Lunch With the Glovers

No walk for Tom and I today as we were visiting John and Marion Glover in Dumfries and we treated them to lunch in The Boathouse at Glencaple. It was a very enjoyable visit and good to catch up with old friends. The Glovers have 5 grandchildren now with 3 of them very young so life has been very hectic recently. We had a lovely lunch and were delighted to also see Hilary Jack in the Boathouse so had a catch up with her as well.  

 

A Walk at Rigg and Redkirk Point on the Solway

Looking over the Solway towards Gretna from Redkirk Point. This was our regular Wednesday walk from Rigg to the Peninsular at Redkirk Point.

Erosion on the bank where the Kirtle comes into the Solway

The 2 walkers looking across the Solway

A Holly Tree sitting beside a Beech Tree

The tide was on its way out.

Looking over the Solway to Cumbria

Looking along the coast to Dornock

Most of our walk was on farm tracks like this. The tree is very windswept.

The route of our walk

A very muddy walk

They say that Gorse is in bloom in Scotland every month of the year.

The worst part of the walk and at times it was very difficult to get through it.

An ominous black cloud over the Solway

A very enjoyable 5 mile walk, despite the muddy bits. We finished up with a nice Fish and Chips lunch at the Old Toll Bar Cafe in Gretna. The 2 girls working there were very busy and understaffed but did an excellent job.

 

A Penton Walk

Tom and I decided that yesterdays Wednesday Walk should only be on road rather than plodding along Lanes or Fields in the mud. We selected a 4 mile circular route at Penton and Nicholforest. This is on the last section of the walk and is called Railway Cottages next to the old Waverley railway line. It is dated N.B.R. 1889.

A view from the road looking toward the Liddell valley

We stated our walk at a Bus Shelter near Crossroads just off the B6318 past the Pentonbridge Inn and a feature of the first half mile was the number of Crab Apple trees in full fruit at the left hand side of the road. We counted a least a dozen and most of the trees had lost their leaves but the Apples remained. 

Nicholforest Parish Church and we had our morning Coffee in the porch of the Church

More Crab Apples

Nicholforest Public Hall and a fine building it is. 

Near a caravan site on the first road section this fellow came to see who we were.

Enjoying a Coffee in the porch of Nicholforest Church

Another of the Alpacas next to the road.

Crab Apples galore

Plenty of long straight sections of road lined with Beech Hedges

Tom views one of the lovely Beech Hedges

Pentonbridge Inn which was not open for lunches but certainly worth a visit another time.

Another view of the lovely Nicholforest Church. We had hoped to dine at Pentonbridge Inn for lunch but they were closed and then the Cafe in Newcastleton was full so we ended up at The Buccleuch Centre and had a lovely lunch served very quickly.

A Busy Few Days

It's been 2 weeks since we returned from California and I think it must have rained every day. It took a week for us to get over our Jet Lag. Last weekend we had a visit from John who says it has been the longest time between visits to The Muckle Toon. Despite the bad weather we managed to get a walk on Saturday and Sunday. This is our Sunday morning walk from the Laverock Bird Hide to Perterburn and back, a distance of 5 miles and we avoided the rain. I have recently had this Recycled Seat placed at the bridge in lower Tarras. We met the couple from Rashiel Cottage as they walked their rescue pony along the road. She loves the seat and uses it to climb on the back of her Pony after its daily walk and then rides it back to the cottage.

The road from the Bird Hide down to the Tarras river with John and Tom.

This was Saturdays late afternoon walk along Gaskell's walk and looking down to the river Wauchope which is in full flood.

The Auld Stane Brig and at last a bit of blue sky

Sunday morning and the Rashiel seat.

Gaskell's Walk.

This is the rescue pony belonging to the couple who live in Rashiel Cottage. They say it had been badly treated and was in a terrible state when they got it 2 years ago. They have lived at Rashiel for 7 years and absolutely love it there.

Today we had a visit from Jackie from Carlisle. She worked for me for 22 years with Atlasair (UPS), Transglobal Air, Wilson Logistics, and finally at EMS Cargo (Carlisle) Ltd. That is such loyalty and such an excellent worker over good and some difficult times. 

Jackie has weathered the years much better than me. It was so lovely to see her again and we had some good laughs about the pleasant times we had working in Carlisle and Longtown.

 

The Graham Family in California.

The Graham family in Saratoga, California. It has been difficult getting everybody together at the same time. Fraser and Leslie working, the kids at school and at the weekend Soccer and Baseball keep the kids on the go all the time. We had a 30 minute window in the evening between Fraser and Leslie getting back from work and Eleanor getting back from a school Soccer match. By 6.00pm it’s dark and the opportunity is lost.

The Sporting Graham's

Its been a busy Sunday. Started with Tommy and his Baseball game. He won and he scored a Home Run.

In the afternoon Elliot played his first match with a new team and lost 5 goals to 4. He thoroughly enjoyed the game and looks forward to the next one. The opposition had a brilliant player who scored all 5 goals for them.

 And finally Eleanor who played a match in the morning at her home pitch and then Fraser had to take her 

almost to near San Francisco Airport where she was guesting for another team. They won the Home game and lost the Away game. I only watched Elliots game but Fraser has seen 3 Soccer matches today at 3 different locations.

Our Mountain Log Cabin Stay

This is the Log Cabin we stayed in for 2 nights near Arnold in The Stanislaus National Forest. It sits at 5,500ft and while we were there average daytime temperature was about 75F and in the evening it dropped to about 60F. The temperatures will drop soon and by November they will have snow and then from Christmas it will have huge amounts of Snow. We left on Thursday lunchtime and returned on Saturday lunchtime. A short visit but a most enjoyable one in excellent company.

This is Fraser's best friends Aurelien and Emma Hubert and their two daughters. They own the Log Cabin and give Fraser and family regular use of it and often both families stay together there. Aurelien works at Apple and leads a team in connection with the Apple Cameras.

The three Grahams. Unfortunately Leslie and the kids couldn't make it as Leslie was working and the kids were still at school. We couldn't go at the weekend as there was too many Soccer commitments.

The balcony was an excellent place to sit and watch the many Squirrels that frequent the forest.

The lounge area.

On Friday evening after dinner we had a game of cards called Golf. It was great fun and i am pleased to report the Graham family came in the top 3 places.

Gaye at The Big Trees Visitor Centre on Friday morning

Photo taken at 5.50pm on Thursday evening showing the temperature at 70F

Gaye in the Visitor Centre and not bothered about the Bear about to pounce

Dinner on Friday evening and magnificent Spare Ribs cooked by Fraser followed by an excellent Single Malt Whisky.

The view from the Balcony

On our way home but Fraser always stops at this Apple Farm for loads of Apples and the best Apple Pie.

A wonderful 2 days in the mountains in smashing company.