Despite the wind and rain, I joined my friends to visit Standhill Cheesery, which you can read about here and here. We were made very welcome by the owners, Annie and Jimmy. As soon as we sat down, we were given a glass of wine ..... well, you can't taste cheese without wine, can you! Annie and Jimmy were very entertaining as they told the story of how they came to start the cheesery, and of some of the disasters along the way (the word 'rancid' was used!) We were able to look into the room where the cheese is made (we couldn't go in because of hygiene regulations). These cheeses had been made earlier in the day, and were scheduled to go into the chiller after we left
The soft cheeses are ready in a few weeks, the hard cheeses can take up to two years to be ready. All of them were delicious........
........ and multi award winning
Then, of course, we had the opportunity to buy some cheese ....... and quite a lot came home with me! These ones are produced on the premises
while these two are made for them with sheep and goat milk
It was a very enjoyable visit and then we finished the evening by going for a meal ...... I had a mixed grill (yes, I had one of my rare treats of chips with it), but I declined the peas and tomato, neither of which I like. (as I wasn't driving, I also had a very nice glass of wine!)
This morning, while we were enjoying our post-breakfast cuppa and reading our books, Malcolm noticed a rainbow. I dashed out with the camera to capture it
I had hardly sat down and resumed reading, when Malcolm said that there was now a double rainbow (he faces the window, I sit at right angles to it, which is why he saw it and I didn't). I rushed out into the garden again - just as a very heavy shower started! But it was worth getting wet, as not only was there a double rainbow (the outer one is quite faint) ........
....... but the entire rainbow was visible
When we were in Hawick this morning, we had our usual detour to see if the heron was on the River Slitrig ...... I just had time to take a couple of photos before there was yet another heavy shower!
Back home, the feeders were crowded with birds, with the robin making use of the owl's head to wait for a chance to tuck in!