Tough it out.

Another day of sea fog. Out here on the coast it gets to a high of 16C by lunchtime before falling back into single figures. We debate whether we should turn the heating on again but decide to tough it out. I think of mowing the lawn but don't. A lot of the young families who work at the university are away but, judging by the mountain of empty beer cans outside the village hall, there was a good turnout for last nights England v Norway match.

A very serious man on the Sunday morning news programme says that things have kicked off again in the Gulf. He warns of an August shock to oil prices. This is followed by a very British and altogether more cheerful story about newts. The sports commentators go on about how well England did in the heat and humidity. I would have more sympathy with this view if someone remembered they were playing Norway who were suffering just as much ( if not more so ).

In the farm shop redcurrants are cheaper than blackcurrants. I would have thought it should be the other way round.

Despite the early hour the scones have nearly sold out. This is a sign that the tourist season has arrived. Edinburgh folk with their sophisticated palates are much in evidence. There's already a small queue of second home owners outside the cheesemongers.

A bird, perched on a rubbish bin, looks longingly in the window of Subway. It is completely transfixed by the wonders within. 

In town the sea fog has broken up and is a half hearted affair. Out here on the coast its dense and impenetrable and soaks up the sound of the birdsong. The BBC weather forecast tells us 'exposed sea coasts' can expect more of it. In France the old mayor phones to say it's 38C and he's waiting for a thunderstorm to clear the air. 

Amid the tourist places a restaurant that's worth visiting in Charleston :https://www.vernschs.com/samplemenu

An Indian take on Beethoven :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGnmZepyn3o

The best part of Hangzhou :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNcFyT1vsZI&t=44s

Very Norwegian says ' The Font' :https://www.nasjonalmuseet.no/en/exhibitions-and-events/national-museum/exhibitions/2026/dont-be-afraid.-an-exhibition-about-death

This is one of those  places that is very quiet and remote :https://www.historyextra.com/period/stone-age/ness-of-brodgar-new-excavation-update-mystery/

Sea fog

Yesterday evening a haar slowly starts to roll in from the sea. By seven there's an impenetrable wall of thick fog that separates us from the rest of the village. It has a brooding Hitchcockian noise absorbing density to it. The temperature falls and its soon decidedly nippy. This  puts paid to any hope of dining outside. We start to watch 'Bosch'  an old detective series on Amazon. It has a rather good plotline and is ( so far ) devoid of the murderous 'pile them high ' mayhem that propels many in this genre along.

This morning the sea fog has largely lifted. We meet the farmer. England are playing Norway this evening and he's loading up the village hall fridge with cans of Tennants lager. A large turnout of Viking supporting fathers is expected.  Eldest son is taking the Land Rover Discovery down to Kirkcaldy to have the rear wing repaired after his father reversed it ( again ) into a street lamp in town. He's going via the car wash to get the worst of the mud off it before the service department opens. " The car was a wee bit dirty " says the farmer with that clinical level of understatement that farmers employ. In eight weeks time the youngest son will be heading down to Cambridge. This, the farmer points out, is about as difficult a place to get to from Scotland  as it is possible to find. The father, perhaps wisely, is insisting on driving him down and ignoring the boys suggestion that he travel down alone and spend a night ( or two ) in a hotel in London. We both agree the A1 is a dreadful road.

The students have long gone but there's a big pick up in the number of visiting golfers. Helicopters from Edinburgh ferry the wealthier overnight arrivals up to their hotels. What takes an hour and a half by car takes just quarter of an hour in  a chopper. 

The seals out in the estuary are untroubled by humans. This is the time for lying on their backs and letting their bellies soak up the sun.

By seven am the first tour groups are stopping off on their way to the Highlands. Spanish, Italian and what we think is Serbian are all being spoken in Starbucks.  The Polish Barista takes this in his stride. The queue for the loos spills out into the cafe.

The golf course employs an army of ground staff. This morning the electric golf carts are buzzing away like a swarm of angry hornets.

Plus ca change :https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2026/04/2020-census-names-data.html

Never seen before:https://www.sciencealert.com/first-ever-footage-of-haunting-barreleye-fish-captured-deep-beneath-the-atlantic

Spanish music:https://youtu.be/8aD_ynXxeGU?t=34

A place to go to when Europe is sweltering ? :https://otahuna.co.nz/

All sold out. Try again for a ticket in October :https://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/bayeux-tapestry

Innocent pastimes.

The Iran thing rumbles on. One commentator on the BBC breakfast bulletin says things are going to escalate and adds, using a somewhat strange phrase, that 'America is throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks'. Another says things are quieting down. Both speak with that peculiar certainty that is reserved for people interviewed on 6 am news broadcasts. Faced with this vagueness I shall continue to keep the little BMW's tank topped up. 

Here in the UK we're getting ready for yet another new Prime Minister. In the old days he would have been referred to as Mr.Burnham but the BBC has started to call him 'Andy'. Broadcasters prefer 'non-deferential' titles and names . This is fine until hard decisions have to be made and some of the popularity wears off. I'll wager we'll be calling him Mr.Burnham within six months. 

