Fife 2022
Another year in Fife
Contains 2436 photos, the last of which were added 1 year, 11 months, 7 days, 23 hours, 9 minutes, and 18 seconds ago.
New year's day loony dook, and walks around the village. It was 13c! Practically summer.
Beach walkies and sofa snuggles.
It was drizzly and grey but Max doesn't care. He got very muddy. Fortunately the sea was on hand. (A couple of hours, to Wemyss and back.)
A braw sunset, seen with Max from a loop around Ravenscraig Park. (I still can't believe I live here.)
Beach and sunrises are much the same as I left them.
Some braw sunrises, as usual. Some days freezing, some days mild. And views from my newly elevated hammock.
New tea stall at the Friday market. Walkies and snoozles with Max.
Beautiful Dysart.
Rainy walk along Ravenscraig beach.
Lowenna came to visit. She and Max tornado'd around for a while until Max decided she smells tooooo good and they had to be separated by a door. Outside, the ball was not enough of a distraction, and I had to pry Max off her then hold him down with my full weight while M took Lowenna out of the way. Sigh.
Another beautiful day with Max.
Max had a run in with a beagle thing called Banjo in Ravenscraig Park. We crossed paths twice, the first time was fine though it was clear Banjo didn't like Max. The second time Max was strutting a bit but keeping his distance, then Banjo just went for him. It does Max good to get snapped at from time to time, especially by smaller dogs, because he's used to being the alpha. I didn't realise Banjo actually drew blood until we were a little way down the path (and I could hear Banjo getting a good telling off behind us). It was just a nick to his ear, but turns out they bleed a lot. When we got home he splattered blood all over the floors and back of the sofa. I washed it out and he rolled onto his back with his head in my lap to let me do it. Then I nipped to the pharmacy for bandages. I put an adhesive dressing on it and tied his ear down to stop him from flapping, but I wasn't sure I'd cleaned it well enough, but also didn't want to do more damage by cleaning too hard. Plus I was worried about infection from Banjo. So I called the vet, they booked me a slot an hour and a half later, and K came to rescue us in the car.
That was an exciting adventure for Max. He was in there for over an hour. They shaved a bit of fur, cleaned him up properly and glued the skin flap down, then bandaged him really tightly to stop him flapping. He shook it off before I'd even paid. So they took him back, and tried again with extra heavy industrial strength bandage.
He was gloomy about this, but had squirmed out of it by bedtime. Thankfully he seems to have stopped bleeding, though.
Today's ambling around Dysart.
Sunrises, beach walkies, full moon.
Braw day with the braw dog.
Max being cosy in various chairs.
Max takes downward dog very seriously.
A drizzly walk in between showers/snow/gales. After which Max had zero-gravity dreams in various places.
Max watched over me while I watched the sun rise. Then we ambled a third of the way to Wemyss before I decided I should change out of my pjs and put my coffee cup down, then try again for a proper walk. Braw day!
The tide was out further than I've seen it in a long while. Perfect for a walk to Wemyss along the beach, instead of the coastal path which is really muddy at the moment. We visited the fossil spot, and Max chased the ball almost the whole time. The solid rock part of the 'beach' at Wemyss is usually completely submerged when I'm around there, so it was great to wander over it like the surface of an alien planet.
Max was a Very Good Boy and zonked right out when we got home.
Max was a lazy bean. Weather was drizzly so we only did little walks, but he didn't mind. Big rainbow.
The sky was such an unearthly shade of blue at sunrise today I was convinced we were in a simulation. Obviously my camera couldn't capture it in its true glory.
Monday and Tuesday beach walkies.
Put socks on Max. He loved it. Silly Max.
Braw morning for a walk to Dysart harbour.
Sunrises, and walkies to East Wemyss (out along the coastal path, ice cream shop stop, back along the beach.
Sunrise, sunset.
Rainbow, watercolour skies, sunset.
Cleaned the beach between Dysart and Wemyss on a warm, sunny, March Sunday. Stopped for a snack on the top of the tall rocks by the fossil spot. Returned through the woods. About 6 large bags of rubbish in total.
Braw still day! Kayaked to Wemyss. I put my wetsuit on, but was far too hot. My arms ached all day afterwards.
Beach sunrises.
Big waves, moody skies.
Huge surf all day. Sunset from the coal binn.
Struggling sunrise (cleared up eventually). A communal paper recycling bin on the beach this morning.
Monstera unfurls big new leaves.
A selection of braw sunrises and sunsets in Dysart. As usual.
