From Perth to Fife

I'm just back from a lovely couple of days break which started with a speaking engagement at the Perthshire Writers 40th anniversary of their writing group - a great achievement! I was leading a workshop in the afternoon, and husband and I drove up to Perth in time for me to join them for a buffet lunch while he wandered into the pleasant little town. We couldn't have asked for a better few days for driving north (and later east) in Scotland, with the sun shining and the scenery as beautiful as ever.

On the road to Perth, near Dunblane

I've adjudicated a story competition for the group on a previous visit and it was great to be with such a lovely, enthusiastic group of creative writers, some of whom have seen great success with short stories, articles, poetry and memoir. It was such an honour and pleasure to be invited to their celebrations and a great excuse to revisit the north!

Keavil House

Afterwards, we headed east to a favourite hotel in Fife where I enjoyed a couple of nights being wind and dined. We've been to Keavil House near Dunfermline many times over many years (for short stays now and then) and never tire of being in such a wonderful building full of history. It has a brilliant leisure pool and is one the most relaxing 'retreats' without being in the middle of nowhere, A five minute drive takes us to the lovely Pittencrieff Park where we can park the car at the entrance and have a good walk through it straight into Dunfermline's historic town.

Dunfermline Abbey

The added pleasure this time was meeting up with wee granddaughter and her parents on Sunday morning as they can drive across the Forth Road Bridge and be in Fife in about half an hour. Great fun feeding the squirrels and exploring the nooks and crannies of the park. On the eventual walk up to the town, the first sight is the stunning Abbey, burial place of Robert the Bruce and others. Beside it is the remains of the monastery and the palace. My favourite medieval Abbot's House is currently changing hands and I can't wait for it to reopen soon.

Aberdour Harbour

Silver Sands

In the afternoon, husband and I drove up the Fife coast to the beautiful little village of Aberdour where a walk in one direction took us towards the harbour, while a walk on the other side of the cliffs took us to the award winning Silver Sands. What a bonus when the sun came out and we sat and had a coffee without wearing jackets.

It might only have been a couple of nights away but we certainly made the most of the break and hopefully can now return to work fully charged!

Hope you all had a good weekend,
Rosemary

Autumn Colour and Poetry

We enjoyed a couple of nights away in Fife last weekend and although it ate into one of my busiest weeks, it was really good to relax and let someone else do the cooking. The hotel had a lovely leisure pool so we also went swimming for the first time in ages, something I’ve missed in recent years as I was always such a water baby.

The nearest big park, Pittencrieff at Dunfermline, is a favourite of mine and autumn is such a beautiful time to visit. Fortunately, the rain briefly came and went and we had time to admire the colourful trees and feed nuts to the wild squirrels. At the end of the short break, we visited the pretty little village of Culross on the way home where the old Palace added its own splash of colour.

On Wednesday evening, I was delivering the results of my adjudication of a short story competition to a writing group in a nearby town. It’s always a privilege to read other writers’ work and to be asked to write a written critique for everyone. But it’s also a tough job, as my opinions might differ from another judge. However, I do enjoy offering little pointers wherever I can and all of the entries were a pleasure to read. Thankfully, the story I chose as winner was always at the top of the pile.

I was pleased to hear that one of my previously published poems, Coffee at the Café, was included on the Poetry Scotland Keep Poems Alive website (you have to scroll down). It’s a lovely idea to give published poems another airing and this is one of the few I’ve written in Scots (but not too broad!).

This afternoon and evening (Tuesday), it’s our writing group Annual Dinner and Awards at a local country club. I’m looking forward to it, although I have to give back the amazing carved poetry award which I won last year. The winner each year has to put a copy of their poem inside the carved book as a record of the winning words – a lovely idea as I enjoyed reading all the previous winning poems!

I've just heard that the interview with Victoria and me is now on the RNA blog today - Keeping it in the Family. Thanks to Elaine Everest who asked the questions!

Rosemary

Time Out in Fife

We've just come back from a great few days away in Fife in the east coast of Scotland (we live in the west). It's been one of our favourite venues over the years and we love the particular hotel we stay at, Keavil House, which is like our own perfect retreat. The swimming pool is just a short walk across the path to its lovely leisure centre and it was wonderful to get back to swimming again after the full days exploring and walking.

Keavil House

It was also our anniversary at the weekend - a complete coincidence we chose that date! It's amazing how restful three days can seem away from the computer and all social media. The hotel had access to the Internet and a computer in the lounge for guests' free use but I only checked my email a couple of times and didn't reply to any while away. Instead, I had pen, paper and my camera and enjoyed taking time to notice everything around me. I even found a beautiful poppy field on our way to the coast, although it was beside a busy road and difficult to capture properly, or safely! But I also spotted many poppies growing at the side of another road.

                 

                                                                                              Poppy Field

We were very near to Dunfermline with its ancient Abbey and the medieval Abbot House. I've been there so often that husband can't believe I never get tired of exploring them and taking new photos each time, but the sense of history always gets inside me and the Abbot House is the best place to have coffee and cake! 

Dunfermline Abbey

Abbot House Garden

Back of Abbot House

We usually take a drive to the little fishing villages long the East Neuk and this time stopped in Pittenweem, which is still very much involved in the traditional fishing trade.

Pittenweem Harbour

South Queensferry, at one end of the magnificent Forth Road Bridge, is steeped in history and I discovered there's a boat trip out to a nearby island Abbey - a pleasure to keep in hand for our next visit. We even managed a trip up to St Andrews, famous for its golf, but it was a disappointingly muggy day and the sands weren't particularly appealing this time. But we did manage to have a nice lunch there!

Forth Rail Bridge

It has certainly recharged my batteries being away. Sometimes, we don't know how much we need a break from the usual routine until we're actually away and I'm now quite happy to get back to it all again!

Rosemary