Remembrance Sunday

Instead of the more usual poppies on Remembrance Sunday the touches of red today were provided for us by the red leaves in Dawyck as well as the red berries. The weather was damp and grey but the autumn colours were still glorious.

 The colours in these leaves that provided a river of red were amazing.

I hope to be back in the garden one more time this coming Thursday when the Christmas Shopping Event takes place. Always a treat!

Back to Dawyck

It would be a real shame to miss these wonderful autumn days at the moment so we did another walk in Dawyck today. The acers will soon be coming to an end once we get more night frost like we had overnight today but they still look fabulous at the moment.

 The leaves are also turning colour beautifully, with some of them looking like old leather.

 Above what is the most iconic image of the garden.

Today we saw another black pheasant, this time in the garden itself. The lens was stretched to it's ultimate capacity and here he is.

Peggy's Pool Autumn Walk

 We recently went out to the local pub, the Allan Ramsay, in Carlops,  named after the Scottish poet best know for his work The Gentle Shepherd. Inside the pub is an area with Allan Ramsay related objects and there is also a leaflet about him in which some local walks are featured, showing off the local environment that inspired his work. As it was such a beautifully sunny day we decided to do the walk to Peggy's Pond. The autumn colour of the trees was amazing and we also found some fungi. All this is very close to where we live and we had been to Peggy's Pond before but that was during the summer.

 Seeing the woods and the pond with all the browns and gold was stunning.

Some of the paths were pretty good while others were still quite muddy despite the fact that we have hardly had any rain recently. I suppose in the dampness of the woods it takes a long time to dry out. Quite a bit of climbing is involved too, definitely not for the faint hearted. Strong foot wear was advised in the leaflet and they weren't joking!

The directions could have been a bit clearer at times but in the end we did manage to find our way and eventually ended up back in Carlops

Peggy's Pond

Autumn in Dawyck

 What could be better after visiting painted paradise gardens yesterday than to visit one in real life today. It was a fabulous day to visit Dawyck with beautiful low light. The trees are at their autumnal best and we even saw some black pheasants on our way out of the garden, sadly they were too fast for the camera but what a treat! Here are some of the best pictures of an earthly paradise:

Forest Walk

We went for a long walk in our nearby forest this afternoon, both to keep our fitness levels up and to get out of the house. I'm not sure if the forest was the right place to escape to, as the memories not just of Rueben but of all four dogs that we have walked there over the years, were accompanying us all the way and at time it was too much for me. Fortunately there were not many other walkers about although all the ones we encountered had dogs in tow. It felt very awkward to be without one.

the fire pond

Since we first started walking here some 21 years ago the trees have grown amazingly and where once there were views all round now there are just glimpses between two rows of evergreens. You can just see the Pentland Hills in the distance.

We only found some fungi but not as many as in years gone by. I wonder if the present very dry spell has anything to do with that.

We're hoping to make more memories in between these mighty trees before they will be harvested at some stage in the future.

Snow In Dawyck

I had been planning to spend some time today talking to call centres. Not a pleasant task but sometimes unavoidable. But when I opened the curtains and saw a white world I immediately dropped that idea and instead made my way to Dawyck. Because the garden is closed in December and January it's not all that often that you can admire it with a snow covering. It was a magical winter landscape. I felt like doing what the dog did this morning: laying in the snow and kicking his legs up in the air.

I couldn't whip my camera out fast enough to start and capture it all. As a bonus, for the first half hour I was there, the garden was virtually deserted so I felt that this treat was just for me. I won't say much more as words are completely inadequate to describe such beauty.

the beech walk

in their element

I know I have featured this bench before but with such a location and in these circumstances, who can blame me?

ferns

Back home in time for those call centres and one was successfully navigated while for the other one I will take some revolutionary action and visit a bank branch in person! Remember those days?!

A Frosty Morning in Dawyck

The frosty but fabulously sunny morning tempted me into a visit to Dawyck, both for the exercise and the photography, and I wasn't disappointed. One of the advantages of the Scottish winter is the emergence into the light once it's almost over. The low sun brings with it beautiful shadows which makes for stunning imagery.

 Where the sun hadn't reached yet, everything was frozen including the snowdrops.

 In the sun, however, they were putting on a wonderful display.

For some reason, due to how the light was falling, the stained glass in Dawyck Chapel was clearly visible and I took full advantage of it.

Whenever I am in Dawyck I eventually loose myself in my photography looking at the world through a lens even when I'm not actually doing it. Pictures are composed in my head as I'm walking and looking,  and here are some more of the ones that made it into a real photograph.