The weather remains unusually warm by Scottish standards. 24C yesterday. Possibly a little cooler today. Here in the village there's the chance of some sea fog.  Sunshine is the cue for the town to start filling up with families taking a long weekend break by the sea. To the delight of three year olds the shops have started to sell buckets and spades. Some innocent pastimes not only survive but thrive.

A few remaining students sunbathe on the grass. With graduation done and dusted most of the teaching staff have left town in search of guaranteed sunshine so the university end of town is decidedly quiet. Parking , as long as you stay well away from the beach, is easy to find.

 

The music department is having some sort of classical guitar symposium. We stumble upon a man sitting on a wall happily playing to an audience of one. He plays not well but brilliantly.

It's a week since graduation and the bakery has redone their prize winning window. The fudge donuts have gone to be replaced by chocolate champagne bottles with ' Congratulations Class of 2026 ' labels. Bizarrely these haven't ( yet ) been reduced in price.

Heat in a Celtic climate ( in this regard Ireland and Scotland are interchangeable ) :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct735UCTMdM

Sumptuousness :https://yakimenko.substack.com/p/on-the-decline-of-sumptuousness-in

Japans love for combining electricity and water :https://monocle.com/affairs/society/japan-electric-baths/

Scandinavian Airlines picks up on the Norwegian rowing trope :https://x.com/alvinfoo/status/2074994641871712721

Scotland 'enjoys' a heatwave.

The southern heatwave has arrived on this side of the border. 25C yesterday and the same expected today. After sitting idle for the better part of a month the farmer has turned on the irrigation system again. Out here the garden continues to be awash with the sound of young goldfinch and corn buntings. The braver among them are now hunting for grubs on the lawn. 

Who knows what is going on in the Middle East ? Just in case this is a serious escalation I stop off at the petrol station to top up the fuel tank. I manage to squeeze in  £20 worth. The BBC six am news also seems uncertain about events. " Having marched to the top of the hill neither side seems keen to march all the way down again " is their 'security' correspondents gloriously imprecise, but somewhat  reassuring, take on events. 

Down by the first tee there's a group of Americans from Chicago waiting for seven am and the start of play. They discuss their game plan for each hole with their caddies. Beside them another group from the Hirono Golf Club in Japan are patiently waiting. We know where they're from because the women are wearing caps with Hirono Gold Club written in large letters across them. Both groups can't believe how good the weather is. The Japanese all have electric golf carts which golf purists ( ie the local caddies ) are somewhat snooty about .

The beach is pretty much empty. One of the joy of being early risers is having the place to ourselves. By lunch time the sand will be packed solid with mothers and toddlers enjoying themselves in the shallow water.

Two horses have been for a long walk in the water. I guess they'll be hosed down to get the salt off when they're back at the stables. We both agree there's something elemental and satisfying about seeing horses cooling themselves down in the waves.

They thunder past us on their way back to the farm. We meet a woman who's walking what appears to be a PON on stilts. Turns out it's a very lively Sheepadoodle puppy. This it seems is an Old English/Poodle mix. This is the young dogs first ever trip to the beach and it's coming to terms with this strange environment.

5 very narrow cottages by the cinema. How do you survive in a house this narrow ? On a hot night those bedrooms must get claggy.

How in heavens name did this become the Scots fans signature song in America ?. This version sung by a herring fisherman from Ullapool is popular  :https://youtu.be/xCW6863H9us?t=77  I wonder if the farmers youngest wooed 'Mia' from Daytona Beach with a personal rendition ?

The test of time :https://www.snexplores.org/article/egypt-great-pyramid-resist-earthquake

Cultural differences :https://x.com/paulnovosad/status/2073134052681679306

A young reporter asking a question no one else dare ask :https://x.com/atrupar/status/2074860362373980266

Virginia wine :https://lostmountainvineyards.com/

Untidy fans and a recycled van.

The lady who looks after the village hall is happy it's being used for World Cup screenings. " Good to see the place busy again " . She's less happy at the state she's found it in. The football fans idea of tidying up after a match is rather different to hers. This morning she's particularly unhappy to find a large black bin bag full of lager cans cluttering up the porch after the Egypt-Argentina game.

London continues to swelter in 30C+ temperatures. Up here there's little or no sign of heat let alone a heatwave and we're layered up for warmth. By this stage of the year the old stone field walls are covered in a thick entanglement of wild roses and blaeberries. These provide excellent safety and cover from passing sparrow hawks for the stream of young wrens and goldfinches who dart in and out. The cows down by the beach are making a good job of keeping the wild flowers under control. They ignore us as we pass by.

Thistles, that most Scottish of all plants, now coming into bloom. The bees ( for some reason ) love thistles.

The poppies that sprout in the grass verges are looking somewhat bedraggled in the wind that's been blowing in from the sea for the last three days.

The farmer is disposing of an old van. He's picked it up on a fork lift truck and is carrying it into the potato barn. This seems unusual. Later today I'll stop and ask him what's going on.

