Tuesday 18 April 2023
I don’t think I’ve ever been as giddy about sunshine as I am in Scotland, which, sadly, is testimony to how many more rainy and grey days we’ve had in the five months since we moved here. I got up and went straight out this morning, on the road shortly after eight, having not even had a mug of tea. I had my most important drink of the day, tea, with my McDonald’s breakfast to celebrate my friend in Japan’s (belated) birthday; a tradition for each of our birthdays since we met in 1998 and usually my only McDonald’s trips in a year. It was foggy when I set off, but as the forecast had predicted, sunny within an hour or so. I loved the drive today, loads of ewes and lambs and a field of calves and cattle. When it was grey and chilly this morning, I saw a ewe sitting down with a very small lamb sitting on her back with its head resting on the back of its mum’s head. There’s a lot of lamb cuteness around but that was one of the sweetest things I’ve ever seen in my mental scrapbook of lamb adorability.
When I got home around 15:30, my good mood was ongoing. I had lunch in the sun, then a mug of tea and half a bun outdoors, I hung out the washing and hung out the Tibetan prayer flags we bought at the Samye Ling temple shop on Saturday. I already like seeing the colourful flags flapping in the wind. I had looked forward to getting back home; the sun makes everything look and feel better after the wet, grey, cold winter we’ve had.
I stopped in Melrose, Galashiels and Selkirk today. I bought provisions in a butcher, a bakery, two coffee shops, a supermarket, TK Maxx, a few charity shops (mainly books) and a couple of other shops. I got what I needed and enjoyed pottering around the towns.
Earlier this month, Chris and I took Nicky to Melrose, Selkirk and Hawick and Duncan to Selkirk, Jedburgh and Kelso. Both those trips were just to wander around the towns and have lunch. Chris and I realised that the towns here are not great for wandering around. Yes, there are some pretty and/or historical buildings, lovely surrounding scenery and a few shops and places to eat. But there’s nothing particularly inspiring about the towns for touristy purposes. Today, however, admittedly with sunshine that was absent on those two days with friends, I really enjoyed the towns. But I went to them for specific shops and not just for a sightseeing wander. They are functional towns which cater for the needs of locals. Chris and I have said that we need to revise our rainy/grey day visitor activities away from wandering around the small towns.