Internet problems.

Blogger having issues after yesterdays Amazon server outage. Formatting has an irritating randomness to it. In France there's been a tornado in Paris and ex-President Sarkozy starts a prison sentence. For an ex head of state this is a rare  accolade shared only ( or so the radio says ) with Marshal Petain and Louis XVI.

Learning is never done. This mornings breakfast news broadcasters all over the world are educating their listeners on the Insurrection Act and what it does, and does not, allow. 

The weather was good for the bacchanalian revelries of the students. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIxhfkBMt24 . There again they would have enjoyed themselves even if it had been snowing. Such are the joys of being eighteen.  Passing the old lecture theatres we hear a large group of them sing this old Scottish song in a slow and most un-Scottish way. It must be an American thing :https://youtu.be/Lz1LEYxFQ5Q?list=RDLz1LEYxFQ5Q&t=459

While the first years party the experienced and worldly wise nineteen and twenty year olds look on with that innate superiority that having survived a winter ( or two ) in Scotland can bestow.

The lawn outside chapel has, wisely, been roped off. Festivities have been moved to a quieter patch of grass out of sight.

4 new dogs have arrived in the art gallery :https://www.galleryfranklin.com/work/gemma-rees

Surprise of the day :https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/orange-cats-are-genetically-unique-indeed/

This is unusual :https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/10/something-from-space-may-have-just-struck-a-united-airlines-flight-over-utah/

A new opening in the Luberon :https://domainedelacavalerie.com/

A turn in the weather

Lots of rain here this morning. Three large orange support vessels from the wind farm are sheltering in the bay. The farmer sees us and stops his ploughing for a wee chat. He leaves the two Jack Russells sitting in the warmth of the tractor cab. They look at us from behind the rain speckled glass and wag their tails. Having suffered from a drought for much of the year the farmer now faces the threat of his remaining hay bales being destroyed by the turn in the weather. He says this is one of the three worst harvests he's known since he took over the farm 35 years ago. I have a vague memory that he said something similar last year.

Gaza and Ukraine dominate this mornings news headlines. Last weeks optimism replaced by something more worrying. On the BBC a lucid reporter from the FT's Washington bureau discusses the mysterious secret of Putins repeated diplomatic successes with America's President. In Warsaw the Chopin competition is underway which is a much needed distraction :https://youtu.be/_G0TBsTYjvQ?list=RD_G0TBsTYjvQ&t=3  This Chinese player is literally awesome.

The archaeologists have returned. The Portaloo has now been joined by a table, a plastic washing up bowl and a water dispenser. The life of an archaeologist is not all champagne and roses. Today they are waiting for a specialist machine to come and remove the large stone tomb covering.

At the farm shop a single stem Dahlia is on sale. It looks rather exotic in a bedraggled sort of way.

The fields around have been scoured by the North Sea storms. In the shelter of the stone walls one bright touch of autumn colour remains. That's one tough plant.

So starts a blustery Monday morning on Scotlands North Sea coast. Later today we shall wander down and watch the students let off steam in one of those university  'traditions' that eighteen year olds find exciting and older folk find 'bizarre' :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwSGVsuzzZw

Rare earths aren't that rare:https://www.hyperdimensional.co/p/tough-rocks

In this NY restaurant Sea Bass cooked in an excellent Soave is on the menu. The next time we're in NYC we'll go and try it :https://kingrestaurant.nyc/dinner-menus

Homicide isn't a big killer  :https://flowingdata.com/2025/10/08/mortality-in-the-news-vs-what-we-usually-die-from/

London commuters ears are suffering :https://jonn.substack.com/p/no-you-arent-imagining-it-the-tube

I have yet to see one here ( presumably they're too big for our roads ). Half way down two Old English Sheepdogs seem happy to ride in one :https://www.wired.com/story/owning-a-cybertruck

Tartan trews.

There was some uncertainty whether the tailors in Edinburgh had used the right tartan for the dinner suit trousers.

After some discussion - and much pouring over tartan samples - it's decided that they have. There is a world of a difference between the colours in modern dyes and the more 'faded' look found in old 18th century chemical ones.

The tailor suggests that a pleated dress shirt might be worth investing in for a more 'youthful' look.

Angus is happy to save money by sticking with his old, frumpy, plain fronted shirts. 

The sale of ties has plummeted over the last two decades. Once standard wear for professionals and office workers they've gone out of fashion. This year there are signs of a renaissance. Sales are up 40%.

Dishoom has opened a branch in Edinburgh. Outside there's a long queue of the kind that in its heyday would have made the owners of Studio 54 happy. Breakfast Bacon Naans are very popular with the student contingent. https://www.dishoom.com/edinburgh/

The train down is running eight minutes late. The train North is on time. Door to door, including the drive to the station, the visit to the tailor, two cups of coffee ( and a bacon bap ) takes under five hours. 'The Font' stocks up on some Taleggio that has just arrived from Italy. Edinburgh is a town where the long streets can channel the wind with demonic force but on Saturday it was calm and mild. Soon, very soon, jackets will need to be supplemented by thick coats and scarves.

