Down to the Scottish borders in the car at the weekend, just for a bit of a drive with RE who hasn't toured the borders too much. It was very snowy, or at least lots of the fields were white, which means the roads were actually fine. Very picturesque run from Glasgow via Carluke, Peebles, Galashiels and Selkirk then down the A708 past the Grey Mare's Tail waterfall to Moffat and a quick'ish blast back up the M74 to Glasgow.
Peebles was an eye opener. Freezing wind and overcast when we parked the car, and less than an hour later wonderful clear blue skies and no wind at all! We had a bite to eat in a cafe in the main street, and I suspect a local mental hospital was closed for the afternoon, because several of the cafe customers (and one of the staff members) surely must reside there normally. I am quite easy going when it comes to being near subjects of care in the community, but usually there isn't such a concentration in one place! Or maybe that's normal for Peebles. Not scary, not offensive, just unusual.
The great find in Peebles was the large Presbyterian church at the end of the main street. We had a bit of a wander round it, and it's well worth a visit if you're there.
The Grey Mare's Tail is a 200 foot hanging valley waterfall, with a viewpoint at the bottom (which we missed until we came back down) and footpaths up either side of it. We walked up the smaller of the two paths (i.e. not the one which goes all the way to the top) and frankly it felt like it was killing me! I really should have an inhaler in my pocket, or at least in the car. D'oh! It was worth doing though, and despite maybe coming across to RE as though I hated it (for which I'm truly sorry!) I didn't really, and I must do more things like that in an effort to get fit and by so doing put back the date of my death a little bit!
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