This week, I had my first parmo. Eat like a local is something I feel like we should always aim for, or at least, when traveling, we should try local delicacies. (NB perhaps don’t try this in Thailand unless you want a burnt mouth). I haven’t yet tried the local delicacy in Dumfries, which along traditional Scottish carb on carb lines, is a tattie scone (potato scone) in a roll. I must correct that when I get back, but for now, while working in Middlesbrough, I have tried, and loved, their local traditional food, which is the parmo.

So what is a parmo? The one at the top of the page closely resembles that Scottish favourite, pizza and chips, does it not? That may be partly because, on the spur of the moment, I chose a pepperoni version. As a purist, I will return and try the original version, which is, in fact, a flattened, breaded chicken escalope with béchamel sauce, with melted cheese on top. It should, I understand, be served with a small side salad and garlic sauce, as well as the chips. I’m not surprised by its popularity because it was delicious. Something to look forward to when I return.

But for now, I am on holiday. On Thursday, after work (they let me get away early, thank goodness) I drove up to Central Scotland, to drop Triar off at Valerie’s house. Yesterday morning, I drove to Dumfries. Several weeks ago, I wrote that I was about to go to a ceilidh and had tried to pack everything for the next six weeks or so, which involved going from the ceilidh, to Mum and Dad’s, then on to Middlesbrough, then to Norway. I thought I’d got away with it, but earlier this week, Booking.com told me they were about to charge me for my hotel in Norway and I thought, “I’ll change that to my Norwegian credit card, to save any charges for currency exchange,” which is when I realised my Norwegian credit card was safely at home in a drawer. I’m glad I did find out, because having got some overpaid tax back, I actually have holiday money to spend. Not that I’m expecting to go out much, but if I want to buy anything, it makes things easier. Well assuming I can remember the PIN for a card I haven’t used for a year…

Hmmm… I seem to have rambled, but what I was saying was that yesterday morning, I drove to Dumfries, then in the afternoon, on to Settle, from where I will take a train today, to Manchester Airport and from there, hopefully will fly to Tromsø. I’m staying there overnight in the hotel attached to the hospital, then tomorrow morning, all being well, I shall take the fast boat to Finnsnes, where I will be met by Shirley and Kai for the last leg of my journey to Sørreisa. It’s all a bit exhausting, truth be told. It would have been more relaxing to stay in a hotel overnight near the airport and park in one of the long stays, but locumming isn’t as profitable as you might think (my last paycheck showed that I received less than half of what the practice payed for me, after fees and taxes) and not being 100% certain of ongoing work on my return (there’s no sick pay, for example) I didn’t feel secure enough to blow over £200, when the train fare was only a quarter of that.

I really need to start planning better for my complicated holiday arrangements though. I took Friday off, but there was still an awful lot of driving, all of which is going to happen in reverse, on my return, only with even less time, because I’ve booked my car in for its MOT in Dumfries on the Monday. I fly back to Manchester on Saturday afternoon. I could possibly still change the date, but I’m not sure how long it will take for any work required on the car, and I need to get back to work, so on it goes.

Still, I’m feeling very cheery. I’m still loving locumming and I’m about to go see Shirley. Yr.no says it’s raining all week in Sørreisa and getting down almost to freezing later in the week, but that will just allow more time for baking and perhaps writing. I will miss Triar, but Bailey, Ulva and the cats will be there to keep me company.

I’ll leave you with a couple of autumn pictures from my walks with Triar. We discovered a beautiful, overgrown woodland graveyard this week. I tried to photograph an angel with an ivy halo growing around her head, and the dappled sunlight flitting across her face, but couldn’t really capture her properly. Still, as always, thanks for reading and have a good week all.