Up fairly early to taxi Scamp up to the town centre.
I drove Scamp up to the town centre this morning to meet her sister and catch the bus that would take them to meet the third sister in Inverness. It would be a long journey for all of them. Four hours for the pair from Cumbersheugh. After that, I was on my own for the day. However, there were tasks waiting for me.
The first task was to have breakfast and that wasn’t even on the list. So, the first real task was to vacuum pack a venison burger and three slices of lamb’s liver and get them all into the freezer. That was easy. Next I had two bags of tee shirts that really needed to become one bag of tee shirts I’d actually wear! That took a lot longer than I’d anticipated, but after some shuffling the Keepers and the Chuckers, I came to an agreement with myself that I could live with and two became one. I know I’ll relent and put stuff back in the wardrobe, but only one or two.
I had decided last night that if the weather was decent (and it was) I’d go to Bothwell Castle and see what it looked like inside those ancient sandstone walls. It was a beautiful day. Blue sky with white fluffy clouds, cold, but the sun would warm the place up.
Last week I drove to Bothwell Castle on a dull day and didn’t have my entrance card for the castle, so came home with some poor shots and a bad mood. Today I was kitted out with cameras and lenses and a raincoat (just in case) and my Historic Scotland card. Followed the satnav which took me by a strange route to the castle. Different from the route I’d driven last week. I think this one was better, certainly quicker.
Inside the curtain wall of the castle the the ancient sandstone really glowed in today’s sunshine and gave the place a warm feeling. You have to use a great deal of imagination if you want to ‘see’ what this building was like when it was built centuries ago. The scaffolding and barriers that are all around it don’t help, but if you imagine the cost of keeping a crumbling edifice like this safe, you understand that some restrictions are necessary.
I spent an hour or so wandering round the castle and I think the strangest thing and the thing that impressed me was the amount of graffiti that abounded. Not your normal tags and gang names, but folk’s names carved into the sandstone. Some of it very carefully done with great skill and some just scribbles, and so much of it. I’m grateful that HS had the foresight to keep it untouched.
Driving home through Uddingston and stopped at traffic lights I saw Laura and Ross (big Ross) crossing the road with Ross pushing the pram with their new baby girl. If Scamp had been in the car she’d have been out and across the road to see the baby, but she missed that trick, because she was still in Inverness.
Dinner for me was then other venison steak and a couple of baked potatoes. Very nice too.
Later, much later, I got the call to say the long distance travellers we’re just leaving Stirling on the way home. Drove up to the bus station and picked up Scamp. Her sister refused a lift and phoned a taxi instead. Scamp was complaining that the bus was cold, but a basin of hot water to heat up her feet and a cup of Ovaltine warmed her up.
I’d say a good time was had by all. We all in our own way were “off the leash” today.
PoD was a view up the South Tower of the castle.
Tomorrow I’m hopefully taking Alex out to lunch.
