A brave one.

The six am BBC news broadcast is still unsure whether the war in the Gulf is over or is escalating. The presenter observes that oil prices in Asian trading have gone up sharply which seems to indicate the latter. Closer to home the British Prime Minster faces a make or break speech to woo back MP's unhappy with his leadership. It wasn't so long ago that we were led by a succession of performative buffoons and people couldn't see the back of them quickly enough. Now we are governed by someone boring but diligent and people are still even more unhappy. Go figure. 

Our local professor of International Relations sends out this latest take on where he thinks things stand :https://phillipspobrien.substack.com/p/the-us-military-is-failing-facts

Inquisitive faces peer at us as we head up past the village green.

The calves are now at the stage where they're cautiously interested in anyone who  passes by. They wander over to the gate to see us . A particularly brave one sticks his nose through the bars.

It's shaping up to be a perfect day. Down on the beach it's shirt sleeve weather. This is probably due more to the lack of wind than any real warmth in the sunshine. The locals schools have had a seven a side rugby tournament here over the weekend and the sand has been churned up by the presence of players and spectators. It is strangely compacted and unyielding beneath our feet. A ranger stops to tell us that he's seen the first cuckoo flowers coming into bloom. He's also seen hares in the dunes.

Today is the start of the full on exam season so there are one or two students out running in an attempt to clear their heads before their Accretion Physics papers.

This is a small town of distinct and long honed routines .

A little known American painter is back in vogue :https://www.christies.com/en/stories/edward-hicks-the-peaceable-kingdom-6ffd5133f81148af82c5dfb9bf043915

There's so much we take for granted :https://x.com/patrickc/status/2053103361176813791

Can't remember ever having seen this show. The camera work is relaxed and the people all seem real and unpretentious. A different age of television :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwsSbAKs3yo

Will El Nino surprise ? :https://gizmodo.com/chances-of-super-el-nino-approach-100-setting-the-stage-for-the-hottest-year-on-record-2000756197

48C in Africa but the Med is facing a chill :https://x.com/extremetemps/status/2053193399134515617

Monday morning thoughts for those taking exams today :https://sketchplanations.substack.com/p/i-will-study-and-get-ready-and-perhaps

Signs and a guardian

Sunday morning. It's already light by five .We're fast heading to the summer solstice and the time of year when the northerly nights are mild and fleeting. The two deer that have been loitering around the heron pond  appear in the courtyard with a little one. The wee thing's still unsteady on its spindly legs so I'd reckon it can't be much more than three days old.  Everywhere you look life is stirring. A group of bird watchers with zoom lenses are clustered down by the shore taking pictures of the gannets. They are an uncommunicative bunch so we wish them 'Good morning' and hurry on by.

'Exams in progress'  signs tell you all you need to know about the monastic silence that has fallen across the towns bars and cafes.

Down by the Shawarma restaurant the female duck that calls this stretch of pavement her home is asleep on one leg. She spends her nights like this.

Her partner remains resolutely on guard and quacks in irritation at anyone who gets too close. His quacking is her cue to put down the other leg. Of all the places ducks could think of nesting this has to be the absolute worst.

On the 1st tee a group of American golfers are waiting to tee off. Players in the know come here in May and September when the weather is better and the crowds thinner. An increasing number summer here. Yesterday we saw two Gulfstreams and three Citations drop into the local airport. They seem to come straight over 'The Last Wee House before Denmark' before throttling back their engines and turning onto their final approach. Senators and Congressmen , as opposed to the merely wealthy, avoid contact with the plebs at the airport and get to land at the local air base. The perks of public service. 

Sunday morning Beethoven :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BHiyYuAhJ0&list=RD8BHiyYuAhJ0&start_radio=1

National parks. The good and the bad :https://viverricious.substack.com/p/i-went-to-americas-worst-national

Current affairs :https://snyder.substack.com/p/on-superpower-suicide

Insights into the real China ( For perspective the population of a small city in China is still liley to be more than the entire population of Scotland ) :https://chinaunread.substack.com/p/i-moved-back-to-a-second-tier-city

Some become great literature. Others don't :https://luisrdomingos.substack.com/p/books-in-purgatory

The golden age of travel :https://fabioaprivatecorrespondence.substack.com/p/the-last-ships-of-state

Good coffee ... and bad.

In exactly three weeks the farmers two sons and a group of their mates head off to the US for the World Cup. The younger boy finished his bac exams yesterday. He now has to wait three whole weeks for the departure date. The farmers wife is steeling herself for the fact that there will only be one topic of conversation at the dinner table for the rest of this month. Three weeks can pass by very slowly when you're seventeen ... or possibly even more slowly if you're the mother of a seventeen year old football fan.  The church elder stops to tell us he's seen half a dozen yellowhammers down by the heron pond. This year they are, sadly, on the red list.

