Here I am, on the weekend of the autumn equinox, at my favourite spot in our Torridon garden, admiring the delicate autumn crocuses.
Gail tells me that the ashes of my predecessor-but-one, Hamish the Westie, are buried under the crocuses, and so she's pleased I am showing this spot due respect.
When alive, Hamish loved to sit here, staring out at the water and in fact failing entirely to respect these lovely mauve blooms. Gail says he would plonk his sturdy frame right down on top of them if she didn't quickly intervene.
It's so nice to be in Torridon this weekend, enjoying perhaps the final few days of our spell of warm, sunny weather. Our little corner of paradise seems lovelier than ever just now, after last week's trip down to Ayrshire for the agility show. In the interests of openness and transparency, I must tell you that, although immediate environs of the event and the park where we found YAM-aunty were pleasant enough, the town of Ayr itself is now close to the head of Gail's list of 'most dismal places in Scotland', vying for top spot with Wick in the far north-east and assorted rather dreary satellite towns surrounding Glasgow in the Central Belt.
Back to Torridon. The leaves are starting to turn and the summer swarms of jellyfish have departed from the little beach near the cottage, so one no longer has to watch carefully where one treads at low tide!
PS Do join us on Thursday, when I will be helping Gail celebrate a very special 25th anniversary. Can you guess what it is?
that is a sweet place to remember your beloved angel...
ReplyDeleteHari OM
ReplyDeleteWell, Nobby, it is one of those peculiarities of serendipity that a vlog I follow just happened to visit Ayr in their latest video which, despite my initially sharing the same thoughts as Gail, helped me to change those thoughts and think a revisit is in order! You know me, I like to mine for these rough diamonds! Any, that aside, I'm glad the crocuses have shown up again at Canapress and that you showed them due deference. Hugs and wags, YAM-aunty xxx
Gal says: We'll have to agree to differ on Ayr. It's not somewhere I'll be rushing back to when Scotland has so many other enticing places to visit!
DeleteWhat a beautiful spot to spend some sunny days. I'm intrigued by the 25th anniversary - 25 years since Gail moved to Scotland?
ReplyDeleteThe Autumn crocuses are so beautiful and so is that first photo of you with them, Nobby!
ReplyDeleteA beautiful place for Hamish and for you and Gail. Enjoy your stay in all that beauty.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, a beautiful place for a memorial. I recently moved from latitude 34.65N to 41.29N, and I noticed these flowers sprouting in front yards. I was confused, because they looked like crocuses, but not quite like those that bloom in the spring. Thank you for educating me! My 25 year guess is: move to Scotland; at first I thought it might be: acquire a dog (as an adult), but Hamish must have come more than 25 years ago....Looking forward to the answer!
ReplyDeleteNobby it is very kind of you to show proper respect to Hamish...he paved the way to Gail's heart in 14 K gold for you and Bertie. I wonder if per chance Thursday is the 25 anniversary of Gail adopting Hamish or maybe better worded Hamish deciding that Gail was the perfect human for him to train and love
ReplyDeleteHugs Cecilia
We have to agree, Torridon looks like the perfect place to spend the Autumn Equinox...we will definitely stay tuned to find out which 25th anniversary Gail is celebrating(Mama wants to guess it may be her Blogiversary...but Mama doesn't have a winning "guessing" record BOL)
ReplyDeletexoxo,
Sunny & Rosy
You are so lucky to have your cottage at such a beautiful place in Scotland. We love seeing you enjoy your garden and the water at low tide.
ReplyDeleteThat's a pretty picture of you with the autumn crocuses Nobby. We guess that the 25 year anniversary may be when Hamish came to live with Gail?
ReplyDeleteLove,
Paca xx
We were unaware there are such things as autumn crocus. Fitting bloom for Hamish particularly if he little respected them...😉 What blooms would you choose to enhance from your next life? As for Ayr.... it has some charming suburbs but as a place hasn't been the highlight of our tour. We don't know Scotland well enough to know what it vies with in Gail's dismality scale, but it's lower on the scale than Havant (where we hail from). It has a racecourse and coastline so it must have something going for it. (For the record Havant is dismal but it has 'proximity to' in its favour.)
ReplyDeleteWe usually see the crocus blooms in the spring so it is nice to see yours. That is such a pretty place to remember Hamish and to enjoy the area. We will be back to check out the big 25th anniversary occasion.
ReplyDeleteWoos - Misty and Timber
You're looking exceptionally handsome beside the crocuses, Nobby and appropriately thoughtful while regarding the resting place of dear Hamish. I can hardly wait until Thursday.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sacred spot
ReplyDeleteI have not heard of those kind of crocuses before now. They are pretty and Nobby, thanks for not sitting on them...
ReplyDeleteYour area in Torridon is so beautiful!
Hi hi hi! Ojo here! What I wonderful thing to visit your predecessor like that! Did you feel him close? Also, I think peeing on or sitting on the crocuses would have been very respectful to your predecessor (from one Dog to another!), but they're very pretty so it's probably best that you didn't.
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