Champagne and canapes.

It's a beautiful start to the day. Sophie is keen to get out to inspect the village and its inhabitants .  As we pass the doocot  Doreen and her Jack Russell friends rush out of their respective front gates to greet us. Sophie resolutely ignores these five yapping dervishes. The five yapping dervishes just as quickly ignore Sophie and return to their respective homes to await the next passer-by. Peace descends on the village. Tomorrow at the same time and in the same place this scene will be re-enacted. 

The sun is rising as we return home along the path that runs by the shore. The wheat field is covered in layers of spiders webs. These can only be seen when looking directly towards the sun light. Close up, or away from the direct beams the webs are quite invisible. For an area half a mile square the wheat stubble is blanketed by a delicate trapeze of webs.  Try as I might the i-Phone camera is simply not up to the task of capturing this marvel ( and it is a marvel ). In the photo below you can just about make out the blanket of webs if you look across the grass towards the centre of the sun.  

Town is busy. Two days of winter graduation ceremonies are planned for later in the week. University staff are up early doing whatever university staff do ahead of a winter graduation. Large marquees for champagne and canape receptions have gone up on the grassy areas down towards the sea. Gas heaters are being unloaded from a truck. The administration building is open and busy looking people can be seen through the brightly lit windows. We have to park far away from our usual spot.

The telephone box near the castle has had the old payphone inside removed. I guess it is now a listed historic monument . To the current generation of students or anyone under 20 the dark age of a pre mobile phones world must be quite unimaginable.

The town remains full of visitors. I'm guessing from their dress and age range that they're parents arriving for the graduation ceremonies. The cafe where William and Kate used to meet for coffee is already full with Germans and Americans. Two Indonesian ladies are standing outside taking photos of the people inside. The owner of a large hotel chain told me once that there are only 3 places in the UK can that can support more than two 5 star hotels all through the year - London, Edinburgh and St.Andrews. In the case of St.Andrews students ( or more importantly their parents ) provide the off season demand when the high rolling golfers are gone.

Freedom will find a way of expressing itself  :https://twitter.com/nathanlawkc/status/1596842009364500481?s=20&t=q3XO94ZgpN7z02e6uIFqaQ