It was a strange feeling, driving up to Edinburgh on Friday evening, wondering what it would have been like to be living in two different countries. This was the first trip done in almost total darkness, no doubt to be followed by many more over the winter. On Saturday, after a long lie we went to a talk given by artist and bird watcher, Leo du Feu at the Arts Club. I really enjoyed his talk about his work (landscapes of Scotland and birds) and how he develops paintings. One of the things I find frustrating sitting on trains or as a passenger in the car is when a glimpse of landscape or some arrangement of objects is just asking to be turned into a picture but there is no time to take a photograph or it is not possible to stop. He has done a lot of work by train and uses sketches with colour notes to capture a picture. I must try that on the next long train journey. James was attending a course on Sunday so Flora and I had a walk down to the Meadows (she cannot manage Blackford Hill any more). I had a coffee at the dog-friendly Pavilion Cafe while Flora watched much younger dogs racing after balls and bring them back to their owners. This morning it was time to come hom. The mist was clearing and the day warming up as we drove back down the M74. The roadside and railway banks were covered with seedheads of Rose Bay Willow Herb, a plant my grandfather (a locomotive engineer) called ‘Railway Flowers’ because of their propensity to grow in disturbed ground. A reminder that this warm weather will come to an end was the sight of seven new snow ploughs heading north.