A Sunny Day in Liberton and the Braids

I had to go all over town today doing various things and luckily passed close enough to Liberton to pop over to the fields for a wee wander.

At least five skylarks were singing above the fields, while I just caught sight of a grey partridge's head above the plants. Several small tortoiseshell butterflies and one peacock butterfly were basking on the path.

The hedges in the photo below were full of blackcaps singing. In the background you can see Arthur's Seat, quite yellow with all the gorse that's currently in bloom up there.

I carried on up the hill to Braid Hills Community Woods. 

This is an attractive wooded bridle path alongside the Braid Hills golf course. As the path is mostly used by horses, it tends to be quite muddy and you've always got to keep an eye out for horse riders! Today, several willow warblers were singing in these trees, but there was no sign of the yellowhammers that I've seen here recently.

For Nature Notes

As ever, click on the photos to get a bigger view and red text contaains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.

Amazing Amber - the exhibition

While my parents were visiting this weekend, we went to the Amazing Amber exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland. It's a fascinating exhibition which packs a huge amount into a small space.

On display were examples of all sorts of amber from around the world, some in their natural form and others which had been made into jewellery and other decorative items. Personally I'm not a huge fan of amber jewellery, though I'm intrigued by amber itself.

Most interesting were the pieces of amber with insects and plants embedded in them. Most astonishing to me, was the plant fruiting body that had been preserved at the moment of bursting and releasing its seeds!

If you're in Edinburgh over the summer, it's worth checking out this exhibition!

Amazing Amber is on at the National Museum of Scotland until 8 September

As ever, red text contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.

Upcycled Purse for Cloth napkins

I'm always disappointed when I go to a cafe or restaurant and they offer paper napkins, rather than fabric. I often try to go without a napkin at all, but sometimes it's essential to use one (specially when eating something like fajitas or spaghetti!).

I've sometimes thought about carrying a cloth napkin round with me and was pleased to find one in the stash of crafting supplies a friend recently gave me. I didn't want to carry a napkin loose in my handbag though, so I made this little bag for it. It was very easy to make. it fastens with press-studs, the button is only for decoration.

You may recognise the fabric - I used a length of it to decorate this upcycled gift bag. I'll be making a couple of beaded versions of this bag too and may put one in the Crafty Green Poet Etsy shop!

I know of course that in many restaurants and cafes unused paper napkins just end up in the bin anyway and there's also the issue of the amount of water and electricity used in washing and ironing cloth napkins......

Geese and goslings

Today we went took my parents to Figgate Park for the first time. We had a lovely time and enjoyed seeing all the birds, including this Canada Goose on its nest.

Then we hopped on a bus into Musselburgh for lunch, where we also enjoyed watching the birds along the River Esk. There were lots of swallows, house martins and swifts (and the occasional sand martin) flying low above the river and also higher up, all hunting flies. There were also these adorable goslings.

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My guided walk of Colinton Dell on Monday 27 May has now been CANCELLED. Apologies to anyone who was hoping to come along.

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Windowsill garden update

Our windowsill garden is doing well. the mixed salad leaves and coriander are doing better than ever on our living room windowsill. Our tomatoes are doing well as well, most of them are on the spare room windowsill, but one is on the living room windowsill. Creating nice shadows on the wall!

For Shadow Shot Sunday, early I know, but my parents are visiting this weekend and I'm not sure how much blogging I'll be able to do!

Reef by Romesh Gunesekera

This is a beautifully told novel.

Triton is houseboy to Mister Salgado, who is a marine biologist working slowly on a project related to the disappearing coral reefs round the island where they live. The story really focuses on Triton and his relationship to Salgado and his friends and business associates. It's a fascinating, insightful view into the life of someone working in service. It's also a novel full of beautifully observed moments, including this wonderful observation of an oriole:

The oriole came back. it had never come so close to the house before. I could see it behind Mr Salgaldo: tangerine yellow, a bold black head, bright red-ringed eyes, a red beak. It was small and yet its voice could fill the whole garden; its yellow plumage like a lick of paint. It sang deadpan. No anguish. No fear of the eagle that would swoop down on it one day and rip its yellow feathers. 

Reef by Romesh Gunesekera. published by Granta

Birding Update

Musselburgh is renowned as a place where rare birds often stop over near Edinburgh. There seem always to be some notable species somewhere along the River Esk or at the Lagoons. I didn't see any of them today, but really that doesn't matter because there were large numbers of swallows, house martins and the occasional sand martin swooping low over the River Esk. It's just amazing to see these lovely birds all so busy catching insects above the water. Lots of swallows over the Boating Pond too and here they were swooping round over the nearby grass, sometimes circling round me. Just wonderful!

Yesterday I took my birdwatching class up Corstorphine Hill. I had arrived early, as I usually do, to check out what was around, and came across two jays, being chased by magpies. Jays aren't uncommon birds but they are surprisingly elusive. They're large pinkish birds with vivid blue streaks in the wings, you'd think they'd be easy to spot, but they're not. This was my best ever sighting. Sadly, they weren't still around when the group arrived for the guided walk. But we did have an excellent view of a sparrowhawk and the birdsong was amazing.

I've seen very few swifts around where we live so far this year. (Anywhere in fact). It's a species in decline, so I'm always worried that we're losing them here, but I really hope we're not.

As ever, red text includes hyperlins that take you to other weblages where you can find out more.