Letters Home - Scotland to England

by Leslie Shalduha

December 21, 2025 Hello from England!

We last wrote from our second visit to sit with Fred and Fancy in Dunfermline, the strong dogs that knocked me on my fanny at our first meeting. We chose to return because we liked the hosts, the apartment and the town. It was to be a nine day sit and we knew what we were getting ourselves into with those dogs. WE THOUGHT we did, anyway. Something was different with the dogs this time. They were aggressive, more stubborn and Fancy had a problem with Emma from the get-go. After a couple of days, we checked in with the hosts about these issues and they gave us some advice and offered to come back early if we wished. We thought we could handle the situation and chose to stay.

Sadly, a couple of days later Emma and I made the apparent mistake of standing up from the couches at the same time to go to bed and Fancy went for Emma, barking madly and jumped up on her back with her paws extending to Emma's shoulders. It was scary. I did manage to distract Fancy enough for Emma to get on the other side of a doggy gate but made the decision to leave the next day. Emma stayed on that other side most of the rest of the time to avoid triggering her. In the morning, I let the hosts know what happened. They offered to pay for our hotel that night and we were packed and out the door in a couple of hours. Unfortunately, during the preparations to leave, Emma fell on the stairs and injured her tailbone. When she fell, Fancy lost her mind and I had to put her outside on the roof terrace until we had all of our things and Emma downstairs and ready to depart. We took a taxi to the hotel, discovered a cute little restaurant with blue velvet walls and delicious food, where I had a drink to recover from the Fancy experience. Emma handled it better than I emotionally. Afterwards we hit the hotel for binge watching starting at 3 PM, went to sleep early and slept in until 11 AM the next morning. Guess we needed that! And don't worry, since we first booked all of our sits, we have learned a few lessons and will not take a job with large dogs anymore, with the exception of one already booked with a greyhound next month.

We had an appointment with a physiotherapist scheduled already for that next day to address my potential rotator cuff issue and neck pain for Emma. Very timely considering her fall the day before. It was a good visit for us both and we both felt some relief afterwards.

We stayed for two nights in that very nice City Hotel in Dunfermline. The town and hotel were decorated very festively for the holidays and it only added to our enjoyment of this little town. The hotel man who helped us lug our suitcases up to the "first" floor asked if I had a dead body in mine. Poor guy. We were in Dunfermline altogether for about a week so had time to visit our favorites, Prost Cafe for office hours and the Haberdashery for dinner a couple of times.

Leaving here, we pointed our snoots towards Thornville again, where Vee, Sue and Tobin had invited us back for a few days. Vee picked us up at the train station and they were all so excited to hear the details of the last few weeks. Vee heard a lot of it in the car, but Sue and Tobin greeted us at the door and Emma could not even clear the threshold before they were throwing questions! As soon as she was in the door, it was time for tea and storytelling. We sure do love these folks.

They took us to a caroling event at the oldest library in Scotland, Innerpeffray Library. The event was held in the chapel next door (all of these buildings are in a field in the middle of nowhere). The stone chapel was built in the 1500's. It was lit with a few candles in the windows and a lovely decorated tree up at the front beside the choir. It was very cold in there, which we had expected, so we were all bundled up. So nice to find some holiday cheer in company with what felt like family. The service was lovely and we all sang along to some songs. Not that we knew very many, but we gave it the old college try! Afterwards we had a nerve-wracking drive home through a very rainy, dark night on back country "roads", a drive where there was some disagreement upon which way was the right way. We did make it safely home in good time, just in time for.......tea! And more storytelling.

On Tuesday, Vee let us know that Sue and Tobin wanted us to join them to pick out their Christmas tree down at The Smiddy. When it was time to go, Sue said it was to be just Emma, myself and Tobin. Upon our arrival at the tree tent, he told us to go pick out our favorite tree. As we looked at them, he walked over to one and said "This is it!" We helped him to get it set in its holder, back at the house, and he said that it was time for tea and that we would come back after to get the tree in the house.

Five hours later, after tea followed by more tea when a friend came to visit, then lunch and more tea, we brought the tree into the house. Tobin then said it needed to dry out, so we should have tea. A couple of hours later, the decoration boxes were opened and chaos ensued as Emma helped the three of them to decorate the tree. Emma wanted me to join in but there was just not room in the little corner for me, too. So I watched and laughed at the shenanigans.

Sue said they had a little something for us, to which we replied we had a little something for them, too! Off we went to prepare more tea and come back to open our gifts in front of the haphazardly decorated tree and a roaring fire in the wood stove. They had picked up little lapel pins from the Innerpeffray Library the day before, mindful of our space restrictions with luggage. We had purchased an antique brooch for each of the ladies and a small handmade stag magnet for Tobin. The ladies were tickled pink with their gifts and sent us photos wearing their pins over the coming days.

