Coddiwomple Stardate 181102
We left Halifax on the 22nd of August and was the last time we had stopped for a while in the same place. Three and a half weeks in Thornhill has been a good opportunity for us to decide what we are going to do with the remainder of our time in the UK before leaving mid January 2019. After 2 weeks I was getting anxious to get moving again. I need things to occupy my time.
We have also decided to head back to Perth after the UK. We are going to spend a few weeks catching up with people before we go back to Stuart Island for a few months. We have decided to do this instead of continuing to Europe. The reason for this, is if you have been following our blogs since we have left our house 18 months ago, Sharon and I have done so much we don't think we will appreciate our time in Europe and we think we just need time to stop and take in everything we have done. So at this stage we are hoping to tackle Europe for 7 months in 2020.
The house and village we stayed in at Thornhill Scotland was fantastic. I added an aerial image of one of the walks we did with Bruce. The start and finish is where we were staying and you can see the village isn't large. There is about 1200 people living in Thornhill. Bruce got to go out 3 times a day rain, fog, frost or shine. He is really well behaved, loves people but just doesn't like any other dogs. The house we stayed in was very comfortable. It was centrally heated 24 hours a day the house temperature is always at 21 degree C regardless if the outside temperature is 0 degrees C. A cleaner comes once a week but Sharon didn't leave her much to do. I fed the birds and Hedgehogs everyday. The hedgehogs don't come out until late so never saw any. I have never seen so many small birds altogether in one place before. I put out 3 different types of feed everyday. In 24 days I went through 45kg of feed. The back and East side of the yard overlooks farmland complete with cows. There is a sun room to admire the birds and view. The village has 4 pubs closest was 450m. The furthest was 620m from the house. There is two small supermarkets, bakery, butcher and plenty of cafes. Everything you need. I went on a pub crawl on my birthday planning on going to each of the four bars unfortunately the last one was shut when we arrived. Many of our walks with Bruce were through forest and the village. I think if I permanently lived here I would have to take up golf. The course here is very picturesque which we walk through with Bruce. Never see many people playing. It would be great for a beginner.
Some walks I did in the morning were below 0 degrees C. In the last 18 months we probably only had 2 months of winter and that was when we were hiking back in WA. We haven't carried any winter clothes with us. What we have done in Scotland is go to charity shops and purchased our winter clothing from there. I bought a heavy jacket for $15 and walking around in the morning below 0 it keeps you very warm. Our jackets we bought, we would never use in Australia and far to heavy to carry back. We are just going to donate the clothing back when we leave.
Out last week in Thornhill we caught the bus to Dumfries 23km away. It's the closest large town to Thornhill. We had been twice before to Dumfries. Each time it was a miserable wet day. Third time was cold but clear blue skies. Amazing how your opinion changes of a place with great weather. There were places we just did not see before. You were to busy trying to stay dry. The bus drive had beautiful scenery and there were picturesque places to see in the town.
On our last Thursday with Bruce we walked to Morton Castle ruins a 14km return trip. The walk started with heavy fog then sun then rain back to sun then rain again. The area around Morton Castle has been occupied by people as far back as 400 BC. The ruin is a Hall House and built in the 14th century and was occupied until 1715. The previous castle was destroyed along with 12 others in 1357 as a condition of the Treaty of Berwick to secure the release of David II from England.
Now it is time to prepare for our next venture. We are planning on heading down to Wales. We never saw much of Wales when we were on our bus tour 10 years ago.
We have also decided to head back to Perth after the UK. We are going to spend a few weeks catching up with people before we go back to Stuart Island for a few months. We have decided to do this instead of continuing to Europe. The reason for this, is if you have been following our blogs since we have left our house 18 months ago, Sharon and I have done so much we don't think we will appreciate our time in Europe and we think we just need time to stop and take in everything we have done. So at this stage we are hoping to tackle Europe for 7 months in 2020.
The house and village we stayed in at Thornhill Scotland was fantastic. I added an aerial image of one of the walks we did with Bruce. The start and finish is where we were staying and you can see the village isn't large. There is about 1200 people living in Thornhill. Bruce got to go out 3 times a day rain, fog, frost or shine. He is really well behaved, loves people but just doesn't like any other dogs. The house we stayed in was very comfortable. It was centrally heated 24 hours a day the house temperature is always at 21 degree C regardless if the outside temperature is 0 degrees C. A cleaner comes once a week but Sharon didn't leave her much to do. I fed the birds and Hedgehogs everyday. The hedgehogs don't come out until late so never saw any. I have never seen so many small birds altogether in one place before. I put out 3 different types of feed everyday. In 24 days I went through 45kg of feed. The back and East side of the yard overlooks farmland complete with cows. There is a sun room to admire the birds and view. The village has 4 pubs closest was 450m. The furthest was 620m from the house. There is two small supermarkets, bakery, butcher and plenty of cafes. Everything you need. I went on a pub crawl on my birthday planning on going to each of the four bars unfortunately the last one was shut when we arrived. Many of our walks with Bruce were through forest and the village. I think if I permanently lived here I would have to take up golf. The course here is very picturesque which we walk through with Bruce. Never see many people playing. It would be great for a beginner.
Some walks I did in the morning were below 0 degrees C. In the last 18 months we probably only had 2 months of winter and that was when we were hiking back in WA. We haven't carried any winter clothes with us. What we have done in Scotland is go to charity shops and purchased our winter clothing from there. I bought a heavy jacket for $15 and walking around in the morning below 0 it keeps you very warm. Our jackets we bought, we would never use in Australia and far to heavy to carry back. We are just going to donate the clothing back when we leave.
Out last week in Thornhill we caught the bus to Dumfries 23km away. It's the closest large town to Thornhill. We had been twice before to Dumfries. Each time it was a miserable wet day. Third time was cold but clear blue skies. Amazing how your opinion changes of a place with great weather. There were places we just did not see before. You were to busy trying to stay dry. The bus drive had beautiful scenery and there were picturesque places to see in the town.
On our last Thursday with Bruce we walked to Morton Castle ruins a 14km return trip. The walk started with heavy fog then sun then rain back to sun then rain again. The area around Morton Castle has been occupied by people as far back as 400 BC. The ruin is a Hall House and built in the 14th century and was occupied until 1715. The previous castle was destroyed along with 12 others in 1357 as a condition of the Treaty of Berwick to secure the release of David II from England.
Now it is time to prepare for our next venture. We are planning on heading down to Wales. We never saw much of Wales when we were on our bus tour 10 years ago.
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