ALL PHOTOS CLICK FULL SCREEN.
Mid May is definitely the best time to explore the Scottish Parks for the range of colours, especially to see bluebells, azaleas, and rhododendrons at their best. Last week I met up with Anne and Belinda to wander round a couple of the best ones. This is the Victoria Park Fossil Grove quarry area, above, yet two months ago it looked very bare and barren. Hardly anything growing here.
Amazing the difference sun and warmth makes to any landscape. Covid 19 has not really made a major impact on me so far as I do not travel abroad now, have little inclination to go retail shopping or eat out in restaurants, go to movies, sporting events etc... so this is my best free treat right here. I am a modest hedonist in that I like to pleasure my senses if possible... but for me that can easily be done on a budget or for nothing at all.
A beautiful sunny day, blue skies above- fantastic tropical landscapes... and always a short car or bus ride away.
In mid May the UK is hard to beat for colour and variety. Bluebell hollow here.
A red tree.
A back woods realm of nature's perfume and pleasure garden.
Coot with young chick.
Two chicks for this one.
A feast for the senses. Nature therapy... although I hate that throwaway term used almost daily during the last year.... like you require to be led there by qualified instructors to find it. All you have to do is look at your surroundings. What other planet in the known universe is a match for this one?
A sunny day is all I need to be happy and content and we have had a fine run of them recently.
Does it get any better than this? Glasgow's notorious 'Urban Jungle.'
I provided lunch for our trio. This chef had zero complaints I'm pleased to report. Six each of these per person.
Orange duck pate, some butter, salt, black pepper, cherry tomatoes on crackers then strawberries and cream to follow. A study in red.
The glory of Spring in a northern city.
The simple but profound miracle of new leaves appearing every year. A joy in itself. The finest present ever unwrapped.
Imagine a landscape without trees....
... without dappled shade... or colour...
A bench. The tulip garden.
Magnolia flowers in May add an exotic touch.
A colour splurge. 'Happy colours' .....as a social experiment easily proved years ago. Certain colours lift the mood instantly.
Visual hedonism. Every single Spring is my 'summer of love.' Forever and always.
The pond.
The Fossil Grove building.
Personally and truthfully, I rarely feel the need to go abroad these days, as thanks to Victorian plant collectors, the world's exotic species come here to me instead. And... with a good reliable weather forecast... sunny days and clear blue skies are usually a given fact, even in Scotland. What more could you ask.
We do live on a planet of exceptional wonders. A green and blue fertile ball surrounded by a million miles of terrifying darkness, dust, barren rocks, gas and ice. If we mess it up through our own stupidity and greed there is no escape plan for us. So never take any current riches or life giving abundance on our floating orb for granted... it will survive for many eons yet, with new forms of life evolving on its renewable skin as the universe above spins on ... once free of our disturbing pestilence that is...the unknown birth of future creatures rising, falling and howling from countless swamps, caves and jungles from beginning to eventual extinction.....we, on the other hand, might not be there for that. Just one more dinosaur skeleton species from the ancient past of Earth to add to the other 90 percent of all life that once existed yet now no more. But maybe that's all part of nature's great plan as well. Who knows. Once a Goldilocks planet- always a Goldilocks planet. Our homely third rock from the sun. And that thought makes me happy.
We do live on a wonderful planet and are in a beautiful country/set of islands. I just wish it would get bloody warm. Temperatures here are half what they should be for May and it's been mostly dull and very wet! I'm fed up of it now. We're obviously not going to get any summer this year in the north of England - I'm surprised if you're getting it so much better. The Southern Uplands of Scotland get about what we get - I can see them across the Solway.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to Glasgow Carol, The Riviera of the North. I kid you not. We had 24 almost consecutive days of blue skies and sunshine in April just past, cold at night down to near freezing but warm enough during the day, especially in sheltered locations. During Lockdown I was happy sitting in my garden reading, when free, as any popular outdoor area car parks would have be mobbed. Warm enough for sitting in a t-shirt and shorts if out the wind and in direct sunshine. May has been not bad as well so far with many sunny dry days. Been a very good spring so far, where I am at least. Obviously, in a large low lying city the micro climate/weather will be better than any hill or mountain district as they always attract any passing cloud/rain and hang onto it longer.
ReplyDeleteYes, it looks good (have visited twice recently) but the flower beds are not a patch on what they used to be. Same goes for the Botanics. I like wandering there too, but you have to time it right or it’s mobbed. Some of the colds, duller days recently have been perfect!
ReplyDeleteHi Anabel,
ReplyDeleteI think we timed it just right as in both parks when we were there Parks Dept teams were out in force planting and weeding beds ( the first time I've seen them out for ages) Getting parked is the bigger problem on a sunny day ( parking by the main Botanic Garden gates on Q.M. Drive is usually taken at any time now but quieter back streets surrounding both parks is available if you look.) That's been the main bugbear for me- finding places to go that's easy to park at without requiring an early start as the number of people walking locally outdoors nowadays has soared to new heights/lows.
Beautiful photos..makes my heart ache to return to Scotland, when the world is right again. :)
ReplyDeleteCheers Rose,
ReplyDeleteIt is a very varied small country and packs a lot of different landscapes into a modest area.