Arrived in California

On Thursday we left Langholm in deep snow and thanks to our good friends Peter & Elizabeth Bart-Smith arrived safely in Newcastle. Peters driving was exemplary so we thank him for this. We left these 2 behind on Friday morning and had superb flights on BA to San Francisco to be met by these pair.

Eleanor & Thomas who love to dress up.

And of course Elliot who is too young to dress up yet but seems to be in charge of the Graham household.

It did not take Gaye long to get used to the pram and the snow in Scotland was soon forgotten as we walked to the Grocery Store in warm sunshine.

I was reading a book in the garden when Eleanor asked me if I would like an Orange and on my reply she promptly took one of the nearby tree.

I think Eleanor looks a lot like Gaye in this photograph.

As I am doing the school walk with Eleanor on Monday she took me to her school so familiarise me with the route. This is the dinner hall Californian style. Today the kids have parties with friends and I am going to Santa Clara Lawn Bowling Club. Gaye is preparing a birthday meal for Fraser and this is the first time we have been present for his birthday in over 20 years. Its amazing how quickly were can fall into Californian life and forget a Scottish winter.

Caerlaverock Reserve and Castle with Peter

After the enjoyable walk last week with 5 of us we were down to just 2 this week. As Peter was in USA when we visited Caerlaverock Castle and the Solway Merses a few weeks ago I asked if he would like to visit the Nature Reserve and the Castle and he was delighted with my choice. There had been a slight covering of snow but the roads were clear and the conditions for walking perfect. This is Peter at the sight of the old Caerlaverock Castle which did not last for many years as it was so damp and marshy.

Caerlaverock Castle with a frozen moat

Looking out to the Solway Marshes

Inside the Castle

A green staircase of moss leading to the turret

Back at the RSPB Reserve and a field full of Canada Geese

A few seconds later and they heard us and took off. A very enjoyable day with 6 miles walked and a visit to the old and new castle and we finished up with Coffee & Scones in the cafe at the Reserve. It had been our intention to watch the Starlings at Gretna on our way home and we stopped for about 40 minutes during which a few Starlings appeared but not enough to be worth staying for a spectacular display so we headed home for a lovely evening meal waiting for us cooked by Gaye.
This will be my last Wednesday Walk for 7 weeks although I intend to do a bit of walking in California but it will probably be combined with pushing a pram around many of the lovely parks in Silicon Valley and the Bay area of San Francisco with our new Grandson Elliot. I also intend to play Lawn Bowls at a couple of Bowling Clubs in the area so will be ready for the new season when we return towards the end of March.

A Winter Walk in Lauder

Todays walk nearly did not happen. We decided a week ago to meet up in Lauder to do this walk called the  Blackchester Fort Circuit but when we looked at the weather last night John reported over 2 inches of snow in Edinburgh and snow was forecast for today. We deferred the decision until 9.00am this morning and after a final look at the BBC weather forecast which indicated light snow showers in the morning at Lauder but clear for a few hours during the rest of the day, we decided to go for it. This proved an excellent decision as we had snow for the first 15 minutes of the walk and then it cleared to be a lovely, but very cold day. 

The Market Place in the Border town of Lauder which was 75 minutes from Langholm and 45 minutes from Edinburgh is an ideal place to meet up. 

Ken, John, Peter, and Tom. Missing today was Martin who was on stand by waiting the arrival of grandchild no 3. Also missing was David who is in Barbados and Niall who is in the Antarctic where the weather was probably warmer than at Lauder which had a biting cold wind.

The first part of the walk took us along the old track of the Lauder Light Railway which opened in 1902 and closed for passengers in 1932 and Freight in 1958. Near Lauder and next to the old railway is this memorial in memory of Hamish Wood who was a Tree Surgeon from Lauder tragically killed in 2005 and this wood is named after him.

Next to the line are many ploughed fields just waiting for the spring sowing of Wheat or Barley

After leaving the railway we headed uphill to the ancient settlement at Blackchester. Most of the settlement is covered with trees so we did not venture into it but headed on up the hill.

As we begin to gain height and the path opens out into fields. This is a particularly attractive dry stane dyke with a rounded bit next to the gate.

We passed Pilmuir Farm to be met by 4 very happy Border Collies who were very pleased to see us and these cattle having their lunch and not very happy at being disturbed by 5 walkers.

