Can It Really Be Three Years?

It seems like only yesterday that we had a phone call from Duncan to tell us we were grandparents for the first time. It was early in the morning and, as the baby was not due for another week or so, we had no inkling that she would be arriving so soon. I had promised to pick my mum up from Liverpool Airport that afternoon so we couldn't drop everything and head to Scotland immediately so, by the time we left home, we were in danger of missing visiting time. Fortunately, the roads were clear and we managed to fly up the motorway and arrive in Dundee with five minutes to spare and, somehow, maintain our unblemished driving licences.

How things change in three years! We spent 6th July helping Sarah and Duncan to give their little Rose a lovely birthday party. It was themed on Pirates and Fairies (Rose is hooked on these Disney characters) and the guests made a real effort so we had a garden full of Tinkerbells and Captain Hooks. All the fairies including Marion were girls and all the pirates including Duncan and me were boys so there was no groundbreaking swapping of gender stereotypes. Sarah baked a very pretty cake and arranged lots of games including a treasure hunt, painting and pinning a parrot on the pirate. Apart from a brief shower (for which Duncan had sensibly taken the precaution of borrowing a number of gazebos) the weather was kind and a lot of happy little kids, including the birthday girl, had a super afternoon.

Rose was a purple fairy.

Melody was a blue one.

Marion was a multi-coloured one.

We've had a week of continuing poor WIFI cover at the caravan. Caravan Connect advise us that our site is at the extremity of the park so we are basically getting what's left of the signal by the time everyone else has used it. It's so poor that downloading the Archer's Omnibus which usually takes a minute or two has taken almost an hour (and several reboots). At least service is normal with the radio and TV. I loved Lily Allen's Desert Island Discs. I'm not very familiar with her music but her desert island choices were right up my street and I think sales of this one are going to rocket.

Nanny And Granddad's Big Adventure

When we were round at Sarah’s and Duncan told Rose that she would be coming to stay with us at the caravan for a night on Sarah’s birthday, wild excitement ensued. When Marion had calmed down, all the arrangements were put in place for Sarah and Duncan to go to the lovely Fairmont St Andrews Bay hotel for a day of spa treatments and a night in luxury accommodation while we had our first experience of looking after a two year old for almost thirty years.

Sarah looked great on her birthday. She’s expecting our next grandchild in just two months but she’s still busy both taking yoga classes and instructing them. She deserves the break.

We took Rose away from the hotel at lunchtime and headed back to Craigtoun Meadows for the fun packed afternoon Marion had planned. It started with a trip to the playground where Rose promptly fell asleep in her buggy and remained flat out for the next two hours.

When she awoke she was freshly invigorated and we enjoyed all the delights that Craigtoun has to offer.

Rose played on all the playground slides and swings.

Then we walked the woodland trail hunting for rabbits but only managed to find lots of pinecones.

From the woodland trail we went to the games room where Rose had a look at the racing game and was then fascinated by half a dozen little girls playing on the dance machine. Rose’s version of the dance was both energetic and original.

A day out with grandparents has to include a treat, so we headed to the famous Janetta’s Ice cream Parlour in St Andrews for some ice cream. Rose managed very well and didn’t make a big mess.

By now we were all exhausted and it was time to head back to the caravan for tea and bedtime. 

As it doesn't go dark here at the moment until after 10.pm we had to improvise some blackout's for Rose's window.

We all had a great day. I hope that Sarah and Duncan didn’t spend all of their break worrying but I wouldn’t be surprised if they did.

I Missed My Vocation

We exchanged contracts today and will officially own the house in Framlingham next Thursday. We've got to get all our ideas together for the architect so I downloaded a brilliant free program to help us to get our project designed. It's called Sweet Home 3D and it allows you to draw the layout of the house and then add all the features you want. Once you've done that you can add furniture and fixtures and then view it from every angle in 3D. You can even create a video run through of the property. I've only created walls and played around with a few bits of furniture so far but it's starting to take shape. It's not only fun to do it's also extremely useful as we've already changed the size and position of openings in walls, moved a wall 700mm back and moved radiators around. Without the program we would definitely have an inferior set of instructions for the builders. If I was starting out on a career again I would love to be working on something like this.

After a flying visit to Suffolk on Monday we're now on a flying visit to St Andrews. I know I'm getting on a bit now and I do have the odd accident with food but I'm not sure that Sarah was justified in putting this table mat in my place at the table when we popped round for lunch today.

And on the subject of food, here's a bit of haute cuisine from our wonderful motorway system. I won't name the service station as the woman who served us this dog's breakfast did so with charm but £5.99? If she'd had the benefit of Sweet Home 3D I'm sure that it would have been obvious that that hash brown should have been presented just below the sausage and the bacon shifted up a little - not that any of that would have resurrected the fried egg that must have been fried some time last week.  

Sarah is so busy getting ready for her Boden home shopping party on Tuesday that I was allowed to take Rose out on my own. We had a trip to the supermarket - what a joy! Who needs round the world cruises when you can spend an hour with a grandchild?

She's fast approaching her first birthday and is starting to find her feet. She's not walking yet but it surely won't be very long.

