Bennybeg Craig is one of my favourite places on Earth. It's a somewhat incongruous outcrop of quartz dolerite in central Perthshire, a few miles from our current home. It’s a very atmospheric and otherworldly place and the beautiful rock dyke, formed 390 million years ago, has quite a presence even on a grey spring day.
Bennybeg Craig
As we enter the first days of spring here in Scotland, in the Northern Hemisphere, many plants are beginning to come into bloom, including this beautiful azalea. Its stunning mass of pink flowers brings hope to my heart in these challenging times we find ourselves. A reminder perhaps of the depths of peace and heart connection available to all, should we choose to stop, take a step back, be still and go within, whatever challenges face us.
Garden Azalea, Perthshire, Scotland
Last time I posted here we were just entering the colder months. In recent days the full beauty of winter has made its presence truly felt. This was taken from near the head of beautiful Glen Lednock in Perthshire yesterday. Cold, icy, still, silent and magical.
Perthshire, Scotland in it's full winter glory
A rare dry day in recent weeks took us to Bennybeg Craig. It’s a special place and quite otherworldly from the top with beautiful views through the trees onto the surrounding countryside.
Top of Bennybeg, early December 2026
The first signs of Autumn are appearing here in central Perthshire. The nights are drawing in, the temperature is dropping, and new fungi, such as the one shown below, are appearing on a nearly daily basis. As the leaves turn in colour, this is a a powerful time of the year to rejoice in all we have achieved through the spring and summer, reap the rewards, and let go of all that no longer serves us.
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| First signs of Autumn |
Stunning to see such a beautiful display of flowers for bees and other pollinators in Edinburgh Botanic Gardens recently and to connect with such an amazing green space in the middle of the city. We all felt a weight lift off our shoulders somehow as we stepped through the gates at the entrance.
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| Planting for bees, Edinburgh Botanic Gardens |
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| The bee meadow up close |
Nature is so powerful and carefully curated spaces such as this make all the difference to city living, helping calm the nervous system and keep that all important deep connection with the earth.
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| Pond, Edinburgh Botanic Gardens |
We have been blessed with the most beautiful weather in recent days here in the heartlands of Scotland. This has persuaded us into one of there local rivers to swim, such a beautiful if chilly experience!
Natural river pool, near our new home
It's also a stunning walk to this large natural pool, with the hawthorn in full bloom and the sun enhancing the scent of the bluebells.
Hawthorn in full bloom on way to pool
Lovely also to see the surrounding hills silhouetted against the deep blue of the sky. Nature at its most glorious
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| Local hills against the clear blue sky |
With the celebrations of the Celtic festival of Beltane in recent days and the beautiful sunshine of the last week, our small but beautiful new garden is coming to life. Here in Perthshire many are blessed with the beauty and fecundity of Azaleas and Rhododendrons which really come into their own at this time of year. Although not native to Scotland, most originating in the foothills of the Himalaya and other parts of Asia, they are stunning with their large numbers of huge frothy blooms. Their only downside is that they require careful management to ensure they don’t spread into the wild where their abundant growth can out compete native plants causing local habitat destruction.
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| Rhodoendron coming into flower in the garden |
I haven’t posted here for a while, as we have been busy with our move south. Now residing in Strathearn, in the heartlands of Scotland we are surrounded by a very different landscape from our time in Orkney. Although we miss the sea at times we are loving the more nurturing landscape of trees, mountains, rivers and lochs. Feeling truly blessed to be living in an area of such outstanding natural beauty.
Meadow, tree and mountain view, Strathearn
As we move further into spring here in Orkney, the days are ever lengthening and we are getting the odd glimpse of blue skies and sunshine. Grey skies can be gorgeous here too though. The photo below was taken from the beautiful Brough of Birsay earlier this week.
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| View south west from the Brough of Birsay |
As we enter April 2024, and British Summer Time, it's the start of what I term the 'yellow season' here in Orkney and beyond, as so many both native and introduced species of flowering plants at this time of year are yellow!
