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.

Four Generations Together

My mum joined us here in St Andrews on Sunday. We invited her up north to spend a couple of nights in the Old Course Hotel and give her the chance to meet her latest great granddaughter, Melody,  for the first time. 

We took her for afternoon tea at Rufflets Hotel just outside town. The spread was enormous. Rose chose this lot although, I hasten to add, she didn't eat it all. 

In fact the hotel provided so much that we took this lot home with us.

Melody is growing fast and Mum was very happy to meet her.

And Rose loved playing with her and showing off her talents at jigsaw puzzles.

Mum will be 88 in a couple of weeks. She's doing very well. If I get down on the floor to play with the grandchildren it takes me half an hour to get back up again. We're taking her back to  Edinburgh today to catch the train back home. We hope that she's had a good time. We enjoyed having her here.

A Trying Time Ahead

With our move to Suffolk planned for around 14 January we’ve plenty going on in the forthcoming weeks so the summons that arrived this morning for Marion to appear as a witness in a Scottish court early in the new year was not exactly welcome. The case dates back to a fraud we experienced almost three years ago. Let’s hope that it doesn’t throw a spanner into the works of the house move.

It’s almost a week now since the WIFI signal at the caravan site disappeared and, although the service provider Caravan Connect tell us that they are working on it and parts are on their way, with the caravan site office closing on Friday we are facing an internet free Christmas – that means almost no Twitter , no metal detecting forums, no eBay, no Facebook – I’ll probably realise how much time I waste on them all. I’m only able to upload this blog as I’m babysitting for Sarah and Duncan. Tonight is the last chance for them to take advantage of our proximity for a week or so as we’re off on another tour tomorrow.

As it’s below freezing here at the moment we need to drain down the caravan completely and then put antifreeze into the u bends and toilet bowls to make sure that we don’t return to the disaster of cracked pipes. After that we’re off to Southport. We were hoping to have a meal with my mum, my brother Pete and his wife Val but Val is ill so that’s not going to happen. At least we should get to see Mum and to exchange family Christmas presents before heading down to Framlingham to catch up on the house – there should be some pretty significant changes as it’s almost a month since our last trip.

After that we’re back here in St Andrews this time next week for a relaxing Christmas before hitting the road again to Rochester after Boxing Day and hopefully dropping in on a few friends between then and the new year prior to heading back to Framlingham to oversee some wardrobes being fitted there on 3^rd Jan.    

Yesterday we used a wonderful treat that Sarah and Duncan bought me for my birthday and enjoyed a fabulous champagne afternoon tea at Rufflets – a lovely country house hotel just outside St Andrews. Although we only ate an early morning breakfast and had no lunch we still struggled to finish the magnificent late afternoon feast. There are so many great places to eat and drink in and around St Andrews. Although there are many places worthy of a mention, we like Mitchells best for snacks or coffee and cakes and The Seafood Restaurant for fine dining. We’ve got a lunch booked there on the Saturday before Christmas and are really looking forward to it.

Looking At Options In St Andrews

We've been on a bit of a hunt with Sarah today. After going down the road to Rufflets hotel for a lunchtime snack (above) we went a little further to the Craigtoun Meadows Holiday Park to have a look around.

Why were we looking around a caravan park? You might ask. Well, we're looking for solutions to facilitate visiting Sarah and Duncan and the baby without having to impose on them. We know what it's like to have a new addition to the family and it's hard enough without guests under your feet so we're considering alternatives. A holiday cottage would be ideal but comes along with significant headaches like keeping on top of the garden and the worry of leaving it empty (even without taking the hefty cost into consideration). St Andrews' hotels are lovely but they aren't exactly a home from home and you've got to get out of the room and go out to eat.


So a holiday caravan is not such a bad idea.  The five star site was beautifully maintained and the latest caravans are pretty well fitted out and might be a sensible compromise. Unlike cottages, they depreciate so at the end of the fourteen year life span you are left with nothing but at the same time the money saved on the initial outlay should earn some interest. We reckon it all boils down to how often we  (and our friends and family) would use it. If we got over twelve weeks' use per year it might make sense. Any less and we would be better off renting cottages (subject to availability). A bit of a dilemma for us but we've plenty of time to talk about it.

Tonight we're off to Nahm Jim the Thai restaurant in St Andrews that reached the semi final of Ramsay's Best Restaurant and was voted the best Thai restaurant in the UK out of over 2,000. We've been before and it's a very pleasant place with an interesting menu and we'll see if it still lives up to expectations or , as recent Trip Advisor reviews suggest, is resting a bit on its laurels.

It was good to see some old friends from the past dangling amongst Sarah's washing. Chicaboo and Ted are almost as old as she is but have just had a spin in the washing machine and don't look a day older than the day we bought them.


A big thank you to son Paul who somehow managed to find our appearance on Treasure Hunt on YouTube. Were we really once this young?