Clan Lamont country, Loch Striven

This cottage on the point on Loch Striven belongs, I believe, to the Clan Lamont society - at least, it did when friends of ours used to rent it on holiday from the States. But that's not why I took this photo late this afternoon; I was simply struck by the beauty of the scene on another perfect autumn day. There wasn't a breath of air; at 6pm the car thermometer read 20ºC and the silence was broken only by the sound of different birds calling - from the far side of the loch, from the hills on our side:pheasants, pigeons, seagulls and chaffinches. After a dry week even the hillside burns were silent.

I don't know if it's returning from France and seeing it anew, or if the excitement of possibility this Referendum week is sharpening my appreciation, but I feel I've never been so aware of the utter beauty of the country I live in and call home.