Northbound with the return of colour

24.4C with blue sky and fluffy clouds, and a good breeze.

This morning I harvested the last of the Dwarf French Beans from the greenhouse plants and disposed of them (in the compost bin). The outdoor plants are cropping now. I moved some of the small bush tomato plants to the space left in the greenhouse and spread out the rest on the bench where they were standing. More space and light will be good for them as they are starting to set fruit. Also outside the little beetroots are coming along, and the chard is almost ready to get some young stalks and leaves.

Maeve the Deerhound and I went for our walk mid morning. On a whim I decided to take our route up by the church to see if the bridle path was passable. To our delight (well mine anyway) the tall grasses and other plants that were chest high have been cut or mown down to about 6 inches. We proceeded down the path towards the shore. I really enjoyed being back on this part of our walk, wandering between the grain crop on one side and the potato plants on the other with a wide open vista to the sea.

As we neared the bottom of the path I heard a train sound its warning as it approached the level crossing, so I was ready with the camera when it appeared along the line heading North. The grass is still high at the edge of the path, then there is the yellow of oil seed rape that has grown just inside the field of potatoes. The tide was out so rocks are visible on the shore, and you can see the Fife coast in the distance.

On the beach we wandered along the dry soft sand to the Fishermen's huts and had a seat on the bench in the dunes. We watched the owner of 'Valhalla VI' sorting his catch on deck before he brought it ashore. The owner of 'Shamara II' was unloading creels from his boat and putting them on the wooden platform he has fixed to the back of the blue tractor. He was driving the tractor up the beach when we set off for the rest of our walk.

At the end cottage we stopped to chat to the man who lives there. He was just off to water his neighbours veg. We haven't seen him for a while so it was nice to have a blether and he likes to see Maeve.

This was one of the best walks we have had for a while. Back on the path. Nice and sunny with the breeze keeping us quite cool.