Things to do when you're not grannying

Ah, the days of idleness when the grandchildren aren't here... . It absolutely POURED on Saturday and Sunday (ah, the guilt when tourists have come for a weekend in Edinburgh in such weather!). But on Monday, there was a change to unbroken sunshine so we went to Swanston Brasserie and had coffee and a cheese scone looking out at the golf course through this window. I see why people might want to play golf, because courses are usually in beautiful settings. I might be tempted if it weren't for the necessity of hitting little white balls instead of just having a nice walk.

We then wandered past Swanston Village and up into the hills.

This is only about 20 minutes' drive from the house and you can hear distant traffic from the bypass ...

 but otherwise you could be in deep countryside.

There's the city below, ending abruptly at the road. Arthur's Seat, our main city hill, is on the horizon and the sea is beyond.

Being a horse here seems like a good life till you consider the drenching rain of the previous two days.

And eventually we walked downhill and then back up to the car park and normal life.

 

I've started cutting out a cot quilt for Daughter 2's baby, due October. The baby's room is white with red curtains and a striped rug in different reds and blues. It's such fun choosing the fabrics (with her) from my (oh dear) stash. (The red isn't really as scarlet as it looks here.) I'll sew these squares together as in the photo and then cut the nine-patches into quarters before sewing them together again in a different configuration. (Clear??) With my usual slight inaccuracy (despite all my best efforts) how could anything go wrong?

(Yes, Anna and Toffeapple, I did vaguely look out for Anne in Berwick. But I didn't see her. )