A spontaneous decision to get the last bus to Crail and camp by the sea. This meant we'd be there in time for low tide (the first bus in the morning was too late) for optimal seaweed foraging. Then we helped to plant lots of trees in the nature reserve with other volunteers arranged by Footprint East Neuk. Chips in Crail ended a great day.
At the last minute, Lowenna was deposited on my doorstep on Thursday evening. She was full of bounce and beans and buzz as usual, and has decided that nonstop barking at Dave is now a thing. I was still in covid isolation on Friday, so we snuck down to the beach at sunrise, then she spent the day alternately lounging around and barking at nothing (until Dave got home, then she barked at Dave). She also thoroughly systematically dismantled Max's colourful string ball, and set to on his fancy olive stick thing so there is woodchip everywhere.
Lowenna and Max frolicked on the beach for a lot of Saturday. Then they snoozled inside. Once Max had got past his most primal urges, he started trying to romance her properly. They would gaze into each others eyes, or delicately lick each others paws and faces, sweet little puppy kisses.
On Sunday Lowenna was knackered from all the walks on Saturday. We worked in the garden, and the doggos chased the ball and frolicked. Lowenna is faster than Max, but less precise, so they're evenly matched in ball chasing competition. Lowenna is definitely learning good behaviour from Max, and Max is learning how to be socially normal from her..
In the evening, Max took over 2/3 of the sofa as usual, and Lowenna discovered the best way for her to fit on was to lie directly on top of Max.
On Monday Lowenna was scared to go outside because there was an Alsatian very far away in the distance who she is for some reason terrified of. She wasn't really okay until Max came over and demonstrated that outside is safe.
K&M came for her in the evening, and after about an hour of sitting around and talking with Dave, ignoring Wenna's barking, she suddenly realised Dave is not actually a threat, and brought him a toy to play tug with. Hurrah! Then she went home.
Sunrises and Max time.
Hung out with and fed Maud and Jess over the long weekend. Mostly Maud. Jess put in a couple of token appearances, but soon realised I wasn't going to let her outside while her human was away and resumed her usual state of sulking in the airing cupboard. Maud, on the other hand, is a tiny zooming blur of affection and excitement. Though she forgot how to eat, and only managed it if I hand-squeezed food from the pouch directly into her mouth, or handed her one tiny biscuit at a time.
Market day! First trip into town in at least three weeks. Pizza from Roastie Toastiez on Pathhead beach. Max kicked sand into it but it was still good. Later: Max tried on my new tea cosy for size.
Last night was an enormous blood moon.
Finally getting up closer to sunrise again. Motivated this week by those planets that were supposedly aligning, but cloudy horizons meant I didn't manage to see the spectacle. Still, it's always worth rising early for coffee on the beach.
Adventure day! the main goal was to scout fields for St George's mushrooms, or tufty grass ring evidence thereof, but there were none to be found. First walked around Balbirnie Park in Glenrothes. Then to Falkland. Cake and coffee and lunch at Pillars of Hercules, before a couple of hours walking around Falkland Estate. Saw friendly bluetits and robins, amazing shell-like bracket fungi, enormous hundreds-of-years-old fallen trees ravaged by honey fungus, tree art, the ruined Temple of Decision, the Bruce monument, the waterfall at Maspie Den.
A week of astonishingly beautiful days. Walked into town a couple of times, and mornings on the beach of course. Enjoyed a quiet cove off Ravenscraig Park for a while, before heading back to Dysart beach for a dunk in the sea.
A quick detour through some woods on the way to Perth and.... spent the rest of the afternoon there. Just a few agates. Canny tell ya where.
Max time, a couple of walks into town (coffee at Black Cat Cafe), braw days and grey days.
Beach walkies. Max was getting in the way of mowing the lawn so we put the seedling-protector over him. He was happy. Wagging for a new ball access challenge.
Cutting rocks.
A few hours in Buckhaven, helping CLEAR out with a plant and local produce sale and gardens open day. Then a walk through the woods to admire the bluebells. Found a few dryad's saddle, but not a lot and nothing else.
2.5 hour each way trip on a bus full of football fans, was worth it to hang out with J and F in Glasgow and get tasty lunch at Mono, doughnuts at Tantrum, and fancy half price hot chocolate from Hotel Chocolat.
A week of sunrises, blue skies, and nice walks. Some big waves in the mornings. A longer-than-usual visit from Stagecoach.
Dinner at the Wee Buddha with Co-op colleagues in Edinburgh. I've always wanted to eat here, and it lived up to expectations!
Early starts, but most day snot as early as I'd like. Did catch a couple of sunrises though.
Hanging out with Max by the sea.
Some Dysart sunrises.