We left the next day for our next sit in Edinburgh, feeling grateful that they let us leave some luggage behind. Of course when we started this whole scene we thought we were moving to Iceland, so packed differently than if we were just going to travel indefinitely.

This sit was for an English Sheepdog type dog named Sugar in an apartment near Portobello Beach, not too far from the city center. In the taxi on the way over, I texted our hostess to ask if we faced many stairs as we had three suitcases (as well as a couple of backpacks and my carpet bag). She replied she was on the second floor. Which in Scotland actually means the third floor. It was unpleasant hauling our stupidly heavy bags up to the apartment. However, once we were there, she gave us a tour of all the things we needed to know, finished her packing and then she and her partner sat to visit with us for an hour or so. They left in the early morning hours, off to Portugal to celebrate her birthday.

Sugar greeted us with love and affection immediately and stayed that sweet during our whole stay, which was five days. What a treat to have that experience after our last sit with Fancy and Fred. The apartment was small, cozy and comfortable. Our hostess was Greek and had just reached the time in her work visa where she is applying to settle here. What a lucky girl! We enjoyed visiting with her as she travels a lot and we swapped stories while her partner, a jazz musician told us a bit about that.

Our duties for Sugar required two long walks a day, of which she was only a willing participant for one. We walked down to the beach several times with her, discovering on the first day that she is not a "lie under the table while we have breakfast" type of girl. After that we just took her to the beach for a bit of a romp before returning her home and heading into the city center for some holiday shopping and fun.

One day we revisited familiar places we liked to scope out purchasing plans as well as the Christmas market festival in downtown Edinburgh, which was fun. The next day we shopped separately and I made a beeline for what I wanted to get in a short amount of time and then head to The Mitre Bar, a very cute restaurant I had discovered the day before. I arrived exactly at opening, thank goodness, and scored a cute table right before it became completely packed. So many places are filled with festive holiday parties! I ordered a pot of tea and read a book as I waited for Emma to join me.

Emma had attended an ornament making social gathering for a group called Dear Girl, where she met a few nice girls and had some social time. After a little lunch, I grabbed a bus home, where I lucked out with a seat in the front row of the top of a double decker bus and Emma went on to do her shopping. Sitting up there gives one quite a view of all the city goings-on. Edinburgh is always a very busy city but this time of year is quite shocking! Crowds streaming in all directions at all times. On some sidewalks they even place plastic divider things to form lanes!

We enjoyed exploring the Portobello Beach area very much. It has a nice boardwalk area as well as plenty of beach to walk on. We found a fully intact conch shell! It is small, maybe the size of a baseball and covered in barnacles. Lots of cute cafes, restaurants and fun shops, too. The day before we left, Sunday Funday, we went to a restaurant housed in a very cool historic building called the Forester's Guild, after which we had a relaxing day at home. On the day we left, we cleaned, repacked to make room for our newly purchased Christmas gifts and caught a taxi to the train station. The taxi drivers are almost always very friendly and give helpful advice and tips. How about that!

We were once again on vacation as we made our way to our next sit, which is in Brighton, England at the very southern tip of the island. England has been romancing us from the second we crossed the border. The first stop was in Alnwick (pronounced Annick), along the eastern coast. Here we came to see Alnwick Castle, where much of Harry Potter was filmed for the Hogwarts scenes. We thought how magical it would be to see at Christmas time! How interesting the Christmas market would be onsite! And that might have been true......in November, when it happened. The castle is closed till spring now. Buckets of tears flowed from our eyes. The very good news is that it was still a magical experience!

Alnwick is a sweet town, very festively decorated, with cobblestone streets and sidewalks. We had booked a two-night stay at a tavern inn. It was very odd to check in at the bar and be escorted up the stairs to our Very Small room. That first evening, we walked the streets, as we do, to get the lay of the land, enjoying the crisp, cold air and fun holiday lights everywhere. We found a nice place, the Alno Lounge, and enjoyed tapas for dinner. We stopped for a night cap at the tavern on our way up to our room. I mean, what else should we have done? The young bartender was eager to showcase his skills and after a deep, involved talk about brandy, I decided to get wild and try one. It was good but it sure just tastes like whiskey. Emma enjoyed her fancy espresso martini. Much to his dismay, we only enjoyed the one before heading up to bed.

In the morning we walked to the end of town to visit Barter Books and have breakfast. This grand place was once a train station and quite glorious. The vibes here were spectacular. The cafe seating is in the old waiting room areas of the station and featured crackling hot fires (have I mentioned that most fires feature coal beds? Pretty stinky!). We enjoyed a basic but tasty breakfast and researched/discussed the history of the store and town while we were there. Loved this place!! On our way out, I noticed a wet slip of paper on the ground and backed up a few steps to look at it. Emma told me to leave it! I responded with "maybe it is a love letter!" And it kind of WAS! It is a love poem. I thought you might enjoy it, too.

