A hearty Good Morning from Sophie who is quickly acclimatizing to strong winds. We've been up early talking to Manhattanites and super smart Los Angeleans. The general tone is upbeat. Seems that both sides of the Atlantic have looked into the political abyss and seem to have backed away ... for now .... from performative populism.
We head off for our morning coffee, de-chocolated Jaffa Cake and bacon roll. How quickly new routines develop while old ones are discarded.
Down by the harbour there's a boat for sale. Angus rather likes the thought of having a boat. Quite how this wee thing would cope with North Sea gales is an issue. What 'The Font' would think about the shipboard 'facilities', or lack of them, might be a further impediment to this idea. Seadog Sophie will need to wait for another day to get her sailors legs.
At the village store they're selling Advent Calendars. For £88 you can get an advent calendar with a can of craft brewed beer behind every window. How clever. Next door to it there's smaller calendar that promises a festive can of Gin and Tonic every day. No doubting that we're back in Scotland.
Some locally grown rhubarb in the vegetable section. Rhubarb crumble will be on tonights menu. We'd assumed that when we left France the quality of fresh fruit and vegetables would decline. That's not the case. There's been a revolution in Scottish cuisine in the 20 years we've been abroad. The big disappointments ( croissants excluded ) are tomatoes which all seem to come from greenhouses in the Netherlands and are dull, lifeless imitations of their French cousins. Same with oranges which are often tinged green and seem to have had only a passing relationship with the sun.
It's now exactly three months to the day since we left the small French village. On the basis of 12 weeks of outgoings it would seem that the cost of foodstuffs is the same, the cost of services like car and house insurance is much less, but the cost of eating out or having a coffee is higher. Builders, plumbers, electricians are all slightly cheaper if no less prone to showing up on the appointed date.
Back at the wee cottage on the coast one of the local farmers is getting round to ploughing his field. This attracts hundreds and hundreds of ravenous worm seeking gulls.
18 comments:
Yes, the gale force winds seem to suit Sophie very well - she's positively revelling in the blast!
I think that I'd agree with 'The Font' and demand more sophisticated on-board facilities on the wee boat. You might pick up a sanctioned Russian Oligarch's yacht for a mere song, if you shop around! Much better to face the bracing seas around Scotland.
'Swanky Lass' would be just perfect for Seadog Sophie. Go for it!
Failing that, surely there is a single malt advent calendar for sale somewhere in St Andrews?
I think your first photo of Sophie today would also be a candidate for photo of the year. What a smile! The rhubarb looks very tempting.
Hari OM
Oh, I'd be tempted by the Swankie Lass just for her ornamental looks! YAM xx
Oh my gosh buy the boat!!!
Do you hear news from your old farmer neighbor?
Boats are delightful but in this family known as; "A hole in the water into which one pours money" And lets not forget; "The two best days of one's life is the day you buy a boat and the day you sell the boat" My advice is to form a friendship with a capable and trusted person...who owns a boat. You can bring the snacks.
I'd like to nominate the first photo of windswept Sophie as photo of the year. What a smile!
I agree that Sophies photo wins Picture of the Year.
The Swanky Lass is the sweetest boat I ever did see. I'd be tempted to park it in the backyard so I could pretend I'm out on the open sea...with one hand on the wheel and the other holding my craft beer of the day.
The rhubarb looks wonderful, you seem to have settled in well. The boat is adorable, just for a couple of hours of slow puttering around on a calm day.
The abyss beckoned with much more even than performative populism. Thank doG an unanticipated moment of sanity seems to have prevailed.
Angus, walking along with you, I can feel the deep chill and bracing winds coming off the North Sea. What pure air and light you are blessed with! Darling Sophie looks to be having the time of her life. I do often wonder how things are going along in that lovely small village in France.
Gail and Nobby, Just a hello, as I’m recently and sadly unable to leave comments on your always delightful blog.
I’ve also been hoping to offer a late note of sympathy to Coppa’s Girl regarding her loss of dear Inca, as well as a warm welcome to Lindy.
I seem to be coming up as Anonymous; this is Stephanie in Northern California.
We are able to see Sophie's smile more often in the Scottish wind across the water. :)
Stephanie in Northern California. Thanks for stopping by. I have no idea why Blogger allows us to comment on some blogs and not on others. I'd like to think it could be blamed on my technical ineptness but I fear it is a tech gremlin that appears and reappears at random.
Staff would agree with Font. She is in favor of indoor facilities. Were Swankie Lass for sale in U.S. she probably would go in dry dock and be converted into an additional dwelling unit, studio or a vacation rental.
Three months has gone by fast. Proof you are back in the UK is the fact you can buy differnt types of "drinks by the dram" style advent calendars, which I doubt were sold in your old village, to have 24 days of Scotch whiskey or various other spirits to keep you happy in December! https://thespiritco.com/collections/advent-calendars/products/scotch-whisky-advent-calendar
PS The whiskey advent calendars range from 50 to 10,000 GBP if the Font is trying to find you a present!!!! I wonder how many of the expensive calendars get sold.
Stephanie - thank for your kind comment about Nobby's blog. I've tweaked the comments settings and wonder if you (and perhaps others who've encountered the same problem) can now comment?
Cheers, Gail (and apologies to Angus - I hope he doesn't mind me using his blog as message board here).
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