This posting is not only a here and there but also a bit of this and that...

<a href="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/tonyjudejun18.jpg"><img class="alignright wp-image-5082 size-thumbnail" src="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/tonyjudejun18-150x200.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="200" /></a>

It's delightful to be up in Scotland but like all holidays it's lovely to come home. Tony and Jude always make me welcome and it's a pleasure to go on walks with them or out for dinner. This was a walk along by the Moray Firth towards Findhorn. Next stop the <a href="http://www.findhornmarina.com/captains-table.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Captain's Table cafe</a> where we sat outside in the warm sunshine.

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<a href="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/steve-scotlandjun18.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-5081" src="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/steve-scotlandjun18-150x200.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="200" /></a>Here I am, as dressed up as I get these days, returning from dinner at <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g186549-d12360135-Reviews-One_One_Two-Nairn_Scottish_Highlands_Scotland.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">One One Two Cafe</a> in Nairn. It was an interesting place with a choice of small plates or large plates. The idea being that you could have several small plates like Tapas or if you didn't want to share have a large plate to yourself. I decided to go for the Chicken Tagine to compare it to the recipe I cook. It turned up in a soup bowl and required a spoon to eat it. I confess my Tagine has a thicker sauce; it contains more dried apricots and prunes. At risk of sounding big-headed, mine is much tastier.

<a href="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/veg-plotjun18.jpg"><img class="alignright wp-image-5080 size-thumbnail" src="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/veg-plotjun18-200x150.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="150" /></a>At home the vegetable patch is slowly coming into life but it seems to be several weeks behind this time last year and I've had multiple failures. I had to sow runner beans twice to get sufficient numbers to germinate, my celeriac failed, I had to sow parsnips twice and only half my beetroot has grown. I could go on but - it is what it is. I'm sure there will be enough produce for me.

<a href="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/giant-dandelionjuly18.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-5079" src="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/giant-dandelionjuly18-150x200.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="200" /></a>On Sunday afternoon I met up with Mary and we did a six-mile walk from Binbrook through the Wolds in very hot conditions. At this time of year the fields have an abundance of wildflowers in them. Walking through land owned by Sutton Estates it was clear they had a very good attitude towards wildlife and conserving the countryside.

I was particularly taken by this very large dandelion seed head, one of the largest I've ever seen. We saw a multitude of  cornflowers and cranesbill (wild geranium) alongside ox-eye daisies and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_corniculatus" target="_blank" rel="noopener">birdsfoot trefoil</a> which I call eggs and bacon.