The Secret Garden by the Sea

SURPRISE!

Ha, I'll bet you weren't expecting a new post so soon, hmmm?

Well, I wanted to share my pictures of the beautiful Cambo Estate with you all.

I hope you don't mind.

It was another GLORIOUSLY sunny day this Saturday 

(St. Patrick's day - Happy Belated St. Patrick's Day!).

A friend and I had been planning to go to the Cambo Estate for ages. Ever since the beginning of the snowdrop season, actually. The Estate is famous for their carpets of snowdrops.

However, other than a few late bloomers valiantly clinging to the tail of the season, we didn't see any. 

To get there, we took the bus from St. Andrews to the little town of Kingsbarns. 

A double decker bus. 

(Yes, Lexi, I have finally ridden in the top of a double decker bus. It wasn't red though.)

Once in Kingsbarns, we walked along the coast of the North Sea on the Fife Coastal Path. 

Most of the time we were parallel to a golf course. 

I can understand why people might want to play golf IF they could play on a course like this all the time. 

Anyways, pictures:

The church in Kingsbarns.

This is called a "kissing gate." 

The water was SO BLUE, we wanted to jump in.

On the Fife Coastal Path.

Officially on Cambo property.

Some of the only snowdrops we saw.

 We ate lunch in the little cafe area and then browsed the gift shop. Nearly everything was snowdrop-themed, including my tea mug. 

Or pig-themed.

We went and fed potatoes to the pigs. 

Piglets are cute :3

I wanted to take them home.

Unfortunately, they turn out like this... :p

The house looks like it belongs in a Jane Austen film.
One day, I will live in a house like this...

So we may have been too late for snowdrops and too early for anything else to have grown in the gardens, but it was still lovely. There is something about walled gardens that is almost magical, perhaps because they seem so separate from the rest of the world. 

With their walls and hedges and "secret" atmosphere, the Cambo gardens reminded me of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. 

This makes me think of Japan.

Can you not imagine Mary Lennox disappearing through there?

After we left the Estate, we climbed over a fence and traipsed through a field.

Eventually we made it back to the golf course. 

Finding the Fife Path again was a little more difficult, as it seems to weave in and around the course. 

We were never sure if we were on the golf course or on the path.

Almost worth learning to play golf...
But then, I could just go for a walk without lugging a bag of sticks around. 

It was one of those beautiful days that needed to be exclaimed over at regular intervals; the kind of day that made you happy.

The Past Month and a Half

Alright, alright! Here's another blog post. Honestly, the Facebook petition was really not necessary. And nice try padding the list: "Mr. Stephen Harper" shouldn't be wasting time on my blog anyway. There are far more important issues needing his attention. 

Well, where to start… Where we left off, I guess. 

This may take some time. 

My favourite bookshop.
I spend a lot of time browsing the little table that's usually outside while I wait for buses.
Just browsing. Honest. 

I have a time machine. 

The boys had three days off school in mid-February. Neil took a day off work and took the boys and me to Dundee. 

We went ICE SKATING.

I felt very Canadian because I used hockey skates and knew what the zamboni was called. 

Very few people use hockey skates here. Even the men had the little toe-picky kind. There were only two other people with hockey skates.

Speaking of hockey, apparently Dundee's hockey team is the best in Scotland. Maybe even Britain. I forget which I was told. 

James, Neil, and Thomas.

James.

Just takin' a little breather... 

I skate so fast, I'm a blur.

After skating, we went to the Discovery Point Museum. The museum was dedicated to the voyages of Captain Robert Falcon Scott (is that a cool name, or what? "Falcon"?!) to the Antarctic. 

While there were at least two expeditions, the main attraction was the RRS (Royal Research Ship) Discovery. The Discovery was the first ship to be built specifically for scientific reasons.  

She was also built in Dundee.

There were creepy mannequins all over the place. 

They brought this on the ship with them.
Since they spent large amounts of time stuck in Antarctic ice, they had to entertain themselves.
They had plays, talent shows, and wrote a newspaper.

RRS Discovery

On deck.

The Rudder is down there.

The flag off the bow.

That wee circle thing up there is the crow's nest. 

This cool doo-hickey was used for communicating with the folks taking care of the engine down below.

Where all the maps and things were kept.

A model of the 450-horse engine.
It could take about 6 tons of coal per day.

There are so many layers in the ship's hull! I was surprised to see how thick it actually was.

The Cook and his Cat.

The Mess Deck:
The crew's bunk area.

The Wardroom.
Where the officers ate.
Those doors in the background are their cabins.

This clever contraption is a wash basin.
When they closed it, the dirty water was tipped down that slot there.
Lucky officers.

Shackleton's (another famous explorer who later made his own trips to the Antarctic) cabin.
He was the first editor of the expeditions' newspaper, The South Polar Times; hence the typewriter.

The laboratory where they pickled things.

Well, I'd say that Spring has officially sprung. The snowdrops started in early February already, and the crocuses are cropping up all over.

These next pictures were taken on another of the boys' days off. We went for a long walk with the dogs.

Tom pulling a face - as usual :)

Jim-bob.

James on the awesome swing that someone put up on the way up the Hill.

Tom's turn.

My turn.
Note the awesome wellies that have now seen better days :(

The intrepid explorer.

Hehe :]

Blazing a trail through the heather.

Eeyore's house!
For realskies.

Me and my boys :)

These were taken a couple days ago. More evidence of Spring :) 

Some very pregnant ewes.

Bryn's so handsome :)

That's Dundee in the distance there, across the River Tay.

Guardbridge, on the way to St. Andrews, and in the opposite direction to Dundee.
Just showing off my camera's zoomy power :]

St. Andrews is the blurry bit with spires and things.

Asher

Tessy-belle

Cool blue window/door thing.

This past Saturday, lunch with a couple of new friends turned into an impromptu expedition to Dundee.

Dundee is quite different from St. Andrews. 

It has more of an "edge."It is more modern, and far less fairy-tale like.

The people are more "normal,"as a friend said. As in, they're less likely to have daddies that own castles...

I haven't got many pictures from there, but another trip is in order as shopping is far less expensive than St. Andrews. And there's more selection.

So more pictures will follow.

The Art Gallery.
Most of Dundee is NOT like this, but I took a picture because it is such a cool building!

Robbie Burns.
Scottish people are very proud of him.
They even have Burns Day that involves reciting poetry and doing highland dancing and stuff.
They recite Burns' poem "Ode to a Haggis" as this specimen of Scottish cuisine is ceremoniously carried in and then stabbed before it is eaten.

Sunday morning in St. Andrews again. 

My bus arrives an hour before the morning church service starts, so I have some time to spend...

Thankfully, this Sunday was lovely and sunny! 

Fountain in Market Street

A pretty little garden down a side street that I've only recently discovered.

Cool wrought iron fence.

Nearly every Sunday morning, I make a trip down to the pier.

I love it.

Waves and wind are kind of mesmerizing.

The harbor side of the pier.

Off the end of the pier, looking out onto the North Sea.

Well folks, that's all for now. I should really go to sleep now.

I may have to come back and edit this, but there is a NEW POST! 

Crazy eh?