Amelia's photos

In the Scottish borders a line of Peel towers was built in the 1430s across the Tweed valley from Berwick to its source, as a response to the dangers of invasion from the Marches. Sited high on a rocky outcrop, Smailholm is a small rectangular tower set within a stone barmkin wall. This 65 ft (20 metre) towerhouse was built by the Pringle family.a well-known Scottish Borders family. In common with all Scottish peel towers, it was built to provide its occupants with protection from sporadic English raids. Today you can enjoy stunning views of the surrounding countryside from Smailholm Tower’s battlements. The last owner, the Earl of Ellesmere, handed the property into state care in 1950. It was restored in the 1980s, and now operates as a museum for Historic Scotland. We were very impressed with this site. It's beautifully maintained and the history is interesting. The PiP shows the view of the Scottish borders from the battlements.

The Leaderfoot Viaduct, also known as the Drygrange Viaduct, is a railway viaduct over the River Tweed near Melrose in the Scottish Borders. The viaduct is in good condition, having been renovated between 1992 and 1995. To the east of the viaduct is the Drygrange Old Bridge, dating from 1776, on which I was standing to take this photo. It is no longer used by traffic and has been superseded by a newer road bridge. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaderfoot_Viaduct

Summer meets Autumn

Today's challenge is Knolling: Knolling photography involves capturing images of objects grouped together and arranged neatly. Origin of Knolling: While people have been arranging objects neatly for centuries, the specific technique of knolling and definition of this technique only came about in 1987. It was first coined by Andrew Kromelow, who worked in a furniture fabrication shop where chairs were being designed for Knoll, known for its angular designs. Kromelow worked as a Janitor, and kept tools tidy rather than leaving them lying around or just jumbled together. He arranged the tools parallel and at right angles to one another, spread out, so that all tools could be easily seen and found at once. He named the process Knolling because the strong angles were similar to that of the strong angles and parallel lines found in Knoll furniture. I have just started to collect sea-washed glass. So far only green, white and soft turquoise, and in varying degrees of smoothness.

In architecture, a gargoyle is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gargoyle

St Mary's Abbey, Melrose is a partly ruined monastery of the Cistercian order in Melrose, Roxburghshire, in the Scottish Borders. It was founded in 1136 by Cistercian monks at the request of King David I of Scotland, and was the chief house of that order in the country until the Reformation. Courtesy of Wikipedia: www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=Melrose+abbey+history It was largely destroyed by Richard II's English army in 1385.

The Severn had just burst its banks when we were here, and the water level continued to rise as we were watching. Luckily it didn't get past the flood barriers in the centre of town.

Castanea sativa, Sweet chestnut. These are lovely to eat after roasting, but there was so much squirrel activity that we didn't find any fully ripe chestnuts.

I think these two young stags were just play fighting. The mature males largely ignored their display.

Famous, enchanting and highly toxic. Fly agaric is the home of fairies and magical creatures and a lover of birch woodland, where it helps trees by transferring nutrients into their roots, but if eaten can cause hallucinations and psychotic reactions and even death.

The statue of Sir Walter Scott stands in Selkirk's Market Place outside the courtroom where Sir Walter Scott sat as Sheriff of Selkirk from 1804 till 1832. The courtroom is now a museum which explores Scott's life, his writings and his time as Sheriff. The statue was unveiled by the Duke of Bucleugh in 1839. The pedestal includes the heraldic emblem of Scott, the arms of Selkirk, a winged harp and a Scots thistle. The mandatory coffee shop and loo is just behind where I'm standing.

On 2 sides of this building there is a drinking fountain. The Pant Well takes its name from the granite overflow trough (pant) which was added in 1715 and provided a water supply for animals. I thought it was the market cross until I started looking closely at my photos.

Today's challenge: Portray "happiness" in a black and white image. These starlings, part of a bigger flock, had just been gorging themselves on rowan berries from our tree. They then settled on the roof and TV aerial of our next door neighbour before flying off completely full and happy.