Coolcation.

A group of a dozen or so lycra clad ( and ever so slightly grumpy ) cyclists are standing at the doocot. They've taken a wrong turning and ended up in the village. It's not often that we see pink and yellow saddle wear out here. Directions are given and the group snake off towards their destination. They are staying in the best hotel in town and will have a long restorative lunch at a good restaurant on the coast :https://www.16westend.com/ and be given a lecture on the local geology. They'll then cycle back at their own pace ( or driven back for those who have been tempted and had too much wine ) to their 5 star. " It's so good to be able to sleep and breath properly. At night we just open the windows and turn off the aircon ". The tour company has a list of coffee shops and restaurants that provide acceptable pit stops for those wanting to venture off on their own. A van is always within half an hours call in case there are tired leg 'emergencies'. I've joked about it but Coolcations really are becoming a thing. 

This mornings BBC radio broadcast leaves us with much to ponder. Tariffs that had been off, are on again. Ms. Laura Loomer, who the radio informs us is an American influencer,  had been anti-Ukraine but  has now changed her mind and become a keen supporter of President Zelensky. Meanwhile that thing in the Gulf seems to have kicked off again and driven the price of oil back to eye watering levels.

It's cloudier this morning. Maybe there will be some rain ? After three weeks without so much as a drop we need it. The crows  that are perching on the old stone field walls take to the air as the lost cyclists pedal away. Thankfully, the crows have not repeated their early morning parliamentary session on the roof of the last wee house before Denmark.

In town two beagles and a small fluffy thing in a chariot are heading towards the beach.

The school holidays bring with them happy families from down south. I wonder how many toddlers end up coming to study here because of early memories formed on the beach ? The light in this photograph has ended up with the same sort of washed out colours that used to be found in 70's era Kodak snaps.

Fresh roses in the window of the house with the table that's always covered in exam papers.

Down on the 18th tee a youngish American father and two sons are sinking a few putts before the next foursome closes in. I'm sure this is highly illegal but the groundsmen turn a blind eye. 

Ambulances :https://www.stem.it/en/il-mondo-del-soccorso/ambulance-history-a-journey-between-england-and-america/

Medieval children :https://www.worksinprogress.news/p/did-medieval-people-love-their-children

Whale talk :https://x.com/begusgasper/status/2079915237256356006?s=61

The first Chinese car in the village

The farmer by the crossroads has bought a new 4x4. This turns out to be a BYD - a brand that's made in China. " BYD  stands for Build Your Dreams " the farmer informs a group of young fathers ( and their lively offspring ) who have come out to inspect it. This is the first Chinese car that anyone in the village has bought. Reactions to this new arrival are mixed. The quality of the interior is commented on positively as is the price but there's a general feeling that 'You can't beat an established brand '. Angus wonders who in the 21st century would ever use the term 'established brand ' but keeps this thought to himself. He also wonders why anyone would buy a car that's dark purple metallic but this thought is also left unvoiced.

The crowd of car appraisers have observed that a white Peugeot has spent the night parked in a field down by the shore. It's a rental car ( you can tell from the registration ) and the windows are steamed up. It's blocking the track down to the shore where the Highland cows are. Little, if anything, escapes the inhabitants of a small Scottish coastal village. Soon a tractor will be sent down to do some spraying. This will get the inhabitants of the Peugeot  moving.

Today the weather is likely to be hot and heavy or an approximation of  what the Scots consider hot and heavy to be.

The road outside the Royal and Ancient is empty and windswept for much of the year. Now it's alive with tourists watching the flag being raised. Some beer glasses from last night are still waiting to be collected from the tables and taken in.

The artistic  'innocence' of the dog on this bill board made me laugh. So did the superfluous 'woof' written in chalk alongside it.

