Famous Grouse

This highly touted Scotch a blend is not a nice drink at all. I guess if your mixing it you won't notice the chemical taste and the heavy oily flavour but compared to some of our single malts, just rubbish.

December 23 - Fresh Snow

Outside our Kitchen Window
Woke up to another 2-3 inches and its snowing again. We have had several days of clear but cold so this is now laying on ice and old snow. This week tried to go to London to visit old friends from the Financial Times for a reunion. The East Coast trains web site said "all trains on time". When we got to Berwick there was a notice, "no trains to London today". Talk about bad information we drive an hour through ice and snow. Apparently the electrical systems had "unexpected" ice.....yeah right we have had 3 weeks of below zero and they were not expecting ice...total mess if you ask me.

More Whisky

We have found two more we like, Jura and Glenlivet. One we do not like Bells of any variety or age, far too strong and chemical tasting for us. See previous Post

Decembr 19 - Fresh Snow

Woke up to a new 3 inches of snow and still falling on and off. Berwick has had it bad I hear, its mostly East.

December 16th - Light Dusting of Snow

Woke up this morning to a slight dusting of snow and it is snowing but not much. Elsewhere we are hearing on the radio of heavy snow at Carters Bar on the A68 as well as Penecuik and the Lothians.
Link to Radio Borders

Shelton Lock Fish and Chips

We had got used to Scottish fish and chips. Expensive, hardly any chips and not very good. I went to this fish and chips near where I was raised in Derbyshire and we had a small chips the size of a mountain fed 4 of us, superb mushy peas and outstanding fish giant portions for half what we pay in Scotland. This remains one of the best fish and chip shops EVER.

December 15 - All quiet

The snow is gradually melting and all roads OK. Temperature above freezing all week now. There is supposed to be snow again next week. We have stocked up in the quiet on coal and fuel, food and drink (lots of Malt Whisky!).
Went to England at the weekend to visit family and it did not look as though those soft Southerners had any snow at all, one person told us "oh it was awful we had 2 inches and it was so cold", We must be getting Scottish as we laughed after trudging through 3 feet a week ago. Garn ye great softies!

7th December - Snow Back

We we had 6 inches of snow yesterday. It snowed hard all day from about 10am. The roads were very bad. All our work clearing to waste as the ruts filled back up. On the M8 to Glasgow from Edinburgh many motorists got stuck and had to spend the night in their cars or walk. The M8 is closed due to parked cars. My boys missed the bus home and I had to go get them in very difficult conditions, even with snow tyres.

5 December - cold and sunny

Well its not snowing and there is some melting. Our neighbor came by with a tractor and cleared our drive so we can get in and out. But there remains a lot of snow and ice. Its also quite cold.

Whisky

Flavour map courtesy Dieageo No site on Scotland would be complete without a discussion of Whisky, Scotland most famous export and product. My wife and I have only recently got into this area since our visit to Glencoe. We like the bottom left quadrant of this map. So far our favourites are, Royal Lochnagar, Dalwhinnie, Macallum Sherry and maybe Tomatin. We do not like Glenmorangie, Glenmore. Its a very difficult taste area and I guess over time one develops a taste for the richer ones. The only Borders distillery is GlenKinchie near Pencaitland off the A68. We have not visited yet.

4 December - Snow stopped but all frozen

Well the snow seems to have stopped for a while, but the whole Borders is lost under 3 feet of snow. Went out yesterday to Duns to buy coal and the roads are very bad in most areas. The main roads are good but even A roads between Borders towns are poor. Greenlaw was snowed right up and hard even to drive through. Up on the Gordon road its all white out as drifting snow is covering the work of the gritters.

December 2 - more snow

Snow continues to fall and fall. Another 6 inches last night and the night before. Its well over 2 feet and drifts up to 4 feet in our garden. From the news there is more to come. All schools closed in the area and motorists not out at all, except the odd Land Rover. We managed to get out two days ago, the car got stuck three times in the drive and we had to keep digging it out but thanks to the snow tyres (see previous post) we made it. The snow tyres really work, I was driving on snow and ice and getting as good traction as 4x4's.