Balmaha with Toad

Toad and I went to Balmaha today and walked through what is usually marshy ground to get to the eastern shore of Loch Lomond – a wee walk on flat ground that did my back (that I yanked painfully yesterday) good. Next time we'll take a picnic, although coming back to St Mocha Cafe and getting blueberry yogurt ice-cream and tea in lieu of lunch worked pretty well.

We loved seeing and really hearing (I was going to say just hearing but it really was really hearing) skylarks. Most of the plants we saw also grow on the boggy brae but it was lovely to see flowering rush. The first pic below shows how unusually unmuddy the muddy paths were. The hill beyond is Conic Hill, the name based on a Gaelic word meaning mossy. This was actually a hot day by Scottish standards. It was a good thing I'd woken my Tilley hat out of its long winter hibernation.