Dalkeith Corn Exchange and St Nicholas Church.

Couple of days ago I had a wander along Dalkeith High Street for a wee change,  and being able to take my time I had a look at the Old Corn Exchange which has now been lying empty for the past thirty odd years, which is a bit of a shame as it was once a beautiful building and very well used.   the crest above the front door is beautifully carved with lots of detail.

A bit further along the street is the Old St Nicholas Church on a site where churches have stood since the early 1300's.

The oldest grave stone of the site dates back to 1722 (the big grave above), and around the walls there are some of the old style skeletal carvings.   Next time I will try and get into the church where there are apparantly a lot of the older artefacts on display.

Fyona's little story.

Public holidays are a bit of a pain, there are so many now that some areas take them, other's do not and we end up never knowing what to expect in the pub.
The Charity weekend ended well,   there were nine cars still in the car park this morning so there were several who played safew and walked home after the evening session with the bands.

Today we had a couple of big tables in for lunch, both groups being regulars - so in the course of conversation one of the "young ladies" said that she would write me a story  - so here it is - as she wrote it, and for a seven year old she did very well.

"Today at the Dolphin inn I et beans and chips and sausages and I loved it but I did not eat pudding cause I was writing this story that you are reading. I loved the plac it was very tidy and it was quit aswell not a lot of people there. And just before I went I ran to the swing park I went on the climing frame I steared the stearing wheele i went on the other climing frame.

by fyona age seven.

Many hands - make a wet mess

Just a trifle annoying all this messing about,  the Dolphin Team did well, with sometimes several cars waiting to be washed - however there were several other pairs of willing hands ready on the side lines to help, some even had their wellies with them - well prepared and the young man washing his father's car with RGB, even gave up his lunch to help.

Flying high and all that jazz

Having problems with this new blog format- pictures are on one computer but I have to use a second one to add the text.

So we had the car wash which was very busy for several hours,  during that time we had a fly pass by one of the local microlite pilots, might have seen the girls in action and decided to play safe!!

For the early part of the music session we had some of RGB's friends who have a Jazz quartet, something different for the Dolphin Inn.

Bit of photography

Pictures have been missing for a while, so here are the latest,   yesterdays session on yje bowling green, where we had an eleven year old in one of the rinks and he was teaching the "old yins" a thing or two.

 The Old Well, in the High Street, penicuik, was recently given a bit of a facelift by a couple of young ladies from Historic Scotland who had been cosmmissioned by Midlothian Council to clean it up.  Neat bit of painting to highlight the story of the well.

Now getting fed and watered before heading down to the Dolphin Inn for the days activities - and hopefully I will remember that it is 500's AGM this afternoon at Bonnyrigg.

My steak was superb

Saturday evening and we are back home after a lovely meal at the Dolphin Inn with friends Grant and Yvonne, one  sirloin and three ribeye steaks -  it was nice to walk in and see the restaurant full - even better to hear the complimentary reports.
Anyway I was up sharp this morning, a wee job down at the Bush then home,  changed and we headed for Makro -  great shop, good selection,  but some of their prices are dearer than Costco and Bookers.
So home, and along to the Penicuik Bowling Club for a place in the triples draw playing for the May trophy,  a good afternoon, just a pity I was second in the first match -  but the sun was shining - which made all the difference.

Charity day Sunday at Dolphin, what will happen.

This weeks catch up -

You must be wondering what I am up to , with these gaps in writing - just seem to be very busy and not getting the opportunity to sit and write.  Perhaps when sitting awake at 4 a.m. would be opportune !!

So what's new - hot from the local elections,  Jenny Dawe, is now the former leader of Edinburgh Council, having been dethroned last night -  by her way of thinking it might well just be a "glitch" in her political career -  that's how she classed some of the chaotic boobs with the tramworks.   On the other hand Adam Montgomery, former Provost of Midlothian was re-elected in Penicuik  which was quite fair,  I was not amused when one of the other parties circulated a so called expose of Adam, bit of an American dirty tricks campaign - so well done,  just need him to keep pushing to benefit Penicuik.

Getting all set for our fund raising weekend at The Dolphin Inn,  10% of food sales over the three days, and proceeds from the car wash on Sunday - we have a BBQ with bands planned so hopefully weather will be OK.
A few more new faces through the doors, hopefully they enjoyed the experience and will be back.

I see that Lee McNamara, who was previously sentenced to thirteen years imprisonment for causing the death of Steven Curren, lost his appeal and his sentence has been increased to sixteen years, just unfortunate that this will bring the Inn back into the headlines again.

Must comment on motoring madness /mayhem -  on Tuesday morning we had a real nutcase of a driver in white minibus, probably late for a school run and his driving through Sheriffhall and the A720 by pass was atrocious, even worse when he got caught in a traffic jam and had to force his way off the A720  and find another way.  Yesterday morning it was a motorcyclist - total bampot, either an adrenalin junkie, or just plain mad - came hurtling along the middle of the A720, between the two lanes of traffic who were doing between 60 and 70 mph -  his behaviour was verging on total recklessness.
Another topical moan, sitting outside the Dolphin Inn  yesterday (lovely sunny day) I was again surprised at the number of people who passed who were chatting on their mobile phones - why, why, why, when a hands free unit only costs a few pounds.

E mail arrived from the Upside down Phil from the land of Oz, news that while Caitlin is looking swell, and with a few weeks left before baby arrives, that young Robbo is a shadow of his former self !!  Hope both are well, we had hoped to go visit but  just a pity that with another visit to the hospital scheduled for early June I will be grounded for a few months again, which rules out long flights for this year - back to the drawing board.

Had an interesting visitor to the Inn this morning who was looking for young RGB,  he was a Mr .C. Blackie, who had spotted a picture of RGB in the local press and he and his family were convinced that it was their own son as they look so alike.  he was wondering if we were related somewhere - working on the principle that somewhere in the past there might have been a mistake in spelling of names on documents !!   as did happen.

Had a game of bowls last night, came second !!  out of two,  but it was a lovely evening, bright and sunny so I enjoyed it,   just unfortunate that the weather is now rotten - sleet this afternoon and worse forecast for tomorrow when there is another names out the hat competition at Penicuik Bowling Club.