And here's an invitation to that Boden party. There's 20% off, free home delivery (and return) and, of course, a chance to try the clothes - something that you don't get buying online. If you are in St Andrews on Tuesday and want a super new outfit come along, check out the wide range on show and share a few refreshments. 

La Petite Gourmette

Duncan wanted to treat us to lunch at the fabulous Seafood Restaurant before we head off down the motorway for home. It's been a highlight of many a trip to St Andrews so I was disappointed when we phoned to make a reservation and discovered there was no high chair available for Rose. However, after tweeting my disappointment, Tim at the restaurant got in touch and offered to find a high chair for us so happiness prevailed. 

Serving wonderful dishes like my delicious crab tart starter and scrumptious turbot main , it's not exactly the place for chicken nuggets and chips so it isn't somewhere to take a hungry family with typical school age children (although do give it a try if they're adventurous). But, as Rose is at the very early stages of eating solid food and will try anything, it was perfect and she merrily tucked into small portions of her dad's turbot, Marion's courgette, Sarah's bread and crab cake and my er well that was enough for her wasn't it? We had an excellent lunch washed down with a lovely crisp bottle of white wine and a glorious tarte tatin dessert. Service was friendly and welcoming and we had a super long and leisurely time reminiscent of holidays in France when Sarah and Paul were growing up.

And if great food and service is not enough for you, just look at the restaurant's location (photo borrowed with apologies from their website). Perched above the sea, diners are able to enjoy the view and the sound of the waves crashing or lapping depending on the weather and the state of the tide. For fine dining, it's as good as it gets. It's five stars from us and a big thank you to Duncan.

At the head of the table

The waiter just cracked a joke

And to show that she's not picky and doesn't only go for fine dining, we took Rose to Pizza Express on Tuesday where she tucked into her mum's pizza with gusto.

Back In Fife

We didn't sleep well last night after going out for a big meal at The Warehouse in Southport. So, instead of waiting we got up at 4.50, dressed, loaded the car and were on our way to St Andrews long before the alarm was set to go off. As we reached Scotland we were met with rainbow after rainbow - a colourful welcome back to Alba. It's great to be back and, as most of the caravan owners work in the week and only visit the site at the weekend, once again, we've got the place almost to ourselves.

And here are two very good reasons for buying the caravan. We still can't get over how wonderful it is to be able to see daughter Sarah and granddaughter Rose without getting under their feet. We've probably had almost ten weeks here in the last eight months and, without the caravan it would have been maybe two at most. Although it's only six weeks since we last saw them, Rose has made great progress and she's now sitting up comfortably and eating a huge variety of different foods. The method Sarah is using to wean Rose involves her eating exactly the same stuff as her mum and dad - so this evening she tucked into paella (of all things) and enjoyed it immensely.

Just down the road from Sarah and Duncan is this old doocot (dovecote). It's an historic building and has been very sympathetically restored. It once sat in the middle of a farmstead but is now hidden within a modern housing estate.

Nanny Marion is in her element with children and had a great afternoon getting to know Rose again. I'm sure that she recognised us though.

I mentioned my nephew Chris and his wife Becky's new arrival on my last blog and here is the first photo of baby Emmy who weighed in at a healthy 8lbs plus. I'm sure there is a bit of a family resemblance  there. I'm delighted that all went well.


I'll leave you today with this great video that I've been saving for our return to Scotland.


Scotland The World Over from Blipfoto on Vimeo.

So That's Christmas Over

Well not quite. We've still got all these unopened presents and tomorrow we're off to St Andrews to play Father Christmas and deliver them to our super daughter Sarah, her partner Duncan and our lovely little Granddaughter Rose.

It's difficult to celebrate the big day as one big family now that our kids have their own partners and live at opposite ends of the country. And that's sad in one way but on the positive side we've been able to celebrate twice as we spent Boxing Day and Tuesday visiting Paul and Josephine in London when Josephine's mum Jenny cooked us a fantastic Boxing Day dinner. Although we only had a few days in E14 we crammed a lot into our time and managed to walk from the East End to the South Bank along the Thames Path on Tuesday morning and we enjoyed a meal at Gordon Ramsay's Limehouse pub in the evening.

We had some super Christmas presents. We've got a gift token that will let us see ten films in 2012 before we start paying again and we've a nice selection of wines and some great books too. Perhaps the most fascinating gift is Josephine's. She has treated Paul and me to a weekend of golf tuition in Sussex. It includes an overnight stay and it will be great to spend some time with my son as, living so far apart, I miss him very much. I'm sure that the world of golf will have seen nothing like it before as, other than a few school summer holidays working on the Arnold Palmer crazy golf in Southport I have never picked up a golf club in my life. I'm pretty sure that Paul is equally inexperienced although I doubt that he will be quite as inept as his dad. Fortunately I think that we are only going to be let loose on the golf course for a couple of hours so we won't be able to do too much damage to the immaculate greens and fairways. Who knows, if I find a hidden talent I may be able to book a round next time I'm in Fife.

