The last few days

The strangest coincidence! Linda was looking up something on the internet about fishing, for her partner, and came across news of a dreadful accident that had occurred last week. She read through it because she is always concerned something happens to Brian when he is fishing off slippy rocks etc. so when I saw her yesterday she told me that she had read this news article, and it was only on reading my blog afterwards that she had realised that it was Murray she had been reading about. It seems his fishing line got snagged and he waded out to try to to retrieve it, got into difficulties, and called to his family for help. They seemingly couldn't reach him and called out the coastguard and ambulance. They managed to bring him out of the water and tried to revive him but he died before they reached the hospital in Stornoway. So had he slipped, had there been a sudden dip that had taken him unawares, had he waded just too far and water got into his waders pulling him down? Will we ever know? I think not, but I feel for his sons who were powerless to save him and witnessed the whole terrible episode.

I haven't blogged for a couple of days because I have been busy doing things to blog about!!!

On Saturday afternoon I had a lovely visit from my great friends, Edwina, her husband Barney and her sister, Jean.

Cyril, with Jean, Edwina and Barney on the bench, in happier days before Cyril died and Barney took ill.

Ween and Barney were spending a few days' holiday with Jean, having driven up from the south of England. They came to my flat which Ween was dying to see as she hasn't been here since I moved (5 1/2 years ago!!). She loved my view! We caught up on what they had been up to while they'd been with Jean; played with Moosie hamster (aka Priscilla !) and had tea, with fruit scones bought from the tearoom down the road! Then all of a sudden it was time for an evening meal. Where does the time go? We chose a bar meal at the Courthouse, a few steps from here, and enjoyed burgers with chips and salad, washed down with a glass of vino! At last it was time for them to set off back down to the east coast, so with big hugs we all said goodbye, and hope to see you again soon! I really do hope so. It was lovely to see Ween. She and I met at the music pub we went to in our 20s, but didn't really become good friends till I discovered she was the, until then, unknown girlfriend of a guy in our crowd! She ditched him eventually when she met Barney. Apart from the fact that she left Edinburgh to be with Barney, it was great that she met and married him and not the other one! Don't get me wrong. He was a friend too, but sometimes he didn't quite treat Ween the way she should have been treated.

Next morning, Sunday, was my work morning! Up at 6a.m. - the middle of the night - and at work for 7. The day went by reasonably quickly - I hardly ever find time dragging at the shop - and afterwards I called in at Morag's. She was feeling a bit like she'd never been out and about for a while so did I fancy a run out somewhere? I'm all for an spontaneous adventure so we drove to Moffat - where Murray's and my ancestors lived - had an oyster icecream each (!not oyster flavoured! It's the shape of the wafers, more like a clam shell with icecream in the centre!) while wandering round the park watching the Sunday afternoon visitors pedalling the swans on the loch!

I showed her where my great great great grandparents, Robert and Catherine,were buried, and the houses I knew the family to have lived in. before we came back to the car to return to Peebles by St Mary's Loch, the scenic route. Mike had tea ready when we got back, having opted to stay at home instead of come out with us. Stirfry with prawns in Thai sauce with noodles! Boy was it good!!!
Yesterday Linda and I met for lunch, which was when she told me about Murray's accident. It was a dry bright day so we decided to drive to St Mary's Loch and the Tibbie Shiels Inn to eat. New folk have taken the Inn over so we hoped to find the place as it had been. So often when new folk take a place over, they pull it to pieces and refurbish it, quite often spoiling it in the process. So far no change! Even the woman behind the bar was as abrupt and off-putting as the Dragon Lady who used to run it! So why did we keep going? Nice place! Nice food! The other folk working in the dining room were nice though and I think my complaint about the attitude of the bar lady didn't go unheeded! I mean, you go into a bar and are greeted with a snapped "Yes?" We asked if we could have lunch. "You'll have to wait for a table. They're all full!" we were told snappily. Behind us a family group came in and asked about lunch. Another member of staff told them yes, of course. Did they want to go through to the lounge (where tables are set out for meals). We looked amazed and told her we'd been told to wait in the bar for a table. "No, go through!" said this other woman, so we did. We were greeted by yet another woman and it was to this one I complained about the attitude of the first woman!

After lunch and to walk it off we took a short stroll along the path to the loch itself. The path, part of the long distance footpath The Southern Upland Way, continues through a gate, and on along the far side of the loch, however we only walked as far as the yachting clubhouse, admiring the purple heather on the hills and the calm blue waters shimmering in the sun SUN? Yes, we had a lovely sunny afternoon. In fact everywhere looked so, sort of, clean! Bright and sparkly and... well, like it had all been washed, which it had been, I suppose, by all the recent rain! The grass beside the path was still wet with raindrops, and the wildflowers, purple knapweed, wild blue scabious, yellow ragwort, white yarrow, were all in bloom too, and although the wild roses were over, the hips, the seed pods, were quite big and beginning to turn from green to red. There was also a little autumn colour in some of the trees, and the rowan tree berries were already quite red, though it's still only August.

a chaffinch in the rowan tree

Back on the road once more we took a detour home, turning off the main road onto the single track road with passing places that took us uphill through heather covered moorland with rocky outcrops on one side of the road and green grassy hills on the other, past the Megget reservoir to the top of the hill, from where you can look down on Talla, the next reservoir, and see the burn (small river) fast flowing over the rocks down the hill.

It's a steep descent to Talla but just so pretty. The road alongside Talla is fairly straight and wider than the previous section, but you don't want to hurry along here! Plenty of time for that once you reach the main road at the other end. The reservoirs are almost full again after a long period of being quite low, so the folks in Edinburgh needn't worry about water restrictions for a while!

We reached the main road and turned right, passing Tweedsmuir Kirk (church) and then the old coaching inn The Crook, now sadly closed down because the new owner wants to change it into flats while the local community want it reinstated as an inn. We sometimes went there for bar suppers, and enjoyed the atmosphere of the old 18th century bar, along with the Art Deco dining room and loos! You see what I mean about new folk taking places over? The inn seemed to take in a good enough income, and was the hub of the spread out farming community so little wonder there is aggro against the new owner's plans. It is now for sale again and the locals are hoping to do a community buy out! Not sure of the present "lie of the land"!

Back to Peebles, past Dawyk botanic gardens - cafe closed! We stopped to look! That's one of my bugbears, tearooms and cafes that close at tea time! Returning from a day out when I was a youngster we always used to stop at a country tearoom for afternoon tea, but no sooner is lunch over, then people start offering afternoon teas, and when people actually WANT tea at about 4 or 5, the tearooms close! Oooooh Grrrrrrrrrrr! Anyway we got back to Peebles and soon it was time for work.

Today I was planning to go over to Glasgow to meet Sally and Andrew off the plane from Australia but a phone message from Ian when I got home last night, said that the youngsters would catch up with me next week. They had apparently hired a car to await them, before they left Oz and were planning on spending this afternoon looking for a place to rent for the next couple of years. So instead I am sitting here blogging instead of doing a million and one other things I could be doing but haven't the will to do right now!

I got an email from the other Ian in France to say he's looking forward to my visit - I was getting anxious as I hadn't heard from him after I sent my flight details a couple of weeks ago! I'm looking forward to my visit too!

So that's me! I'm up to date! Day off today so not sure what I'll do tonight! I just MIGHT get my lace pillow out and do some of the bookmark I started at Doune.... oh but there are dishes to wash, and other jobs to do! Can I raise the enthusiasm to go and do them first?

Talk again soon.