This is a collection of cloudy skies, photography and the odd photo which are being archived here to make room for more cloudy skies in the main collection. See the current collection at: www.cloudysky.co.uk.

A windswept tree, from Blackford with Arthur’s Seat in the distance.

A sunny lunchtime in late November.

Arthur’s Seat through the trees, from the Meadows.

A misty morning in late November.

View towards Holyrood Palace and Carlton Hill from the park

Looking towards the Crags across the Parliament garden

Window in the Palace grounds

Piper and Arthur’s Seat

Swans

Berries

View through the grass

Some autumn flowers…

…and still a few bees…

…a sea of pink…

…an array of pods….

…of many interesting shapes…

…rusty-coloured furry leaves…

…and a furry tailed squirrel…

…finishes us off with a more traditional autumn feel.

Cows and an ethereal view to Glastonbury Tor

The Old Mendip Hospital

Reflection in the pond

Looking at the reflections in the Roman Bath

The Gorgon’s Head

Ladder to Heaven on the facade of the Abbey

Inside the Abbey

Looking up at the Castle

The lake

Through the reeds

Hydrangeas

Meanwhile, enjoy the sheep circle phenomenon.

A circle of sheep…

Apple

Butterfly

Strolling through the Trees

Old Royal Infirmary

Parliament

View from the start

Up on the path

Blue Sky over Salisbury Crags

Huge Fungi

Mini-fungi

Mushrooms in the Clover

Stripy mushroom

Fully grown chillies and the latest buds and flowers…

So, hopefully I’ll get another crop of chillies for the end of summer…will keep the updates coming.

Meanwhile what to do with all these many chillies…

1. Pick and use fresh from the plant – delicious, very hot and spicy and surprisingly fragrant.
2. Picked some red chillies and dried them in the sun – verdict to be announced soon.
3. Left some chillies on the plant to dry – verdict to be announced soon.
4. Picked some chillies and put them in the fridge – hopefully I’ll be able to try these compared to freshly picked and see what level of deterioration there has been – verdict to be announced soon.

More news on the chilli plant as it happens, so keep checking back!

Homegrown Chillies

Now, the tasting notes:

Well, freshly picked chillies seem to have a strong aroma when cut into, I was surprised by how hot and spicy the chillies were – and I didn’t even eat the seeds raw, just tasted a bit of the flesh…

I tasted the red chili first. It was hot, spicy, with a good fresh yet slightly mellow and sweet flavour. Definitely good for stir frying, pasta sauces and general heat to add to a spicy dish.

Then I tasted a bit of the green chili – it was much hotter, very fresh tasting and with a pronounced zing. I think I could even make Laab with these, although I usually use birds-eye chillies. It would also be good to add to Indian curries for a bit of extra kick.

I think I will be growing more of these! And the plant is pretty too, although mine is now kinda toppling over with the weight of all those chillies! Better get harvesting soon…

And finally, a recipe from cookalicious, try this dish with your homegrown or shop-bought chillies, great for summer! Spaghetti with Spicy Tomato and Chorizo Sauce.

The chilli plant started pretty small, back in April/May this year. It was purchased from Dobby’s near Dalkeith.

First it started growing like mad, and was soon a little top heavy with leaves and began to flower. The small white flowers were the first pictures I posted…check them out: first flowers, more growth!

Then voila, the flowers began to die and chillies appear in their place…first pictures back in June, see the first chilli and more!

Well, for a spectacularly long time I’ve been watering, feeding and willing on the growth of more. For a while there, the chilli plant was nearly toppling over with the number of green, growing chillies, and now finally, they are starting to turn purple, with some of the wee ones bright red already!

A few days more and harvesting may well begin…

Chilli plant close up

The full effect!

Red Leaf

Cactus

First growth from flowers

Forming a proper chilli shape

fully shaped chilli – but how big will they grow?

Cool

…voila!

I'm hoping for some chillies…

The chilli plant flowers

 Classic Rhododendron

Bluebells

Masses of Rhododendrons

branch of blossom

close up

City Chambers Door

City Chambers – bathed in sunlight

Exchange Square Area Rooftops

Museum of Modern Art Facade

Period Buildings

Ancient and Modern

As usual, you can click on the image to see a larger view of the photo.

The move will start this week but will probably take me a while…

You can also see my original design scrapbook content on: http://cathscloudysky.blogspot.com/

This time the daffodils in George Square Gardens. I took this in a sunny spell punctuated with spring rain. It's not looking very well framed or neat (which could be due to the rather strong wintery breeze we are currently enduring?!)