Marion and I went to Peacehaven on Roe Lane for Christmas dinner. We ate in the dining room with Flo and about forty other old people. We thought that other non-residents might be there but we were the only ones. The staff put in a huge effort and dressed as elves and snowmen and we enjoyed a pleasant meal. It's the first time since our daughter arrived 31 years ago that Marion has not cooked a Christmas dinner and it was certainly a very different Christmas day.

We're not going to stay in the caravan in Scotland this time as we've only got three days in St Andrews and it's not worth setting up the heating and reconnecting the water, gas and electricity for such a short time but we do hope to get back there again before the site closes for February.

Yes Sir That's My Babies

For me, parenthood is the best thing in the world: it's better than all those other things we think are important like careers, homes and pastimes. So last weekend was a very special one as we were not only able to spend it with our lovely daughter Sarah but also with our equally lovely granddaughter Rose who braved the worst that Scotland could throw at them to make it to Southport in one piece on Thursday. We didn't do a lot but being together was very special.

We were able to get out and about with the baby thanks to our wonderful cake making friend Jan Harbon who loaned us this magnificent baby carriage allowing us to take Rose on the dog muck avoiding exercise that is a walk in the local park (aren't they supposed to pick it up - the owners that is not the dogs). It seems that despite the dogs on a lead signs the done thing is to let the dogs off the lead and then carefully inspect a couple of manky rose bushes whilst, to their complete ignorance, Rover and Lassie do their own thing - slap bang in the middle of the path. We'll miss seeing the big old pram in the hall, it has such a homely feel to it.

The log fire came in handy as Sarah and Duncan are keen on being green and Rose has real nappies and not disposables. They're nothing like the nappies our kids had. They're very swish and come complete with fancy pants. They seem to be good for the baby as she's very comfortable in them and Sarah says she's had virtually no nappy rash at all.


You'll have to indulge me now as I upload some photos I promised to post here so my mum can copy them.

Happy Granddad

Happy Nanny

Happy Great Grannies

And Little Miss Sunshine

Thank you.


It's back to reality now and the business of helping Flo sort out her Christmas presents today. We're having a little party for her friends on Thursday so it's off to the supermarket for plenty of Sherry and Turkey.

As little Rose disappears like the Cheshire Cat back to Scotland.

Home For The Holidays

Sarah braved everything the weather threw at her yesterday and managed to get Rose down from Scotland to see us despite her train being cancelled and Duncan having to drive them to Inverkeithing to find one that was running. They did well to beat the storm that rapidly became  known as Hurricane Bawbag on Twitter and then on the BBC and in other media until someone pointed out that Hurricane Scrotum didn't have quite the same cachet as Irene, Katia or Andrew. They arrived in Preston almost four hours late but we made the most of the delay by taking in the town's delights - we spent the afternoon enjoying a cup of tea in Morrisons.

We are so pleased that they made it as it gave Marion's mum Flo the chance to see her great granddaughter for the very first time. Flo has been in a rest home for three or four weeks now. It hasn't been easy for her but she finally seems to be starting to settle there and she was thrilled to meet Rose. 


Sarah's a great mum and Rose is coming on in leaps and bounds and can do so many more things than she could the last time we saw her. They have so much more for babies than they did when Paul and Sarah were infants and Sarah tells us that before they learn to talk lots of kids are learning to sign so she has enrolled Rose for signing classes.

I'll reserve judgement on that one.


Staying with the home for the holidays theme, I realise that the following is probably an exploitative piece of cynical manipulation by one of the world's largest companies. But cynical or not, I challenge you to watch it with a dry eye.





And on a more blatantly commercial level here's another that's nonetheless a joyful representation of having family home is all about. 

A Great Welcome For Rose

It was a busy day at Doocot Road here in St Andrews on Saturday when Sarah and Duncan held a celebration party to welcome our granddaughter Rose. Over sixty friends and family came to join the celebrations and Rose behaved impeccably throughout and was awake for much of the proceedings so all the guests had a chance to meet her. Everybody remarked on what a wonderful cake Jan Harbon had made for the occasion, it didn’t only look fabulous but also tasted great too although it looked so good it was a shame to cut into it.

 There was plenty to eat and drink and we only had enough left over for a few snacks on Sunday and Monday.

It was so nice for us to see our son Paul who we hadn't seen for months. He made a flying visit to meet his niece for the first time and they both scored a big hit with each other. He and Josephine (who was sadly unable to make it due to work commitments) bought Rose some fabulous books that she will love as she grows older. (Paul and Sarah did).

My sister Julie flew in from Spain for a couple of nights.

And my mum was able to catch a train up to Leuchars to see her first great grandchild - another is on the way soon.

Sarah, Duncan and Marion worked extremely hard to make sure that everything ran smoothly whilst I felt a bit guilty for escaping most of the hard work by driving backwards and forwards to Edinburgh airport to pick up the family. Marion did manage to get a few moments with Rose.


Now that the celebrations are over, we have time to start relaxing for the rest of our time here in the caravan. I had a couple of hours out with the metal detector yesterday but got bogged down by so much mud that I ended up with my super lightweight detector weighing a ton and my wellies feeling like I was wearing platform soles. The weather is looking changeable so we can't get out on the bikes at the moment but fingers crossed it will pick up soon and we can make the most of our stay.