Bartimaeus

On the last full day of my northern trip we met more domestic and handcrafted sights than on our previous days. The cattle and sheep in the fields; a pet cat that was happy near us but had the colourings of wildcats; the garden with an orchard with stone sculptures of a pear and an apple and sculpture of red squirrels, rather than the real thing. That morning Margaret and I had watched real red squirrels chasing each other round the trunk of the tree in the garden, through the upstairs window.

At Logie Steading there are many craft shops: hand made wooden items, paintings, brass, candles, cards, hand-knitted accessories, books, a farm shop and more were there. We also explored the gardens which had plants for sale and  a box for a donation for entry at the gate.

The cat was at home in the garden and it's environs. It wasn't at all shy, sitting in the road in front of me and came over while we were posing for pictures at a giant sequoia and used it's trunk as a scratching post, then sat around while we walked past into the gardens.

In the garden I paused to look at the orchard. There were two stone statues of a pear and an apple. They were in the same scale as each other but as large as a seat. It didn't feel like we should try sitting on them, though there were no signs forbidding it, they just looked like a statue, and it wasn't inviting in the cold weather to do so anyway. Someone had added a stone on the apple as though it were cairn. The

The trees were labelled with their varieties, there were several of each, some were familiar and I knew then if they were pear trees or apple trees, but I was amused by one where I didn't know the variety but the name "Greensleeves" looked more a descriptor of the branches clad in pale green lichen, than the fruit. It turns out that it is a cross between a sharp green apple, James Grieve and a Golden Delicious. It begins pale green on the tree but becomes gold. Green and gold rolled into one sweet dessert apple, also suitable for cooking apparently.

The next morning we were heading back. We were at the bus stop in good time, only to see a display suggesting the bus would be almost ten minutes late. Margaret had things to crack on with, since she was preparing the house for seven or eight new visitors soon. We had helped to prepare beds, but she had hoovering and packing and a good drive to do so it was certainly not worth her staying in the chill to wave us off. There was a sturdy shelter though and so we waited there. There were a few other buses on the display going to Edinburgh, which were not the one I had booked. We didn't know their route and journey time. One arrived at the bus stop. We were just discussing whether we should hop on since it would leave earlier, but feeling we did want to support the electric bus and were not in a hurry, when we saw our bus approach, earlier than expected! Perhaps it set off late but caught up time on the way from Inverness. That removed our dilemma and we hopped aboard.

When the bus rolled into Edinburgh, I stayed on to the middle of town as my large rucksack was in the outside hold and there was a chance of a direct bus back too, which there isn't from Haymarket and it is uphill on the way home. I was glad I had made the decision. While it seemed getting my large bag out at Haymarket would have been easy, as others did the same, I quickly got a bus at the bottom of the Mound, bringing me swiftly and easily home, plus it started raining as I got off it. I might have been caught in heavy rain had I done the uphill trek. I am not sure if Peter was so lucky.

Shane was engaged in unwrapping his chimney sheep. It looked like a dark fleeced variety used for the felt chimney blocker. The company were fond of a pun, e.g. "thank ewe for your purchase" so definitely they had found the right home with this customer. 

The next day was sunny so we went to the Botanics. There we saw a section with fruit trees again. The only visible fruit was a sign denoting hands off, no picking.

These were younger and more tightly trained trees, their branches strapped to the iron rod, to keep them growing straight and in a tight space, making harvesting easier.

We were both surprised to see a heron swoop across before us. It settled a short distance away and we saw there was a small pond there. On the canal we know some have regular spots to roost and may have a home stretch as their regular hunting ground. I hadn't expected one here and haven't seen one before. There is plenty of water there though. I don't know if this one was trying it's luck, or a regular visitor.

Other people stopped to view it too. It stayed mainly still even as people walked quite near, but had positioned itself away from the paths. As one point it stretched one wing and held it out, a little like a cormorant. I wondered if it was warming itself in the winter sun.

I enjoyed a look round the small exhibition about using plants as scents and medicines. There was a video of someone making herbal remedies. A note book with a recipe for perhaps lip gloss or anti wrinkle cream, looked like it may have been Valentine themed but that was perhaps coincidental as none of the rest was.

There was quite a big display about carrageen. I was surprised, partly as it was not the sort of plant you find in the Botanics, but also I had just been discussing it with Peter, when on our way to Aviemore. I hadn't known it had this property though.

Maybe it came up in a conversation about Gaelic or more likely, it was about rocky road not being vegetarian because of the beef gelatine in the marshmallows, but that carageenan was a vegetarian gelling agent that could also be used in sweets in stead.  I had had a home made set milk pudding, when I was in North Uist, simply called carrageen. It was in the past often made by islanders,  where the seaweed was readily available on the shore available.  I was surprised in the herbalism medicinal theme to find the recipe for that too, but it was extolling the virtue of it as a healthy pudding that was nourishing in  convalescence. Traditionally a crofter would have used their own cows' milk for the pudding. But the recipe provided was vegan. Still, oats are a home grown crop in the Hebrides too.

We decided the weather was fine for walking back and went through Victoria Park admiring the birds in their large pond: no herons but gulls, pigeons, tufted ducks, coots and mallards. We found a cafe to slaik my thirst with sharp fizz and fill Shane's tummy with a chocolate treat. I remember my aunt using "sharp as a tack" as a phrase, but she meant mentally astute, not caustic or sharp tongued.

We walked along the Water of Leith, a more likely spot for a heron, but none today. There were lots of people enjoying the river walk and  historic Edinburgh architecture.

We met an American couple on the path looking for a route to Royal Crescent. Shane directed them to go the other way towards Stockbridge, as the quickest route. Finding the right spot to leave the path is key! If they carried on to Balerno it would have been rather a long walk, far from their temporary home or intended destination.

Shane was aiming to find a route that would take us out near a bus route if we had had enough of walking. It wasn't necessarily a tourist route though. From the  attractions of the riverside path and Stockbridge we came out in a modern combined transport area. Someone was making an attempt at landscaping a garden. Perhaps the place will be better in the summer, and they may be on a tight budget. I applaud the attempt to add interest but it it felt a bit like going from the sublime to the ridiculous.

I can imagine frogs might come in the Spring, and that might attract herons too. I was less convinced by the other ceramic fixture. It was a lot less fixed. Someone might just take it for their own home. It looked brand new.

That reminded me I could do with access to a toilet after my drink. I thought I might try the cinema complex at Fountain Park, but Shane suggested the nearby library, a community building open to all. It turned out an interesting and educational visit, as you might expect of a library but it had nothing to do with the books. The toilet itself had the most environmentally friendly and extensive array of feminine hygiene products I have seen. All public places provide these free in Scotland, usually in the "Ladies", but this was an enhanced range in a toilet for everyone.

The range of community support groups advertised in the notice board was impressive and the reading space was made attractive with flowers on the table. The staff were putting an effort into this place.

While it was quiet while we were there it is clearly an active community hub with lots going on. There were some large photos on the wall of the canal in former times. Shane and another man got into conversation about where they were taken. The presence of the Leamington lift bridge in one isn't as helpful as you'd think as Shane remembered hearing it had been moved and had not always been where it now is, at the entrance to the canal basin.

We were able to walk along the canal on our way home and looked out for buildings that matched the other picture.  We found it at the current lift bridge location. It used to have a much less substantial bridge.