Another Non-Stop Month

I used to write this blog almost daily. It then slowed to weekly and I now find it's been a whole month since I last blogged. It's not for a shortage of things to write about but simply down to a lack of time (I am also fifty thousand words into writing my third novel). 

So what's happened this past month? I won't bore you with hundreds of words and will let the photos do the talking.

I don't think that I mentioned it in an earlier blog but our daughter Sarah and her partner Duncan have decided to get married. We were delighted with the news and when we went up to St Andrews early in September we had the opportunity to take a look at the venue that they've chosen. Cambo House is a super old house a few miles outside St Andrews and it's going to be a great location for the big day (or should I say big weekend) in December. Here are Marion and Sarah outside the property.

I love our regular trips to St Andrews and we were blessed with some decent late summer sunshine.

Granddaughter Melody celebrated her sixth birthday while we were there. I am so pleased that she and her sister are huge fans of Swallows And Amazons (my childhood favourite book) and Melody had a Swallows And Amazons themed party.

There was a travelling fair in Cupar during our visit. The girls loved it.

So did their Nanny.

I managed a few hours in the fields with the metal detector. I didn't find a great deal but was very pleased with this medieval seal matrix dating to c1300.

This is much older. I reckon it's an iron age toggle. I sent it with the seal to the Scottish Treasure Trove per Scottish regulations. They should confirm the identification.

We visited the Edinburgh museum whilst in Scotland. Here's part of the famous Millenium Clock. It's something of a monstrosity.

Back from Scotland we had  a few days in Suffolk. 

My recovery from the herniated disc continues and we managed a decent walk along the beach between Thorpeness and Aldeburgh and back.

We also enjoyed a good morning at the Glemham Hall Grande Brocante Fair

Then it was time to head down to Dorset.

We booked this super thatched cottage right by Lulworth Cove. It's a great holiday let and is a conversion of two cottages into one so it's very spacious. It's extremely well equipped and owned by a super couple we met on holiday in Bequia last year. We rented it through a letting agency. Google "Amy Cottage" or click on this link for details. 

Here are some of the highlights of our week in Dorset.

The world famous Durdle Door is within walking distance of Amy Cottage

The National Trust's Kingston Lacy is a forty minute drive

And well worth that drive

Statuary

The Japanese Garden

My back was sufficiently healed for me to walk from Lulworth Cove and all the way up this steep cliff.

The famous Stair Hole

Lulworth Castle - fascinating place

The sad village of Tyneham requisitioned by Churchill in WWII and now deserted

Marion with cottage owner Sue

Kimmeridge Bay - World famous for its fossils

Kimmeridge Strata

Although Kimmeridge is privately owned and the owners forbid the removal of fossils, the geology of the place is amazing and the fossils can be seen everywhere.It's a geologist's wet dream.

Just one of many

We couldn't miss a trip to Corfe Castle where we visited friends who we also met in Bequia.

The history of the castle is amazing. It was a huge place before the Parliamentarians blew it to pieces at the end of the Civil War.

The evidence of the destruction. It must have taken a hell of a lot of gunpowder to do this damage.

We got back to Suffolk in time to go to London on Saturday for another visit to the National Theatre. Hansard is outstanding. It's funny but also extremely sad and poignant. The cast of just two (Lyndsay Duncan and Alex Jennings) are superb. Highly recommended. 

We also found time yesterday to go to Cineworld in Ipswich where we saw Joker in the magnificent IMAX screen. I loved this. It's extremely dark but the cinematography is stunning and Joaquin Phoenix surely a shoo-in for the best actor Oscar. I imagine critics might carp at its portrayal of mental illness but ,with that one reservation, it's an outstanding film. 

Welcome To Framlingham

Our Town Council recently replaced the town signs to the four entry roads into Framlingham and decided to auction the old ones off.

Always on the lookout for interesting and quirky bits to add to the garden, we jumped at the opportunity and this sign will soon be adorning Marion's beach hut shed once the shed has been redecorated.

We were delighted to welcome old friends from up north to Fram during August.

Ex colleague and friend Liz and her family booked a holiday let near Wickham Market and we were so pleased that they took time out from their break to spend a day with us.

They enjoyed all the local landmarks and a good lunch at The Crown.

A few days after Liz's visit, our friends Dave and Jane Haworth who we've known for the best part of forty years came to stay. 

Dave celebrated his 65th birthday this year and we had a belated celebration.

Again we took in the local landmarks.

This time we dined at The Station and enjoyed a great pizza night.

Being almost fully recovered from my long lay off we were able to get out walking again. 

The circular walk from The Eel's Foot and back via Dunwich Heath is a perfect and easy ramble. FIne weather made the walk even more enjoyable and lunch at the Eel's Foot is highly recommended. 

A brief rest at one of the Minsmere hides.

The walk returns through wooded glades.

Dave and Jane's visit coincided with the opening of the Ed Sheeran exhibition at Christchurch Mansion so we decided to have a full day out in Ipswich.

The exhibition has been beautifully curated by Ed's dad John.

We walked down to the quay and had a good lunch at the Bistro On The Quay before making the long trek to Chantry Park for the first of Ed's four concerts.

The Darkness are a bit Marmite. I loved their self deprecating style - not everybody did.

Ed was excellent. We were celebrating Dave's birthday and it would have been a perfect celebration if not for a small group of drunken idiots who ended up alongside us. In a mostly very sober and well behaved crowd why did we have to end up next to them? They talked and shouted loudly throughout the performance and managed to put a cigarette through my favourite t-shirt. We moved after a while but the event was spoilt. 

We've not been to the theatre too often this year so we were happy to travel up to London a couple of weeks ago to another show at The National.

We met friends for a good pre theatre meal at the National's Terrace Restaurant before the performance of Secret River. The production has been getting rave reviews and five star write ups and, indeed, some of our audience gave the play a standing ovation. It's a good story of a land grab by English settlers (ex-convicts) from the aboriginal people in the 1800s. Tragically a leading aboriginal member of the cast died during the recent run in Edinburgh and we felt that the cast were understandably struggling with their loss and the show did not have the heart that it obviously has had. It would be churlish to criticise this and the group deserves praise for maintaining the tradition of 'the show must go on.'  

We took advantage of the London trip to go to the Royal Academy. Helene Schjerfbeck is possibly the best artist you've never heard of. Marvellous exhibition. 

We loved Felix Vallotton's work too. If I had to choose, I would pick Helene.

I took this photo of the latest fairground attraction on London's South Bank

This tiny sliver of glass caused a trip to A&E after I managed to tread on it in bare feet. It's hard to believe that such a tiny piece could cause so much bleeding (and pain).

Our friends having gone home we decided to keep up with the walking and had a great stroll along the river Deben between Melton and Woodbridge. 

This reminded me of the Saxon Longboat that was hauled up the hill on the opposite bank to the famous Sutton Hoo ship burial.

Today we saw Tarantino's latest Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. It's brilliantly done and Brad Pitt and Leo Dicaprio put in fantastic performances. Marion loved it. I loved it until the ending - I'm probably a bit too squeamish. 

Talking of fantastic performances, our son Paul's creation is still running and is now in its fourteenth series and even better on Ultra HD.