Tag Archives: COVID-19

Ordinary, Scones

Olivers Bistro Café

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Logo of Olivers in Grainger MarketNormally, when we go to London we get the East Coast line which is operated by LNER. Somewhat unexpectedly however a new kid has appeared on the line …. LUMO. They don’t do as many stops as LNER but we thought we would give them a try. So here we are in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Way aye man, welcome to Geordieland.  They speak differently down here and have a whole vocabulary all of their own … would we manage without an interpreter,? 

We were too early for our hotel so we walked up towards the Monument and ended up here in Olivers Bistro Cafe in Grainger Market.

The Monument, Newcastle
The Monument to Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey built in 1838. He was Prime Minister from 1830 to 1834 but more importantly he invented tea for posh folk?

No one could ever say that Olivers Bistro Café is fancy. The roof appears to be held up by scaffolding but it’s practical and honest … a bit like the Geordies themselves.A scone selection at Olivers in Grainger Market

The lady who took our order for a fruit scone to share and two coffees was lovely, she made us feel very welcome. After a wee chat she set off to get our order and within the blink of a eye, we had it … two coffees and one fully loaded scone … argh!

Decisions

You all know our thoughts on this unseemly practice. How much cream, how much jam … someone else had decided on our behalf. We felt disempowered! A bit like Scotland does when Westminster makes all the decisions to suit England. A scone at Olivers in Grainger MarketAnyway, we cut it up so that we could both have a piece … damn it, it was really good! And our total bill came to £5.50! We have a cheek to complain! No topscone but if you don’t mind being disenfranchised and feel an overpowering urge for a fully loaded cream scone then Olivers is definitely the place to be.

Stotties

Recovering from our scone trauma, we carried on round this vast market. You can probably get anything you can imagine here. We bought a stottie cake, a local delicacy that’s nothing like a cake but more like a big fat girdle scone. When we asked our taxi driver what we should do with ours, he said “aye man, ye can dae onythin’ ye like … ye can slice it in half and pit a full English breakfast in … that’s guid like!“

Stottie cakes and double yoker eggs
Stottie cakes and double yolker eggs

We also bought some double yoke eggs. When we asked how they knew they were double yolked it threw the two ladies behind the counter into a huddle of intense discussion. Eventually the answer came … “we think it’s a special chicken!” We thought about telling them about a special loch in Scotland that has a monster, but didn’t bother.

Difference a few years makes

The last time we were in Newcastle was back in 2019 when we were catching a ferry to Amsterdam. Only a few years but it seems like an age. No COVID, we were still in the EU and there was no war in Ukraine. What’s happening in Ukraine is unbelievably awful. The fact that, in Russia, the word ‘war’ cannot be used in any publication (presumably including scone blogs) about Ukraine,   without the authors getting fifteen years jail time, kind of says it all. If you don’t hear from us for a while you’ll know what’s happened.

NE1 5QF         tel: 7944 680959.        Olivers FB

///catch.awake.causes

ps: since then we have tried two of the eggs and only one was double yoked … chicken fail! We did have the stottie cake with some fry … excellent!

Scones, Top

Potting Shed Revisited

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The last time we were here in the Potting Shed was back in August 2020. Not that long ago really but somehow it seems longer. At that time we were the beneficiaries of the government’s ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme designed to get people going back to restaurants after they thought the worst of the pandemic was over. You only had to pay 50% of your food bill and the government paid the other half. Very generous we thought until we realised where the other 50% came from …. us!

External view of the Roman Camp Hotel
Roman Camp Hotel from the Potting Shed

Anyway, here we are again and we still have the pandemic Who would have thought? The only difference now is that there are no discounts … boo!. Still, COVID doesn’t seem as bad now as back then so we should be thankful for that.

Internal view of the Potting Shed BistroBack in 2020 this was a brand new venture set up by the Roman Camp Hotel. As you might expect, it’s situated in what used to be the old potting shed for the hotel’s walled garden. It has its own staff and kitchen though so is run pretty much independently. It’s a very pleasant place to grab a bite to eat and have a stroll round the beautiful grounds on the banks of the river Teith.

