Sea, sand and a cycle

Today’s guest picture was taken by my son Alistair and shows an old man relaxing on his holiday.

I did get out for a bit of activity though.  Matilda and Mrs Tootlepedal and I paid an early visit to the beach and later on, we were joined by Al and Clare and we walked up North Berwick High Street to do some shopping, have a refreshment….

Matilda contemplating a babyccino.

…and a look around.

Very striking tulips in a tub.  I haven’t processed them at all.

Top quality blossom beside a church…

…which was offering a curious menu for worshippers today

After lunch, I left the others to the delights of flying a kite on the beach and went off for a ride on my new bike which we had brought with us in the back of the car.

It was breezy but the new bike is such a pleasure to ride that I didn’t mind and the views on the way offered constant pleasure.    As the road surfaces were smooth and there were no potholes, it was a most unusual ride for me.

A brief summary of things seen follows.

The Bass Rock to my left

Tantallon Castle ahead

Berwick Law across a field of rape behind me.

Berwick Law is not the only law around,  Traprain has a law too.

Typical of the back roads that I used

I stopped at Preston Mill to have a quick look round.

What looks like some sort of oast house

The mill pond

The water wheel turning slowly

I passed several churches.  Quite a few gravestones seemed to have blown over at this one

Drem Station on the recently un-privatised East Coast main line.  (Oh Lord, lead us not into Drem Station my father used to say)

A lot of the bridges had to be lifted up a bit when the overhead electricity lines were installed

Dirleton Castle hiding behind a tree,  We hope to visit it later on in the week.

Although it was reasonably warm, there was no hint of blue sky or sun while I was pedalling which is why the pictures are a bit dull.

I only had a road map of the area with me and I didn’t want to take that along so I took a photo of the map and looked at my camera when I wanted to get directions.  It worked surprisingly well.

By zooming in on the map in the camera viewer, I could see quite well where I might go.  I have inked in my route.  I made it up as I went along with the aim of making it came to 20 miles.  It ended up as 21 so I was quietly pleased.  Those interested can find details here.

I went for a short walk before tea to stretch my legs.

A boat full of passengers was coming in to the harbour.

Although they were too far away to photograph properly, I could see a host of birds on Craigleith Island and it was clear enough to see two fields of rape in Fife on the other side of the Forth.

After an excellent tea of roast chicken, roast potatoes and veg, cooked by Mrs Tootlepedal, she and I went for a walk along the beach while Matilda was being out to bed.

The wind had died away, the skies had cleared a little and it was a lovely evening for a stroll.

The tide was in

Wild flowers abounded: bird’s foot trefoil, red campion, ribwort and valerian

We climbed a little hill and looked back to the town

Below us, a small flock of gannets were very active.  It looked as though they were collecting seaweed.

We are promised warm sunshine tomorrow.  That will be nice.

Another flying gull of the day.