My heart

lying in my bed

I am filled with dread,

could this be the end

of my heart.

or no,

could this be the end.

I don't care about the past

now I can see the future

this is not the end of my heart

my heart is beating fast

I am filled with joy

this is not the end.

Author Unknown

Another very interesting tidbit about this bookstore is that they are the ones responsible for our modern day craze with the "Keep Calm and Carry On" scene. They found a poster at an estate sale in 2000 that Britain's wartime propaganda department put out during World War II in 1939, thought it was cool and put it up in their store. It was not long before it was being copied and reproduced around the world!

Next we wandered around trying to get a good view of Alnwick Castle. It took a bit of doing but we finally stumbled across the main gate. We walked into the glorious stone-walled entrance as far as we could and had a moment with a pigeon. What a spectacular castle it was! We walked over an historic, artistic bridge and through a field to gaze at it across the river.

The rest of the day was spent exploring the town and shops, always on the lookout for an interesting dinner spot. After a few false starts and disappointing options for my particular food issues we settled on an Italian restaurant and had a pretty tasty meal! I asked for prawns to be added to my meal......when it arrived, I did not see them and asked the server. She assured me they were in there. I dug around the gluten-free pasta and finally Emma said "There!" Where I am from, they call those "salad shrimp" or maybe "baby shrimp." I guess I should have ordered the King Prawns instead? This was not to be the only time that happened to me here in England, either.......

The next day was a train travel day. We were headed to Peterborough where Catharine of Aragon (the spelling of her name is disputed) was buried. She was Henry the VIII's first wife, who he set aside in a very shameful way to be with Anne Boleyn, who he ultimately beheaded to get with the next wife.....you get the point. We have been much interested in Catharine's story and were excited to pay our respects. We had booked a room at Orton Hall, which turned out to be a very, very nice hotel in an old manor house originally built in 1086. The history of the place was very interesting and we really enjoyed our two-night stay there. We wandered all over the property and enjoyed dinner at the Ramblewood Inn onsite.

Peterborough did not have much else to impress us other than the Cathedral where Catharine is buried, which was beyond words in beauty, architecture and history! It is very much a city, with all the accompanying downsides one might expect—dirty, stinky and too many sketchy characters about. We took a bus to the city center and explored some but spent the majority of our time in and around the Cathedral, with our jaws on the ground. We discovered that Mary, Queen of Scots was also initially buried there, after Queen Elizabeth had her beheaded for no good reason, but her son had her remains moved to Westminster Abbey when he ascended to the throne. Good boy. Still, there was an area marked at the Cathedral for Mary and we were happy to pay our respects to both women and take some time to sit with those places.

After we finished there, we went to Coté for a meal. This place was festive, with nice decor and groups of folks having holiday gatherings. The food was delicious so with bellies full, we went back to the hotel and enjoyed the rest of the day with a visit to the pool/sauna area and relaxation before another travel day and back to responsibility with house/dog sitting.

We were sad to discover that the train for this travel day was more like a tram, presumably as we were so close to London. It was not quite as comfortable as a regular train and the luggage racks were not great so I spent the whole time chasing errant suitcases until finally pulling one into the seating area with us, which other travelers do not love. Still, we enjoyed the countryside and even had a peek at London and the London Bridge during a train change.

Upon arrival at Brighton, our host and her partner picked us up and brought us to her home. It is a beautiful house just outside of the city center, with a nice view of some green hills in the distance, a lovely conservatory room and spacious backyard (which they call gardens over here, whether or not there is a garden). She has a Christmas tree up, which we are happy about; it will help to make our holiday feel special, so far from home.

Here we are caring for two West Highland Terriers, grandmother and granddaughter.  Lola & Ada accepted us immediately and are very sweet and snuggly. Our hostess bought Indian takeaway for us all and we shared a yummy meal while getting to know one another, a fun evening! They left early the next morning and now Emma and I are waiting for Alex to arrive from Norway this evening.

Random tidbits:

*A few days after our physio appointment that offered me some relief for my shoulder, I tripped and fell......landing on that shoulder. So I am back to the beginning with my pain.

*Brighton does not know it is winter! We have had 50 degree days, some trees are in flower bloom and crocus flowers are emerging. Crazy!!

As we prepare for our little family holiday, we hope that you all have a happy Christmas and New Year, too! We will be back in early 2026 with another update of our trials and tribulations......er, I mean adventures and excitement then. Sending all of our love your way!