Scones at the Potting Shed BistroWe knew from previous experience that when you order a scone here you get two … one fruit and one plain. They’re relatively small though so after a light lunch we ordered a scone so that we could have one each. They came complete with little glass jars of butter and jam and a large dollop of cream. They had just been baked  so were delightfully fresh and at £3 great value for money and an easy topscone … yeah!External view of the Potting Shed Bistro

Fighting talk

Rum advice at the Potting Shed BistroThe Roman Camp Hotel has always been painted pink. Not some girlie whim by the original owners but a sign to any Jacobite fleeing government forces that this was a safe house. Behind the wood panelling in the Library there’s a tiny hidden chapel where Catholics could worship away from prying eyes. And elsewhere, in a cupboard, lies the entrance to a secret tunnel from which those under attack could make good their escape.  Bet Boris wishes he had one of these in Downing Street … or maybe he has?

Whatever, he certainly made it to Kiev yesterday. The scary thing about that is the fact that, right now, nobody would like a war more than Boris. He seems unable to dig himself out of the mire surrounding  the Sue Gray Report so a war with Russia would be the perfect distraction. Prime Ministers are not usually deposed during wartime so a long war would be even better. Oh dear, is that too cynical?

FK17 8BG     tel: 01877 330003      The Potting Shed

///everybody.fixed.built

Ordinary, Scones

Moulin Inn

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Back in 1695 when this placed opened its doors for the first time things were different.

Old photo of Moulin Hotel
Moulin Inn prior to 1886

For one thing, Scotland was still a proud independent nation. Though as we all know that all changed in 1707 when a handful of corrupt aristocrats ( a parcel of rogues) sold the country down the river. In 1715, James Edward Stuart (the Old Pretender) made his ill fated attempt to regain the Scottish and English thrones and reverse the Act of Union. Incredibly, the Moulin Inn had been going for fifty years before Bonnie Prince Charlie (the Young Pretender) tried again in 1745, marching his army past these doors on his way south. If only the walls could talk, what stories they could tell?External view of the Moulin Hotel

Shenanigans

Over the years the Moulin Inn has expanded and is now the Moulin Hotel … the bit to the right of the picture I still the original Inn. We are staying here for a few days. As many of you know retirement means you get no time off and weekends just blend in to the rest of the week, so wee breaks like this become terribly important. Anyway, you know Tina Turner’s song “Steamy Windows” that alludes to shenanigans on the back seat of a car? Well, the theme song for this place should be “Squeaky Floorboards”. Couldn’t find a single floorboard that didn’t squeak! Not much chance of creeping around here in the middle of the night undetected … but given its age perhaps that’s not entirely surprising.Internal view of the Moulin Hotel

Customer care

We asked our lovely landlady, Jill, if we could get a scone and some tea. Her face said it all, they didn’t do scones “We’re really just a pub with rooms … no call for scones” she said. Then, suddenly, she said “But if you come in tomorrow I can probably organise something”. The following day we did indeed go back and within a few minutes Jill had us settled down with some tea and scones. A scone at the Moulin HotelUnfortunately it then became apparent what she had done, she had gone out and bought some scones … probably from a supermarket! This was super impressive  customer care! The scones themselves, however, were not impressive … acceptable but nowhere near a topscone. Well done Jill, if it wasn’t for you we wouldn’t be able to write about this place! Don’t come here for a scone though … they don’t do them!External view of the Moulin Hotel at night

Moulin is a beautiful peaceful little village but it also has a lot going on. There’s a brewery run by the hotel (tried the Ale of Atholl several times) and a lovely little distillery at Edradour. It produces a special whisky for Westminster, however, given the newly introduced ban on ‘business meetings’, it may well see a sharp downturn in sales. 

External view of Edradour distillery
Edradour distillery

 

Don’t tell Boris

The Black Spout waterfall
The Black Spout waterfall just beyond cattail Dhub

On the outskirts of the village there’s an ancient and rather overgrown ruin. It’s all that remains of Caisteal Dubh (The Black Castle of Moulin). Built in 1326, it was set on fire in 1512  because they feared it was contaminated by plague. It’s been a ruin ever since. Imagine if Boris cottoned on to this as a new way of controlling COVID? “If you catch coronavirus you must isolate for ten days but not in your own house which you must burn to the ground!” It would certainly divert attention away from ‘partygate‘ so don’t be surprised if it actually comes to pass.

Thoroughly enjoyed our stay here, it is a fantastic part of the world. Hopefully it won’t be too long before we can do it all again. 

