Harvest

Our Sunday cycle run through the quiet byways of East Lothian in sunshine was like a journey through the different stages of harvest.

There were fields of barley glowing red golden and whiskery, standing next to fields filled as far as the eye could see with straw bales, the wheat having just been harvested.

Nearby, other fields looked untidy and ragged after the cutting of the rape crop while next door the tractors were out ploughing the ground into rich brown furrows. One field had been tilled and even looked as though it had already been planted with a crop that gave the ground a shimmer of green.

Peeping through the hedgerows were purple thistles and rose hips. There were even some bright red poppies in shady corners vying with dandelions and yellow vetch.

We dallied here and there as we cycled, admiring the views, clear to the east with a blue Firth of Forth and a sunny FIfe, south to the Hopetoun Monument and the Garleton Hills near Haddington and north to the Pentlands and Arthur's Seat.

A fantastic day for cycling, and the end of Festival fireworks to look forward to tonight.