Lockdown week 1-2 - Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday

On the 26th, we went for a walk along the cycle path and round by the shop to buy one or two things (very carefully, offspring - only I went in; Dad waited outside) - and I didn't take any photos. I did, however, pick a little bunch of flowers from the garden.

The next day, the 27th, we walked up Corstorphine Hill again. The path at one point goes between two parts of Murrayfield Golf Course and, looking down,

we saw this path, which winds to the left along one side of the course and meets up with that little road that goes left to right in my photo. We had never been down there. You can really imagine what the countryside looked like when these were fields instead of a golf course. So we decided to explore this the following day. 

Which was yesterday, the 28th. This is that path. The weather was dull and quite chilly. We marvelled at the silence - it's some way from any roads and these are very quiet at the moment anyway. Normally there would be aircraft going overhead not far away, but we saw only one. You wouldn't think that this was only about 2 miles from the centre of a capital city, would you?

I feel guilty at having so much leisure to enjoy the fresh air when our children are having to cope with their small offspring and others are nursing or doctoring or working at a supermarket or whatever. We're so lucky.

Then we decided to extend our walk over the golf course. It felt very wicked, but at the moment the course is closed to golfers. Normally, all this space is reserved for them. I've thought before what a waste golf courses are, when they could be lovely parks. Edinburgh has lots of them. On the other hand, it's the members who pay for their upkeep. This would be very valuable land if sold off for housing. We had a lovely walk.

Today, the 29th, was sunny. I admired my spring bulbs as we left for our walk.

I also admired the guerrilla gardening that I did last autumn, planting daffodils and some other bulbs at the side of this road near us. I've been meaning to do it for years and intend to plant more this autumn. (If we're spared, as an ex-colleague used cheerfully to say.)

This time we brazenly went on to the course via the clubhouse car park, admiring these beautiful hellebores.

We walked up - this is quite a slope, though it doesn't look it in the photo, and how anyone could be expected to hit a ball up it, I can't think. A friend is a member here and a group of us sometimes meet up for coffee at the clubhouse. I looked wistfully at it and wondered when this would happen again.

You can look over the city to the sea and East Lothian beyond. Can you see that little pimple on the horizon? That's Berwick Law, which is a volcanic plug.

The golf course is huge and we explored a different bit of it today. Looking this way, you see the Pentland Hills. We can see them from just up the road from our house and I always find them comforting - "I to the hills will lift mine eyes" and all that.

And this is so iconically Edinburgh - the Castle, various spires and that lovely shape of Arthur's Seat, our city hill. Whenever we're coming back from holiday and see that shape - said to be like a sleeping lion, though you have to use your imagination - I feel that all is well and we're nearly home. In Edinburgh you can usually see the sea or the Castle or the hill, so it's easy to orientate yourself.

Here is is again, further in the distance.

Such a yellow time of year - gorse.

I can't imagine living in any other city.

This is rather an interesting tree with its twisted branches.

It all feels like a holiday, though with a limited scope for outings. If only we could see our lovely children and grandchildren, and if only it weren't a global pandemic with the threat of illness and premature death, everything would be very pleasant!