Farm to Festival on 7 June

It's now officially summer in Scotland.  I can tell because the temperature has not dropped below 50 degrees (except for during high winds, like the past two days) and it's usually sunny for at least half the week. But, weather-related comments aside, it's summer because there are suddenly tons of things to do at the weekend. This weekend was no exception.  On Saturday, there was an outdoor "try it out" session for camps sponsored by the local government (Dundee City Council), but since winds were gusting up to 50 mph, we decided to go inside instead to dig up a dinosaur at the science centre, which was quite fun.  A staff member was showing fossils to the kids at one point, and she said "you'll never guess what this is a fossil of" and Claire said  "poo!" because she likes to say "poo" and it actually turned out to be dinosaur coprolites. So who knew.

Today we went to a farm for Open Farm Sunday this morning, and then to the West Fest Big Sunday on Magdalen Green (just outside our house) this afternoon. About the farm: we went there entirely because since coming to Scotland, I have become somewhat obsessed with sheep.  You see them everywhere (well, at least as soon as you leave the city) but they're usually at a distance - up the hillside as you drive, flashing by as white blobs as the train speeds past. And they're very cute.  Especially in April and May, when it's prime lamb season (aparently most are born in late March/early April). I was more involved in lamb season this year because our friend Stephen, from a Scottish farm family and aware of my sheep obsession, sent me a link to the "lamb cam" for the last week in March, so I could see (live) little lambs wobbling around in the evening.  It was super cute but it made me sad because it was sponsored by a company called Quality Meats. Hmm.

So, Open Farm Sunday.  The nearest farm to us that was open turned out to be the James Hutton Insitute, which is a research farm that investigates soil and crops. But in addition to farm tours, farm machinery to climb on, and plant science experiments and crafts, they advertised "Meet a sheep." I was there.

First the girls got ready. Overalls, of course, because they were farmers.













The sheep for meeting - a ewe and two lambs. I even got to pet them - the sheep-minder pointed out that the ewe had very coarse wool and if they were raised for wool, they would be "for carpet," not for wearing. The lambs were softer!








We took a tour of the research farm which was quite large and also beautiful - nothing but farmland, quaint village, and the river Tay as far as you could see.  Even some stone walls and hedgerows.

Next we got to climb on the farm machinery!

These were some big tractors	The wheel was as tall as me!
Fun in the tractor cab	Taken by Audrey of us in the Combine cab
Claire in the small Combine	Us in the big Combine
One of the glass houses	Someone taking after her mother with sheep obsession....

After the farm, and a brief break, we went on to the WestFest Big Sunday.  When we arrived, the traffic wardens were ticketing people who parked illegally.  But the good thing about this festival is that it took place 20 yards down the hill from our house, so no need for us to move the car.

This is what it looked like from the top of the hill. River Tay in the background. 

The beer garden. Note people looking suspiciously at me in the foreground for photographing the beer garden.

We made our way over to the msuic area, so this was the scene listening to a group we could best describe as "Scottish Bluegrass" - they had a fiddle, a banjo, a guitar, and a bass and were singing something about Kentucky with a distinct lilting cadence...

Finally, we stood in line for the main event - the grass sledging. Or, sliding down the hill on a little wheeled cart. You got to go three times for 1 pound - a good value except you had to spend almost 30 minutes waiting in line to get your 3 minutes of zooming down the hill.  The girls said it was worth it, though.

Happy Scottish Summer Kick-Off!