If You Don't Like the Weather, Just Wait 20 Minutes (Day 15)

At 6:30a.m. the sky was partly cloudy with patches of blue.  That didn't last long!  So typical of Scotland.  The saying goes, "if you don't like the weather, just wait 20 minutes".  Problem is in 20 minutes it goes from light rain, to steady rain, to blowin' a gale rain!  Today has been such a day.

We headed down to the High Street about 10:45 to view the local offerings at the Farmer's Market located in the Town Hall.  Soaps that don't smell particularly good; nettle wine that doesn't taste particularly good; handcrafted/quilted cell phone and kindle holders (Grannies welcome!) and then we get to what the Scots people do really well.  Handcrafted beers; cuts of lamb and beef and handmade sausages AND all sorts of pies, cakes, pastry's filled with sweets or meats, tablet candy, etc.  Basically, any thing that'll kill ya in a hurry!  Only, somehow the Scottish people counter-act the killing effects of what they eat with, possibly,booze and cups of tea or something because they live FOREVER.  People of 83 ride bicycles and hike the hills.  Our neighbor, Miss June Henry of 80-something (possibly 90 now) has had double hip replacement and she runs out everyday several times a day to walk her little dog and deliver meals to the infirm 100+ year old elderly  people.  And the Scottish people are thin (except for the women's stalky legs)!  They visit the pubs for their pints of beer or glass of sherry regularly and are the picture of health.  Well that's not exactly true.  They are pasty and pale from lack of natural vitamin D!  And most of them could do with a good dentist and orthodontist but other than that they must be pickled and preserved by booze and tea!

We hung around town so we could see the Tour de Britain come through Moffat's charming little village. 

Sprint finish but the race ends in Dumfries.

Look at this cute, but bored, doggy!

Crowd anticipation

And here they come!

Only now the rain is starting to come down.  The bikers are supposed to come through about 11:41.....No, now 11:50, No, now 12:10.  Finally at 12:34 in the rain which is now coming in at kind of an angle, here they come......and there they go!  A whopping what?  20 seconds?  We've been standing there for a bloody hour in the rain with cold feet, noses and hands and there they go.  Oh well.  We saw Mark Cavendish.....he was the blurry one in the white top.  Yeah, that was him.

And there they go.

 Anyway, off to Maureen's - we hurry up the hill to quickly change our wet clothes, grab the ruined lemon pound cake, which feels like a red brick, a bottle of wine and Maureen's thank you gift I brought from the states.  Maureen takes care of the house while we're gone; picking up the mail, watering our two houseplants and basically checking on things.

Maureen's daughter Stacy was there with her husband Ken and their two children Ella (13) and Freya (10).  We've been watching these children sprout up since '04....7 years!  Maureen lives in a beautiful early 1900's two story stone house on the Old Edinburgh Road just off the High Street.  The house has been completely restored after a house fire, 5 years ago, burned all but the stone shell of the home and caused the death of her husband Tom.  Tragic story really and very sad.  Maureen was out of the country at the time.

Anyway Maureen served delicious bottles of quality champagne and snacks and we caught up on everyone's lives.  Ken is older than Stacey and used to be in the music industry out of London and rubbed shoulders with lots of celebrities including Frank Sinatra when he was but a lad in the business.  His stories are always interesting and fun.  Stacey does a lot of work with Visit Moffat and is very involved in the local community and school so we always get the low-down on what's exciting and new here.  Basically nothing but we know enough or about enough people to have fun with the local gossip!  We're sure people gossip about us when we leave!   ...."that American girl was here again"!  From the girls we learn about their exploits with local sports, horseback riding and now, boys!

Back home through the rain we arrive and turn the fire on in the fireplace.  Gordon is making spaghetti for dinner and it smells wonderful. 

Gordon in his corny "kilt" apron!

As I sprawl on the couch with a soft blanket across my feet writing about this day, I notice that the leaves on the tree across the street are beginning to change color into copper and yellow.  We have plopped down in the Fall here in Scotland but when we left California it was in the 90's.   Here....it's barely in the 50's when the sun isn't out.  We have left another world behind and stepped back into time.  Nothing ever seems to change in Scotland.  The sky is gray and the hills are verdant and summer's flowers are at an end.  Soon there will be snow on the top of the Beef Tub and winter will settle on the little town.  And still, the pubs will pull their pints; the Buccleuch will serve their steak pies and Irish stews; the deli will sell their scones and the bookie will offer bets on horse races.  People will go about their lives day in-and-out just as they have from the early 1600's.

See what the rain will do to you - melancholia has set in.