My umbrella is truly christened...

This weekend got me my first taste of true English weather, or Scottish as the case may be. I left London early Saturday morning while it was raining and it continued to rain my entire trip to Langholm, Scotland to visit my grandmother's cousin, Doreen.
My train ride north was slow as I had to change in Leeds, but I was able to see some beautiful scenery on the way to Carlisle. I was on a regional train between Leeds and Carlisle, which of course means that we stopped at every small town between the two...there were quite a lot! We did pass through the highest station in England though! The countryside was mainly stone houses, fences, sheep and cows, but the grass was amazingly green. Given how it was raining, I was amazed at the number of people out hiking and walking.

Stone fences & fields

I eventually made it to Carlisle where Doreen met me at the train station and we took the bus to Langholm. Langholm used to be quite a large market town mainly dealing with wool trading. It now seems a very small, sleepy town where, according to Doreen, the locals are friendly but very closed to outsiders.

Church of Scotland



Langholm

The Ecks River runs right through the middle of town and is home to ducks, herons and kayakers.

Heron

It was nice to see Doreen again and I think it was nice for her to have someone new to talk to...and she really likes to talk! She kept me well fed as she thought I was too skinny...as if! Her nephew is currently researching the Stephenson family history and she promised to get the American cousins a copy. She explained to me the Common Riding and how unfortunately, I will miss it as it's at the end of the month.
The Common Riding is an old tradition where the boundaries of the town are reviewed to make sure no one was encroaching. It used to be done by one man on foot and now is done by a few hundred...on horseback. They start at 5:30am and the festivities include a parade of the horsemen and children on their Shetland ponies, a few bands, proclamations, singing, horseracing and just general merriment. I'm sad that I will miss the spectacule!
Sunday morning I had my first full English breakfast at the B&B I stayed at, along with my first petting of a ferret! The owners have a pet ferret, Angus, that runs around their backyard and is adorably cute! Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera at the time. One of the owners, as a pastime, makes chocolates which he sells at the market (which, of course, I missed by a few hours on Saturday) but I was able to pursuade him to sell me a few to take back as a gift to the Grants, though I may have to try one...a basil infused confection.
Now I'm on my train back to London, without Wifi so hopefully I will be able to post this soon!

Doreen & me

I'm hoping that this week will get me to counsel more patients though few are scheduled. I'm still learning a lot, but wish that I was getting more actual experience! Hopefully I will get to counsel a couple regarding a mitochondrial condition and be able to reassure them regarding their baby (the husband has the condition and therefore the baby isn't at risk) which should be interesting!