A lovely wee walk

Taking procrastination to a new level today, Gemma and I went out for a wee walk this morning with the intention of returning to the lodge a short time later full of fresh air and fresh ideas...but it didn't quite turn out that way! Instead, we found ourselves whiling away the hours in a gorgeous wee place called The Water Mill. Unsurprisingly, it's a Water Mill. But it's been lovingly converted into an independent bookshop, with an inviting wee cafe downstairs and an attractive wee art gallery upstairs. After browsing around the shop for a while, we settled down beside the stove in the busy wee cafe and, while we were waiting, I had a flick through one of the books I'd picked up. 'The Story of English in 100 Words' isn't as boring as it sounds - honest! It basically just explains the story behind a selection (100 to be precise..) of words from the English language in an entertaining way. Aw, I was fair tickled with this wee gem:

Wee: a Scottish contribution (14th Century). ...blah blah blah....there's a relationship with the Old English word 'weigh'...blah blah blah...Eventually 'wee' became an adjective meaning 'extremely small', 'tiny' and often it was used in a more general sense: 'little'...blah blah blah...then an interesting development took place: 'wee' became a term of endearment - a friendly welcoming word - and began to lose its association with size. That's how it's often used today. So, if someone in Scotland invites you in for a 'wee' drink, BEWARE! It won't necessarily be a small one...

Yup, our walk this morning was supposed to be a little one but, fortunately, it turned out to be a wee one instead! A really lovely walk that kept us out of the lodge for much longer than the wee while intended....!