Fritillaries

 
It was a sunny morning, after rain overnight, though still very windy and very cold.  TT’s back has eased somewhat, though he is still in some discomfort.  He suggested we head to St Boswells for a walk.  I was dubious as to whether he was really up for it, but he assured me that walking is good.
 
Once at St Boswells, our first port of call was the bookshop, where we had a browse, with thoughts of lunch in the café, which was empty when we got there.  Twenty minutes later, the cafe was packed, with no available  tables and only the prospect of being put on a waiting list.  Where had everyone appeared from?  TT didn’t want to hang around, so we headed off on our walk along the Tweed.  The river was very full, after the rain of last night.  It was a lovely walk and we were sheltered from the worst of the cold wind – to the point we felt we had too many layers on.  The last time we did this walk, we met no one.  Today we met loads of people.  Once across the river, we walked by a hotel, which proclaimed lunches.  We wandered down the drive and went in ad enquired about lunch.  The guy on reception didn’t stop what he was doing (maybe changing a plug) and said they didn’t do lunch, only teas and coffees – not as we were led to believe from their sign.  We departed and continued our walk to the statue of William Wallace and enjoyed the views all around, before retracing our steps back to the car in St Boswells.  We didn’t meet many people on our return journey.
 
We then drove to Melrose.  The weather had closed in a bit, but we wandered and had a lovely late lunch in a café which we have been to before.  We continued our wander down to the river (another section of the River Tweed), but didn’t go too far as rain was threatening.  We did have a lovely drive home and the weather improved the nearer home we got.  Tea was leftovers, which was quick and easy.
 
Later TT got himself ensconced in a chair and watched Lupin – though I think we have watched it before. He didn’t move all evening. I started a new book – The Lamplighters, which I am enjoying so far.
 
I was going to blip William Wallace, but have blipped him before, so here are some lovely fritillaries in the grounds of Harmony House.  We wandered round as the weather deteriorated, commenting that there wasn’t much to see, then all this loveliness appeared.  The extras are the River Tweed at St Boswells and then at Melrose.