Corncockle

Agrostemma githago 

I don't think that corncockles grow in fields of corn these days. I grow them in the garden though and this is my Wildflower Week entry. Thanks as always to Miranda. 

My journey home yesterday was long but fine. It was a minor pain having to change at Perth but I only had about a five minutes wait. The bigger pain was leaving my waterproof jacket on the Thurso-Inverness train. I only remembered it at Perth. The ScotRail lost property service is impenetrable but J has offered to go to Inverness and see if it's there. 

I was so happy to get home, put all my clothes into the washing machine and have a cup of tea. I was really tired and went to bed about 8:30pm. It rained during the night but today is lovely. I plan to spend most of it in the garden staking the tall plants before Storm Floris arrives tomorrow. It's already quite windy but it's a warm wind. 

Orkney 2025 (please don't feel you have to read this - it's for my records)

It was a short trip and it's a long way for a few days but I'm so glad I did it. J has a big birthday next month and this was part of her celebrations. We had thought about walking (some of) the St Magnus Way (J is a keen long distance walker) but it was she who suggested Westray. I wasn't going to disagree with that. 

The travel all went well. It's a four hour journey by train from Inverness to Thurso because the train has to go round all the firths. You see so much more than you do driving up the A9. 

Once we reached Westray we stayed at the hostel in Pierowall which was excellent. A very nice feel to it and instead of cross notices about mud or noise there were kind messages about hot water bottles and how to increase the heating. Not that we needed either - the weather was fab. 

J was kind enough to go along with my suggestions and said that I was a great tour guide. I don't know about that and I didn't want my ideas to dominate the holiday but I think it worked out well. I'm also keenly aware that I'm a mere visitor to Westray and I don't want to appear a wannabe. There's only so much surface stuff you can scratch in a few days each year. But I like it so much that I'd love to think I'll be able to return in 2026. 

On the other hand I do like being at home!