The teeming hoards

Today has been a less than exciting one, weatherwise. It's been trying to rain for almost the whole day, just spotting but never any more. The sky has been overcast and dull, so not that good for photography.

This morning we set off for what was described as a 1 hour circular walk through the local woods - "Follow the waymarkers"! What waymarkers? Every path seemed to end up on the golf course; we finally found our way back. Mrs M wanted a look along the local shops here in Gatehouse, so I drove out to the specialist plant nursery at Cally Gardens, just outside the town. Over the years I'd visited a few times and bought plants for Arduaine; the new owner's name sounded familiar, so I thought a gardening chat would be good, as of course I wouldn't dream of buying any plants! When I got there a sign said that the nursery and garden were closed, but I went on anyway and did meet the owner just about to go out. He thought I looked familiar, but not familiar enough to be allowed in obviously!

After a coffee at the Old Mill, Mrs M and I drove over to Kirkcudbright, which for those not familiar with the name, is pronounced ker-coo-bree, or similar. I remember this from my schooldays! I can sense a limerick coming up! We wanted to see the 'Viking Hoard', discoved in Galloway in 2014, and on display in the local museum. My Blip today is of one of the double armbands in solid silver - the whole hoard is huge and absolutely incredible and is thought to have been buried around 900 AD. If you want to know more, have a look here - https://www.kirkcudbrightgalleries.org.uk/the-galloway-hoard/

Afterwards we went to the NTS garden at Broughton House, former home of the artist E.A.Hornel. Unfortunately the Head Gardener wasn't in, neither were the two volunteers, so although the garden was looking lovely - the extra is of a wisteria there - today was a bit of a washout gardening-chat-wise!