Thanks to a reminder by The Edinburgh Reporter, I'm now digging my era-appropriate clothing out of the lavender for this Sunday's afternoon of living history at Dirleton Castle in East Lothian.

Adult £5 Concession £4 Child £3 (free to members of Historic Scotland)

Step back in time to the colourful and glamorous Renaissance period at Dirleton Castle on Sunday 19 June.

From 12:00 noon to 4:00pm you will be able to see that although Scotland was in a time of turmoil, pleasure for the nobility was still a high priority. Watch and learn how a lady of high-status would have dressed and behaved and find out the surprising dangers of cosmetics of the period. Enjoy dancing by the highly acclaimed Danse Ecosse and have the opportunity of trying a few steps yourself under their specialist guidance.

Having spent many years constructing historic clothing, from pairs of stays (aka corsets) to French hoods (headwear not contraceptives) I can't really hide my addiction to a good living history, but with that comes a pickiness for accurate detail. Having suffered the torments of accurately reconstructed historic footwear, I think I kinda earned it.

For 400 years, Dirleton Castle stood as a magnificent fortress–residence for three successive noble families. It was badly damaged during Cromwell’s siege of 1650, but its fortunes revived in the 1660s when the Nisbet family built a new mansion close to the picturesque ruins.

They also resuscitated the splendid gardens, which now include the world’s longest herbaceous border.

Just head straight through Musselburgh then round the coast on the A198.

Fed up of obstacles in the bike lane? It could be worse, you could be cycling in New York.

This footage has popped up in so many friends' feeds this week that I feel the need to share it too:

I like the way they are referred to as BIKERS, as though to make them sound a menace to society. I'm going to check with other cyclists across there to see if this chap is representative of normal NYC experience.

I would like to thank the workmen on this scaffolding on the corner of Forest Road and Lauriston Place for deciding to sweep it clean while people were standing/ walking/ scootering underneath. I got the full force of a pile of debris falling onto me, grit and sawdust type stuff all over me, in my hair and in my eyes. I could still hear them sweeping as I cleaned up. Thanks!

In today's Independant, the political comedian Mark Steel lets loose on the cyclist vs cars road rage: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/mark-steel/mark-steel-i-can-see-why-drivers-shout-at-prams-2285370.html

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Despite looming grey clouds, another Portobello Sailing and Kayaking Club sailing sunday attracted sails, onlookers, swimmers and sandcastle-builders to the shore. All along the prom, bicycles had been left chained up - or just ridden down into the sand!

http://www.sailporty.org.uk/sailing/sunday-sailing/

As I trundled down the hill o doom into the Meadows this afternoon, I heard wonderful close-harmony singing on the breeze/ over the howling gale. I switched on my recording gadget, followed the sound, and found the singers at the central junction of the Meadows pathways.

Forget_me_nots.MP3

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Forget_me_nots.MP3 (3.49 MB)

They are indeed on Facebook: http://en-gb.facebook.com/ForgetMeNotsQuartet?v=info which is handy as their profile pic also provided a better photo of the group (thanks, girls)

The Forget Me Nots are Edinburgh students Rachael Boyd, Jude Lorton, Ellie Roche and Rose Paxman, who have been singing together for about eighteen months. You can find them again during the Festival in August - just check the listings for them!

The Forget Me Nots will be singing tonight, Wednesday 11th May in the Royal Oak around 9pm. There will be five groups taking part from 8pm tonight as part of the Oak's Edinburgh Unplugged showcases. £2 on the door.

ps. There was more applause than that; it's just that my hands were nearest the voice recorder...

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boats-line-up-to-face-at-portobello-xvhefdvsAtcHrqjyBHjx.zip (1.9 MB)

Around 14 sailing craft are on the sand or milling around on the water, preparing for the races. Its good to see so many sails on Portobello beach in the sunshine. The racing season is about to start!

Sunday 8th May sees the first Portobello open dinghy race of the season, run by the Portobello Sailing and Kayaking Club. Entry to the races is free, and is for all non-motorised sailing craft. Participants should arrive before 1.30pm. Non-members can sign in as temporary members for the races, which will run all afternoon until about 4pm. There will be plenty to watch from the beach!

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Portobello prom is part of the Orange Line on the Innertube map, and is the main pedestrian-cycle thoroughfare through the area. Cyclists, scooters, wheelchair users, prams, buggies, roller skaters, joggers, runners, walkers, bedraggled swimmers, folk in wetsuits, sand-covered dogs and the odd cat shared the route today, not at all worried by the low grey clouds threatening rain. When it finally arrived, the brief rain shower was warm anyway.

I spotted one of the Rowporty rowers sitting on the beach wall, and went over to find out what she was up to. Patsy is one of the team who helped build Rowporty's newest skiff, the Jenny Skylark, then crewed her on the maiden trip out.

Patsy.MP3

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Patsy.MP3 (3.19 MB)

Tonight sees the last round of heats of the Scottish Cycling Ingleston Criterium Series at the Royal Highland Centre. The first race is at 6pm, with free admission for spectators.

 
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The grand finale day of races will be held on Saturday 14th May. http://www.entrycentral.com/index.php?festivalID=203

I spoke to Portobello cyclist Colin Russell, who will be competing tonight. Colin is a member of Edinburgh Road Club, which is one of the UK's largest cycling clubs http://www.edinburghrc.co.uk/ 

Colin.MP3

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Colin.MP3 (3.79 MB)