So….. we've been thinking a lot about Linda's family tree lately. And way up in one of the branches is some Lords and Ladies from the Maxwell family… a powerful clan from these parts of southern Scotland…. and the Herries family, Glendinnings, Sharps, Kirkpatricks….

Anyway, we traced it back to some landed gentry. They owned Hoddom Castle, which is ( Read more... )

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The Battle of Flodden.... pic of the monument and Flodden Field.... site of the battle which was disasterous for Scotland.... killing the king, many nobles and about 10,000 Scots (and 4000 English).  Some pix:


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Pic of the barracks we visited before having a long walk around the ramparts.... in Berwick upon Tweed.


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As the title states... we had a busy weekend in Northumberland.  Stayed at a nice B&B near Wooler... East Horton Farmhouse... for two nights ( Read more... )

Conservatives won the UK election, despite my vote.... 37% for the Tories, 31% for the Labour party. The SNP all but wiped out Labour in Scotland. They won every seat except one Labour constituency in Edinburgh, one Lib Dem in Orkney / Shetland and one Conservative held seat in southern Scotland ( Read more... )

A few photos from the Scottish Borders yesterday. Didn't take many...


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So, my Dad and Darlene are visiting us here for a few days. We've taken a few day trips out and about. Here's a run down...

They arrived via train on Wednesday evening, having travelled from the Netherlands in the morning via channel tunnel to London and on up to Dumfries. A pretty long train journey for one day. We met them at the station and ( Read more... )

A bucket list of things to do in Scotland:

1. See a band in the Barrowlands

2. Visit the Standing Stones at Callanish

3. Take the West Highland line to Mallaig

4. Go to a shinty match

5. Drive over the Bealach na Ba to Applecross

6. Visit the Turner Watercolours at the National Gallery of Scotland

7. Eat a real Arbroath Smokie

8. Enjoy a Dorothy’s-eye view ( Read more... )

Job search has been pretty slow...  Not much in this area...  I'm pretty confident I could find something suitable SOMEWHERE but I don't want to end up working away from home again (like when I used to work in Glasgow).  For instance, there's a pretty suitable job for me in Kelso, and as it's in the Scottish Borders (the area adjacent to Dumfries ( Read more... )