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| Narcissi, Orkney |
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| Gorse, Perthshire, Scotland |
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| Lesser Celandine, Orkney |
Sunshine and showers here in Orkney, as we enter the first days of March. The view from Old Nisthouse is as stunning as ever. It is such a beautiful awe inspiring, ever changing landscape.
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| Recent view from Old Nisthouse, here in Orkney |
Happy New Year! With all that’s happening across the globe as we journey through the first few weeks of 2024, our reconnection with nature and the sacredness of our beautiful Earth Mother feels more important than ever. It feels lovely to have had some heart warming sunsets here in Orkney in recent days renewing feelings of positivity and hope for all.
Stunning October light off the South Ronaldsay coast, Orkney. These images were taken on a welcome walk across the cliff tops after several days largely inside. Amazing how there are new areas, still to explore, after fourteen years here in the far north of the UK.
Along the coast from Wind Wick bay 
Clearing skies
Stunning skies here this week in Orkney. The autumnal light seems to come earlier here in the far North of Scotland, so beautiful.
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| Looking towards Hoy |
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| Clestrain sound |
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| Hoy Hills from Warebeth |
On a recent walk at Evie beach, here in Orkney, we found a vast array of jelly fish washed up on the shore. These beautiful sea animals come in many different shapes and sizes and look stunning both in and out of the water. Sadly however they quickly begin to die if they are inadvertently caught in currents and washed up on the coastline. Some of the ones at Evie were still covered by water at low tide so hopefully might survive and be taken back out to sea. I’ve had a go at identifying the ones shown below - still not certain? There were many other colours and sizes but unfortunately I’d left my phone and camera behind.
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| Single jellyfish (Photo E. Forsyth) |
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| Pair of jellyfish (Photo E. Forsyth) |
These photos were taken at the beginning of July. One of those amazing days here in Orkney, when the combination of sea, sun, cloud and stunning coastline all seem to come together in a magical synergy of energies.
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| Looking east towards Costa head and Rousey |
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| Looking west towards the Brough of Birsay |
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| Due north |
Beautiful Rosa rugosa, not native to the UK but grows so beautifully here in Orkney’s chilly, windy and salt laden environment. It's loved by people, insects and birds, the latter feeding on the large red hips which form in the in the late summer, early autumn.
We have it in both white and pink varieties in our garden here on the West Mainland of Orkney but the photos were taken on the East Mainland a couple of days ago in St Olav’s wood, a hugely successful plantation of trees and shrubs started in the 1970’s.
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| Rosa regosa |
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| Part of St Olav’s Wood |
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| Rosa rugosa and visiting hover fly |
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| Evie coastline, Orkney, West Mainland |
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| Looking out to Hoy, above Skaill Bay, Orkney, West Mainland |
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| Cliffs at Yesnaby, Orkney West Mainland |
Yesterday I visited ‘Hedgehog Wood', a tiny area of woodland just down the track from our current home here in Orkney. This beautiful jewel of woodland, so named because of the way it's been shaped by the prevailing westerly winds, came with our house. We’ve managed it by doing very little, a bit of clearing out initially of some accumulated rubbish and gun cartridges. Some crystal planting to cleanse and return peace to the land and enhance elemental life, and then simply allowing nature to take its course.
The results are stunning an oasis of flowers, trees and plants, ever-changing through the seasons and a marked contrast to the heavily farmed land around. It’s such a reminder of the beauty and harmony of nature, when we undo our human inflictions to our Earth Mother, replace these with positive energy, and then simply surrender to her flow.
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| Hedgehog Wood |
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| Bluebells and pink purslane |
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| Old Sycamore trees |
Bennybeg Craig is one of my favourite places on Earth. It's a somewhat incongruous outcrop of quartz dolerite in central Perthshire, a f...