Down by the 18th tee you could think you're in Palm Beach. On our afternoon walk we observe that we are the only Europeans ( Caddies excepted ) to be found. Everyone else is from the US or Asia ( with a sprinkling of Italians ). You can spot a visitor because they're wrapped up in jackets against the breeze that's blowing in from the sea. The locals of course think it's stiflingly hot and are indoors in shirt sleeves. Scottish skin and high UV levels do not make for a good mix.

The 'Open' will be held here next July and in terms of visitors it will be truly epic. Every day a quarter of a million flood into a town with a population of 18,000. We shall most certainly not be here. 

Basic communication :https://www.snexplores.org/article/talking-animals-speak-language-tech

Can moss think ? :https://www.sciencealert.com/moss-behaves-a-little-like-a-really-slow-brain-scientist-discovers

Presumably real estate here is cheap :https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/new-orleans-sea-level-relocation/

Do you have to be a Brit to understand this humour? Would it work in NZ or Australia ? :https://x.com/shashj/status/2080003284585079020

Ladybirds.

Summer doldrums time. The national newspapers are finding it difficult to fill their front pages. Even Larry, the Downing Street cat, is having his moment in the sun :https://x.com/Number10cat/status/2079623596251455910 .

Yesterday was hot and dry. This morning there are Ladybirds everywhere. They clearly love these conditions.

2026 seems to be another bumper year for bees. Their noise rises from the wild flowers that line the edge of the fields like an orchestra in the process of tuning up. We are now at peak cornflower time.

The small sandy beach already alive with village pre-teens enjoying some start of day quality time with their fathers. Today we chat with one of the Americans teaching at the University. Later today the American, may or may not, head into his laboratory. His six and four year old would much rather he stay on the beach with them. His wife will be heading down into Edinburgh tomorrow to pick up grand parents at the airport. She would 'prefer' to drive down without the distraction of her two super lively offspring. The pace of life here in our all to brief summers is leisurely and uncomplicated.

Golfers everywhere. They're just happy soaking up the mood and can't believe their good luck with the weather.

A local dog owner sits and watches a foursome tee off. The man keeps up a constant stream of banter with his companion who is however much more interested in a bacon roll that a spectator is munching on.

Nice thought but no :https://www.skeptic.org.uk/2026/07/get-a-longer-little-doggy-can-we-really-double-our-dogs-lifespan/

Math :https://tech.yahoo.com/science/articles/mathematicians-still-don-t-know-130000515.html

Japanese soft power :https://x.com/thesupermanmx/status/2079131466496352449

The first group of teenagers at the summer school have gone. A new batch of youngsters are expected tomorrow :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7vkhhLcOV0

Breakfast excitement.

Britain has a new Prime Minister, long suffering Canada faces more tariffs and that 'unpleasantness' in the Gulf continues to rumble away. A man being interviewed by the BBC on Iran uses the history laden phrase ' one more push and its done '. Plus ca change. Here Angus is surprised to find out that another birthday has rolled around. It's only what seems like three or four months since the last one. Time, like chocolate bars, seems to have suffered from shrinkflation.

A great view from the courtyard across the Bay this morning. We can see all the way up the coast to the high cliffs by Arbroath. Today we walk briskly down to the shore as there's a chill to the northern air that hints high summer will soon start to segue into early autumn. Over the last few days the wheat has taken on that rich pre-harvest golden hue. The next time I see the farmer I'll ask him when he plans to start bringing in the crop. It can't be long. No quail this morning but the young partridges do a good job of providing our morning entertainment. They dart in and out of the shelter of the tall wheat stalks.

The wild flowers continue to surprise .

In town young English fathers are out and about with their excited offspring. They clamber over the rocks and scream with delight as they paddle in the cold water. This is the start of the English school holidays and the town now has a lot of family groups who eat fish and chips, go to bed early and are up and about as soon as the sun rises. They inhabit a very different world from that of the golfers in the 5 star hotels. For an eight year old is there anything that can match the delights of rock climbing on the shore before going to a cafe for a breakfast bacon roll ? The seeds of living on the wild side are planted early.

