Visible

Where to? His Lordship cried.
To the coast, the Lady replied.

And thus it was, with the bikes panniered, tyres pumped up and helmets on, we rattled our way to Port Seton and on over the railway line on a back road to Coates and Athelstaneford.
Lunch was at a small land of flowers at Merryhatton and then onward via Kingston to North Berwick and then home by Fenton Barns, West Fenton to Aberlady and the coast road.

What a joy it was to have a newly surfaced stretch of road between Fenton and Aberlady: so kind to the bikes and the derriere.

We left Edinburgh in cloud, but the sun was glinting on the towns and villages in Fife. Slowly but surely, the blue skies nudged south and finally we got some sun.

The countryside was beginning to come alive. The fields were freshly ploughed to a dark brown tilth and in some there was even the shimmer of green of the new crops.

The buds on the hedgerows of hawthorn were full and green, with some blossom appearing in sunnier spots, but beech hedges were still dormant, hanging on grimly to last year's leaves.
Gardens en route sported pink blossomed cherry trees and tulips of all shades.

And on the ground the daffodils held sway with the dandelions making some brave competition.

On the way back, with the cloud still hanging over Edinburgh, the Pentlands and the Fife hills were air force blue against the icy blue of the water.
It's quite unusual to have the sea so calm that the reflections of the chimneys of Cockenzie Power Station were clearly defined in the water.

All in all, a grand day out.