An East Lothian Day Out

A lovely day, so we decided to head off to have a look at Tantallon Castle, having passed it so many times. It's in a pretty spectacular setting, right on the cliffs, looking out on Bass Rock.

It's a ruin, but you can climb up some wibbly stone stairwells and get on to the parapets and get a great view all round. This shot is taken from there. You can see the lower parapet in the centre, with the mown grass of the castle grounds on either side. The clouds were fantastic. And you could look down and see the fulmars swooping round and nesting. I did hang over and try to get a shot, to no avail. I was VERY careful coming down stairs, hanging on to the rope in the centre.

From there we went to North Berwick and had a pensioner's special - soup and sandwich. And not your usual sandwiches, either - brie and cranberry, feta, pesto and tomato etc. All with fresh salad leaves. We were most impressed.

Back home round the coastal route, sorry -'Scotland's Golf Coast'. What a glorious day out. On the way back JR dropped me at the hospital and I popped in with the paper to Uncle A. There he was, sound asleep. I tickled his toes. I tickled the sole of his foot. I twisted his big toe gently. I twisted his big toe quite hard. Nope.

I knew he hadn't slept too well the night before (who does in hospitals?) and so I considered leaving a wee note that I had been. I gave one last tickle. The look on his face as the realisation of where he was and who was tickling his toes, was priceless. Of course, in his dream, the tickling had fitted in seamlessly. I didn't ask what the dream was about...

The latest news is that the consultant now favours not operating, but letting it heal naturally, which is quite a common option. It would certainly be less traumatic than an operation. But the final decision will be made tomorrow morning after NO breakfast.

We stopped at Longniddry Bents - I love that view back to Arthur's Seat with the two chimneys of the Cockenzie Power Station in the middle distance. It was warm and windless. A man and two wee girls arrived, at least one was his daughter. They set out a blanket, then all went off collecting things on the beach - big bits of polystyrene, flat stones, sticks, bits of string. Dad then showed them how to make a boat, sticking the flat stones in as the keel. They were going to sail them. What a great thing to do on a lovely day.

This has taken me 10 times as long as usual. I shot in RAW today, and the files are just too big for my computer to handle. I think I'll give up with them.

Or else I need a new computer... :-)