The portico of the Episcopal church is wrapped in string. Presumably this will provide the support for a display of wedding flowers. Further down the road we stop and peer at the workmen busy restoring the old building that's being restored as a business and AI centre. The tiles on the roof are being taken down and shipped away to be cleaned and repaired. 

By late morning the town will be full of day trippers soaking up the sun on the beach or looking for ice creams. If possible we avoid doing anything between eleven in the morning and four thirty in the afternoon as parking is simply impossible. A number of parking spots were taken away during Covid so that the cafe owners could expand onto the pavement. What was planned as a short term measure has become permanent.

Accents :https://eriksinger.substack.com/p/we-sound-like-our-peers-not-our-parents

Travels in Bosnia :https://notcompeting.substack.com/p/i-am-from-bosnia-take-me-to-america

Plus ca change :https://eduardoelreportero.substack.com/p/the-perils-of-looking-mexican

Dinosaurs :https://theconversation.com/what-science-loses-when-t-rex-becomes-a-trophy-287334

Non-U golfing behaviour :https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/golf/2026/07/20/bryson-dechambeau-accused-of-threatening-to-call-donald-trump-in-row-over-open-penalty/

Quail chicks.

Spain won (1-0)  the World Cup final against a brutish Argentinian team in a match that managed to be both bad tempered and boring in equal measure. In a sign of the times the Spanish fans booed the American President when he awarded the trophy. As he'd called the Spanish 'Bad people' at the last NATO summit this unsporting reaction was not altogether surprising. This morning the lady who cleans the village hall is already hard at work with a can of Pledge and a feather duster. She will be pleased that football, is for now, over. Later today the village teenagers will come to take down the bedsheet that's served as a screen for the last five weeks.

In the UK we are due to see yet another  Prime Minister ( remarkably our fifth in four years ) make his way to Buckingham Palace to be appointed by the King. No one knows much about the new man so judgement, for the moment, is suspended.

Out here on the coast a hundred or so crows landed on the roof at 5:21 am this morning. They stomped noisily around and then crawed loudly in unison. For the last week or so the crows have been congregating into flocks that line the old stone walls. Sometimes the flocks join together into large bands of around 500 and at others they head off in different directions. We can think of no rational explanation for this strange behaviour. We do however hope they won't congregate on our roof again. The noise they make is outlandish.

In town the scaffolding that blocked off the town fountain has been taken down. The restored stone work looks very grand. No one seems to know when it will be turned on. Presumably there will be some form of civic ceremony ? 

This morning there's a breeze brisk enough to have the flag on the town hall dancing.

There are two Episcopal churches in town. One is very fancy. The other a busy little place much loved by smiley ladies in broad brimmed hats and retired gentlemen in blazers. As we pass we observe that the notice board has been repainted in a rather jazzy red.

The quail that have been nesting amidst the rhubarb plants in the farmers garden have multiplied. Our journey back along the farm track is slowed by the appearance of a dozen or so quail chicks ahead of us. It can be said that quail aren't the smartest of birds. Instead of heading into the safety of the wild roses that line the verges they opt to scurry down the middle of the track. We follow along behind in the car at a stately 2 mph.

You know life is quiet when the highlight of your day is a traffic tailback caused by  quail chicks.

El Nino :https://www.theclimatebrink.com/p/the-strongest-el-nino-ever

Andrew Garfields simple ploughmans accent sounds Australian in this story about the Black Death, taxes and Richard II :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVkrhHebz1Q

There is a certain skill set to talking seriously while hiking. Much of what he says is on the button :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9jD_EmzoAw

An American golfer reports on dancing in the streets of Aberdeen :https://www.agcc.co.uk/news-article/trump-claims-aberdonians-dancing-in-streets-amid-conflicting-reports-on-burnham-north-sea-position

Meadow Pipits .

England play France for 3rd position in the World Cup. They win 6-4 which explains the nountain of bin bags full of lager cans outside the front door of the village hall. In describing the war in the Gulf the BBC uses the word escalation no less than seven times. Later today I shall go and give the little BMW its weekly top up. We are back in the habit of keeping the battery and the petrol tank maxed out.

