burst of warm, spring weather suddenly fades back into being cold and wet, a little reminder of the nice weather last week and the sudden burst of colour as flowers emerge from the thawed soil seeking the light again:

It's snowing flower petals

The blossoms are out in force on the trees for spring; today has been quite breezy and pink and white petals are fluttering from the blossoms, down from the trees, swirling around on the pavement. The road gutter is full of petals, as if a huge wedding procession had just been by. I pass all the blossoming trees in Princes Street Gardens on the way home and the contrast of the white and pink with the resurgence of deep green as the trees come back to life is gorgeous. A couple of hours later sitting at home and the wind picks up; the blinds rattle near the open window and looking out of my third floor I can see what looks like flakes of snow.

Actually they are petals, blowing from the trees on the other side of the tenements opposite me, being caught and blown up several stories, over the roof then down again into the street. As anyone who has ever lived in a Victorian tenement are knows the long, high stone structures create a criss-crossing urban canyon with swirling wind directions all their own. Tonight it made blossom petals dance outside my windows several floors up in the air as the sun was setting. Beautiful