A right scorcher !!!!!

After spending the first 3 months of the year in the Southern hemisphere, enjoying summer summer in Africa we thought we had pretty much had all the sun we would get for the rest of the year.  Scottish weather is notoriously unpredictable and the summer can be just as cold as winter.  However last weekend in Scotland was a right scorcher !!!!!.  Temperatures hitting 29oC it was unbelievably hot for this time of year.  So with the sun out shining it was time to dig out the shorts and t-shirts !!!

Afterwork on friday we thought it was only right to take part in an Edinburgh tradition when the sun is out: have a drink and some food in the Meadows and Bruntsfield links.  These are two large parks in the city center.  We bought a pizza and some ciders and sat out enjoying the evening.  It seemed every one in the city was out enjoying the sun.

Summer in the City !!!!

Next morning we went to watch our friend Jane run the Edinburgh 10K road race.  It was another very hot day and a very tough run which took the runners around the big "mountain" in Edinburgh, Arthurs Seat.  Jane did very well and completed the race in a great time of 58:30, just under her 1 hour target !!!!.  Jane also kindly raised money for the Nocet Orphanage and Pre School we volunteered at in Tanzania, big thanks to Jane !!!!

Jane running for Nocet.

Jane with her finishers medal.

After watching Jane and enjoying a post race breakfast it was back to work in the garden for us.  Gillian has been volunteering on a project called Artlink, and helping with their communities gardens.  She was offered a small allotment there, so now out Green Living Garden project has started to grow !!!.

Our first task was to clear the ground, pull out all the weeds and dig the plot over.  Not an easy task in the heat, it was just like being back in Tanzania building gardens for the Green Living Planet !!!!

Welcome to our Garden !!!

Follow the path......

Our plot before we started.

Hard work !!!

Can a have a beer break ?

Watering the plot.

Having a wee BBQ at the allotment !!!

Finished and ready for planting !!!

It was a tough afternoon in the garden, but very rewarding and to finish off the day with a BBQ in the tranquil surroundings was great.

Next day most people would probably have a rest, but not us ! it was our time to run. We had entered the Dunblane Hydro 7.5 Mile road race, so we made our way to Dunblane to take part.  Sunday was even hotter than saturday and the race started at 1 pm, so it made for a very tough race, especially as the finish was a steep climb up the driveway of the Hydro.

I was very pleased with my race finishing just under the 50 minute mark at 49:39 in 14 place, Gillian had a very tough race battling with fellow club runner Jan and finished 57 mins 42 seconds.  We finished off the weekend with a nice cold drink in the bar at the Hydro.

Dean, Gillian and Jan with their medals after a very tough race at Dunblane.