Spring

We have had cold wet, snowy and miserable weather since October last year, that is 7 months of the most depressing weather I have ever lived through. At last I realize why depression is the number one disease in Scotland! During the period I longed for my old Caribbean home. 7 months is a long time without a nice week of weather. We did have odd days, like the one we walked the walls at Berwick but they were rare gleans in a uniform grayness  We had thick snow and even were snowed in during late March this year the coldest on record (see picture of 4 foot drifts on our drive).

Yesterday was the first day of good weather and I mowed the lawns for the first time, today heavy rain again.

Kelso Butcher revisited

Sorry to say my visit to the main butcher in Kelso (next to W H Smith) was just a trip back to my last. While the meat looks lovely the prices are shockingly high £8.50 for a chicken I would have got at my butcher in Earlston for £4.50. Even the lady on the counter winced at the price as she must have known it was too high and asked me did I want to change my mind when I complained.

I did notice a new antique store on the same street, owned by a couple who have returned from France to live closer to relatives in Selkirk and Edinburgh. Nice little shop and well worth a visit.

Thoughtless Planning

It seems to me driving around the Borders that planning officials after the war made a pact to make Scotland ugly. It must be so as to this day they approve only houses covered in an ugly cement wash that gets uglier as it gets older, unlike Scotland's history of stone houses which get nicer as they age.

Below is our house a good example of ugly. This is what almost all newer Scottish houses look like and I can see no reason for it other than its cheap to do. But that is no excuse for PLANNERS. They should be considering the look of the countryside, which is blighted by these ugly houses.

Boost for Local Butchers

The horsemeat scandal is doing wonderful things for local butchers, where the provenance of meat is unquestionable. I was in our local last week and the butcher was saying to customers "what you see is what you get, all our sausages are made from the beef and pork from local farmers delivered fresh every week". I think we will see a great move in the UK to "buy local". I know from observation that each local butcher in the Borders gets a sheep and half a cow delivered from local farms every week, that makes up what they sell, so if you want sheeps liver or a particular cut you may find someone else bought that this week and you have to wait. Our family stopped buying supermarket meat a while ago.

Halliwells Butchers Selkirk

Right on the market Square is a local butcher that matches St Boswells. Their beef sausages are good and the whole display is wholesome and good quality. I particularly like the board naming the farms where their produce comes from. This is the only butcher in the Borders that does this and it should be rewarded!.

They carry a wide range of pies including fruit all home baked and jams and preserves. The staff wear striped aprons and the are clean and look good.

Borders Supermarkets

There are major supermarkets in Galashiels, Berwick, Hawick and Kelso.

Morrisons are in Hawick and Berwick, good stores but pricey we find. However they do have good home baked bread, in fact the only supermarket that has good bread. Their spelt and wholewheat is excellent even by artizan standards.

Sainsbury is only in Kelso a new store and quite small. They do have good quality meat and their fish counter is the only one in any supermarket to carry Hake as a whole fish, important for curry lovers.

Asda is only in Galashiels, its a good store, huge and full of produce. I think it may price compare to Tesco but we find it a bit confusing in layout.

Tesco is in Hawick, Galashiels (A superstore) and Berwick. Tesco is good for people who appreciate foreign food as they have the best selection including from our needs salt fish which we use weekly. No other supermarket carries it or giant papaya. So if your Portuguese or Spanish or French or West Indian or African you use Tesco!

There are no Waitrose in the Borders which is a shame as it might help with variety.

Berwick Walls

My wife and I took advantage of the wonderful weather on New Years Day 2013 to walk right around Berwick upon Tweed ancient walls. Built in Elizabethan times these walls dominate the town. Its a lovely but windy walk of about 1.5 miles on good ground well maintained. There are impressive views of both the town and the water, from the mouth of the Tweed to the sea. During the walk one sees the scale of fortifications with hidden gun emplacements set to rake invaders from the sides as they supposedly stormed the walls. Unfortunately for the English builders any Scots with ideas of invading England just ignored Berwick and drove down through the land side. The fortifications were never tested.