AVFF

Monday - at home, watching the wild and wet weather outside and thankful not to have to do anything much today - other than blog, of course.

It's been an interesting week. I went to Pittodrie last Tuesday night with Malcolm Grigor to see the Dons get pulled back to 2-2 against lowly St. Mirren, then, on Wednesday, exactly 11 months after my knee replacement operation, I made a tentative comeback at squash doubles - and it was OK.

My physio had told me it would take 11 months to fully recover from the operation, so I took her advice to the letter!

Prior to playing squash on Wednesday, my right eye had begun to feel a bit itchy and sore and when I awoke on Thursday morning, my eyelid remained closed and my eyeball felt like somebody was sticking needles in it. I went to the Chemist on the way to work and got some antibiotic eye drops. He told me I had bacterial conjunctivitis and had to take the eye drops every 2 hours for 48 hours then every 4 hours thereafter until finished - 5 days in all.

Today is the 5th day and it's not cleared up yet so I've arranged an appointment with a doctor this afternoon. I feel it's a little better, but the pack says it should clear up in 48 hours - if not, seek medical advice - so I am.

Of course, we've been away all weekend, so I couldn't have sought advice until now anyway. On Friday, Jo and I headed to the North of England for the Allen Valleys Folk Festival. We stopped at Lauder for lunch at the Flat Cat Gallery - very nice - then stopped again at Jedburgh to have a quick look round the Abbey, Castle and Jail. Our timing was bad, however - it chucked it down:

Friday night at the Folk Festival is recorded on my music blog (http://banchoryheadbangers.blogspot.co.uk/). On Saturday morning, we had planned to join the organised walk round the old lead mines in Allenheads, reputedly the highest village in England, but it was arranged for Sunday morning, so we just went there on our own, starting with the short Nature Trail:

We decided we wanted to explore round there a bit more, although the rain was getting heavier by now. We climbed a bit but it was getting pretty bleak and miserable so we decided to loop back:

Nice warming coffee in the Hemmel Cafe however before we headed back to our accommodation in Allendale to put dry clothes on. We were staying at Deneholme, an Adventure Training Centre, which had been recommended by the Folk Festival organisers. It was more Youth Hostel than hotel, but they were very friendly:

Deneholme was also a Folk Festival venue so were able to relax over a nice beer whilst listening to some music, after which we went for another walk to explore potential dinner venues:

The walk back along the river from Allen Mill was very pleasant and the sun had finally come out as we rewarded ourselves with a pint outside the Golden Lion, watching the Clog and Morris dancers in the square:

After a couple of concerts in the local church, we had supper in the Allendale Inn - the only place we could get in to eat - then headed back to Deneholme for a quiet evening with a book and a bottle of Rioja.

On Sunday we decided to head home via the Coastal route, with a few scheduled - and unscheduled - stops on the way. We were in Hadrian's Wall country, although it took a bit of effort to find a bit of the wall to take the obligatory photo. It took even more to get Jo to pose on the wall, as she is still getting over her disappointment at the result of the Referendum:

That stop was partly planned, but the next one was a complete surprise - Wallington, a National Trust property with huge grounds and a beautiful walled garden:

Across the road, back at the main property, there are 4 dragons' heads:

Inside the house is spectacular as well:

Jo with Grace Darling

 We did make it to the coast in the end. This is Bamburgh Castle:

A bit further up the coast is Holy Island, home of Lindisfarne Castle. There is a tidal causeway to cross first and you need to check the timings to find out when it's safe to cross. We were out of luck - only just. The tide was already receding but it would take another hour before it was safe and we didn't have that much time left, so I posed for the photo on the causeway instead:

Our last detour was in to Berwick Upon Tweed for a spot of supper and a photo on the ramparts:

Good fun. Now it's time for me to go see the Doctor.