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.