PH16 5EW       tel: 01796 472196       Moulin Hotel

///swelling.pylons.spans

Ordinary, Scones

Cafe Circa Abernyte revisited

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Don’t worry, we haven’t taken leave of our senses completely. Although we did a Cafe Circa Revisited, only a couple of weeks ago, this is not the same. That was at the Scottish Antique and Arts Centre at Doune whereas this post is from its sister operation at Abernyte. They are about fifty miles apart. Goodness knows why we are here? When we visited Doune we bought a whole lot of stuff we didn’t need. We should really stay away from these places.

A feature wall at Cafe Circa Abernyte
A wall featuring Luskentyre beach on the Isle of Harris at Cafe Circa.
Sucked in

Doune is big but Abernyte is even bigger … there’s bound to be something we don’t need here but would we be able to find it? About half way round, however, and suffering from bric-a-brac blindness, we felt ourselves being inextricably drawn towards the cafe. Internal view of Cafe Circa AbernyteThe cafe is also bigger than the one at Doune. These antique centres are so large they really do need a restaurant or cafe where weary rummagers can rest and recharge.

Trauma

The very attentive staff found us a table and took our order for some sandwiches and a fruit scone to share. Cheese scones at AbernytePat had actually wanted a cheese scone she had spied on the way in but she was overruled. Now, far be it from us to inflict the deep trauma of our lives on you dear reader but I don’t see how we can protect you from this. Our sandwiches were excellent but, would you believe it, by the time I had finished mine Pat had absentmindedly cut our scone in half and had started to eat it … before I had taken a photo … what??

Apologies

Bear in mind that this is in spite of years of training … unbelievable! This photo of a decapitated scone is all we can offer you. However, Pat did apologise sincerely unlike some others we could mention. Nowadays, hardly a day goes by without an apology of some sort from the government. Mind you they do have much to apologise for.A fruit scone at Cafe Circa Abernyte

Over the past year so much has puzzled us about Boris Johnson’s premiership. How did he get there, what on earth goes on in his head and why can’t he string two sensible words together? Well, now that he has admitted he cannot tell the difference between a boozy party and a business meeting, it explains soooo much! Honestly when was the last time you went to a party that was so bad you thought you were at work? Only in Downing Street! 

Never learn

Everything was very good at Cafe Circa, we thoroughly enjoyed our visit. Unfortunately the scone didn’t quite make the topscone grade but was very nice nevertheless. In case you’re wondering if we found anything we didn’t need, we eventually left with a tea set (we need another tea set like a hole in the head) a sink without any taps (don’t ask) and a Lazy Susan! We didn’t need any of them!.

PH14 9SJ       tel: 01828 686401          Abernyte Cafe Circa

///computer.health.radio

Highest scone, Scones

Fredericton

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Happy New Year everyone! We hope that you enjoy a happy, healthy and prosperous 2022. May all your scones be topscones filled with lots of lovely jam and cream! Normally we spend Hogmanay at our local pub but this year, due to COVID restrictions, we decided to give it a miss and just spent it at home.  

So far, the year has been scone free but needless to say we hadn’t reckoned on our correspondents. The last place we expected to hear about a scone, however, was Fredericton, the capital of New Brunswick in Canada.

Heroic adventure

Two of our correspondents got in touch to try and claim the highest scone ever featured on this blog. Wait until Richard Branson hears about this! Will he take up the challenge?  Our correspondents had gone to extraordinary lengths! Refreshing to realise that folk still have that heroic spirit of adventure; 1st to the South Pole; 1st  to climb Everest etc etc. View of flight recorderYou can probably tell from the title photo, however, that they did not transport a scone to the summit of Everest, a mere 29,000 ft … no, no, no, they had higher aspirations. 40,000 ft to be precise. And even though Everest grows at 1.5 inches a year, that was going to take a long time. They eventually managed to do it albeit  with a little assistance from British Airways.

Unaware

Fredericton used to be called Pointe Ste-Anne until the British drove out the French settlers in 1758 and renamed it after one of King George III’s fifteen children. What are we Brits like? The French were foreigners in Canada after all?? Whatever, we are pretty sure that the 60,000 good people of Fredricton would have had no inkling of the momentous sconological event happening directly overhead. 

A scone on board BA flight
Scone with height confirmation from flight information

By all accounts the scone was rather good but of course our correspondents were not qualified to give any sort of award, It does look a little odd in appearance and it is amazing that Rodda’s Cornish Cream can get to these dizzying heights as well as just about everywhere else on the planet. They thoroughly enjoyed them, however, and that’s all that really matters, isn’t it! As for the highest scone award, yes this is indeed it. Our previous high flying scone was a measly 33,000 feet but we cannot remember who reported it. We have introduced a new ‘highest’ category however, so if any of you want to challenge perhaps you should contact Branson, Bezos or Musk.

