Abbotsford...

Due to incompetence (mine) this blip belongs to the 8th June and 8th June blip belongs here  *rolls eyes*

Woke to the sound of rain falling outside the hotel window.  Seems the weather forecast of a break in the weather was right.

Met Patricia in the foyer just after 8.30am and we headed upstairs for breakfast.  

The Dryburgh Abbey Hotel owns a complete set of the Dryburgh Edition of the Waverley Novels by Sir Walter Scott and has them on display in the Wallace Lounge (we pondered that is should be called the Scott Lounge :-)  There are 25 volumes in the set and they were published monthly between 1892 and 1894.  Patricia was keen to see them and asked reception last night if we could have a closer look but after checking, the key of the cabinet could not be found.  Reception said they would continue to look and let us know in the morning if the key had been found.  Sadly it hadn't.

Undeterred we headed to the Wallace Lounge to find the books in a glass fronted cabinet, looking a tad sorry for themselves.  Daylight reflected in the glass made it virtually impossible to get a decent shot of them.  There were lights inside the cabinet but they didn't work.  Very disappointing.

We all agreed that given Sir Walter Scott has such a connection to this area and is buried in a tomb in Dryburgh Abbey, the grounds of which join the grounds of hotel, the hotel are missing a trick.  These books are so important, they at the very least deserve a glass cabinet where they can be properly displayed and enjoyed, and in a more prominent position in the hotel.

After checking out, we headed to Sir Walter Scott's home, Abbotsford, which is about 15 minutes from the hotel.  Thankfully the rain stopped long enough to let us get from the car park to the visitor's centre without getting soaked.  

Thankfully we had pre-booked tickets to the house as it was very busy.  We timed it perfectly though as we just reached the end of our tour of the house when a coach party arrived.  It would have been impossible to get any photographs inside the house if we'd been caught up with that lot!

David and I opted to use headphones as we went round the house.  We had the option of a straightforward audio tour guide saying in this room you can see....etc etc or a more quirky audio guide with an actor providing the voice of Sir Walter Scott, so a much more personal tour.  We chose the latter and it was superb!  It really did feel as though Sir Walter Scott was talking to us and I got quite emotional at a times as he described his love of his home and the friends, some rich and very famous, others local and related, who visited over the years.  He spoke very lovingly of his wife and children and brought each room in the house to life.  

Afterwards we wandered in the beautiful gardens.  Beautiful in a dull, grey, rainy day so no doubt absolutely stunning in the sunshine.

We headed back to the shop to make some purchases and had planned to have lunch in the cafe but it was closed due to being pre-booked by the coach parties.  In the end we decided to head up to Edinburgh Airport so Patricia could have her fit to fly covid test.  

That was done and dusted by 3pm and we stopped at the River House in Stirling for a very delicious late lunch.  It's the first time we've been there since it came under new ownership and we will definitely return.  We also celebrated Patricia's negative covid test, so she is fit to fly :-)

A relaxed final evening at home and now it's time for bed as early rise in the morning to get Patricia to the airport for her flight home.

Patricia, we are going to miss you!  We have had the most wonderful time in your company and enjoyed holidaying in our back yard (and a little further afield :-) We have laughed so much and learned so much and eaten so much!  What a blast we've had!  I hope it won't be too long before we see you again.  Haste ye back :-))