From the purple dyeshed...

After a few days of dreich, misty weather and being envious of the rest of the country sweltering in high summer temperatures, today was one of those days where you wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world other than the Highlands.

Walking the dogs  took a while today, even though it was a fairly short walk, as there was so much to see.  The bog cotton is still looking delightful:



Lexie's Loch is looking stunning in the sunshine, and while they're impossible to photograph the water lilies are looking beautiful:



The rather unassuming-looking Bog Myrtle is scenting the hills with its strange, slightly medicinal guava smell:



and apparently the loch temperature is perfect for a swim after a walk:



The orchids are just beginning to die off now:



but the heather is starting to come into full flower:



and I'm not sure what these are but they're very pretty!



To quote Billy Connolly, "it makes you come over all Sir Walter Scott-ish":

Breathes there the man with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
"This is my own, my native land"?
Whose heart hath n’er within him burned
As home his footsteps he hath turned... ?
If such there be, go mark him well...
The wretch, concentrated all in self,
...Doubly dying shall go down
To the vile dust from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonor’d, and unsung.

"The Lay of the Last Minstrel" (1805)