End of summer

Ok, so summer seems to be at an end...for the school holidays anyway. Having grown up and schooled in England I still find it hard to get my head around the concept of summer holidays finishing in August..but that's the way it is.
We had a long and varied time, visiting places, loving the sun and generally relaxing. We hope you all had a great time too.

Wedding fever

A good friend is getting married in a few days and a group of us suggested that we make some tissue pom poms to decorate the venue. This of course needed an evening of chat, tea, wine, popcorn and much creativity! They are really simple to make, but not, if you know what I mean, as they are so delicate.

I think the world was put to rights with lots of laughter and the whole thing overseen by this gorgeous bundle

The task was achieved and my kitchen ended up full of pompoms, which look amazing en masse. They just need to be transported to the venue and hung now. 

Happy times! 

Boat trip

A week or so ago had to cancel a weekend trip because of a rain....lucky though, as we finally ended up with a gorgeous sunny day to take the Osprey rib to the Isle of May.

The trip takes about half an hour, longer really, as the Skipper stops when you are near the island to tell you about the wildlife and you get to see the puffins, seals & shags up close. 

We were dropped on the island and then spent a few hours exploring and wandering around. It is a beautiful, unspoilt place, that has no inhabitants, just the rangers that are there for 7 months of the year monitoring the birdlife. We had to walk strictly on the paths so as not to disturb nests and burrows. 

We had forgotten to bring binoculars, but we didn't need them as we saw so many birds and animals up close. All of them completely unfazed by the visitors. 

I think that we found the puffins the most entertaining; they are much smaller than we realised and were so funny to watch. They look as though they have only just learnt to fly, as their take off and landing all looks a bit haphazard! They are amazingly efficient at scooting out and returning with bundles of fish in their beaks for their young. I'm not a great one for birdwatching, but these wee characters are so funny and charming. They live for about 40 years too and mate for life. 

We were collected by the Osprey later in the afternoon; the skipper showing us around the side of the island we had not seen when we came in.  We returned to Anstruther harbour tired and hungry, so a well deserved trip to the famous Fish Bar was a must! 

Summer holidays

I can't believe that the summer holidays are nearly over. They have gone by in a flash. The boys have had lots of trips, Italy, England & a beach holiday. I have yet to get away, but with the amazing weather I have managed a few gorgeous trips to the beach and working in the garden when it has been lovely & warm.
We did get over to Kellie Castle and had a quick wander around the beautiful walled garden.

It is so lovely to see such a beautiful space, and I can't help having a bit of garden envy, as we have such a large unruly plot! While we were there, we saw a head that my son had sculpted at school and it was chosen to be cast and displayed in the Kellie Castle grounds-very exciting! 

A lovely sunny afternoon, that ended in a wander around Pittenweem, watching the preparations for the Arts Festival and boats going out for the evening's fishing.