More fragments of Scottish summer

More evidence that the Scottish summer happens on a Wednesday afternoon. We had another one today. Really warm and pleasant, but - certainly on our balcony and in the flat - not too hot.

Yoga in the morning, and then we got a call from H and S to come and join them in their garden. Despite it being a school day, there was no hesitation, for all sorts of good personal reasons that won't be further rehearsed here.

After dinner, I had a call with my distantly spread literature group, and then Mr A and I took a late evening walk around the parades, somewhat inconvenienced by the closure of the path under Newhaven Bridge for 11 weeks of essential bridge works (postponed from March). I have mixed feelings about the City Council. On the one hand, they do a sterling job keeping the city clean, as evidenced by this tweet. Every morning from 7am they have to go and clean up The Meadows, and doubtless every other park in the city too. It really is too much that people cannot take their rubbish home. On the other hand, closing an arterial cycle and pathway for 11 weeks during "lockdown summer" feels like a kick in the teeth to those trying to avoid using cars at this time.

Anyway, it was good to take a walk at a different time of the day. The sights, sounds and smells were somewhat different. Compared to, say, 7am there is less traffic at 9pm, but rather more people, although they move more slowly (fewer runners at that time, of course). Another thing that I noticed yesterday driving back from Barnton was the numbers of cyclists out and about - whole family groups as well as individuals and duos. Obviously there were quite a few on West Shore Road, coming off the parade at Silverknowes. And I knew that the beach at Wardie had now become quite a popular venue, and so it's unsurprising that there were a lot around Lower Granton Road. But it was really impressive just to see the numbers of people using bikes to get down to and around Edinburgh's shoreline. How wonderful it would be if there were an unbroken cycle path along the shoreline from Porty to Cramond.

I didn't spend much time out on the balcony today, because of work, but I did notice there was a bee bothering the campanula again today. I wonder if it is always the same bee that comes back day after day. I never see more than one.