A great brunch in Roots & Seeds in Kirkcaldy.
An adventure to Bowhouse market and Pittenweem with K, K&M and Lowenna. Too blowy to swim (except for Lowenna), but we had hot chocolate in Cacao Tree and Lowenna was a super good girl.
Braw mornings in Dysart.
Sunny the morning before the solstice, then cloudy and drizzly for sunrise on the solstice, of course. I sat resolutely on the beach in the rain at dawn with my coffee, just like last year.
Another try at solstice-adjacent sunrise was better. Walked to Wemyss, cleaning the beach on the way, then harvested wild rose petals, which grow there in great abundance.
Coworked in Edinburgh with JL, KA and MW; we had lunch at Holy Cow. Then had another fab dinner with JB, MW and J at Wee Buddha.
Mostly braw mornings this week, besides the actual solstice.
Plants in the polytunnel at the Greener Kirkcaldy gardens in Ravenscraig. Local history exhibition in Dysart.
Edinburgh is nice, but nothing compares to the sunrise from Dysart.
Remember that giant picture of Seafield Tower I saw back in like January on the market?? Methuselah's was finally open again so I went in and he still had it AND knocked £15 off the price. Super.
Walkies and time in the garden.
Walkies and a swim with Max towards West Wemyss. An evening wander through Ravenscraig Park.
After Community Kitchen I hopped on the train to Burntisland to meet S, and we had cake at the Roasting Project (everywhere for lunch was closed, alas). Then had the bright idea to continue walking to Aberdour, arriving just in time for Dave to finish work and bring us home.
Nice nacho lunch at Roots & Seeds. Then the train to Dalmeny to catch a boat to Inchcolm Island. Half of the island was closed due to our seagull overlords, and we had to arm ourselves with sticks to visit other parts. But it was a nice trip and plenty to explore.
Too much tasty food at Koku Shi.
Walked to Buckhaven and back. Saw again the rocks that inspired my hallway paint colour. Met a polydactyl cat (cousin of Maud!) in East Wemyss. Classic East Wemyss chips and curry and ice cream.
Sunrise.
A relief to be back in Fife. Kangus has reopened! Promptly went for lunch.
Checking the woods for mushrooms. Taught Max to pick wild raspberries himself. Slurp slurp chomp.
At the Old Barn in Auchtermuchty, astonished to find a full lunch menu now that is very vegan friendly! Went rock hunting and found many excellent agates and some amethyst.
Braw summer days. Beach wanderings and swims with visitors (G&K) and Max.
Sunrise with Max, who slept over at mine. He's so good at sitting quietly first thing in the morning now.
Walk with G&K along the beach to East Wemyss. The ice cream shop was closed :(
Incredibly braw pink sunset.
An uncharacteristically braw 10th of August. Sunrise, brunch at Kangus, Community Kitchen, then a glittering walk home. Plus an epic moonrise.
Gorgeous summer continues. It's magical every day. There really aren't words.
Cutie Lucy came to stay over. She's 14 years old, blind, and deaf. She wanders around the flat gently bumping into things while she works out the smellscape. If she happens to bump into a human, she wags her tail in delight. She doesn't care who it is, she's just happy to find herself not alone. Even Dave is charmed.
Lowenna (and K&M) came for beach walkies. Then we went to Auchtermuchty for lunch in the Old Barn, a wander around the open gardens. Finally off with R to look for agates.
A huge haul of agates to clean up.
More braw sunrises.
Next level sunrises. L came to visit!
Food at Kangus.
The sunrises and glorious beach photos are old news at this point. Supper Club by Louise at Grain & Sustain is new though! Fantastic food and company.
Lucy is back for a longer stay. I love how her little velvet ears flap from side to side as she trots along.
Last week I met someone on the late bus back from Edinburgh. We had a lot in common, and she told me about a wellness weekend in Silverburn Park this weekend. So I went, along with K and R. We had a tour of the flax mill, and learned about all the amazing stuff in Silverburn park we didn't know about! Then had a very disappointing lunch experience at Blacketyside Farm.
Dave and I went on a somewhat ridiculous adventure to a loch near Pitlochry. Something about UFOs. We walked further than planned, and I saw lots of interesting mushrooms, and almost fell for false chanterelles. I had multi-layer redundancy for where to stop for lunch, and about five places were inexplicably closed or had stopped serving food by the time we got there. We settled for very mediocre hotel restaurant chips.
Walkies and snoozles with Lucy.
Braw sunrises. Wild tomatoes growing on the beach. From sewage, presumably. But still quite impressive.