From the courtyard we can see two farm workers walking through the wheat field pulling out weeds. Life on the farm is at that pre-harvest quiet point. Meadow Pipits fly in every direction as they approach. 

Down by the harbour the fishermen are busy. This is the time of year when demand for lobsters and langoustine is at a seasonal high. The local 5 star hotels all have 'fresh local seafood' on their menus. American high rolling golfers remain convinced that 'Surf and Turf' is the height of fine dining. The gulls are waiting impatiently for the boats to return.

The next door village has a community owned pub that serves breakfast. This morning we're there before anyone else has shown up. We wait a while, admire the tree that's been planted, and then get on our way. Seems that our villagers weren't the only ones watching the World Cup.

Music to kick off a Sunday morning :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYazgvNmoJI

What happens if you review a restaurant in Germany :https://x.com/eigen_moomin/status/2077471686295957749

Warming oceans :https://theconversation.com/7-6-billion-mugs-of-tea-a-second-a-new-way-to-make-sense-of-the-heat-pouring-into-our-oceans-286916

American humour is alive and well :https://x.com/matt_slotnick/status/2077769817059439011

Unshackled iniquity, stalking schnauzers and singing sparrows.

The effects of the shingles vaccine have now completely worn off and life has returned to normal. No one has been able to explain to me why this is the only shot I've ever had a bad reaction to. A few days pain for a lifetimes gain.

On our way down to the shore we pass the farmers wife. She spent yesterday in  Edinburgh shopping . New clothes were needed for her daughter who is heading off to America to spend post-graduation time with the tall floppy haired American lad. This sounds remarkably like a  'meet the parents ' trip. Some rites of passage are unchanging and terrifying.  Father farmer does not approve ( wardrobe makeovers are rarely cheap ) although he begrudgingly thought the boy 'alright'. A Scots farmers son who knows how to change the spark plugs on the John Deere might have been more to his liking. The farmers wife is now concerned that Jackson Hole is the murder/drug/terrorism capital of America. We wish we'd not told her to watch Bosch on Amazon Prime.

Life on the North Sea remains calm. The old medieval town is super quiet. Parking is a doddle. 'The Font' observes this is what was like when we were students here half a century ago. In those days Angus drove a SAAB 96 with a four cylinder engine and a strange freewheeling device that I never fully understood.  To get it to  work you pulled a handle under the dashboard but what it did remains a mystery to this day. 

Politics rarely intrude onto the streets here. This is one of the most equitable of places. However, today we notice a political poster taped onto a lamp post ahead of the World Cup finals. This mornings news has been full of overnight comments about Canada.

Hundreds, literally hundreds, of sparrows busy breakfasting on the grass seeds down by the old pier. The sound they make is deafening. Even more remarkable is the torsional forgiveness of the long grass stems that bend double under their weight.

They squabble constantly and disdainfully so they must be siblings.

By the harbour the rabbits are blissfully unaware of impending nemesis.....

..... which is heading towards them in the shape of a small Schnauzer. We stop and laugh as mayhem unfolds. It goes without saying that the rabbits are quicker than the Schnauzer.

How can this be 40 years old ? :https://vimeo.com/223442837

More money than sense :https://www.the-scientist.com/a-t-rex-leather-bag-is-up-for-auction-is-it-really-dinosaur-collagen-74744

Things astrophysicists want to talk about over breakfast :https://thedebrief.org/an-asteroid-tracked-since-1998-made-an-unexplained-orbital-shift-now-astronomers-say-its-something-far-more-mysterious/

A world that's gone :https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/thousands-intimate-photographs-reveal-the-everyday-lives-the-romanovs-russias-last-imperial-family-180989126/

Odd story of the day :https://www.sciencealert.com/this-chernobyl-fungus-seems-to-have-evolved-an-incredible-ability