Travelling in COVID times

Needless to say, our correspondents did not do this specifically to gain the highest scone award, fantastic though it may be. No, they were going to visit family in Conneticut and in these COVID times that is no mean feat. To quote “not difficult taking the tests but filling in the required half baked and inaccurate websites is mind numbing. “Help line” has now become the world’s greatest oxymoron”. They made it, however, so congratulations on that as well as their scone achievement.

————————————————————————————

PS:  when we reported from Cafe Circa we said that we would let you know what the book we bought, ‘A Tillyloss Scandal’ was about. The author was none other than J.M. Barrie who created Peter Pan. A Tillyloss ScandalHe was from Kirriemuir which he called Thrums in the many stories he wrote about the town. Most of the dialogue is in the local dialect … so not a particularly easy read! It is set in the early 1800s: “Tillyloss is three broken rows of houses in the east end of Thrums, with gardens between them, nearly every one of which used to contain a pig-sty“.

Attending your own funeral

The main character is one Tammas Haggart. When he discovered that his wife, Christy, pretended to her friends that she was married to another man he was not best pleased that she should think so little of him. A Tillyloss Scandal, chapter oneHe left, not knowing where he would end up. After walking some distance he eventually fell asleep sitting against a tree. He awoke to find that he had been robbed of his hat and his great coat that had been lying beside him. Unbeknown to him the thief fell into a nearby quarry and died with a badly damaged face. The local folk, however, identified him as Tammas simply by the clothes he was wearing. Later when Tammas returned to the town he overheard folk talking of his demise and of the funeral arrangements. Thus, a few days later, from a distance, he was able to observe his own funeral.

Tammas went off and had many adventures as far as Edinburgh and some even say London. Eventually some years later he returned to Thrums and, of course, caused quite a stir. Consternation caused by the fact that not only was he alive but who on earth had they buried? Tammas went home to see Christy but rather than a big welcome he found her sitting quietly by the fire smoking his pipe.

As scandals go?

So now you know. image of Humpty DumptyNot perhaps a scandal on the scale we have nowadays with Andrew, Duke of York and Ghislaine Maxwell.  However, it turns out that Prince Andrew is simply maintaining a long standing tradition. In 1809 the then Duke of York was disgraced in similar circumstances. Have no fear, however, we are sure, that Humpty Dumpty’s Duke of York was an honourable exception … phew! 

 

 

Ordinary, Scones

4 Coo Wynd

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Although 4 Coo Wynd is only a few minutes walk from our home it’s three years since we were last here. Goodness, a lot has happened since then! Back then we were bemoaning the fact that businesses in Falkirk didn’t seem to last. This place was called Cafe Trio back then and before that it was Sorocha’s and before that it was Mathiesons and before that, in 2003, it was Sleeves … a record shop – remember them? Having said all that, 4 Coo Wynd is right next door to Thomas Johnston Butchers, established in 1861, so what on earth are we going on about??

A view of the Cow Wynd, Falkirk
Cow Wynd with Santa overhead

Three years ago we were debating the important issues of the day e.g. what jam to have with a treacle scone and would Brexit have an effect on the scone supplies. The answer to the first question was ‘none’, just butter is best. Brexit hadn’t yet happened but we were looking forward to the promised sunny uplands. Still waiting! Didn’t bother discussing COVID-19 because we had never heard of it!Logo of 4 Coo Wynd

Back to the present. For the benefit of our far flung readers we should perhaps explain the name “4 Coo Wynd”. Artists impression of a highland cowIt is simply the address of the cafe which, more accurately is 4 ‘Cow’ Wynd. Coo is simply Scottish pronunciation of “cow”. In the 18th century, Falkirk Tryst was the biggest cattle market in the country. The town was a rumbustious place in those days. However, there is more to Falkirk than just cows … much more.

