Tea in the country

At the Stewartry show, we met a member of the local Royal Scottish Forestry Society. We chatted a bit and the next thing you know, William invited us to tea on Saturday. It sounded like fun, we’d had an enjoyable chat, and it was a chance to get to know someone from the area a bit better.

We drove out to Dunscore on very small roads, narrow but scenic, and found our way to Dalgonar House.

As we arrived we met visiting family members just arriving for a stay.

We walked around the gardens, where every turn presents a new vista.

Hugo the whippet was willing to join us for a picture on a particularly attractive garden bench.

On our return to the house we had tea and chatted with Marilyn about her sculptures in the garden, really wonderful pieces. It dawned on us that we were in the midst of move-in day for a family get together. During the time we were there, all three adult children, eight grand children and four grand-dogs arrived. We chatted while new arrivals ebbed and flowed in and out of the kitchen. It was pretty clear that we were a last minute addition to a pretty free-form household. It was a pleasure to be around such interesting and unflappable people, who didn’t seem to mind the visiting Americans. When the last of the family turned up (the countess and the earl), we made our farewells and headed off–just then the sun came out. The drive home to Dalbeattie was gorgeous.

Southern Scotland is “undiscovered” in that people ask us what we plan to do, though they themselves may be there on vacation. It is only undiscovered by foreigners, I think. Here are a few more pictures of the lovely gardens at Dalgonar House.

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