Wooden refuge

The wooden shingles and tiny bell-tower on the small building that sits at the top of the Chilean garden in Benmore reminds me of nothing so much as Russia, of the wooden chapels and churches lovingly reconstructed on Kizhi Island at the centre of Lake Onega in Russian Karelia. When this was first built people referred to it as the Andean Chapel, and there was a bell in the tower with a rope hanging down, but I suspect the reason it was removed would be because of misuse or the fear of vandalism - a pity. We tend to drive ourselves to keep up a decent speed on the steep path through the monkey puzzles and then collapse on the lovely wooden bench that runs round the inside of the building to look out over Glen Massan and listen to the wind and the silence.

My extra photo is of a favourite bit of path on our way down. The grass on the path, which is kept reasonably short, has recovered from the drought after several wettish days and contrasts rather beautifully with the pale gold of the long grass,  which doesn't usually die like this until well into autumn.