Melrose Abbey

It’s my birthday, so I had booked a day off and had persuaded TT to do the same.  I had planned to start my day with a run, but my running shoes were still sodden, having been left out in the rain yesterday.  I went straight back to bed and read my book for a while before opening my presents and cards.  I was very spoiled.
It was dry, but grey, but we had planned a day out and headed off in the direction of Melrose.  Not too far down the A68, and we were driving in torrential rain, which made us wonder if we were doing the right thing.  By Lauder we were coming out the other side of the rain, though it was still very grey.  TT took a detour to Melrose, as he wanted to explore a new road.  Once in Melrose, the first priority was lunch.  We wandered round town and ended up in a café we have been to before.  The boys were very impressed with their lunch and once they were done, they both declared that they could eat the same again!  They didn’t, but BB did have a huge slice of chocolate cake and declared himself very full. We wandered back though town, stopping off at Priorwood Gardens and then both butchers for supplies, before walking off our lunch with a lovely river walk in the sunshine, before one last walk through town and back to the car.
We took a different route home, and had planned to  stop off at a bookshop, but it was closed. 
Once home I had to quickly rustle up some food for BB as he had football training.  It started back tonight, having had a two week break.  He went off to football and I treated myself to a birthday run – another 5.4miles in the sunshine. 
Later, once BB was home again, we had cake, candles and a glass of fizz (not for BB).  It’s been a lovely day, with lots of messages from friends, which has set me up nicely for my last few days at work before a well-earned summer break.
This is a view of Melrose Abbey from the nearby Priorwood Garden.  The extra is the Riverwalk.