Walks, Talks, Sunshine - and That Wedding.

LIFE: Two Weeks of Activity:  May 8th-19th  

A wonderful sunny, dry spell, with warm temperatures into the high 60's.  

 WALKS
The Walk it Group went to Tweedbank,   around the loch and down to the River Tweed   - one of my favourite walks, but I could not get my camera to work!  I had charged it earlier and kept checking  I had put the battery and card back in correctly. It was only when I got home, I discovered that the dial was still set at viewing my photos not taking new ones -  Ach!!  What a stupid mistake -but at at least it was not a camera fault.  

The next week off to Abbotsford House, near Melrose,  where they have done a lot of work over winter in creating way-marked paths, taking you through woods and down to the river.  

By the River Tweed

 

 Abbotsford House, home of writer Sir Walter Scott (1771 -1832)

A statue in the grounds - I have no idea who it is - but I like it.

Leafy Earlston Walks  -  it only seems 4-5 weeks ago that the trees were still quite  bare, but now they are in full bloom.

 

 Trees in Earlston Square

 

 Speedy's Path into Cowdenknowes Wood, Earlston

Leader Water at Earlston

MORE EXERCISE -  GARDENING 

The dry, sunny weather  has to mean gardening.  The local Horticultural Society held their annual plant sale in the Square, so I came home, (with husband's help) with geraniums, begonias and fuschia  - our favourite  plants  to add some colour to the shrubs. especially now the daffodils have faded.   So I planted, cut the grass, did the edgings and hoped it would rain overnight, to save me having to water the garden.  Given the way the state of the lawn after  the snows,  it is looking not too bad -  definitely -  not Wimbledon quality, but acceptable.  

For granddaughter after school,. it was the cue to make  a tent over the whirly clothes line, so it was a question of gathering any throws we would find to create this hideaway. Further cue for a picnic snack! 

MORE EXERCISE STILL - WITH "PILATES FOR SENIORS"

The official name now for our new exercise/movement class.  At the last session we walked tall, as we thought about our posture and deportment. So if you happened   to see any of us on the  High Street, we are the people with head up, eyes ahead, tummy tuckee in and bottom tucked under - as long as there were no uneven pavement slabs or potholes to catch us  out!   Not recommended if walking on stony paths with half hidden  tree roots underfoot, where I need to keep my eyes skinned to the ground. 

TALKS 

At the  Wednesday Club we had a talk by the local vet, followed by something a bit different - an intriguing quiz when he passed around ten items of equipment/tools of his trade, and invited us to guess what they were for. It helped if you watched all those supervet  programmes on TV.  

At the WI (Women's Institut) we were also on a country theme, with a talk on the Wild Life Centre which focuses on gathering information on sightings of wild animals, plant species,  etc.  across southern Scotland - to help environmentalists, and planning authorities. Not exactly my cup of tea, but there was no doubting  the enthusiasm of the speaker for his topic.  

We heard about one funny incident, where a member reported the sound of a cuckoo in her  garden  - but was puzzled  that it was not  the season for cuckoo calling.  She then realized that the sound had come from a neighbour's cuckoo clock - oops!  Much embarrassment. when she admitted her mistake!    

War Time Recollections   was the theme when I met with an elderly  Earlston resident to gather her memories of the Second World War - as part of the work for the Auld Earlston exhibition on "Earlston at War and Peace 1914-1949." A very enjoyable session as she recalled the Polish soldiers based in the  village  training for D Day, the Italian prisoners of war, and the VE Day celebration. Particularly vivid in her mind was the little evacuee girl  (whose name she still recalled|) who  had stolen her coloured chalks for writing on her slate.   ( I didn't realise they were still using slates in school at this time).

  

The Polish band playing for a dance in the Corn Exchange.

AND FINALLY - THE ROYAL WEDDING

I admit I like ceremony, pageantry, church music and military bands - so i had them all with the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.   After all the gossip,  and disharmony of the weeks running up to the event, the media went into patriotic overdrive to forget it all. But it was a wonderful two hours of TV broadcasting, and all the commentators seems to think it marked a seismic shift for the Royal family.  

Meghan's dress was beautiful, simple but  stylish;  her mother cut rather a lonely figure,  but was so dignified - I would have had my hanky out at the emotion of it all;  the little bridesmaids and page boys cute, the music wonderful,   and the American bishop who gave the sermon inspirational - you would never have got that from English/Scottish clergy who mostly  would send me nodding off to sleep.  And Windsor Castle looked magnificent in the sunshine. 

Wedding images courtesy of www.pixabay.com

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Journal Jottings   
Recording my everyday life for future family historians  
Developed from the "Genea-Pourri" prompt  on Randy Seaver’s blog Genea-Musings

I decided to change his title for my own version of this weekly online diary