Bluebells and birdsong

Strange weather today - it began very sunny and shiny, but while I was eating my leisurely breakfast I could see cloud drifting from the south and the west simultaneously, and by the time I'd hung out two washings it was starting to rain slightly. I left the washing to see how it'd pan out - and most of it was dry by mid-afternoon. The garden felt warmer than the inside of the house. 

This being the case, I ignored the rain and did some more stuff in the garden, involving a packet of seeds for butterflies that I planted - or rather sowed: I feel it's a different concept!) in the front garden where we never sit. They're protest plants, in a way - the seeds were sent me by 38 Degrees. I also had another forage in my compost bin and got a whole pot load in which to plant some coriander seeds - I topped it off with the remains of a bag of John Innes compost. I'm still lost in wonder at my home-made compost - so much so that I'm going to include a photo of it as an extra.

The main photo was taken on our walk along Loch Striven side this afternoon. We were a tad discouraged in the first mile of our walk by being overtaken by not one but a total of four camper vans, at least one of which was extremely smelly and polluting, and an elderly Land Rover - maybe this scenic road had been a mistake at the start of a Bank Holiday weekend. But they went beyond our destination, and the silence fell, broken only by birdsong and the flapping of a heron taking off on the shore. And the flowers: bluebells in the birch woods, clumps of primroses, drifts of wild garlic in full flower - I kept stopping to take photos, most of which I've discarded as they don't do justice to the colours. And our final treat was the sudden appearance in a field beside the road of a great string of black cattle, some with white faces, following a leader along the foot of the raised beach with great sense of purpose. Where were they going? And as we drove home, we saw them all, gathering at a gate close to the road. Do they do this every day?

The elections in England seem to have had the expected results - here's hoping this leads to better things. Meanwhile I read in the excellent political pages of The Scotsman that Humza had a successful final FM's question and had enjoyed putting down Dross - and felt, as I read, that perhaps a coronation as opposed to an election for his successor at this time is a much better option for our country. And a grown-up politician seems an attractive idea right now, though I'm not holding my breath ...