Wild Tuesday!

Last night was like being in a tumble dryer weather-wise - flood and severe wind warnings out today, the rivers are running very high!

But we had some superb clear, warm days at the weekend and here are a few of the pics I took whilst walking from the house. We did a 4.5 mile loop on Sunday with my brother and wife, and were in t-shirts for most of the journey. The views and sky were stunning so I'm glad we grabbed the moment

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B&B still going nicely, with guests from Johannesburg, India and the Netherlands in the next two weeks. Fudge, the cat, seems to be maintaining his health and is bringing gifts in for us - no descriptions required, you will know what I mean ...

Sunday 16th September

Perfect weekend, with my brother and his wife overnight in amongst guests, we managed lunch outside in the 'sunshine' remember that bright yellow thing in the sky! Andrew and Les worked on the roof of the man shed in the rear garden, Liz had a snooze, bless, and Mum and I sorted out the front garden.

They went off today, and Les and I took a 3 mile wander outside Hawick to parts I hadn't been to before - gorgeous, and we only had wee showers of rain, tried to get coffee at Sainsbury - way too slow as usual, so we trotted off to Johnsons of Elgin and their lovely new coffee shop.

The sun was blazing in the afternoon, so we got the scruffs on and moved some roof tiles, and bricks to clear a space for a mini-me other man-shed (donated by Andrew and Liz). Very chuffed with progress on sheds this weekend.

Fudge (the cat) is a lot more sprightly after his recent unwell period - back to posing in doorways, on window ledges etc.

I am keen to get some photos on here, but the new layout of Blog doesn't seem to want to tell me how to do that - it was so easy before?? or am I being thick?? Answers on a postcard please ....

Tuesday 11 September

Phew! where did the summer go? Late rooms.com has made a massive difference to us and we have been mega busy between July and now. All rooms let frequently with visitors from around the world as well as UK. Very few bikers this year, I think the grotty weather may have something to do with that. We have really been buzzing, and I have 'ironers elbow' to prove it. This is a new condition, which I won't explain as it's obvious, ha ha. Les has been building his man-shed, and is now getting the sarking (planks of wood) on to make it watertight. He is never happier than when he gets time to move it on and see progress. He will use this for storage, wood-turning, and getting away from me with lists of jobs .. Fudge, the cat, has not been well and had pancreatitis, and is border line diabetic. We are monitoring his progress and feeding him expensive medical, vet food in the hope that we can settle him down and avoid the 2 injections per day routine (for him and us!) I have been plodding away with the 16th century french/english dictionary and am inputting the last letter now, whooppee doo - there is an end in sight, I've been on it for over a year now. This has mingled with jam making, with the small crop from our plum tree in the front garden. Our bread machine has decided it has made too many loaves and is banging loudly to protest, so ... I feel a new one coming on. Our Jedburgh house has been done up from top to bottom and is now on the market with some B&B overflow going in there at weekends. Visit Cullen Kilshaw website if you fancy a look at pics. Hoping I can get more blogs written in the next few months, as things quieten down a bit..

Sheep activity

I passed these beauties on my walk the other day, they are waiting to be shorn. The sheep at Hassendean Farm went through this last week and the crying of the lambs was heart-wrenching as the Mums were taken for a trim. I am trying to prepare for when the lambs are taken from the mothers - it is so much like small children crying - I hate it. But, this is country living and it's all part of the natural cycle! We are enjoying visits from our great spotted woodpecker again, I will try to get some pics to post - I will have to set up a base camp and keep very still to achieve this - Janet Bond on the case ...

Back to blogging

Happy Saturday to all!

Dark sky, straight rod rain and pure winter conditions with the heating on, this is summer in the Borders today. This is a photo I took of a winter evening sky a few weeks ago - seems very appropriate for where we are right now! 

News from Hassendean - we are very busy and enjoying every minute, and in between bookings we are spending a lot of time at our Jedburgh house to set it up for holiday lets - I'm getting very excited about it being ready-to-go and being able to take my final photographs for advertising.

Les and Campbell (son of) have been very active in raising the standards again, with new windows, reconfigured kitchen, new bathroom and paint throughout the whole property. Next job is painting the outside, on a dry, warm day - assuming we get one ....

Les has his rear shed/garage half built and has ordered the wood to make the roof beams; has made raised vegetable beds and is clearing an area for our outside shed to go to, so we can get the hot tub just outside the back door - this has been a long term goal for us, so bring it on. 

I am still working on the 16th Century French/English dictionary in between B&B and my socials! Well someone has to visit all of these local coffee shops - top of the ratings right now are Border Meringues in Jedburgh, check out the millionaire shortbread and strawberry tarts, closely followed by Johnstons of Elgin in Hawick - the scones and chef made jams are the best. 

I now weigh 35 stone and am very happy!!!!

Deluxe lemon slices

And here we have it, I didn't say it was elegant - still working on my presentation skills. I greased this tray and it has a sliding base too, but still struggled to get it out in one piece!! Anyway, the taste makes up for the appearance and I know Ann, Dot and Jean will love it ...

Monday 18 July

I'm back, it has been some time since I wrote my blog and in fact it's very spooky as I made Deluxe lemon slices for my ladies afternoon tea (neighbours from Jedburgh) today. So that must be a sign as that was my last entry. B&B has been very busy and we have had some lovely people staying here - many from the UK and some from Australia and NZ. These included some great bikers who I plan to create a page for and will include on my next blog.

I have signed up for tripadvisor - daunting at first, but great to get some feedback from guests - check it out - just go and look at our website and click on the tripadvisor logo, or go to their site and search for us. It is bringing people to us - so a great result! More later ...