Great excitement. Faced with strong local opposition the developers of the cinema have come up with new plans for its development. The consortium led by Tiger Woods and Justin Timberlake have now agreed to keep two screens open in their New York style sport bar and leisure complex. This is being reported as a great victory for people power. With the cinema again recording attendance figures well south of 10% of capacity it remains to be seen quite how this will all play out .
The postman shows up at the crack of dawn with the Simnel cake. In fact, due to some slight misunderstanding, he shows up with two Simnel cakes.
We were due to be in London but thanks to the landslide on the railway line our plans changed. 'The Font' thinks we should take advantage of having a 'free day' and do something. Angus was rather looking forward to pottering around in the wine cellar but is soon disabused of this idea.
We head off to the Scottish Deer Centre.
I'm not sure about the idea of animals in pens but it appears to be more of an animal sanctuary than an outside zoo. The enclosures are huge, the staff are committed and professional and the animals seem healthy and happy. We chat with the chief scientist who tells us this is one of the places where species facing extinction can be maintained. The place also acts as a magnet for three year olds. The car park full to bursting with late model VW's transporting young mothers and toddlers. Food for the deer is sold at the ticket desk. There is robust demand for deer food from the three year old demographic.The centre also looks after injured birds. A golden eagle imperiously ignores us. Oddly, a species of falcon facing extinction in Pakistan is being brought back from the brink by the centres conservation team.
Back at home we discover that the beach below the house is a 'Qua-qua-versal dome '. This is a glorious term that neither of us has ever heard.
'The Font' has found a publisher that is releasing rare and out of print Victorian and Edwardian volumes about the locality. This one was written by a botanist in 1910. Books like this that dwell on local flora and fauna are no longer written.
6 comments:
This geologist confesses to never having heard the term 'qua-qua-versal dome' and fears it might be obsolete. Time for a revival!
Cheers, Gail.
Just spent an hour down that internet rabbit-hole about parrot learning - seems we have a lot of shortsighted views on our own superiority to overcome in our interactions with the rest of the living world.
The deer sanctuary looks an interesting place for a visit, and I must confess that I'd be standing in the queue, along with all those three year olds, to buy deer food!
Sadly I feel that within a few short years St. Andrews, and it's surroundings will be totally unrecognisable to those who once knew the area. It will be owned, redesigned (spoiled?) and run by Americans, Japanese and possibly Chinese. What sad demise to such a pretty, typically Scottish, town.
Sounds like a nice day out, though a quiet day in might have been relaxing.
Coppa's girl, I agree. The worst thing that can happen now is for a well-meaning privileged person to take an interest in your charming town. My small city was named the best place to live in America a couple of decades ago, and it has been so changed that everything we were celebrated for is gone. Lots of hip people moved here from hip cities that had become too expensive, so there went our low cost of living, for example.
Nina
The parrot study was fascinating. I have to figure out a way for our African Grey Lucky to try without destroying anything. I failed miserably when she was younger trying to teach her how to put a little ball through a little hoop, but this seems much more her style.
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