This One's For Liz

I don’t want to bore readers too much with baby photos but one of my old colleagues, Liz, asked me to post more on the blog and I am, of course, delighted to oblige. Rose is still only four weeks old but the changes in her are amazing. I reckon that if one of those time-lapse cameras was focused on her you would actually see her grow. She has started to recognise people now but only really has eyes for her mummy and daddy. Although we’ve seen a fair few smiles since she arrived, they have always been linked to wind but I’m pretty sure that this is one of her first genuine ones.

The bikes duly arrived. Nicholsons of Dundee lived up to the great impression that they created on Saturday when we bought them and they arrived right on time on Tuesday evening to deliver them. They had fitted all the extras we had ordered such as lights, mudguards and a pannier and they only had to adjust the seats and helmet fittings and we were on our way. The weather was good so we had a short ride. The bikes have about 24 gears and are extremely light. I couldn’t get over how fast they are compared to the ones we used to have and those that we rode on our holiday on Ile De Re in May. The gears go low enough to get us up some pretty steep hills without too much effort and we can get to the nearest supermarket in just over ten minutes and out into the country in a few seconds.

I took advantage of the new mobility last night and cycled out to a couple of local farms to ask for permission to do some metal detecting. It’s wonderful to have so many fields within half an hour’s cycling time when I am used to having to drive almost two hours in the car. Six o’clock seemed to be a good time to call as three of the four farmers I visited were at home. All three were very friendly and two were happy to give me permission to search when the crops are harvested in around four weeks time. The third would have been pleased for me to search but is in partnership with his brother who is against the hobby so it was a no from him. I just need to find somewhere that is not under crop so I can have a try before we go back to Southport.

It’s really a home from home here now and we have managed to settle into a routine. It’s very comfortable and we’ve got almost everything we need including a great shower and two small bathrooms. Cooking has taken some getting used to as the oven is small but there are only two of us and we are getting the hang of it now. One minor snag is the super sensitive smoke alarm, which goes off every time I use the toaster. I have started to drape a towel over it when making breakfast but to no avail. We’ll either have to stop eating toast or put up with breakfasting to the sound of beeping. There’s plenty to do around here. This weekend there are festivals at Pittenweem (art) and at Anstruther (boats), there’s open air Shakespeare at the Hill of Tarvit (weather permitting) and a farmers’ market here in St Andrews so we won’t be short of things to keep us entertained. Next week we’re going to Edinburgh to try and see a couple of acts at the Fringe.