A happy face
Whenever I see the ruined West tower of Kelso Abbey the windows with the sky behind make me think the tower has eyes with a nose and happy smile below. 
However the abbey has not seen many happy times since it was built in 1128 despite being the location of James III’s coronation in 1460.  King David had decided to site the abbey close to the English border to show how sophisticated Scotland had become.   But it was on the front line in the fighting between the two kingdoms and as the largest and richest of the Borders abbeys it suffered greatly.  During the Wars of Independence it had been damaged and after rebuilding was attacked again in 1542, 1543 and eventually systematically demolished by the Henry VIII’s English army in 1545.  When the leader of the army returned two years later he found just 16 monks and a few laymen left to defend the surviving West Tower and because of the Reformation a few years later it was never rebuilt.
The forecast was favourable so although I had decided to go to Edinburgh I realised that the Kelso bus had not yet passed.  Instead I enjoyed a journey passing farmers collecting bales or ploughing and many fields of thousands of sheep against a spectacular background of the Border hills and rivers and autumnal trees.  It is a beautiful area and frequently overlooked by visitors who pass through quickly on their way to Edinburgh and the Highlands.
The extra shows the view about 100 metres away looking from the nearby bridge over the Tweed towards Floors Castle.

Ruins - October challenge set by Bobsblips