Daniel is going to St Andrews

Daniel got some exciting news last week: he received an offer to study computer science at the University of St Andrews. This was his top choice so he’s planning to accept it and will commence university in September this year.

I never imagined I’d one day have a child at St Andrews University. It must have been my vegan diet during pregnancy 😉 Here’s Daniel as a baby.

I am a little sad he’ll be moving away but also very happy for him because it’s such a prestigious university and he’s truly privileged to have the opportunity to study there. But he also deserves it. He’s worked so hard not just over the last two years but throughout high school.

St Andrews is a delightful place and he’ll love living there. It’s not too far from us so he’ll be able to come home on weekends. Being a Scottish university it’s also free for Scots so Daniel won’t have any tuition fees, only living expenses. St Andrews is not the cheapest place to live as aside from demand for accommodation by students it’s also a tourist hotspot, especially among golf fanatics.

In 2024 St Andrews was at the top of The Guardian best UK universities rankings, surpassing even Oxford and Cambridge. This year it’s 2nd with Oxford at number 1. In The Times UK rankings it’s at 2nd place, higher than Oxford and Cambridge, with London School of Economics and Political Science at number 1. It’s the 3rd oldest university in the UK and the oldest in Scotland having been founded in 1413. He’ll go down for the offer holder days in April to familiarise himself a bit more with the place ahead of his move. The computer science department put on special offer holder days for their own undergraduates where students can attend sample lectures and have tours of the department.

In other news Granny (my mother) has arrived from Australia for a visit so it has been nice to share this exciting news with her in person. She got to see Elizabeth dance at a competition on the weekend. There was no trophy to bring home this time but Elizabeth still danced beautifully and got another stamp for intermediate which takes her one step closer to premier. Mum and I went for a walk into town yesterday and she took this photo of me in the Kirk of St Nicholas churchyard on Union Street. You can just make out the daffodils in the background which will be at their peak soon.

I put together a collection of short videos of birds captured at our garden bird feeder.

I don’t get many views to videos on my YouTube channel so I won’t give up my day job to become a content creator but one of my most popular videos, which has had over 1,400 views, is “Pigeon doing circles” and that is literally exactly what it is. It is somewhat amusing watching the pigeon go round and round looking for a way in.

Here’s part 2. Pigeons are not so pigeon-brained after all.