14 February 2026

The rain has stopped and the light has come! Walking at 7am  has been gloomy but the morning light has begun to break through  the darkness. The prospect of Spring days ahead is cheerful and hopeful. ‘Arise, my love, my fair one and come away.’ sings Solomon, the lover. ‘For now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.’

The snowdrops are blooming on the banks of the Kinnessburn. They are truly Candlemas Bells for they were not to be seen in their glory in January. This is not in keeping with global warming unlike the grass which has grown convincingly during the last week. I don’t usually cut the grass until March.

The crocus is now colouring the edges of the rockery. Tulips are up but not out and daffodils too. On the Lade Braes they are further on with heads forming but no blooms. People have been buying them up in the supermarket for 90p a bunch. ‘What about the pickers?’ asked one compassionate member of the church.

At such a cheap price, you wonder what sort of payment the pickers are getting. However they look great inside the house. We were given some white tulips recently and, of course, our hyacinths are still filling the porch with a deep fragrance. ‘You can smell them  outside the front door!’ said a surprised visitor!

We have yellow winter jasmine in bloom and a winter clematis. I have seen buds on the tree and pink blossom on a cherry down by the East Sands. Despite the icy winds from the East and the surging  sea which we can hear a mile off, there are still people going in for a dip! ‘Let the sea roar and everything in it!’ sings the Psalmist.

Yesterday morning, the temperature was not much above zero.  Two women made their way to the roaring waters, paused at the ‘frilly white of seashore and seashell’ as the nearby poet says, and turned back. The older one took a selfie,  singing a summer song  to harvest something positive out of her wintry experience:

Oh! I do like to be beside the seaside!

I do like to be beside the sea!

I do like to stroll along the Prom, Prom, Prom!

Where the brass bands play, ‘Tiddely-om-pom-pom!