Birnam Hill

I’m losing count of how many times I’ve been up Birnam Hill near Dunkeld, which is no bad thing.

My favourite waterfall is still running and the scenery from Stair Bridge viewpoint, overlooking the line of the Highland Boundary Fault running past Rohallion Lodge is still beautiful.

Herewith, a comparison of colour vs black-and-white renditions.

Gardening is People

Some decades ago, my folks were planning their garden; a friend of the family who happened to be an old gardener recommended two things: a mahonia bush and a snake-bark maple. The latter is gone but the mahonia remains, decades on.

Everywhere I consider home has had at least one mahonia – it’s a measure of garden completeness. Today I planted one in the back mud-patch and thought of Tom of old.

Neighbours from Argyll days once recommended an Osmanthus. Today I planted one and thought of them.

The willow tree came directly from friends in Argyll as well and was planted a few months ago. (I’m not convinced it’s thriving, however!)

It wouldn’t be the first place I’ve lived to have had hebes in the borders either.

So. That’s the heart of a gardener, is other people remembered.

Around Glen Etive

For the first time in several years I spent a very happy afternoon wandering around Glen Coe / mostly Glen Etive, revisiting well-known sites – Buachaille Etive Mor from the River Coupall, the head of Loch Etive and the viewpoint above Loch Tulla – the light was stunning, a good test of the Olympus Pen-F camera. I also experimented with the 7-14mm ultrawide lens – it seems the best thing to do is point it straight at the sun and enjoy the flare; composition becomes a matter of seeking strong foregrounds.