libertus

Enjoyed: family, Fraserburgh (aka “The Broch“) in the sunshine, long-distance driving
Irritants: lorries and the speed restrictions imposed on them, roundabouts, incorrect driving behaviours, prices at motorway services

My first 1,000 mile round-trip drive home to Fraserburgh. The drive was enjoyable despite discovering some of the irritations caused by driving. I am sure more experienced drivers know them well.

Fraserburgh is totally different in summer than any other time. My previous few visits have all been during dreary winter and I think that has been jading my opinion of my home town. There is renovation going on (mostly tourism-related such as new signs) and I felt a sense of hope for the town’s future for the first time in years.

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Come visit Fraserburgh! See the Scottish Lighthouse Museum. See real 16th century buildings. Relax on a lovely clean beach. Immerse yourself in the deep history of a traditional Scottish fishing community.

Leave before sundown.
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Mum is having the bathroom in the house renovated and decided to – gasp – replace the bath with a shower cubicle. I didn’t get to see the work finished unfortunately, but the ceiling is very interesting – long thin bluey white wood-effect panels separated with mirrored grooves that give the impression of greater height. Overall the bathroom will be pleasing, much brighter but likely no warmer!

I think a morning shower will add a spring to Mum and Dad’s steps as they walk to work at 6am.

Both Kevin and Dad are into this farming simulation game on the Playstation called Harvest Moon. I know a farming simulation sounds quite boring – perhaps it is better described as a farmer simulation as that is what you, the player, do. You are a new farmer taking over an existing farm in a small community and you have 3 years to turn it into a success through cultivation, livestock, trade and many other means. I won’t go into a deeper description suffice to say that a) it looks like a great game and b) farmers work hard.

Mum’s garden is amazing. She and Sharon have put in a lot of work and now in full bloom it resembles a flower Mardi Gras – an explosion of colour everywhere. Sharon’s hand-painted plant pots are a lovely finishing touch. Copious bird-feeders hung everywhere have attracted a mini-community of noisy and argumentative sparrows, tits and blackbirds that vie for position on the feeders with comedic aerobatic skills. As the size and shape of the garden makes it unappealing to the many scavenging seagulls that live around Fraserburgh the smaller birds have the feasts laid out by my family all to themselves. The size of the community had better increase because with the amount of food available, the birds I saw will soon be too fat to fly!

And wow! Kevin finally on e-mail.