The election results were as expected and the 'grim drubbing' duly took place. On the news the 'grim drubbing' has transmuted into a 'brutal drubbing'.The Liberal candidate in these rural and staunchly unionist parts doubled his majority despite his support for expanding a caravan park onto the towns green belt.

'The Font' observes that on our recent trip to China the coffee was uniformly good. Not once were we served a bad cup. The same cannot be said about Scotland. At the trendy cafe we are served two cups of something that manages to be acrid and palate searingly astringent in equal measure. The students, who start exams today, seem happy with this caffeine laden assault on their senses. After three sips we quietly leave.

The farm shop offering all sorts of tomatoes. We opt for some of the heritage varieties.

Last year strawberries were £3:30 a punnet. This year the price has risen to £3:60.

At the super trendy cafe porridge comes with poached rhubarb and lovage.

A new apothecary shop has opened up. It's very lovely but I'm left to wonder if the locals and students will be big buyers.

A detour to the bookstore to pick up a book that everyone has been raving about.

Roman glassware :https://thedebrief.org/this-ancient-roman-artifacts-weird-properties-point-to-evidence-of-1600-year-old-nanotechnology-scientists-say/

That lightbulb moment :https://x.com/PplRegretting/status/2052708732417798262

Megaregions :https://x.com/jjohnpotter/status/2052600623762375044

It's never too late to release an album :https://x.com/historyrock_/status/2052715005540184449

Voting.

'Drubbing' is one of those peculiarly old fashioned words that is used by BBC whenever a political party suffers heavy losses at the polls. This morning we're being told that the government has suffered a 'grim drubbing' in yesterdays local elections. The addition of the word 'grim' makes the outcome sound unusually melancholic.

The BBC remains unsure whether the war in the Gulf is on or off. The US President has called overnight clashes a 'love tap'. This is an Americanism neither of us has ever heard before.  Elsewhere the hantavirus outbreak on a small cruise ship continues to attract attention. The BBC informs us that 'this is not the start of a pandemic '. I'm not sure whether this is, or is not, reassuring. You've got to feel sorry for the guy isolating on the super remote British territory of Tristan da Cunha.

Cloudier this morning. The beach full of young couples walking to and fro deep in conversation. For some of them the realization has dawned that term is coming to and end and they'll soon be heading off to different parts of the globe for the summer. As exams end the theatricality of impending teenage separation will soon be unfolding on the streets of this small town. 

A solitary horse and rider canter past on the road that runs alongside the fourth tee of the golf course. Golfers waiting to tee off patiently wait for it to pass by.

In the village the Polling station opened at 7 am and closed at 10 pm. Allowing for half an hour on either end to set up and close down this makes for a long, long day for the two staff. We thank them for their civic duty. Sixteen year olds are allowed to vote for the first time in these elections. The farmers youngest and his mates stopped off on their way into school. The staff tell us they were 'enthusiastic' voters. This is presumably another way of saying they were noisy.

The SNP, Liberal Democrats and Greens all had posters up. We were surprised to find a number of pro-independence and pro-life parties on the ballot. Where there used to be a maximum of five options now there are eleven.

The verges turning into wild flower heaven. Butterfly numbers seem to be up this year. Possibly way up. Red Admirals and Peacocks flit around us as we head back up the path from the coast.

Angus has ordered some Bandol rose for the summer. Last years stock of Sancerre rose won't last much longer. The wine makes it through customs from France in a workable five days. It is delivered by a cheerful young courier who stacks the cases in the garage for me to unpack later.

So starts a Friday morning in a small seaside town where nothing ever happens.

What causes lightning ? :https://www.quantamagazine.org/what-causes-lightning-the-answer-keeps-getting-more-interesting-20260506/

The ultimate hotel for wine drinkers. It's in France, naturally  :https://www.sources-hotels.com/bourgogne/

Cold water and smaller tour groups.

Thursday morning. The BBC news bulletin unsure whether the war in Iran is on or off.  Here in the village it's local election day. We usually vote first thing but in a farming community 'first thing' is when everyone else shows up. Weather willing we shall walk down to the village hall before dinner and cast our vote then.

Out on the beach dog walkers are surprised to find a group of students heading into the water.

The dog walkers are not surprised to hear the shouts of agony as the cold water reaches parts that are unprepared to be immersed in Arctic water. Just because the sun is out doesn't mean this is the Aegean. 

Those early morning bus tours from Edinburgh now in full swing. A ' Site of martyrdom' group examining the spot where Patrick Hamilton was burnt alive for his beliefs. Soon they'll happily move on to the site of another grizzly ending. The guides always provide gruesome details - some of which are factual.

A break away group are studying the new statue down by the golf course. This year tour groups fall into two main categories. The large 40 seat charabanc variety and the smaller, more luxurious 6 to 8 seat Mercedes people carrier option. This latter , more personalized style is much more popular this year.

The first tee on the Old Course already humming with activity despite the early hour.

The presence of large and slightly ageing Jaguars and Bentleys indicates that the great and the good of the golfing world are meeting in conclave. Identikit men in blazers, grey trousers and striped ties mill around. 

