What do you do on a cold day of torrential rain with five and seven year old granddaughters. Take them to the Cairnie Fruit Farm and Mega Maze …. of course! Secretly, we thought we might lose them in the maze and then sneak off for coffee and a scone while they tried to find their way out. 
It turned out that the maze, in the shape of a sunflower, was carved into a field of corn-on-the-cob or maize … so it was actually a maize maze. Even an amazing maize maze because it was vast. It was also extremely muddy with the rain getting worse by the minute.
Never mind we were sure the girls wouldn’t last more than a few minutes in these atrocious conditions. Not a bit of it, they were having a ball and, even after an hour, they were not in the least inclined to leave! On the other hand we were cold wet and only thinking of shelter and scones. Eventually we persuaded them to leave and we headed to the cafe.
Sooo Scottish
When we arrived the large car park was almost full, the adventure park was busy and the extensive cafe/shop was busy busy as well. Our daughter, who has been completely ruined by living in London, observed “This is sooo Scottish, what are all these people doing here in this weather?” 
Of course, there were strict COVID regulations everywhere but we soon found one of their socially distanced tables and discarded our sodden outer garments.
After a bacon roll and some lovely hot coffee we shared a fruit scone with a little tub of Cairnie jam. Although there was no cream we thoroughly enjoyed it. Maybe it was just the relief of being somewhere warm and dry? The texture was good but, all things considered we decided it fell short of a topscone accolade.
More fun
After we finished, guess what? The youngsters wanted to go back out to the adventure park. Helpless in the face of such excited unbridled enthusiasm … out we had to go. They went on the zip slide, roundabouts, racings cars and everything else. Now the rain was monsoon-like and we were soon back to being soaked and cold As far as the girls were concerned, however, you would have thought the sun was shining … sodden but not a care in the world. It was all we could do to eventually cajole them back towards the car. Bribery may have been involved.
A week is a long time
All in all, we had a wonderful day in spite of the elements throwing everything they could at us. Elsewhere, Trump and Biden have been throwing everything at the Presidential election. Today, however, is judgement day when voters go to the polls. Incredibly, fear of the democratic result has meant that much of the US is boarded up in anticipation of violence. Such are the divisions in the world’s most powerful country.
The result will probably not be known until the end of the week and by that time we may find ourselves in different circumstances. The UK, apart from maybe the NW of Scotland will be in lockdown. Also, because of the desperate events in Nice and Geneva the terrorist threat level in the UK will also have been increased. And who knows, Trump may still be in power.
Thumbs up
In spite of everything we must stay optimistic and look after ourselves and those around us. Be cheerful! If a couple of kiddywinks can do it in a cold muddy maze we can all do it.
KY15 4QD tel: 01334 655610 Cairnie Fruit
What a lot of fun the wee ones had, and the big ones enjoyed the lunch and scone. Wasn’t a top one but a very welcome one.
What I woud give to be in beautiful Sotland right know!! We are again in lockdown,
Luckely our children and grandchildren are the sunshines in our lives. Enjoy the little things and stay safe. Many greetings Christine and Hugues
And we would love to see you here as well, however, we are not sure that Scotland is much better than Belgium at the moment in terms of lockdown. We all just have to hang in there! Stay safe and with a bit of luck we may see you in the not too distant future. Bill and Pat
P.S. we loved Porto and Fi, that was our daily brunch cafe while loving Newhaven. Highly recommended!
Such a delight to see kiddies enjoying the pleasures of simple outdoor activities, not on the IPad! I thought for sure, being Scottish, you would be used to rain!
Be safe, stay well, and carry on sharing your simple pleasures of life. Very enjoyable.
Scots are quite used to rain Sue , however, we don’t usually stand out in it if there is a warm dry alternative. However, it is a joy to watch the kiddies being totally oblivious to the weather. They are half Scottish, half Norwegian so maybe it’s not that surprising. Hope you are all well in NZ.
Love it