Looking upwards ...

Does anyone else remember singing when they were young ..."looking upwards every day, sunshine on our faces"? Not something I've thought of at all for over 60 years, and yet both words and tune suddenly bubble up as I upload this photo ...

Yes, the meconopsis. Again. Please think of it as my baby and pardon the obsession. This morning it was still facing down, demurely, with raindrops on the undersides of its petals. But when we came home from a walk at about 6pm, it had transformed itself into an upward-facing flower, blowing about in the wind. Extraordinary. I feel it won't last much longer, this first-born bloom; then I shall have to wait for the other buds to do something.

As a contrast, my extra is a photo taken as we reached the end of our walk, back down at the houses at the foot of Glen Massan. At the end of that golden tunnel of grass and leaves there is a plume of wood smoke curling up against the forest darkness. I just wish I could convey the scent of the smoke ...