Scotland is for Lambies

Sue and David are Anna's parents.  They are living in a cottage on the estate of the Duke of Bacchleugh and the Marquis of Queensberry.  Sue's hens are named Henny Penny, Nasty Netta and Timorous Tess.  Their cat is Alfie.  I slept on a futon in the living room, which was nice and comfy.  But I accidentally closed Alfie in with me one night, and when he decided it was time to get out, he nearly scared me to death.  I screamed, but no one heard, so I was unrescued and had to save myself.  He had jumped onto the windowsill, so I thought someone had come in through the window to get me.  Well, I kind of screamed myself awake, so maybe it wasn't really as impressive as it sounded in my head.  Wicked wee beastie!  As they say in Scotland.  Or so I've heard on Outlander.
They had made us goulash with locally sourced venison and hare!  It was the best I ever had.  It deserved a more auspicious name than goulash.  Actually, I think David made it.  But Sue had made lots of other food to go with it, all terrific.  After dinner we watched the first part of a show called Ordeal By Innocence, based on an Agatha Christie book.  But they changed who the murderer was!  Is that even legal?  So we made lots of guesses, and were all proven wrong.
Saturday morning we had homemade granola with homemade yogurt, plus fresh fruits like blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and mango.  Yum! David drove us all to a castle ruin called Caerlaverock. We walked all over, took lots of photos, and exclaimed over the sun, which finally made an appearance.  Next we stopped by Sweetheart Abby, under scaffolding for repairs.  We peeked in and walked around the outside, through the graveyard.  The stones were enormous.
Next we drove to the John Paul Jones museum, which was the size of a cottage.  There were several little dogs to greet us, and sit on our laps while we watched a video for 20 minutes or so about his life.  Although he was from Scotland, he is the Father of the US Navy.  There were a few artifacts and model ships.  Several years after he died and was preserved in alcohol in France, he was exhumed and had an autopsy.  The booze had kept him looking much like had had in life, but gruesome.  There were photos.  He was reburied in some naval spot in the US.
Around 3 pm we had lunch in the town of Beeswing.  Isn't that sweet?  Allen and I split a roast beef sandwich and a bowl of chicken noodle soup.  There was a gift shop connected to the café, and in it was a carved chair with a high back that was made in Malawi.  That amazed me, because Allen and Anna are headed to Malawi in June to vaccinate street dogs against rabies for some magazine, and it was too weird of a coincidence.  I took a picture of it, plus some of the other items for sale that seemed unusual to me.
Home for a nap, and then we walked up to the Duke's castle (one of the many places he can live when he chooses), and took pictures.  Mostly I was after baby lamb pictures.  They are so stinking adorable I could just eat them up.  Many had black faces, and all had spray paint on their wool already.  When we first got up there, Sue told us there had been caretakers out in the field helping a ewe give birth.  I wanted to go see, but was coaxed away.  We tried to see the garden but it was locked up for the night.  Later we went out to dinner at a restaurant with the Duke/Marquis' name.  I had fish and chips again.  I was up over 8000 steps that day, and impressed with myself, but little did I know what was to come in Prague!!!  We saw part 2 of the Agatha Christie show and called it a night.
Sunday I did 11,000 steps.  We had Haggis and eggs for breakfast, then drove to a lake and did a 3 mile walk around it.  When we got back to Morpeth we did another 1 1/2 mile walk along the river.  Allen made us curry for dinner.  Then the last part of the Agatha Christie show, and the murderer was revealed to our shock.  But then we felt we should have suspected that person all along.  I wonder who Agatha made the murderer be, because the person in the show seemed perfect for it.

The reason there are two fireplaces on top of each other, is that there used to be a wooden floor between them.

In the bottom of this tower prisoners were kept for months at a time - political prisoners of high rank.

This is the back of the castle, where the swamp can be found.  The attackers got their trebuchets going and knocked holes in the wall. I have no idea how to spell that.  Or where they found the big rocks to put in it.

This is where David had bought the locally sourced venison and hare we had in the heavenly goulash.

This is the chair from Malawi we found in Beeswing, Scotland. 

This is a photo of a poster, that's why there is a big footprint on it. 

The Duke of Baccleugh and Marquis of Queensberry's Castle.  One of many estates he owns all over these parts. 

Sue and David's half of the cottage in Thornhill on the estate of the Duke of Bacchleugh (back-loo).

I wants one!