It won’t take long. Put down your trowel, take off the gardening gloves, make a cuppa and pull up a chair. Many months of planning has gathered some family together for three weeks exploring a wee bit of Scotland. First stop is the delightful city of Edinburgh where we have a magnificent Airbnb as a home base. Spacious 12 ft. ceilings and ample rooms define this centrally located venue. Yeah Yasue for finding this gem.

The Royal Mile is pretty much a mecca for tourists to wander until your arches ache. Here is a sampling of our wanderings up and down the mile.

Entrance to Edinburgh Castle.

View over the city as seen from the castle wall where the cannons are mounted.

A lovely vine decorating an old stone building.

Imagining the tools of the era and the incredible skill of the artisan when carving a stone edifice in so many of the old European cities leaves me full of awe.

Time to sample the local beer and take a break.

A beautiful plant growing along a stone fence.

St Giles’ Cathedral.

Peter wanted to see the statue of Adam Smith, the fellow often identified as the father of modern capitalism.

Adam Smith’s grave site.

Apparently the local gulls have their own opinion as to Mr. Smith’s importance.

My friend Jane spent time in Scotland going to boarding school and told me to be sure and try the Haggis, neeps and tatties so the moment this sign appeared there was not much doubt about our decision.

Here we are ready for our lunch.

Note the Auchentoshan and mustard sauce as advertised on the sign. It was delicious.

Scottish eggs were another offering at this lovely spot.

Glance for a moment at the picture, close your eyes and hear the sound of the bagpipes.

Day two for me involved a birding trip to a local park and an exploration of the Edinburgh Botanical Garden.

Female Common Merganser.

Eurasian Moorhen.

Male Tufted Duck.

Female Tufted Duck.

Common Chaffinch.

A Lesser Black-backed Gull.

The European Blackbird has a very melodic song.

A Eurasian Coot.

A Mute Swan and the nest with eggs.

An overwhelming array of flowering trees and plants take up 70 acres and spans 350 years of botanical history in one of the world’s leading botanic gardens. Here are two shots of the garden. If you enjoy plants more than birds I have really let you down.