shewhomust | A botanic weekend

- No, not this one. Sooner or later I'll have to get round to that, but so far I'm managing to ignore it (almost). But last weekend K was visiting: her first trip away from home since her partner died in the autumn, and of course her first solo trip for very much longer. So we took it very gently. Lots of talking, lots of each reading our own choice of media, a combined attack on the crossword -

But we did get out into the sunshine. On Saturday we visited the Botanic Gardens - because it is on of our favourite local excursions, but also because K is (by the field of her long-ago doctorate, at least) a botanist. So she and I prowled around photographic plants, and

durham_rambler was forbearing (and scrolled through Twitter).

For a change, not a close-up, but a long shot of some damp-loving plants, because I liked the layered effect, the red of the primulas between the grasses and the butterbur.

On Sunday we went to the seaside. On a whim I opted for Tynemouth, because we haven't been there for a while. It was busier than I had expected - or rather, on a sunny summer Sunday it was a different kind of busy, more outdoor cafés than families on the beach. Lots of dog walkers, though, which K enjoyed, and plenty of plants to photograph. So rather than an obvious seaside photo, have a mystery flower:

It was just growing by the railings on the clifftop, but I wonder if it's a garden escape?

And on Monday morning we put K onto the train for the long journey home.