Seems that the Trump boys, Eric and Don Junior,  continue to push for their fathers Turnberry golf course to be added to the list of those eligible to host the British Open. The Royal and Ancient, the sports governing body, takes the view that the road and parking infrastructure need to be improved before the request is even considered. They certainly don't intend to pay for any upgrades. This response is not what was expected. The sheer bloody mindedness of the Scots as a race should never be underestimated. It seems ( according to an old ambassador ) that Don Jr is about to star as the host of a new season of that popular 90's era television show The Apprentice. It did wonders for his fathers political career. Is the same playbook being tried again ? The ambassador wonders what Messrs. Vance and Rubio think about this. We can't help but think that for a small town the locals are remarkably well plugged in to events across the ocean. 

A feisty Norwegian Lemming :https://x.com/awkwardgoogle/status/2051891456814592187

Swearing - is it cultural ? :https://leobenedictus.substack.com/p/is-the-anglosphere-also-the-swearosphere  The Brits lead the charts.

We were surprised how many Chinese tv shows replayed events of  the 1930's era :https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-dangerous-is-the-current-china-japan-rift/?b=1

A Communist kitchen :https://x.com/eastblocvisuals/status/2051976182476738797

The election tomorrow

Local elections tomorrow. The government is likely to be blamed for the surge in  food prices and rising inflation. Not all of the current woes can be laid at the Prime Ministers doorstep but he'll take the rap. A 'rout' is being forecast. People don't understand politics and they most certainly don't understand how Hegseths war is dislocating the economy so quickly and in such a major way. They just want to be left alone to get on with their lives - an affordable mortgage, jobs for the kids, a trip abroad every year, a health service that works and decent services for the elderly would suit them just fine. St Andrews, as befits a university town will, of course,  vote resolutely Liberal Democrat. 

The wee town is home to 10,000 students. With final exams nearing they're waking up to the fact that this is the time to knuckle under. As we head off on our morning walk a steady stream of them are heading off to the library. There is a certain 'solemnity' on their faces.

On our way back from the beach we stop at the bookstore to pick up a couple of books we've ordered. The staff in the bookstore now know us by name.

The weather is very Scottish. Warm and sunny one minute, grey and cold the next. On Monday it was in the 20's, yesterday, when Angus decided to paint a garden bench, the temperature fell into the low single digits.  The restoration of the town fountain seems to be nearing its end. The top section has been put in place. Will there be a great unveiling ceremony ?

We stop off for an espresso at one of the pavement cafes. We are the only customers.

A reminder of France for sale in one of the cafes.

We are ( slowly )  learning how to speak to whales - https://x.com/Whyman5Whyman/status/2044448771916824911

Will the roll out of AI be like the adoption of electricity ? :https://x.com/DKThomp/status/2044837052810699218

Affordability - or the lack of it . On the radio this morning a segment saying that food prices will soon be 50% higher than they were pre-Covid:https://www.cato.org/handbook-affordability/introduction

A British peculiarity. St Pauls full to commemorate Tyndall :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hfspk3qp-6w

Rebirth. At long last a decent hotel in San Francisco :https://www.thehuntingtonhotel.com/

The Bank Holiday.

Monday was a UK bank holiday and the town was teeming with visitors. Seems that instead of heading abroad for a few days a lot of folk have opted to vacation at home. It's cheaper and you're not hostage to the availability of aviation fuel.  The golf courses have been busy but not hectic. This morning there's a dozen or so American golfers waiting for the seven am slot. Usually, there'd be twenty or so standing in line.

Lion's Mane Mushrooms on sale at a market stall. I'm guessing this is targeted at students needing all the brain power they can get in the last few days before exams kick off on Saturday.

The last mobile phone outlet has closed down. There are now no less than eight shop premises standing empty in town. This is highly unusual in a tourist destination like St Andrews. Is this a sign that retailing is shifting fully online ? Or, is it a sign that the economy is rapidly slowing ?

The ducks on the pavement outside the Shawarma House continue to act as if they own the place.

Bluebells on the clifftops. Down in the bay the post storm repair work on the Aquarium is nearly done.

On the beach our eyes are drawn to a small green plaque that someone has carefully positioned in a sand dune by the cafe.

Closer examination shows it to be a small memorial for a dog that's 'run ahead'. The spelling is charmingly incorrect. That old story of a dog that was loved and loved back. What simpler and happier story can there be ? This morning the beach is full of mutts cashing gulls, sniffing seaweed and generally living the life. 

The Swedish King gets given flowers on his 80th birthday. Formality is not always a Swedish thing  :https://youtu.be/Wm70hEwmQRc?t=423

Sugar and cavities :https://www.popsci.com/health/does-sugar-cause-cavities/

Things I never knew :https://www.mundane.beauty/p/how-britain-lost-its-dye-empire

Well I never. A forgotten breed of  dog :https://x.com/VisionaryVoid/status/2050893884801310894