Friday 9th August 2024

 

Woke around 0800. Descended for breakfast with ma and pa. Packed our bags and loaded the boot of the car. Waved the auld folk farewell and drove north via the A68 and A72 to Eddleston, four miles north of Peebles. Rolled up outside No.5 Station Road on schedule. Eddie opened the front door and let us in. He and Sue live in a small single storey cottage that once served the local manor. It’s pretty cramped, but has a certain character…nice sized garden to the rear. Eddie treated us to Sue’s homemade green soup, olive bread, and a couple of cheeses. He seemed in fine fettle, and we had a good laugh. He suggested we walk off lunch with a short hike up the hill behind the hotel we are staying in…he supplied Nordic walking sticks! We negotiated a steep incline, then circumnavigated the hill to gain views of the heather clad hills to the east. Sadly we got caught in a downpour on the descent…the wind blew the wet stuff in our faces. It was like walking through a car wash! Repaired to our rooms to dry off…stuck my jeans on the radiator. Aki had a lie down. Hooked up with Ed in the bar for a beer at 1830 then walked round the corner to Station Road. Sue greeted us having returned from a day shift at M&S in Edinburgh. We chose some Indian dishes, and Sue and Ed drove off to Peebles to there favourite Indian takeaway, leaving us to watch the athletics from the Stade de France. They returned with the scran, and we gorged ourselves on chicken jalfrezi, lamb rogan ghosh, rice, pakora and chapatis. Walked back to the hotel, exhausted…