Edinburgh and not

Another day: not as rainy. Those are cows up on the hill. They were there in the rain, too, of course.

This is a day of a trip into Edinburgh. Unfortunately, leaving my new buddies behind.

Including the less forward one who is in the process of deciding I'm okay.

The way not to mess with Edinburgh traffic is to take the train.

Arriving at Princes Street, which has been modernized, or as my friend Susan would say, "remuddled," I got set up with a pay-as-you-go mobile (cell) phone.

Then got a friend-guided tour of parts of what is called new town, being primarily Georgian (with Victorian infusions), as opposed to the portion on the opposite hill, old town, primarily medieval. One Victorian edifice, somewhat reminiscent of the William Wallace Monument I saw in Stirling in 2010, is the Sir Walter Scott monument.

In this case, though, we stayed at ground level. Scott did, too.

We strolled through part of the Princes Street Gardens, and got a good view of Edinburgh Castle.

This trip is, in part, an exercise in being introduced to things I'll need to actually see another time.

It's also about serendipity, like the teasels that caught my eye in the garden. They are useful in wool working for raising the nap on fabrics.

After lunch, we wandered along and found Kathy's Knits, which specializes in British yarns: "100% of our stock is sourced from small, independent farms and producers from within the British Isles." There were many tempting items in the shop.

I left with four balls of wool: I need to stay focused right now. Interestingly, all four of my balls came from Blacker Yarns in Cornwall. (It's not that I wasn't tempted by other items, but I either already have them in my supply boxes or they don't fit my current need for samples).

Below: two balls of a Hebridean/mohair blend specifically spun and dyed for Kathy's Yarns (hence the logo); a ball of the new St Kilda laceweight (combining Boreray, Soay, and Shetland); and a ball of the original St Kilda laceweight, of which Kathy's bought the entire stock. There was one ball left, and when it became apparent that I would give it a very good home, I was allowed to purchase it. It (appropriately) got its own private plastic bag for protection.