Linton Kirk and Manse

We had a beautiful day for the drive via Kirk Yetholm (the end of the Pennine Way) up to Linton where we met Jenny, her sister and family and Fergie’s son and family for the ashes ceremony. A celebrant said a few words and the ashes were set in the plot. The Kirk is where Jenny’s father was minister and she lived in the manse nearby. I lived on a hill on the other side of the valley. Built in the twelfth century, the kirk was adapted at the Reformation for Presbyterian worship, but in the early twentieth century was returned to something approaching its original form by the minister James Leishman. He returned the Norman font and other sculptured stones to the interior, rebuilt the chancel arch and created a chancel with choir stalls – very ‘high-church’ for a Presbyterian!

After the ceremony we drove to Ednam House Hotel where we all had lunch. We were all given vegetarian lasagne and salad. Unfortunately the onion and red peppers in the lasagne were not cooked. However it was lovely to get to know Fergie’s son and family. His daughter was very sociable and we all all chatted about lots - her job in tourism, her dad running the watershed of Scotland, one of the few to have done it, Munros, good walks in Scotland and tattoos. Her boyfriend, who couldn’t be there, had recently had a golf green tattoo. Her brother said he had one tattoo of a woodcut by his favourite artist, Kathe Kollowitz. She’s one of my favourites too so we talked about her powerful work. It was really nice, especially as initially he was very quiet.

As Mr C’s niece lives in Kelso we’d arranged to call on her for coffee. His brother-in-law called in. I asked about his other daughter, his woman friend, his friends, his brother’s family but did he ask after our family? No. On top of that he is a bigoted boring man!

We got diesel in Sainsbury for 137.9p a litre, much cheaper than Newcastle.

So far the only effect the codeine is having is the unwelcome side-effect! And that’s not drowsiness.