  • This was as far north as the Romans got. They liked it so much they decided to settle here, a sort of shangrila. Emperor Antoninus even built a wall across Scotland and through the town to protect it from less civilised influences. Traces of this period can still be found with the ice cream parlours scattered around the town?
  • Falkirk has seen two major battles. The first, in 1298, was one of the major battles in the First War of Scottish Independence … can you believe it’s still going on? The second was in 1746, the penultimate battle fought on British soil but fought for the same reason as the first.
  • In 1565 the marriage agreement between Mary Queen of Scots and the Dauphin of France was signed at Callendar House. She would become Queen of France as well as Scotland.
  • In the 18th century the town became the heart of the iron industry with 61 foundries. Starting with munitions for the Battle of Trafalgar to the famous red telephone boxes still found all around the world. The inventiveness of these foundries making baths, stoves and sanitary ware led to massive increases in public health and comfort.
  • Now the town has the Falkirk Wheel and the Kelpies and shortly, two distilleries … what’s not to like?
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A scone at 4 Coo WyndOkay, okay, the world owes a great deal to Falkirk but can we just get on with scones, we hear you cry! We decided to start with a bacon roll from their all-day-breakfast menu, followed by a fruit scone. Probably the best bacon rolls we have ever tasted … excellent! The scone was very good too but, unfortunately just not quite good enough to make the topscone grade. Shame, the service was warm and friendly, we thoroughly enjoyed our visit to 4 Coo Wynd.Internal view of 4 Coo Wynd

Predictions

Given the current fiasco that passes for UK government we, perhaps, shouldn’t be all that surprised at the predictions of a recent  poll. It says that, at the next election, ALL Scottish MPs at Westminster will be from the Scottish National Party. We did mention earlier that the first battle of Falkirk in 1298 was during the Wars of Scottish Independence. Soooo, do you think that, if this prediction actually came to pass, it would make any difference? Of course not!

Falkirk High Street
the High Street

Three years ago we also reviewed a scone from Passiontree Velvet in Toowoomba, Queensland. These were the heady days of unrestricted travel and bountiful scones all over the world … ahh, the memories! Once again it looks like our scone adventuring has been brought to a shuddering halt by COVID-19. 4 Coo Wynd will probably be our last for a while. That means we need to take this opportunity to wish all our readers a very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous 2022 when it comes. You have put up with our rants for a very long time, best wishes to you all!

FK1 1PL       Tel: 07477 173117        4 Coo Wynd

///deep.tricky.shower

Ordinary, Scones

Rousay’s Cafe

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Today we are at Torwood Garden Centre just a couple of miles from home. Doggy afternoon tea at Rousay's CafeThey have a huge Blossoms Restaurant which we have visited several times. We hadn’t realised though that Blossoms had a separate dog coffee shop called Rousay’s Cafe. Rousay was the owner’s border terrier. You can get ‘pupcakes’. and even an afternoon tea. All made with dog friendly ingredients.

Now we would normally steer well clear of anywhere there are lots of dogs but on this occasion we could only see one. And it looked quite friendly. They also had scones so in the interests of diversity, inclusion and all that sort of stuff, we thought you might like us to review a dog cafe. Woof, our dedication knows no bounds!External view of Rousay's Cafe

Confusion

There was no afternoon tea on offer for mere humans so a sandwich for lunch followed by a scone was the order. The two lovely ladies behind the counter were desperately trying to operate in a space designed for one. There was much confusion … especially at the till. Eventually we got our sandwiches and they said they would bring our tea and coffee to the table. They did, but not until we were finished our lunch. No idea what was going on but neither, of course, did they. We wondered if we had sat up and begged with our tongues out would it have come quicker? It did arrive in time for our scone, however, so all was not lost. We were the only customers left by then, goodness knows what happens when they get busy.Internal view of Rousay's Cafe

Happy pooches

Our scone was surprising good. Not the crunchy exterior we normally like. It was sort of soft all over but rather pleasant nevertheless. It came with little pots of jam and cream. No topscone here. However, we know how daft people can get about their dogs so we’re sure they’ll really appreciate this place and will happily overlook deficiencies as long as their pooch is happy. Not for us though.

Internal view of Rousay's Cafe
Is this sort of place supposed to fill you with joy?
Disinvited

What is it with Boris? Just as we were pledging to stop carping on about him (it had become too easy) he goes and does it again! Defending the indefensible in his own party, loosing the place in a speech to the CBI and jabbering on about Peppa Pig World. Then getting the British delegation disinvited from the EU emergency talks on stopping immigrants crossing the Channel. Mind you, last year more people left the UK than came in so shortly we might be advertising for immigrants! Now he is belatedly introducing face masks again in England because of the the new Omicron variant … but not in hospitality? C’mon Boris, give us a break! There are plenty others we would like to criticise but you keep hogging all the really ludicrous stuff for yourself!

