Dr Neil's Garden, Duddingston

 On Saturday, we visited Dr Neil's Garden, a hidden gem on the edge of Duddingston Loch,  

near Edinburgh's Arthur's Seat (which you can see in the background to the right of the photo below)

It always seems to me to be an ideal place to spend a hot summer's day, with it's waterside location and benches positioned under a variety of shady, mature trees. We were delighted to see a variety of insect life too including Common Darter Dragonflies 

a couple of Wall Butterflies 

and this bee (I think it's a Common Carder) who had found a pleasant resting place in between the petals of this ornamental daisy 

At the edge of the garden is Thomson's Tower 

which hosts regular small art exhibitions, including the current exhibition of work by Irene Bell, Linda Green and Marion Barron which is on until 7 August.

The above photo of Thomson's Tower was taken from Jock Tamson's Gairden, which is a community garden, with orchard trees, vegetable plots and wildflower areas. 

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Also this weekend we enjoyed an exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland. Monkeys: our Primate family is beautifully curated and informative with several interactive activities for children and the young at heart. It would be improved if it could include a bit about the ethics of animal collection, with specific reference to how the taxidermy specimens in the exhibition were collected.