Around Melrose

After a wee sandwich lunch we headed off for a tour of Melrose.  We started at the Harmony Gardens and had a good look around at all the plants and vegetables - I managed to recognise some that we had back home.  From there we sat outside and had a coffee before heading to Priorwood Gardens, another garden that once belonged to Melrose Abbey - this garden had a large orchard of over 70 varieties of apple.

We didn't succumb to our desire for ice cream and instead bought some expensive fruit from the wee veg shop.

We finished off our stay in the Borders with a slap up meal at Windlestraw Lodge near Walkerburn.  With no expectations, we were very pleasantly surprised with an excellent feed. After a quail egg and caviar canape, we sat down to a spinach and basil espresso mini-starter. This was followed by our starters proper, Lynne with an Aga-baked cheese souffle and me a whole quail with bacon and black pudding. Mains were Aberdeen Angus fillet and perfectly cooked veg (which Lynne tasted!!) and sea bass. We ended with cheese and port with a honeycomb accompaniment.

Still slightly full the next morning, we managed to eat a FULL breakfast before starting our journey north to the Cairngorms.