Walking in the wildflowers

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Walking in the wildflowers



As you may know Scotland has been enjoying a summer with actual sunshine and dare I say it, heat. This uncharacteristic weather has had a striking effect on the natives, their usual light blue complexions have turned lighter shades of pale and for a spell even pink. The kaleidoscope of whites are augmented by the ever hopeful yellow to orangutan swathes of fake tanners. I myself am ‘ peely-wally’ (col, pale and sickly) so camouflage quite successfully, ignoring the fact that I’m wearing a jumper whilst they’re in t-shirts.

This wonderful weather made it easy to go out an explore Peebles and surrounds. Peebles is a typical borders town, small and beautiful. You can walk the length without raising a sweat while admiring the pretty old stone buildings, made even more picturesque by the multitude of hanging baskets heavy with vibrant blooms and trailing foliage. We strolled along the Tweed admiring the smooth shiny pebbles through the enticing polished glass water and watched as eager youngsters jumped in. The water temperature became immediately apparent as the newly blue gasping bodies erupted from the water, immediately dousing my romantic fantasies of frolicking in the river. The resilient Scottish kids persisted leaping in.

We wandered through the waist high wildflowers (chest height for me) to Neidpath castle. It was a lot smaller than I anticipated for such a grand moniker. It still had the archetypal large grey stone blocks and the makings of what could be construed as a turret so perhaps size isn’t everything...even for a castle.



Along the way a kindly old local quietly croaked directions to a pitch black tunnel for us to visit. He was dressed like an aged cowboy; Stetson, large shiny belt buckle, cowboy boots and neck tie. I kept looking for a holster or six shooter tucked in his jeans. Alan an Karl were desperate to find and explore said tunnel while I was nervous to take advice from a whispering cowboy with a Wild West fixation in case he was a psychopathic LARPer (live action role play). He could have been. They, of course, went through the tunnel. Jade and I, of course, did not. It was very cold and muddy...so we didn’t miss anything.

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Photos

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Chest height wildflowers

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Neidpath Castle