Sunday 9 July 2023
It rained a lot last night, water levels in the river are higher than they have been for about two months, all the streams and squishy bits in the garden are wet and my trousers are wet from walking around the long, wet grass just now. The water tank is also at its highest level for about two months. It’s not flowing as well as it should be but it’s now been about six days since more water has gone in than has come out. That’s it now, no more water updates … well, at least not for today.
We went out for dinner at the house of two people we had only met for a matter of minutes back in March. People around here are significantly more welcoming and friendly than anywhere I have lived before. It was good to go out on a Saturday night, lovely to have dinner cooked for us and we both really enjoyed their company. They also have an amazing garden, which both puts ours to shame and highlights that there is a lot more we could grow, both flowers and vegetables. Next year …
During the day yesterday, we drove to Dumfries, having only ever driven around the busy A75 ring road around the town. I had wanted to see a Diane Arbus exhibition at a gallery in Dumfries and we decided to have a wander around the town. The exhibition was great, but I enjoy Diane Arbus’s photography anyway. The town was more rundown than either of us expected, though it clearly has a lot of potential and must once have been a very handsome and busy town. There are a lot of empty shops, derelict buildings and a lot that’s in need of repair, but there are loads of independent shops and it was fairly busy and we had a good lunch out, which cost less than I imagine it would have in most of the other towns around the area. I’m glad we went and I will go back, even if only to visit the Moat Brae, the national centre for children’s literature, the garden of the old house being where JM Barrie, who grew up in Dumfries, used to play and inspired him to write Peter Pan.
Today, we are planning on going to St Boswells, another town/village we haven’t visited before.