Strange fruit

A couple of my friends bought me a guidebook to some of Scotland's more unusual places for my birthday a few months ago. When I browsed the contents a few days later I was surprised to discover that I had visited only 13 of the 55 places listed (I thought it would have been more). However, a challenge was set and it will be interesting to see how many of the places I will be able to 'tick off' as the months and years go by.

The nearest place in the book to where I live is The Pineapple, near Airth. I've been here a few times before but, with only a couple of hours free on Wednesday evening (long story), I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone - visit a location in my birthday book (the first to be ticked-off since I got it) and also get a photo for my daily Blip.

The Pineapple was built by the 4th Earl of Dunmore in 1761 as a folly from which he and his wife could view the surrounding walled garden.

According to the Undiscovered Scotland website: "Pineapples had been discovered in the Caribbean by Christopher Columbus in 1493, and over the following centuries had become rare and highly prized delicacies in Europe. Symbols of power, wealth and hospitality, they had increasingly come to be used by architects to decorate gateways, door lintels and other detailed features on their buildings."