Normal service ...

Free at last ... that's what it felt like this afternoon anyway, as the sun came out and that cold seemed sufficiently diminished in its hellishness to be ignored for a couple of hours. This photo represents the intensity of the sunlight's effect on the woods around Benmore; it's just beside the Benmore Gardens car park and I loved the bright green of the moss contrasting with the brown of last year's leaves.

And because it was such a lovely change, I'm adding a couple of extras: the bridge that leads from the café to the actual gate of the gardens, and the big trees of the lower garden against the suddenly brilliant sky. Elsewhere (on Instagram, actually) are the photos I took of the rhododendrons that are coming into bloom and the daffodils by the pond that are beginning to come out. 

We were supposed to be meeting our London family in Edinburgh over the next few days, but a combination of circumstances (think norovirus, think a very old and poorly cat) intervened and they headed for home again. I was very fed up about not seeing them - but have to admit that a sunny walk helped a good deal.