Pied...

Almost went with Swan Golden Pond just so I could use the pun...

Busy old day. Farmers Market, then a wee surprise visit for Mel to see Fi and Susan, who had Fi's sister and her other half staying and, most importantly for the surprise, Zippy, the visiting pug. Out into East Lothian to an ancient hill fort on an adder hunt (none sadly, we've seen them there before) and hare hunt (saw a couple sunning themselves on the way home).

Four old doors then became one new raised bed in an hour or so in the afternoon. Nice use of some wood that has been sitting in the shed since we moved in and dismantled some hideous built-in wardrobes 2 and a half and a bit years ago. Obviously it still needs painted in order to blend in a bit more, but while the garden is generally Mel's domain (I build things, like the chicken run behind the new bed) this particular raised bed is for me to try a few things. All terribly 'Good Life'. I still have a couple of new raised beds (on top of space already used for veg, but handier as a raised bed) to build by the end of next weekend for Mel as well (bringing our total to four, that's not a bad amount of growing space).

Anyway, a wee wander to the Figgate (resulting in loads more bird pics) and then a 'posh' gammon egg and chips (good quality gammon, egg from the girls, homemade chips (i.e. just cut up from a potato and slammed in the oven with a good whallop of seasoning and, for a wee added bit of interest, some hot curry powder - quicker, easier and tastier than frozen oven chips), homemade ketchup (having finished my first batch, onto the second which I made with a bit more chilli - oh yes!), and some V&C sourdough).

Falko Konditormeister Danish pastries for dessert and a few bottles of Innis & Gunn to wash it all down.

Absolutely not a bad day all in all.

Sleep, then up in the morning to take Mel for an MRI scan on her back to find out what's going on. She's (naturally) worried about it; I just hope we get a better idea of how to sort it!

p.s. for once I kept the shot basically straight out of the camera, not even cropped - rather pleased with how it worked...

p.p.s. the new raised bed is bigger (in area) than it looks in that shot - about 2mx1.6m. Had to transplant two bushes to a different bit of the garden as well - hope they survive!!!