Good Friday Sunshine

The reward of being out at the crack of dawn is to see the first rays of a Good Friday sun creep over the crags of Arthur's Seat in the east and bathe the Marchmont tenements in a golden glow, while the full moon lingers in the southern sky.

Slowly as the sun rose higher, the almost -blossoming cherry trees on the Meadows' paths came alive in a fiery russet colour, a prelude to their showy pink opulence in the next few days.

With wall to wall sunshine, His Lordship and I strolled to Peter's Yard to have coffee outside and people watch as the tourists and locals emerged on Middle Meadow Walk to enjoy the beginning of the holiday weekend and the unexpected bonus of sunshine.

The sky was a cloudless wall to wall blue and contrasted beautifully with the pale green opening leaves on the surrounding trees. Had it not been for the still chilly air and the need for a jacket, we might have been sitting somewhere on the Continent.

The parasol has been raised on the patio, and lunch will be outside if indeed we have recovered from the Peter's Yard buns we foolishly devoured.

I will gloss over the buying of a rather large chocolate Easter bunny which HL thought he could consume and I might blip. His vegetarianism obviously does not extend to chocolate animals.

Meanwhile, I am attempting to dye 2 eggs with flowers and onion skins as directed by Poppy, and I can safely say it is not as easy as it looked.