Sizzling In St Andrews

We’ve been regular visitors to St Andrews ever since we first drove daughter Sarah up to start university here about fifteen years ago and “sizzling” is not a word that immediately springs to mind in association with this lovely place. But “sizzling” is exactly what it has been for the last couple of days with temperatures rising into the high twenties, ice cream parlours working overtime and the editor of the local paper no doubt working on his “Phew What A Scorcher” headlines to be accompanied by photos like this of not only hundreds of people on the fabulous beach but many of them actually IN THE WATER.

We couldn’t miss the opportunity to enjoy some of the sunshine and set out on our bikes for a pleasant ride up to Allanhill where there’s a great café with lots of open-air seating and these amazing views of St Andrews.

After the climb up to Allanhill it was all downhill to the coast where the hordes were enjoying the three lovely St Andrews beaches.

After the ride we headed to nearby Craigtoun Park where I rowed the family around the boating lake (note the natty life jackets – health and safety gone mad).

Rose loved playing in the woods.

The weather forecasters said that it would be wet today but could not have been more wrong as we woke to clear blue skies stretching to the horizon. We went to Perth with Sarah, Rose and Melody to see the Peppa Pig live show – great fun for kids.

The glorious weather continued after the show so we decided to head for somewhere to eat lunch outside. We settled for Rufflets Country House Hotel just outside St Andrews. We had a very nice lunch on the terrace and the kids were able to run around without spoiling other diners’ enjoyment of their meals.

After that I had another ride on the bike. The forecast remains good for tomorrow (which probably means it will be pouring with rain) so maybe we can find time for another bike ride before starting to get packed and ready to head back home to Framlingham.

Waiting For Bob

We're up in St Andrews again after almost two months away. We're here waiting for the arrival of "Bob" - granddaughter Rose's name for her soon to arrive little brother or sister. We thought that we'd left the glorious weather behind us in Framlingham but, as you can see from this photo, summer is still lingering on here in Fife too and this afternoon we spent a pleasant afternoon at nearby Allan Hill farm shop and children's play area which overlooks the town.

Rose is really growing up. It may only be seven or eight weeks since we were here but in those few weeks she has grown taller and her talking has developed in leaps and bounds  - we thought she was doing well stringing eight or nine words together in July but she can now converse fully.

I am pleased with this iPhone photo of her at play.

When we got back from the trip out Rose demonstrated the new double buggy to us. This is where she'll be sitting with "Bob" next to her. As for "Bob" - there's no sign of him or her just yet but we're ready. We're like a couple of firemen waiting for a call or two RAF pilots waiting to scramble. It means no drinking when we get back to the caravan in case we have to drive to look after Rose so perhaps we'll lose a bit of weight if Bob doesn't arrive on time at the weekend.