Fairytale Pictures Day 11

Do you remember looking at fairytale books as a kid?  Filled with whimsical characters and make-believe places these pictures get stuck in our minds.  When I was little I loved to look at forest scenes and remember the funny-looking red and white polka dot mushrooms.  How much more "un-real" can you get right? Everyone knows mushrooms are white or beige or brown.  Well here in Scotland they grow their mushrooms just like in fairytales!

We arrived today at 10:00a.m. to partly sunny skies and our friend David aka Dougie pronounced Doogie, was waiting for us in his usual spot.  Gordon and Dougie have known each other since they were youngsters and he is a taxi driver living and working in the City of Edinburgh.  We are prepared for the last leg of our journey - the hour and one half scenic drive south to our little village of Moffat.  We are in a kind of daze at this point.  We  departed Newark, NJ at 10:20pm and flew through the night without sleep.  Altered states!  But we need to try to stay up as long as possible so we can begin to switch our time.

Once we arrive in town we always stop off at the little grocer on the High Street for milk and single cream, known as half and half back home, so Gordon goes for those items and I nip off to the local "deli" for fresh baked cheddar cheese scones, rock cakes and slices of freshly baked ham quiche.  Yum!  Are you seeing a pattern here with baked goods?  Our friend Maureen has come by the house earlier to "open" it up and turn the heat on......it's stifling upon our arrival.   So, "we put the kettle on" and begin opening windows and doors to cool off and I'm glimpsing the garden we've been working on over the last two years.  I'm itching to get out in it and really have a good look around but by now the sky is spitting rain and a cup of coffee and a sniggle of food and face to face with Dougie are in order.

Once Dougie leaves the real process of settling in begins.  Unpack the suitcases; set up the bathroom stuff; sort through the mail; start the laundry and wait for our groceries.  Gordon and I now feel like we're on a cruise ship bouncing over swells in the ocean!  A little giddy and wobbly from lack of sleep - put an intense light on us and we'll tell you anything! 

Our grocery order arrives by way of the VERY FRIENDLY Tesco driver and I have discovered that our order consists mostly of wine and milk.  I'm not good with the millileter thing and we've got about 2 gallons of skim milk plus the little one we bought earlier and another one that Maureen purchased and left in the refrigerator.  AND I've ordered single cream for Gordon's coffee use but I ordered it in a size TOO HUGE and I've ordered 2 of them.  CRAP.  So it looks like we'll be drinking various liquids while here and mass quantities of half and half.  Seriously though, I've stocked the refer with organic fruits and veggies and whole grains and we're good to go for home food preparation.

By now it's 4:00 and our tummies are thinking serious Scottish food so we shower, change and head off down the street for a pint and food. 

These are just two buildings with lovely plants just down our street.

So a mini-pub crawl seems in order.  Off to the Balmoral for a 1/2 pint for me and a pint for Gordon.  Ah, feeling better.  Then to the Buccleuch (pronounced buck-loo or, if you are our friend Ken, buck-luck) for another pint and dinner.  Gordon gets the "Earl", a yummy steak pie, and I have the Irish Stew which is simmered local lamb.  OMG, delicious and very satisfying.  We skip the sticky toffee pudding and head out for a walk. 

The back side of the Black Bull with the old church on the High Street in the back ground.

A pretty garden.

A scary gargoyle!

Once we got back home we couldn't get in bed fast enough.  It's 7:30pm but oh well.  We fall into deep sleep immediately and the phone starts ringing.  Apparently we are more popular here than back home but we catch 4 hours anyway.

So day one in Scotland complete and time to try the sleep thing again.....until tomorrow.