FK5 4EG         tel: 01324 553152         Rousay’s

///unstated.solving.roofs

Scones, Uncategorized

MacMillan Coffee Morning

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Back in 2019 Pat ran a MacMillan Coffee Morning and raised over £500 which we thought was absolutely tremendous. Last year, of course, it was cancelled because of COVID. This year she thought she would try again. It’s easy to agreed to run one of these events in April when September is still almost six months away. Suddenly, however, it’s September and you realise that there is a lot involved in getting such an event off the ground …. aaaargghh!Publicity for MacMillan Coffee Morning

The MacMillan organisation has given our family much appreciated support over the years. So, no matter how much is involved, we feel almost duty bound to try and repay in some small way. The MacMillan Coffee Mornings are a very pleasurable way of doing exactly that.

Lion poo

invitations were distributed round the neighbourhood over a fortnight ago but would anybody come … that was the question? Of course they did and yesterday our house was packed to bursting.Friends at the MacMillan Coffee Morning

One of the nice things about these events is that fact that people are so happy to help in any way they can. Cakes galore appeared as if by magic as did biscuits, tarts and all sorts of other goodies. Folk also brought plants and things to sell or use as raffle prizes … amazing! We even had a box of lion poo to raffle!

And guess what, one guest even brought a whole tray of homebaked scones … yeah! A scone at MacMillan Coffee MorningThe house was stuffed with people and while Pat and I mingled  our friends worked themselves to te bone making sure everything went like clockwork We are so lucky! I even had time to sample the scones. They all looked great, just the right size and soft with just a hint of crustiness on the exterior. Together with apple jelly and whipped cream they would have been an easy topscone had it not been for the fact that none of our readers will ever be able to sample them. That’s not a whole lot of use so we’ve had to leave them as ‘uncategorised’. Fab sconesthoughFriends at the MacMillan Coffee Morning

Generosity

We’ve left out carping about politicians in this post because this is much more important … they can wait for our disgruntlement. At the moment we are very happy, because it was a wonderful couple of hours. Publicity for MacMillan Coffee MorningTo us it reaffirmed just how wonderful people are! Either by helping in all sorts of ways but also by their extraordinary generosity. MacMillan Coffee Mornings were going being  held all over the world at the same time as ours. If you consider that our relatively modest event has  raised the amazing amount £1,250 so far there must have been a lot of money donated to MacMillan yesterday. And quite right too! If any readers feel like contributing even more you can use this QR code.QR code for MacMillan Coffee MorningThe winner of the lion poo just cannot believe his luck!

Many thanks to everyone concerned but particularly to Henry’s Coffee Company and Cafe Corvina for their very generous support.

 

Scones, Top

Nithbank House

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.We’re away for a few days … hurrah! These days it’s not that easy to find a hotel or B&B with availability because everywhere in Scotland seems to be fully booked.  The COVID staycation phenomenum  has seen loads of people coming here from other parts of the UK … and who can blame them? Many will have visited for the first time so hopefully the staycation will become a regular thing rather than the usual jetting off to foreign parts. We did, however, find Nithbank House which had a room free for a couple of days … bingo!

Drumlanrig Castle
Drumlanrig Castle
The Chamberlain

Driving down Nithsdale we stopped off at Drumlanrig Castle for a bit of a nosey. It looks like it could house a small army but actually only two folk live there, The Duke and Duchess of Bucchleuch and Queensberry. Drumlanrig’s 90,000 acres forms only a relatively minor part of the 280,000 acres the Duke owns in Scotland. It’s good to know he has done nothing, apart from being born, to merit such vast wealth. It transpired though that Nithbank House was built in the 1790s by the 4th Duke as accommodation for his Chamberlain … a kind of estate factor. And, would you believe it, we were going to be staying in the Chamberlain’s Quarters!  

View from Nithbank
the view from our scone over the river Nith and Nithsdale
Shallow or shallow

The house has a magnificent location looking out over Nithsdale. In the blurb it says that everyone is welcomed with warm scones. Now we don’t want you to think that we are shallow enough to be enticed by such frivolous inducements … okay, okay we are! It is run by Melanie and John, two very warm and friendly people, and when we arrived Melanie said we could have our scones in our room, the lounge or outside. We opted for outside and within a few minutes we were sitting in the sun admiring the view.

