Escape to the Country

On to the final leg of our visit .... it was time to say "cheerio" to Andy and Maureen and "hello" to June and Willie who are now living in the converted chapel of a very grand looking Victorian country house with its own lake. The rain kept on, Christian had to take a trip to the out-of-hours GP service as he'd miscalculated and run out of some of his medication, we watched a good French crime film and had a wee walk around the estate. Sunday, we all went to the Craigie Inn for lunch. The food was good but merited a better dining room than an uninteresting pub lounge.
But as they say, all good things come to an end .... time to pack our bags and get a relatively early night in preparation for the 9.30am flight home.

Lure of the City

10.5.11
Umbrella at the ready we set off on public transport for the city centre where we wandered aimlessly around and had lunch in a non-descript Chinese restaurant. dinner at Maureen and Andy's was a much more interesting experience.
11.5.11
Over to Marlene and Brian's for lunch and a catch up, then a stroll up to Suzanne's for dinner and an overnight stay.
12.5.11
Coffee with Suzanne at the art gallery where we didn't go to see Dali's painting of the Crucifixion which no doubt would have been incomprehensible to the mayor who has it high on his Scottish "wish list". Next it was down to "Tattie Macs" to meet Ann and Blair for lunch. Took the subway back to the southside but got totally lost walking back so covered more ground in the rain than we needed to. Had dinner locally in "Cookies" .... who says that the southside doesn't do "trendy"?

Off Again

Today the change over took place at the Burn's Centre; Bill dropped us off and after a bit of difficulty finding it, Andy ans Maureen picked us up. A coffee and then without looking around, we set off for their new flat in leafy south side of Glasgow. A nice lunch in a local café was followed by a stroll in the nearby park where there were ducks, swans and other birds to be seen and where the heavens opened!

Friends and Neighbours

We were out of our impersonal B&B after a cold breakfast that could be eaten 'on the run'. Obviously a place for people with an early start for the airport that was 5 minutes walk up the road.The owners as it happened lived next door to Colin and Sheila and only came to the house when summoned. The rain came down on and off but fortunately by the time we were ready for lunch at the Beresford in Ayr it was starting to dry up. We were able to take a stroll along the sea front, have an ice cream and then afternoon tea before Colin and Sheila drove us out to June and Bill's, our ex- next door neighbours.
A couple of bottles of wine were opened before they headed off home and Bill set to to cook dinner for the whole family.

Moving On

Moved down from Mauchline to Prestwick to the B&B that we'd booked. Despite the rain, after settling in to our rather sad looking room we took a stroll down memory lane passed the Registry Office (for some reason the spire is missing ) where we got married 20 years ago and went for a drink in "The Dome" which was our regular haunt at that time.
Had a phone call from Françoise who had been contacted by one of our neighbours to say that our front window was wide open! Can only think that Thérèse had had not closed it firmly enough when she'd cleaned it and the wind had blown it open. The moral of the story is obviously, is make sure the neighbours can contact you when you're away.
Met Colin and Sheila in the evening who had booked for us to eat at "The Lido" in Troon. Of course, being a Saturday night, it was busy and very noisey. 20 years ago we'd have loved it now ....

Going up in the World

Another leisurely day and another meal out. This time it was just the 4 of us as Ellen had come around to stay with Ann's Mum. It was our treat and we went up to Highgrove House for a meal in a different league over looking the gardens. Feeling in need of a walk afterwards we went down to Irvine for a stroll along the sea front and although the weather looked a bit ominous we stayed dry.

Life in the Slow Lane

4th May:
A leisurely start after a hearty breakfast before wandering around to Ann & Noel's. There was nothing more energetic on the agenda than going over to the "Waterside", a new café cum tearoom overlooking a fishing lake. Ann's Mum was able to come too which was nice for us especially as it was her treat!
5th May:
You'll be surprisedto know that this afternoon I went along with Ann, who is the new President and her Mum to the Prestwick Baptist Women's Union for a flower arranging demonstration. Afternoon tea anad homebaking was served and proceeds went to charitable work in Japan. In the evening we went out to Laigh Coylton for an early dinner so that Ann's Mum could come with us. The last time we were here was years and years ago when it was the venue for Ann & Noel's "thank - goodness - the - house - is - finally - finished" celebration. It's definitely come up in the world as far as the restaurant is concerned but glad to say that the bar has stayed the kind of place that the locals are happy to go to for a pint and a blether.

A Lie In

The others left Comrie for the airport at just after 3am but we, along with Patrick and Nicole had the luxury of a 9.30am start. Laura drove the four of us into Dunkeld for the train into Glasgow. From here it was a bus down to Prestwick where they picked up a hire car and Noel came to collect us. As Ann's Mum was away for the day we were able to go down Failford for a pub lunch and afterwards a drink outside by the river.

Another Full Day

Headed East today and took a look at Gleneagles. The highlight of the morning was a guided tour of Falkland Palace and a stroll around the grounds. Due to traffic hold ups in Coupar, we were late arriving for lunch in St Andrews. What a good job that I'd taken the list of evryone's pre-ordered meal as half of them didn't remember. The witress was pretty fed up with us and at one point abandoned meals on the table and told us to sort it out ourselves so yours truly took on the role and ended up with a tepid stirfry. Still, all in a good cause. The restaurant overlooked the home of golf and the sea so everyone was well pleased. Next it was off to coast and a walk around Crail where there was next to nothing open.
Our last dinner at the clubhouse and Bill did a splendid ribeye steak for ourselves and our hosts who came as our guests. Just imagine everyone's delight when they arrived and were piped in by Laura's godson. Of course there were speeches of thank you and David said the Selkirk grace which needless to say, the French "didnae unestanit". We had "Flower of Scotland", a song from the mayor, sardane, passo doble and "What shall we do with the drunken sailor?" from Nicole who is normally such a serious woman. so came to an end a great trip with everyone overwhelmed by the hospitality, enamoured with the countryside and pleasantly surprised with the quality of the food. Even the haggis and Iron Bru went down well!
For us, we were also pleased with the trip ..... we didn't lose anyone, everyone kept to the schedule and even better there were absolutely no complaints.

Full Steam Ahead!

Another early start for a visit to Stirling Castle which was good as we were there before most of the tourists. Had lunch in Callendar but with no time to look around as we were booked on the good ship "Sir Walter Scott" for a sail on Loch Katrine. On our travels we saw wallabies, yes, your eyes aren't deceiving you, even a white one, little lambs skipping around and highland cattle looking idly on at the world. There were regular requests to stop for photos and we all filled our eyes and memories with images of wonderful scenery. Scotland is just sooooo beautiful!
Came home tired but happy and ready for another of Bill's dinners in the clubhouse followed by a drink in the pub for a handful of us.