At the weekend we went with some friends to see the Falls of Leny at Callander. They were pretty spectacular after all the rain, as you can see.

But the thing that made this trip was the sight of several flowers I’d never seen before.

This one is cow wheat. It was everywhere.

This one is marsh cinquefoil.

This one caused us some bother. The only thing we knew was that it wasn’t ragweed.We finally decided that it must be goldenrod – not the Canadian one we see in gardens, but our own smaller native one.

But this one was the best. We think it is a butterfly orchid. I’d never seen anything like it before. I gather that this is a very good year for orchids because of the wet, and all I can say is I’m glad it’s good for something!

Now that I am back at the desk, I have been updating the web-site, and I have added an article on Cistercian spirituality, (on the publications page) for those who are interested.It was originally written a good while back, but I’ve revised it in the light of the Beauvais film Of Gods and Men, and my more recent involvement in the Transition movement.