Tara and I took the bus from Edinburgh back to Dysart. Walked along the coast into Kirkcaldy, and Tara had some good beach frolics, but didn't want to go in the sea. We stopped for brunch in Kangus, then walked through town to watch the Fife Pride parade. It was wonderful to see the High St all decked out in rainbows, and so many people celebrating.
We spent the afternoon in the chill space in Grain & Sustain, where we met some lovely people. Then, back to Edinburgh.
Instead of a bagel, it's a croissant! With not-pastrami and not-cheese, salad and chutney. Genius. At Kangus, obviously. I hope this creation actually makes it onto the official menu.
Finally home! Evening walk to show D around, with big moon. The next morning checked on sunrise, good, as I left it.
Walk to Buckhaven along the coastal path to see some of my all time favourite rocks. D and Max went in the sea.
Wednesday: Brunch at Kangus, Community Kitchen (not pictured) and then a drive to Burntisland for chips and then Livingston (also not pictured).
Thursday: Road trip to Loch Lomond, where D went in the sea and I wandered the woods looking for mushrooms.
D left. Sunrise. B&G arrived. A visit with Maud. An afternoon in KDY. Dinner at Koku Shi with B&G&C.
A drive to Auchtermuchty for lunch at the Old Barn, and then a walk in the rain to Maspie Den with B&G&C.
ODS Co-op came to KDY! A productive week of coworking and channelling Co-op money into all of my favourite local businesses. And some braw sunrises and evening wandering.
The November Sea is coming early.
Also, brunch in Roots & Seeds with B&G.
Some next level beach sunrises. I can't believe that every day we have the opportunity to witness this incredible cosmic spectacle, and most people choose to sleep through it. After two years, it's still leaving me breathless.
The final sunrise of October.
Happy 1st of November!
The November Sea.
I absolutely lost my mind at these clouds. I was raving on the beach. Rendered utterly helpless. Was it aliens? Was it a dragon? These possibilities and more occurred to me. My phone doesn't even come close to capturing the depth and power.
Walkies on an overcast beach.
Dramatic sunrises and beach walkies with Max, by seas serene to stormy.
K and I went for a sunset wetsuit swim at Pittenweem tidal pool. Promptly followed by hot chocolate and hearty soup at Cocoa Tree.
A bright and vivid sunrise over very very big waves. Lunch at the Aberdour Hotel (which has a revamped "green" (code for vegan) menu) with friends from Greener Kirkcaldy. Later, walkies with Max, and then he curled up to help me with my novel.
The November Sea ctd.
Cold but clear days, sunrises, sunsets and beach walkies.
I got enough writing done in the morning, so I went on a rock trunting hip. The quarry at sunset was great inspiration for alien landscapes. Quartz crystal and amethyst abounds.
Sunrise. And a visit with Jess and Maud.
Lunch at Roots & Seeds. Burying Max in leaves. Sunset walk home.
A morning of writing with Maud, in which she stole Jess's biscuits, sunned herself, and helped really excellently with nanowrimo.
Sunrise, sunset, full moon.
Good morning, final day of November. As braw as the first. But colder.
A cloudy, dramatic sunrise. And then a walk home from town at sunset, under an enormous bright moon, and shades of purple in the sky that defied description.
The first snow of the winter, dusted on the beach like icing sugar.
Another big moon over picturesque Dysart, and beautiful sunset colours.
Do I take too many photos of the sunrise and sunset? But how can I stop when it's so glorious and different every day?
K and I went for a late lunch at the Aberdour Hotel to try the recently revolutionised seasonal menu. There is now a "green" (aka vegan friendly) option for a three course meal with three options to choose for each course, thanks to Iain of Greener Kirkcaldy fame :)
After a two hour recovery from the meal, we rolled down to the beach to find someone in the sea in just a swimsuit at sunset. Brr.
A bitter, frozen week, so I didn't go out much, and took pictures of the sunrise from my window instead of the beach. I am eternally grateful to live so close to the sea.
Another trip to the Aberdour Hotel for the seasonal menu, this time with K, M and Lowenna. We went for a beach frolic afterwards and Lowenna got soaking wet and found a big stick.
Dramatic tides. A cold and bright morning, in between the grey ones.
The sun hasn't really been coming up, so I've had to drag myself down to the beach mid-morning. It's nice once I get there, if a bit cold.
Went for a litter run between Dysart and Wemyss, and picked up a lot.
Ending the year as I started it (in the sea). It was overcast, but the sea was so smooth and still it looked like CGI. It was cold AF though.
Met Max on the beach, and he kept trying to rescue me. He went really far out and wouldn't leave me behind, I was worried he'd get too cold.
