April was a wonderful month, weather wise, one of the warmest and sunniest on record. We also had a visit from Emma and Alessio. So at long last we were able to get out and about a bit and enjoy the countryside. We started with a trip down to one of our favourite haunts - the East Neuk of Fife. Below is a view from the local cheese makers over Anstruther and out to the isle of May in the Firth of Forth.
Sunday 3rd of April was Mother's Day over here and Elena and her boys treated Kathleen to afternoon tea at Rufflets, a lovely Edwardian house, now a hotel and restaurant. It is just outside St. Andrews and has lovely gardens. Luckily I was invited too. Here are the two of us in a photo taken by Jamie I think.
As the good weather kept up we managed to get in a visit to Montquhanie gardens where they had a few wooden sculptures lying about the grounds. Below is a giant sized pear. Unfortunately they were rather expensive, as I quite fancied one for my garden.
Our own little garden was ablaze with colour for all of the month, especially with tulips. Below are two photos of the same part of the garden, one early on with the tulips just ready to burst open and the other with them in full bloom.
Later in the month we had the pleasure of a visit from Emma and Alessio. The photo below was taken by Alessio on one of our lunches out.
We took advantage of Emma's visit to explore some of the nearby countryside. Below is a study in red with Emma and Alessio by a lovely red rhododendron bush on the banks of the river Tay in the grounds of Dunkeld Cathedral. This was one of the few rainy days - really only the morning.
Beatrix Potter the famous writer of children's classics such as Brer Rabbit, used to spend her summer holidays in this part of the world. Here are some of her characters which are on display in a wonderful chocolatier shop and café in Grandtully, a tiny hamlet just north of Dunkeld.
Food was quite a highlight of the month and Emma treated us all to these gorgeous cupcakes from a speciality shop in St. Andrews. They were yummy.
Alessio of course, like all little boys, likes nothing better than running around, especially in a playpark. Luckily there are some very fine ones close by. Here he is pretending to skateboard at the Blue Seaway park in Monifieth.
We ended the month where we started, back in the East Neuk. Alessio had a great time playing on the sandy beach at Pittenweem. As well as the sand there are some lovely pebbles and rocky outcrops on the beach. I end with this photo of some seaweed washed up on the beach.
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