Arthur's Seat Conquered

You'll be glad to know I rescued last night's curry simply by adding some curry powder with a proper Best Before date. That's the secret! Lesson learned. Probably. Maybe.

The fine weather predicted for the weekend prompted grand plans of rising early and going to Perthshire and partaking of an extended scenic walk and, perchance, some autumny blips. These were cheerfully abandoned this morning in favour of a long lie in, leisurely breakfast and a scenic walk nearer home.

And so it was that we went up Arthur's Seat. We haven't been up there for years, although we walk on the Crags regularly now and again. Every man and his dog (and his bike) was out in the park. It's such a fantastic place, right in the city. And free.

There were dozens of people at the top - several people quite emotional too, who knows what their thoughts were... One couple had to keep stopping while the woman cried her eyes out all the way down. They must have sad memories associated with the place.

There were a couple of big bouncy labradors. Well, one was bouncy, Jarvis, and the other was quite old, Archie. The owner said Archie was 10 years old and he'd done pretty well getting to the top, but he was worried about getting him down the hill again.

I patted Archie and said, 'Well done, old fella,' and the owner, as he walked away, said, 'Thanks. And the dog didn't do so bad either!' Funny!

There were three lads on mountain bikes going down a nice easy grassy slope about half way up. They went down really, really slowly, brakes on, one at a time. And each one filmed the other going down. I bet they were going to speed up the film before they showed their friends!

There were two crows/rooks/ravens at the top, hanging around and enjoying the wind. They'd sit for a while, then just float off above everyone, checking to see who was having a picnic they'd like to share with them. What a great life.

I took so many photos, I really had a job choosing one. I eventually chose the crow shot, because the light just caught the feathers and they look like leather. That chap didn't know he was being watched! By a camera and a crow.