Cold Weather II
This past week has been bitterly cold at times and there was even snow one morning. Just a little bit, but it made the castle look like it had been sprinkled with sugar. A lovely sight, but short-lived once the sun came out and melted everything.
Even though it's so cold, there are some signs of spring, with snowdrops and crocuses blooming and stiff daffodil shoots poking up through the hard ground around old trees in the central garden in Charlotte Square. The snowdrops are such a clean contrast to the weary-looking overwintered shrubs and leftover plant debris. During a lunchtime walk in the Dean Cemetery (I do love a nice bit of cemetery once in a while), I was captivated by the number of graves with clumps of snowdrops around them. Beautiful little vignettes of emerald green grass, grey and weathered stones wearing green and orange lichens, and the pure white snowdrops with their little bent heads on thin green stems. Lovely.
On the last Thursday of the month (Thursdays are late night shopping on Princes Street), there's a farmers market on Castle Street where the vendors produce the food they sell. Occasionally, there's a European street market set up for a couple of days and it was there last night and tonight. Vendors are from other EU countries and most of them are selling food so a person can buy French artisanal cheeses, breads from Poland and France, cured meats from Germany, olives, takeaway Greek food and Greek pastries, among other things. There's a Swiss guy who sells a hot potato, onion and cheese dish that he stirs constantly in a massive shallow pan, about 4 feet across. I haven't succumbed to the temptation yet (it smells delicious). I have given into meltingly fabulous croissants from the French bakery stall though. There were small shrubs and flowering plants for sale last night too -primroses, azaleas, tiny cyclamen and tempting baskets stuffed with crocuses about to flower. I wanted it all but have nowhere to put any of it, so that saved me a week's pay.
Walking to the bus stop along Princes Street after work tonight, it was bloody freezing and there was a bit of sleet falling. The town is heaving with Welsh people, here for the Wales v. Scotland rugby, and their lovely lilting accents were floating all around me as I walked. Several of them sacrificed the comfort of a warm coat to show off their national pride, mostly shirts bearing the Welsh symbol of a red lion on a yellow background (their national flag) and/or "Cymru" which is Welsh for Wales (I think). A quartet of young women took the prize for best costume though - yellow t-shirts identifying them as "mad taffs" (the Welsh are called "Taffy" - I don't know why and don't know if this is derogatory or not) and wearing replicas of the Welsh national dress, including aprons and black stovepipe hats. They must have been freezing. My sources tell me the Welsh invasion is as much about having fun in Edinburgh as it is about the rugby. I suspect the crowds I saw after work were heading to the pubs to warm up with a few drinks, so the streets will probably be alive with those lovely accents later on tonight.
Even though it's so cold, there are some signs of spring, with snowdrops and crocuses blooming and stiff daffodil shoots poking up through the hard ground around old trees in the central garden in Charlotte Square. The snowdrops are such a clean contrast to the weary-looking overwintered shrubs and leftover plant debris. During a lunchtime walk in the Dean Cemetery (I do love a nice bit of cemetery once in a while), I was captivated by the number of graves with clumps of snowdrops around them. Beautiful little vignettes of emerald green grass, grey and weathered stones wearing green and orange lichens, and the pure white snowdrops with their little bent heads on thin green stems. Lovely.
On the last Thursday of the month (Thursdays are late night shopping on Princes Street), there's a farmers market on Castle Street where the vendors produce the food they sell. Occasionally, there's a European street market set up for a couple of days and it was there last night and tonight. Vendors are from other EU countries and most of them are selling food so a person can buy French artisanal cheeses, breads from Poland and France, cured meats from Germany, olives, takeaway Greek food and Greek pastries, among other things. There's a Swiss guy who sells a hot potato, onion and cheese dish that he stirs constantly in a massive shallow pan, about 4 feet across. I haven't succumbed to the temptation yet (it smells delicious). I have given into meltingly fabulous croissants from the French bakery stall though. There were small shrubs and flowering plants for sale last night too -primroses, azaleas, tiny cyclamen and tempting baskets stuffed with crocuses about to flower. I wanted it all but have nowhere to put any of it, so that saved me a week's pay.
Walking to the bus stop along Princes Street after work tonight, it was bloody freezing and there was a bit of sleet falling. The town is heaving with Welsh people, here for the Wales v. Scotland rugby, and their lovely lilting accents were floating all around me as I walked. Several of them sacrificed the comfort of a warm coat to show off their national pride, mostly shirts bearing the Welsh symbol of a red lion on a yellow background (their national flag) and/or "Cymru" which is Welsh for Wales (I think). A quartet of young women took the prize for best costume though - yellow t-shirts identifying them as "mad taffs" (the Welsh are called "Taffy" - I don't know why and don't know if this is derogatory or not) and wearing replicas of the Welsh national dress, including aprons and black stovepipe hats. They must have been freezing. My sources tell me the Welsh invasion is as much about having fun in Edinburgh as it is about the rugby. I suspect the crowds I saw after work were heading to the pubs to warm up with a few drinks, so the streets will probably be alive with those lovely accents later on tonight.
Labels: spring flowers
posted by Jacki | 7:58 PM
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