Midsummer poppy

Breathing Space

Breathing space. Time to pause and reflect on the tsunami of changes going on just now on our planet.

geranium, wildflower meadow, midsummer

Midsummer Meadow

Cranesbill, wildflower meadow, River Spey A midummer’s day stroll through the most beautiful wildflower meadow by the banks of the River Spey.  Unfortunately the day was overcast, with just occasional brief bursts of sunshine – enough time to focus, not enough time to complete a photo – but the flowers were beautiful. I love the […]

Sun through grass raindrops

Sundrops

Midsummer evening sun through meadow raindrops. This image seems to sum up the last week for me – we’ve had day after day of humid, rainy, grey days, but within that some intense sunny spells too.  We have so many hours of daylight at midsummer, but with the constant grey cloud it can be quite […]

Golden Birch

Birch, golden with the rays of sunset. After another week of downpours, I suppose we should be getting used to it by now!  We had one evening this week when the rain stopped and the sun came out, so I am glad I took the opportunity to get out.  This beautiful birch tree was catching […]

Lupins

Lupins, early morning, River Spey, Aviemore Its midsummer, and we have light from 3.30am until 11pm – so its a shame that its been a constant ‘twilight zone’ of grey and rain all week; apart from midsummer’s day which dawned blue and beautiful.  I went for an early morning walk to the ‘Lupinarium’ which grows […]

Life’s a Beach

Sunshine and clouds, Findhorn Beach, the Moray coast It poured all day on Midsummer’s day and its been a chilly week, but yesterday was summertime at Findhorn beach.  Well, it was warm enough not to need a jacket all the time…  I loved the expanse of sea and sky with the cloudscape. “A friend is […]

Loch Lomond at sunset

Loch Lomond island at sunset After a day of rain and dark clouds, as it often seems to happen, the evening turned clear with beautiful late sunlight (it is almost midsummer, after all, and here in Scotland it is now light well after 10pm).  I loved the reflections from the woods across the water. “If […]

Maes Howe, Orkney

A trip to Orkney, the islands to the north of the Scottish mainland.  A rather cool week, with rain, mist and a cold Northerly wind!  Luckily there was some sunshine too.  Being midsummer, it was light all night long even with the grey cloud.  The depth of silence at night was beautiful, surrounded by burbling […]

Orchid

Orchid. The first orchids are out this week.  They mostly seem to grow in bogs, hence the photographer rapidly developed “wet-knee” syndrome. There’s quite a variety of them – they’re not just foreign exotic plants, but native exotic flowers too! Solstice Greetings! Its the longest day.  The time of greatest vitality in the solar cycle…  […]

Solstice morning

Midsummer solstice landscape, Kincardine Hills and River Spey, Strathspey. I was up today before 4am, to climb Craigellachie hill behind Aviemore, to catch the solstice sunrise.  The sun was already high by the time I took this at 5am. After the last two weeks of miserable cold wet weather (and fresh snow on the hills […]

Poppy

Garden Poppy. The midsummer here in Scotland has continued unabated, with fresh snow on the mountains matching the rain down here, and the occasional burst of blinding sunshine. These poppies are in my garden – I liked this one for being a ‘survivor’, flowering beautifully despite the conditions, even if appearing a little ragged after […]