ANNUAL OPEN GARDENS - GENEROSITY-SEARCH AND RESCUE

There were some gardens open a few miles away, for the annual visiting Scotland's gardens. It would be hard to describe all that we saw. There were four gardens that were milling with interested people; each of them were very different. I marvelled at the generosity of house owners giving over their pride and joys to the tramping feet and ogling eyes of absolute strangers. We were all very well behaved, even the children. 

One show of flowers and bushes was planted out on the most exposed and arid plateau of land, just over an old quarry. the common question here was, "How do you get it all to grow?" Another husband and wife team had organically developed their elements of gardens over twelve years. I came away with the name of an unusual plant which I must note down for next year. A third was a complete surprise, one kiddie cried "It's a magic garden". All developed and terraced on a slope down to a little river that used to run some miles to long gone mill. There were so many nooks and garden corners to discover.

Out at sea, a rescue helicopter was searching, hovering and searching. It was rising and descending, moving onto clifftops and the scrub of the headland; more hovering and searching. The search and rescue helicopter is usually not good news, not unless the crew are successful with a live result. 

At tea with home baking, in the village hall, all part of the end of trail refreshment, I got talking to a disabled elderly lady and her husband who are visiting to help their daughter look after the grandchildren while son-in-law is being treated for a serious medical condition. During the conversation, I was told that the son-in-law was a local church minister. I soon realised that this was the man who kindly helped me and drove me home, in December 2010, when my car came off the road due to black ice. 

Here was the generosity of families supporting their loved ones. The couple had taken time out to view the open gardens, to benefit, even in the rain, from the different beauties in nature and also benefit, insofar as they could, from the welcome and friendliness of strangers, and also the calming distraction of those lovely and interesting gardens.