In places the roads were quite icy and myself, Peter and Tom all had very undignified falls but thankfully nobody suffered any injury.

Tom is not the only person who can wear a silly hat but at least it keeps me warm. After just over 3 hours and 8 miles we were back in Lauder for a lovely soup and coffee in the Flat Cat Gallery which was very quickly served in pleasant surroundings. We were back in Langholm by 3.30pm after an excellent walk. This will be the last time we are all together for quite a while as Tom is off to Barbados, Ken is off to Cuba, and I am off to California so it will be end March before we all meet up again.

Happy New Year

It has been such a wet day for the first day of 2015 that I was unable to take any photographs of our New Years Day Whisky Run walk. Me, Tom, Peter, Niall, David and Elspeth set of from no 63 at 9.00am led by the intrepid Bowman to walk round Potholm and be back in the Market Place for 11.00am. It was raining lightly as we left and got gradually worse as the walk progressed but we made it back in time and arrived at the Market Place with 5 minutes to spare.

Last night we had an excellent dinner at Niall and Elspeths in great company with them plus Peter and Elizabeth and Tom.

Within the next few weeks most of us will be in warmer countries for winter breaks.

The following photos reflect Christmas and New Year festivities.

Gaye and Elizabeth looking very smart with Tom in the background.

Tom wearing his Secret Santa hat.

Eleanor and Thomas in Salt Lake City enjoying the snow.

Our new Grandson Elliot.

Eleanor making use of the ski conveyer belt on the lower slopes of the ski resort in Northern Utah near her American Grandparents home.

Hannah gets her face painted at Seven Stories.

Making a Gingerbread House

Enjoying The Snowman at the Sage in Gateshead with Northern Sinfonia.

Granny Gaye with Hannah and Leo in Paddy Freeman Park.

And finally me enjoying one of Hannah's Christmas presents.

Tom's Birthday Walk in Copshaw

After last weeks cancelled joint Birthday Walk for Tom & David we managed to fit in a Birthday walk for Tom on his actual 72nd Birthday today. We did a 7 mile walk at Copshaw Holm and were lucky for most of the walk with the exception of one heavy shower of rain during the last mile. 

The walk took us through part of the 7 Stanes Trail area and this is a bridge across the Whithaugh Burn. There are lots of walking and cycling trails in the area and during the summer months it is very popular especially with Mountain Bikers

After the Forest section of the walk we came out near Old Castleton and Tom insisted we visit the local cemetery. Whenever we visit a cemetery I always look for the predominant name and in this instance it is Elliot. This has become quite relevant to our family as our new Grandson has been named Elliot.

Although it was a lot milder today there was still a bit of snow on the north facing side of the hills

On the way back along the road to Newcastleton Tom insisted on walking over this disused bridge over the Liddel. Only Peter followed him with the rest of us using the new bridge. There was a barbed wire fence at the end of the bridge and Peter managed to get through the gap between the fence and the bridge.

But Tom got well and truly stuck

So assistance was required to get him over the barbed wire fence

So with much grunting and groaning he made it although there may be a problem with his trousers.

On the outskirts of Newcastleton (Copshaw Holm) there is an old church being converted into a house and next to the church is the manse. At the door of the manse is this set of stone steps for the minister to mount his horse from.

I just love Beech hedges and this is one of the nicest in the area surrounding the grounds of the old church. We completed our Birthday Walk with an excellent lunch in the Grapes Hotel.

Birthday Walk Cancelled & Christmas Jumpers

We had planned a Birthday Walk for David & Tom on Thursday with a walk round a Reservoir near Peebles followed by lunch at Kailzie Gardens but the weather forecast for tomorrow in the Borders is awful with heavy snow forecast for Peebles. We took the decision this morning to cancel and decided to have a short walk today in the narrow window of reasonable weather between 10.00am and 12 noon. We headed off to walk the new Byreburn and Fairly Loup walk and added another 3 miles to it by going round Canonbie and back along the road past the old Free Kirk. It worked out well with no rain, although quite cold and windy. Tom was taking nothing to chance with 3 items of headgear and about 5 layers of clothing.

Taken just above the new steps on the Byreburn Walk.

And the new steps.

And as its near Christmas I thought everybody would appreciate Hannah and Leo wearing their brand new Christmas Jumpers made by Fiona.