"Scottish Snippets"

"Colour Supplement"

24 November 2007

Each week the Rampant Scotland Newsletter includes a number of photographs which illustrate the weather and the seasons, plus the flora and fauna of the current week around Scotland. This separate "colour supplement" displays some more pictures, in a larger format. Here is this week's crop of Scottish views!


After constant rain all day on Wednesday, it was a relief to see some sun again, at least in parts of western Scotland. But it was extremely cold, with a strong northerly wind making it feel even chillier. But the intermittent sun broke through the clouds again just before it went below the horizon (at 4pm), creating this atmospheric picture of the sunset at Drumpellier Country Park in North Lanarkshire, with seagulls silhouetted against the sky.


Mahonia shrubs are one of the few garden plants to come into bloom in Scotland in the late autumn or even in the winter. The long spikes of small yellow flowers are often sweetly scented and afterwards there are small, grape-like berries. The leaves on some mahonia also turn bright red, not necessarily in the autumn.




You may query the inclusion of the Great Hall in Stirling Castle in a page sets out to display the current season and its weather, flora and fauna. But on Wednesday, with the rain teeming down, the sensible place to visit was somewhere inside! Stirling Castle has lots of buildings, steeped in history in which tourists can learn about Scotland's past - while in out of the rain!


I am somewhat ambivalent about the Welsh Poppy. Yes, it produces lots of bright yellow blooms and flowers all through the summer. But its seeds spread rapidly around suburban gardens, seedlings pop up everywhere and they have deep roots that make them difficult to remove. In other words, it can be a garden pest!


On Thursday night, the clear skies and northerly winds brought the temperature down to -4C (25F). But at least the clear skies produced a clear view of the almost full moon rising above the leafless trees.

If you want to look back at earlier editions of this Colour Supplement, there is an Index Page





Where else would you like to go in Scotland?








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