Sunday 16 April 2017

A Welcome Visitor (91)

We're back in Scotland for Easter. We wanted to spend some time with my mum but she's not as agile as she used to be and, as we worried about her managing the stairs in Framlingham, the stair-free caravan in St Andrews was a better option. We drove up on Sunday after a visit to the excellent Framlingham Show on Saturday.


The grandchildren love the story of Plop the little barn owl in The Owl Who Was Afraid Of The Dark so we took this photo to show them what she might look like.

The fair was blessed with perfect conditions.  



It was good to see the Morris Men continuing the ancient tradition but judging by the average age of the dancers it's a tradition that's unlikely to see this century out. 


It really must be one of the most idyllic country fair settings in the country.


Here's another lovely setting. Kellie Castle in Fife was the site for one of the Cadbury Egg hunts that ran at National Trust and National Trust for Scotland properties over the Easter break. (Note: National Trust members can get into National Trust For Scotland properties and vice versa so if you're thinking of joining one join the Scottish one as it's about £16 cheaper for a joint senior annual membership)


Rose and Melody enjoyed searching the wonderful castle gardens for a dozen or so Humpty Dumpties holding letters that made up the solution to the hunt. I was impressed with the clues that were not too simple and challenged the children to think. Some of the Humpties were easy to find but others needed careful searching to spot them. Well done Cadburys and Kellie Castle. 


Mum joined the family in the hunt and it was great for Sarah to see her nana and Rose and Melody their great nana.


Yesterday Mum took us all for fish and chips at the excellent Tail End here in St Andrews. After lunch we came back to the caravan where Marion conducted complex experiments involving pine cones, grass and cornflour with the girls.


Mum is enjoying her break. She's 91 now but still keeps herself busy on her iPad. She's not getting as much use of it here as we're limited to linking it to 3g on the iPhone and it's not very fast. She's a bit worried that her memory is not what it was but my memory is not what it was and I'm only sixty-three. 

To try and show her that she's not as bad as she thinks she is we gave her the Times Jumbo Crossword from last week.


And with a bit of help she managed to get it finished. The Alzheimer's isn't around the corner just yet. 


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