day six

tying with glenwhan for garden of the holiday: threave. the parents have been before, but years ago, so there's plenty changed. and tho the bulbs are mostly finished and the summer flowers not begun, there's plenty to peer at. something like a cross between an estate and a botanic, threave does arboretum, walled garden, rock garden and more perfectly kept and filled with interesting and often unusual plants. it's also the home of a bunch of trainee gardeners, so perhaps the manicured state isn't so unlikely :-) loved this piece of sculpture, slices of slate stacked, all rough edges and smooth curves at the same time.

a quick trip to kirkcudbright on the way home, to take a look at broughton house, home of glasgow boy e a hornel. can't say i was excited, but it turned out to be rather nice - and interesting to see so many paintings in his own little gallery, and the studio below. no photos allowed :-( and somehow i don't seem to have taken any in the garden, which was a little revelation, stretching out in a long narrow blast of colour and foliage (and century-old wisteria that the artist planted) from the house to the river behind.

more sun, more blue skies, more ice-cream today... it's turning out to be a rather good trip!