Bananas

 Saw these growing in the glasshouse at Threave, our first port of call this morning. A lovely garden to walk round, but it was very cold and showery.

We moved on to the old castle nearby, built on an island in the river. You ring a brass bell and the boatman comes and ferries you across. By this time the wind had got up too, so we didn't linger long.

On to Kirkcudbright, and the house and garden of the artist E A Hornel. Mercifully sheltered - odd flakes of snow were falling by now.  And nearly all the time the sun was shining too. Crazy weather!

Extra of a sculpture of St Francis by Ronald Rae, in the garden at Threave. The stone is a piece of pink and grey granite and basalt, fused together 490 million years ago.