External view of Nithbank
Pat limbering up for a scone

The beauty of the view was only bettered by the arrival of our scones. Wow, this is how scones should be presented!Scones at Nithbank

There were two treacle scones and two fruit ones. Nice little dishes of cream and jam as well as one full of finely cut strawberries. Everything was homemade. Unfortunately one of the treacle scones could have done with another minute in the oven however the rest were fabulous. Given the setting, the presentation, the service and the scones themselves we decided that one slightly undercooked scone could be overlooked … easy topscone. Well done Melanie and John!

The power of love
Internal view of Nithbank
A Rembrandt at Nithsdale House. Drumlanrig Castle thinks it has the original.

In such a romantic setting you can’t help. but think back to 1715 and the love between the Earl of Nithsdale and his wife, Lady Winifred. For his part in the Jacobite Uprising he had been found guilty of treason and thrown in The Tower of London to await his execution. Lady Nithsdale rode to London in deep snow accompanied only by a maid. She visited the Earl and together they hatched a daring escape plan. Elaborate and extremely dangerous but it worked. They escaped to Italy where they spent the rest of their lives probably reminiscing about Scotland and Nithsdale. They’d have sympathised with the folks currently having to flee Afghanistan.

Afghanistan

Today is the first day in two decades that Afghanistan has not been occupied by foreign troops … cause for celebration in itself! It remains to be seen how things will pan out with the Taliban. Strangely though, at the moment they seem to be only ones talking any sense. In future Afghanistan will be ruled by a handful of men who think they know what is good for everyone else. However, we all know what that feels like! With talk of kalashnikovs and burkhas, Nithbank seems like it’s on another planet. Planet Nithbank for us!

Logo of Nithbank

DG3 5AP      tel: 07823 773211     Nithbank Country Estate

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Ordinary, Scones

The Fish Man

Logo on the fish man's vanIt’s come to this … we’re getting our scones delivered. Of course, there’s more to it than that! We didn’t deliberately seek out scone deliveries, it just kind of happened. For many years now Scott McSharry, the Fish Man,  has been parking his van outside our house on a Wednesday evening and hooting his horn. The horn has  a magical effect on the neighbourhood. Suddenly, from no-one being around,  there are loads of people emerging from their homes and all heading in the same direction. Scott’s a bit like the pied piper except this is Falkirk not Hamelin!Logo on the fish man's van

It wasn’t always like this. Scott used to have a wee van and he sold fish from Pittenweem … maybe some eggs if you were lucky. Recently, however, he acquired a much bigger van and now you can get  bread, cakes, tomatoes, strawberries, eggs …. and, would you believe it … scones. All his produce is wonderful so we thought his scones would be worth a try as well.

 

Scones to your door

A scone from the fish manWe ate ours in the garden in the sunshine  with a bowl of whipped cream and some of Pat’s crab apple jelly. What wasn’t to like? Nothing as it turned out. The scones were a tad on the large side for our liking. They tasted good and that’s what matters at the end of the day. Most of our readers are unlikely to be able to use the Fish Man’s services and, of course, they were not exactly ‘presented’ so no topscone. Nevertheless, useful to know that you can always get a scone even though you can’t be bothered baking or going out.

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Pingdemic

With most of the COVID restrictions being lifted we can go anywhere though, in Scotland, the wearing of masks is still required. In England, so called Freedom Day (July 19) has come and gone. No restrictions, just recommendations. This joyous occasion, however, has been anything but. Just when everyone should be able to go about their business ‘normally’ we have had a rise in cases resulting in a pingdemic. Hundreds of thousand have been pinged by the ‘track & trace’ app and forced into ten days of isolation.  Schools may as well close. Supermarket shelves are bare because there’s no-one to deliver the stuff or put it on the shelves. Complete chaos!Logo on the fish man's van

We have also learned from the PM’s old boss Dominic Cummings that Boris doesn’t actually believe in pandemics.  When he was pinged he refused to isolate. Now he is being forced to isolate in Chequers, wee soul. Everyone knows that Boris is a muppet. However, you would think that even with muppets there would be some sort of learning process. Logo on the fish man's vanNot with Boris! While people like Scott do their utmost to keep  their customers happy by diversifying from fish into scones, Boris seems to just get dafter and dafter.A good slap with a wet fish might bring him to his senses! Large wet fish please Scott!

No fixed abode          tel: 07743 861391              Scott’s Fresh Fish FB