The Tesco's in town is closed for six weeks. They're replacing all the freezer units. I ask the store manager if it's going to get a lighting upgrade but he says the building is listed so there's only so much they can do. This Tesco is famous for having the highest sales of champagne per square foot of any Tesco in the UK. This can be put own to the presence of 10,000 students in town that has a permanent population of 15,000.

Life, as you might be able to tell, is quiet.

Playing a harp on a canal in Amsterdam to an audience in boats :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtGCcu3rvhU

On at the cinema here . Sure it's dumbed down but the final scenes are awesome and I wonder if the films fiercest critics ( How could they do this to the Odyssey ? )  have ever read the book. Everyone talks about how good Matt Damon is but Robert Pattison at the villainous Antinous is spine shudderingly good ( bad ?)  in a performance for the ages :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mzw2ttJD2qQ

Short sightedness increasing :https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/myopia-epidemic-eye-shape

Perception :https://iai.tv/articles/your-brain-does-not-percieve-reality-it-predicts-it-auid-3614

What does this tell us ? : :https://x.com/arindube/status/2074230444871082276?s=20

Meanwhile Edinburgh continues to signal that it's a town with traffic hold ups unlike any other :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4l6D54jWkc

The world of economics :https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/jd-vances-crusade-against-gdp-is

Tuesday morning scenes from a quiet town by the North Sea.

A heatwave down south in London. Their third this year. Up here the mercury is expected to hit (briefly) a heady 16C.

The village hall has been quiet since Scotland dropped out of the World Cup. This morning it's a hive of cheerful activity. The local teenagers are getting everything ready for the excitement of the Norway v England game. A freshly ironed white floor to ceiling  'projection' sheet is being hung from the rafters by the kitchen door. The tournament has, until very recently, been a master class in civic mindedness and good sportsmanship.

A rather fine display of orchids in a window in town.

Old surplus undergrad gowns are being repurchased at the university shop. They're not worn as frequently as they used to be but provide a useful defence against the cold North Sea wind.  First years seem particularly keen on them. There are still a few students around but 99% seem to have gone. Trains south have been booked solid.

Peking Duck flavoured seaweed chips in the farm shop. I wonder if you were blindfolded and asked to taste them if you'd recognize that the flavour was Peking Duck ?

The wooden sign at the front of the bakers window display of fudge donuts  says it was the winner of the monthly shop window award. If so this is a 'remarkable' achievement and says a lot about the standard of the other window displays.

Some bar owner has clearly understood how to attract the high rolling American golfers into their premises. The first floor windows are a veritable riot of July 4th red, white and blue.

Great carving :https://x.com/tongbingxue/status/2074043241012551977

When is the mind at its best ?:https://www.psypost.org/when-do-humans-reach-their-psychological-peak-a-new-study-points-to-late-midlife/

More on AI thinking for itself :https://www.noemamag.com/when-the-machines-deserve-our-consideration/

For recent grads a super serious take on how to get on . How this dropped into my inbox I have no idea  :https://www.jessicariedl.blog/p/so-you-want-to-work-in-washington

Football and religion.

As long as you keep walking briskly it's warm enough to be out in shirtsleeves but there won't be any need for sunscreen ( again ) today. Down south they're preparing for a heatwave. The BBC 6 am broadcast leads with the English teams 3-2 victory over Mexico in the World Cup.

Someone has left a pair of Wellington boots on the spot where Patrick Hamilton was burnt to death in the 1520's. The site of his martyrdom is marked by the letters PH set into the cobble stones :https://spookyscotland.net/patrick-hamilton/

It's one of those old traditions that any student who steps on the letters will fail their exams. During term time you often see absent minded teenagers suddenly making abrupt course corrections in order to avoid doing so.

After their graduation ceremony, with the risk of failure a thing of the past,  many of the new graduates make a point of walking on the spot. Some ( as these youngsters in this photo are doing ) even stop to record the moment on their i-Phones. 

Perhaps the Wellington boot owner thought he was going to flunk his exams and got an unexpected 3rd ? He certainly made his point. I wonder how long it will be before the Wellingtons are 'rescued' ?

I've finished reading JD Vance's new book 'Communion'. This dip into doctrine didn't take long to finish. I hope it's not disobliging to say its a lightweight book and not just because its a thin volume set with large typeface. In summary: JD talks while God listens carefully and takes notes. There's no doubting who calls the shots in this dogmatic telling. Things fall off shelves in bars and are interpreted as signs of divine approval. Redemption and shame as concepts are ignored. The book  is outwardly reasonable and will appeal to a target audience all too aware of the mote in their neighbours eye but ignorant of the beam in their own. Politicians need self belief to function and there's a lot of it to be found here.

Turn up the sound :https://x.com/Protect_Wldlife/status/2073357769126662509

Our local Marks and Spencers attracts American golfers looking for Arnica  :https://thefreemanmag.substack.com/p/the-rise-of-grocery-tourism

Surprise of the day :https://news.rub.de/english/press-releases/2026-07-02-philosophy-how-empathetic-rats-are