Next week , before winter arrives, we shall pop down to London for a night. This is on our to do list :https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/peter-doig-house-of-music/

Sunday morning car radio music :https://youtu.be/s-TwMfgaDC8?t=188

Scare story of the day :https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/gas-stoves-pollution-no2-rep/

Twins can be very different :https://www.sciencealert.com/identical-twins-can-have-significant-iq-differences-shock-study-reveals

Sleep :https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-the-brain-moves-from-waking-life-to-sleep-and-back-again-20251017/

This book on India was worth reading :https://www.asiasentinel.com/p/book-review-shattered-lands-sam-dalrymple

Adult insights on disagreeing :https://catherineeunicedevries.substack.com/p/etched-in-marble-timothy-garton-ash

A morning rush.

Ukraine leading the news bulletin - again - this morning. The Times of India has an interesting story about the Secretary of Wars gaucherie in wearing a Russian tricolour tie to the White House lunch. We're off to Edinburgh on the 8:28 train. The replacement dinner jacket for the one that had soup ( and Martinis ) poured over it during the choppy Japan cruise is ready at the tailors. 'The Font' will head to Valronas for some fresh pasta. All being well we should be back by lunchtime.

On our start of day walk a solitary patch of sunshine breaks through the clouds and lights up the sand on the far side of the estuary. This is a view that hasn't changed in millennia.

Three deer in the field outside 'The Fonts' cabin.

To the fishmongers for lemon sole and local prawns.

A group of first year lads playing golf. The course doesn't officially open for another hour so I guess we can say they are 'seizing the moment'. They also seem to be playing the course in reverse.

Life here is gently drifting towards the calm of winter.

Sleep :https://www.popsci.com/science/does-moon-affect-sleep/

There may be some truth in this :https://psyche.co/ideas/even-if-we-could-speak-to-animals-should-we

Seems some people in the US seem to think things over here are dire. This is a slightly world weary reply by a local author:https://davidaaronovitch.substack.com/p/murder-at-the-cathedral

Pumpkins or turnips ?

It's the Scottish half term holidays and the other end of town, where the beaches are, is busy with parents and their bored ten year olds. It isn't really beach weather but it's dry and the cloud has decided to be well behaved and hang in a bank far out at sea.  When you're ten years old what more can you want than sand and sea and (tepid ) sunshine ? 

On the field behind the house the farmer is doing some late season potato harvesting. There was a time when this would have been done by hand but now the new 'machine' harvests, cleans and sorts the potatoes in one go. A stream of tractors and trailers scurry backwards and forwards to the potato barns with the crop. Puppy and her sister are sitting proudly on the dashboard of a tractor driven by the farmers teenage daughter. Both dogs are clearly enjoying themselves - the farmers daughter less so.  She's heading off on a school ski trip to Switzerland in January and is busy earning spending money helping on the farm during the holidays. 

In town the students are gathering before their first lecture. Quite why you would want to sit on the cold grass at this time in the morning is something of a mystery. The sunshine seems to bring them out. The lawn is covered with pears that have fallen overnight. Next week is a 'personal revision' week which means a lot of the youngsters will be heading off on £40 Ryan Air flights to the continent in search of sunshine and whatever else late teens are looking for .

Educational Halloween displays explain the festivities Scottish roots.

Turnips were the original pre-pumpkin Halloween choice. 

The farm store offerings increasingly exotic as Christmas hoves into sight. There's lots and lots of marzipan on the shelves this morning alongside brands of European chocolate that you never see at other times of the year.

Last night we watch two episodes of the new Netflix series 'Boots' . The Secretary of War has called it 'Woke garbage ' which makes us want to see it. The series ( or at least the first two episodes )  is rather better than we thought and merits a 7/10. It's redeemed by Max Parker who is brilliantly ( if improbably ) cast as an American Marine Corps drill instructor. His English take on an American accent is a thing of majesty.

The head of the International Relations Department has already put out his thought for the day :https://phillipspobrien.substack.com/p/trump-and-putin-are-buddies-again

Interesting reads :

Switzerland :https://simongrimm.substack.com/p/why-is-switzerland-so-rich

Dreams :https://crookedtimber.org/2025/09/09/five-technological-achievements-that-we-wont-see-any-time-soon/

Let's hope this is wrong :https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/the-3-spoilers-who-could-kill-the-gaza-peace-deal/

Pre-history :https://phys.org/news/2025-10-discovery-stone-megastructures-view-prehistoric.html

An outburst of passion.

Yesterday afternoon we had our Pfizer Covid jabs at a pharmacy in Dundee. We went in at 2:40 and were out by 2:50. This morning both of us are as right as rain and - unlike last year - there's been no ill effects whatsoever.

The village is a hive of activity. Twenty or so archaeologists have started on a ground radar survey of the deer field. They've come to the conclusion that where there's a iron age cemetery there must be an iron age settlement. The latest thinking is that three thousand years ago the inhabitants buried their dead on the shore and lived at the top of the raised beach where the soil is fertile and well drained. 

