God's own country

No one required anything of me today, and everyone else was away doing their own thing, so I grabbed boots, rucksack, snacks and camera and headed for the hills. It is always a pleasure to be able to go for a decent walk without driving somewhere first, so, sitting pouring over the maps in the car, I realised that was exactly what to do.

I walked from the house past Haystoun with its stunningly beautiful lochan and up Glen Sax. I hadn't been there before, despite its proximity to the house, though I'd looked down on it a few times from nearby hills. The track was good and after greeting a few other walkers, I soon had it to myself. The Glen is mainly open moorland, but with some nice stands of trees, other than the enormous scar left foreground where a plantation has been removed and the remaining stumps burned. What a mess. Looked like the Somme without the craters.

Peebles is just visible in the middle distance, with the Pentlands on the horizon.

The weather was perfect for walking - sunshine, some clouds but no rain and a slight breeze to keep me cool. Though the climb from the foot of the Glen to the nearby ridge to get home nearly killed me (must get fit somehow; today surely must have helped).

Everywhere, there were signs of growth; new shoots appearing on the trees, in the grasses and in the heather. I even had the privilege of watching and listening to a skylark. Scotland at its best ..... the day seemed to reflect the mood abroad. I spent a lot of my walk pondering the events of the past few days, and decided one or two things, but that's for later.