The Second , Third and the Forth Bridge, or is it the Queensferry Crossing

Apologies for a not so scenic shot of the two road bridges across the River Forth, taken from the Port Edgar Marina AT LOW TIDE !!    what a muddy and unsightly place when the sea has run away.  It is years since I was last there,  must be in the mid sixties when I used to canoe there from the Scottish Scout Outdoor Centre. Place is certainly very busy these days.
The new bridge, named the Queensferry crossing, rather than the Third Forth Bridge, is near completion, pleased that they managed to get the two ends to meet in the middle.

Princess Diana, an icon and inspiration, RIP.

Bit more on Mrs B's recent trip to London where the two ladies took the opportunity of a free day to travel to Kensington Palace to see the collection of the late Princess Diana's dresses.

It is a really popular attraction so they had to wait in a queue for quite a long time.  But, as with the Flower Show the previous day it was well worth the effort and time, although there was a bit of a panic as they thought they were going to miss their coach back to the hotel.    I have just added a few of the photos to give a taste of what was on display.

Chelsea Flower Show 2017, and all quiet north of the Border

Just a wee bit of peace and quiet on the home front, while Mrs B and Annie F headed south to London to visit the Chelsea Flower Show.   They had a super time, traveled down by coach with Glenton Travel and had three nights away, staying in the Ramada Inn at Hatfield, Herts.    Coach driver took them to the Flower show on Friday, a day when London was baking hot, very hot, and with big crowds it was not the most comfortable of places to be.  However, the displays were very good, colours superb and the overall experience excellent, well worth the effort.

Only a small number of the exhibition gardens, but many stalls selling a range of good quality and expensive goods.

Mrs.B  had a blether to the staff from Binnie Plants when she discovered that they were based near Broxburn, West Lothian,  so looks like we have a wee expedition in the next few days to see the plants they have in their nursery and which are about to come into bloom.

One of the Royal carriages was used in an exhibit, might even be the one that Donald of the Trump ilk wants a shot in when he pops over to see good Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace.   As he has not signed up for the Climate change agreement yet (thinks it is all a great hoax) we might not have many of these beautiful plants flourishing on the Blue Planet for very much longer. 

Manchester Bombing, yet another outrage.

So sad to have to join the many thousands who will be expressing their horror and disgust at the latest   Alleged ISIS attrocity which occurred in the Manchester Arena last night.  Irrespective as to whether it was an individual or a so called terrorist cell that carried out the attack, what kind of mentality does that perpetrator possess which make sure them believe that killing / slaughtering innocent children and young people will further their cause. from what we see on the media, there is apparently nothing but total condemnation for this act of total barbarism, however, we all know that somewhere not far from the scene of this crime there will be seriously sad and sick individuals who are pleased with the result, and further afield many thousands who see this as a blow against western  democracy and also the "Christian Infadel".   

The perpetrators of these acts must be totally perverted individuals, prepared to believe that if they commit suicide in the name of their cause they will live happily in the hereafter surrounded by virgins!!     So far few of them have been seen with a one way bus ticket to the local military base and  challenging the occupants to come out and fight!!

Again, this atrocity just emphasises what I have been warning groups for years, the risk has always been with us, and we have to be totally aware and be prepared to try and counter any risk. Unfortunately, trying to combat the individual "so called terrorist " is one of the hardest tasks we and our security agencies will ever have.

IT is sad to have to recognise the NIMBY complex,  every other day, there are incidents similar to this taking place somewhere in our World, but provided it is not on our doorstep and does not closely affect us we tend  to try and ignore it, and events receive only a few lines of media coverage.  Perhaps, and maybe rightly this is our coping mechanism. 

Rosslyn Chapel, on the "must do bucket list"

I have been visiting Rosslyn Chapel on a regular basis since I started working in Loanhhead / Roslin in 1966, and I never fail to me enthralled by its beauty. Every time I visit I discover something new and consider myself very fortunate to be able to make multiple visits, unlike the majority of the tourists who can only hold onto their memories.
Quite interesting to hear the many interpretations of the beautiful carvings which festoon the building, from the pagan, Christian and Masonic points of interest.  One the chapel guides spoke to us for a wee while, and then we met one of the members of the  local Lodge, Roslin St Clair 606, who pointed out a few of "his" points of interest, which were relative to the Freemasons , Royal Arch and Knight Templars.

Good to see the building again in its magnificance, now that the protective roof has been removed and the restoration work completed.

We left and headed for the Mercat Grill but detoured via Temple Village which was one of the Knight Templars encampments in Scotland. 

Next stop, believe it or not was to a meeting of the K.T's,  King David of Balantraddoch Preceptory where a new candidate joined the Order. 

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STOP Press, just saw a bit on the news showing  Nicola Sturgeon  throwing a bowl on a bowling green and she was wearing high shoes,  worth being banned or at least a written warning !!!

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

A couple of weeks ago I saw a short item in one of the daily papers which was about one of the islands in the Indian Ocean which is literally disappearing under mountains of refuse washed in by the tides, and thought to be the worst example on this "Blue Planet".      Tonight there was a superb documentary on the same subject but about the problems being caused in the Pacific Basin with tons of plastic debris being washed up on the tiny islands, some of it dating back to the late 40's.  There were many images of hundreds of dead seabirds, whose stomachs were full of plastic items, forks, lighters, toys etc, scooped from the surface of the sea. Similarl

y there were photos of seals, dolphins and turtles, all trapped and suffering because of the rubbish. Very, very distressing and certainly seriously thought provoking.  Hawaii has embarked on a massive reeducation programme  to try and save their environment.
On the same subject, I spotted the following example of fly tipping just outside  Penicuik, a few weeks ago, passed it on to Midlothian Council, but to date no response.  In this instance there was identifiable documentation in the rubbish, however not for publication.

Once again, fell by the wayside, and not due to John Barleycorn

Did not realise,  until reminded by a friend that thee had been no blogging again, so.

Plenty on my mind, but must harp back to my recent wine tasting trip to the Rioja region of Spain,  however, my comments are about our bus driver who was marvelous.  This driver,  whose English was non existent, coped with us by talking a mixture of sign language Spanish and French for four days.
But the adventure for him was when we visited the Bodega Marques de Caceras,  the hosts at the site had arranged for us to visit one of their highest vineyards to see a very old plot of land with vines about 100 years old.  Big problem being that they expected us in a much smaller bus!!!,  so, off we set, driver did a bit of a recce of the destination,  head scratched, but yes it might be possible, maybe !!  so he had to drive on, find a turning point,  and then back to where he could get into this narrow field entrance and then onto a dirt track up onto the hillside.  Bus had to creep slowly on a track, narrower than the bus, we had to move rocks as the clearance was so low. However, we made it both up and down without any mishap.

Apart from being at our general beck and call each day,  on our final day he could have just taken us to Santander airport and dropped us off before our flight,  he took us into the City and waited three hours before taking us back to the airport for a late flight,  well done and many thanks.