gibberish

I had a delightful Father’s day spent mostly with Jeana as our three children were working (Amy), sleeping over (Ria) and not talking to me (Tom).

So, we went and met an old pal, Steven Tait, who was back in Scotland for a few days from Australia en-route to the Cannes Ad festival.

We had a really nice time spending a few hours in the wonderful Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh.

Followed by a trip to a Wood Festival full of hippies that was actually good fun.

Then to the Mother-in-laws for a wee nip.

Finally, home to open my Father’s Day pressie from the kids.

A chrome and black fire pit.  What self respecting dad would not have one of those to go with his barbie?

Sat in the garden for hours reading, looking at the sky, listening to music and football and generally chilling out with, at times, the kids.

Lovely.

So, we’ve had a lovely wee trip to the Suntrap Open Day in the beautiful May sunshine when on the way back, crossing over the A9 on the RBS Bridge we spot this little beauty.

“Let’s investigate.” I ventured, and so we did.

Having crossed a dried out mud patch, which it transpired is the first cut of the final leg of the tram track, we entered the grounds of a lovely wee churchyard which, it turns out, is the workshop of Chris Holmes a “maker-designer of furniture in native timbers”. And three other woodworkers, who, unfortunately weren’t present. In actual fact Chris is an artist of considerable talent.

As you can see here.

And here. (This is actually a plan chest with sculptings of hills in the Scottish borders which double up as the handles of the chest.)

Greeted by a vociferous but fairly numptyish black lab who’s bark surely was worse than its bite Chris came out of the church to find out what had stirred the old pooch into life. He welcomed us into his workshop and then spent a very pleasant 20 minutes or so talking about Burr Elm, showing us photos of his work and sharing tips on how to start a blog on WordPress.

The bottom line is, if you ever want beautiful crafted Scottish native wood furniture. Chris Holmes is yer men.

Here he is at work

We’ve all been busy at Suntrap getting ready for the annual open day next Sunday. If you’d like to visit it’s on between 10.30 am and 4.30 pm.

There will be demonstrations on how to plant up hanging baskets and containers. Of course, if you can’t be bothered with the hassle of doing it yourself you could simply buy one. There’s also a demonstration from the Scottish Bonsai Association who house their collection of bonsai’s at Suntrap.

You might simply just fancy a stroll through the grounds looking at the beautiful plants and statues.

Or have a wee seat with a cup of tea and some home baking and watch the world go by.  Whatever, we’d love to see you there. If you would like more information have a look at the blog.

If you’re thoughts are turning to the garden and what to plant this year.

Will I have hanging baskets or containers, or will I just stick to cutting the grass?

Why not come along to the Gyle this Saturday or Sunday between 10 am and 4 pm, all activities free of charge.

Carole Baxter of Beechgrove Garden fame is headling up a Flower Power weekend with garden advice and plant clinics. However, more importantly, Suntrap Garden will be there showing you how to plant your hanging baskets and containers.

There will also be lots of activites for the kids with a stilt-walker, table decorations to be made and lots more.