The archaeologists have brought along a Port-a-loo which has sensibly been fastened to the ground by a system of ropes and weights. This has been planted right by the courtyard entrance. The size of the weights tells us the organizers of the dig know the weather here can be 'blowy'. The chief honcho tells us the plan is to have a two week dig starting on Sunday. Some intact tombs have been discovered and they're hopeful to find intact 'remains'. 

In town we pass the bench with its memorable epitaph ' Golf, Bridge and view of the Sea'.  Jake and Edie - whoever they were -  seem to have known what they wanted - and managed to find their favourite place. Their celebration of these simple pleasures always makes us smile. Many of the villagers are enthusiastic bridge players. One quickly learns never to have a wee bet when playing with against them. The kirk elders are particularly skilled in this regard.

The Sheltie is on the Old Course. He and his master are watching a group of youngsters tee off. The dog eyes the golf balls with an intensity that suggests he'd love to be let of the leash to retrieve them.

There has been an old fashioned courtesy to the collegiate tournaments proceedings. Each of the competitors is announced, silence falls as the shot is taken and the umpire then announces ' Excellent play. Well done'. People clap politely.  I'm guessing there is less razzamatazz here than one would find at an American tournament. One young Singaporean guy takes his shot then wanders over to hug his copiously weeping mother. She has become overwrought at the sight of him playing on the Old Course and  repeats the words ' My boy. My boy. My boy' over and over. The no-nonsense Caddies politely avert their eyes from this un-Presbyterian public display of emotion although their deference suggests they understand the passion. What happens on the Old Course stays on the Old Course.

The balconies of the hotels overlooking the club house are lined with enthusiastic alumni supporters. Berkeley end up the winners with Princeton second. St.Andrews , like all good hosts, is happy to come fourth.

Something I enjoy more with each passing year :https://aeon.co/essays/two-billion-humans-are-doing-something-bizarre-right-now-sleeping

Urns in space :https://www.thespacereview.com/article/5077/1

The old Fluoride in water debate is still kicking :https://www.propublica.org/article/michigan-fluoride-drinking-water-st-clair-county

David Austin, that bastion of conservatism have their first ever striped rose :https://eu.davidaustinroses.com/products/the-kings-rose

Preppies, a Sheltie and sharpened knives.

Grey but mild and calm this morning. This is good news for the NBC television crews who are out bright and early filming the players in the collegiate championship. Being stuck a hundred feet up in the air when its blowing a gale can't be much fun.

A small crowd is standing on the Jubilee Course watching the Berkeley team. They clap politely whenever a shot is sunk. The St Andrews youngsters are dressed for the weather. The Princeton, Michigan and Berkeley teams all have team outfits of varying practical and sartorial elegance. Of these Princeton, with their white beanie hats and blazers, have a decidedly 1980's 'Party like its 1978' preppy vibe.

A Sheltie wanders over to observe what's going on. It settles on the side of the path by the camera crew to get a better view. It's there when we go and there when we come back. It has clearly decided to make a day of it. Two men on a golf cart arrive with bacon rolls for the cameramen. The Sheltie moves closer. As all dogs instinctively know good things come to those who wait.

The youngsters will be allowed to play the Old Course for the finals. This morning the early rounds on the sacred turf  are the preserve of some gentlemen from an insurance company. From the logos on their caps we think they may be bigwigs from Mutual of Omaha. Their underwriting business in Scotland must be close to  non-existent so they're presumably tournament sponsors. The insurance folk seem determined to enjoy themselves. A bored looking young woman with a camera is there to capture their circuit of the course. She looks underwhelmed.

'The Font' used to have the Japanese kitchen knives sharpened by a chef at one of the better local restaurants. The chef has been lured away to a new position in Edinburgh and the replacement doesn't appear to know what a knife is has no interest in knife sharpening. After a quick Google search a new 'pick it up and deliver it back' service is tried. They courier a safety pack for the knives. When ready this is picked up by an authorized courier (  the government has tight regulations on shipping knives in the nail ) who take it to the grinding centre. Then two days later the knives ( suitably wrapped and sharpened ) are delivered back to us. In total it took four days and 'The Font' seems to be delighted with the service. https://bladeandbutler.co.uk/  This is not something I'd expected to find online.

The pros and cons of fibre in your diet :https://www.acsh.org/news/2025/10/13/fiber-debate-could-skipping-it-be-health-hack-49766

This seems pretty profound :https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/scientists-found-that-memory-can-happen-outside-the-brain/

AI is coming. This essay by one of the industry leaders is unusually candid and insightful :https://importai.substack.com/p/import-ai-431-technological-optimism

Norway :https://bowofodysseus.substack.com/p/norway-1906

Norway by boat. This seemed like a good idea when booked in high summer. In preparation we're off for our Covid jabs this afternoon  :https://youtu.be/6Io-HNfZvPo?t=697