Sunday, January 8, 2023

A gentle reminder.

A gentle nudge on the back of my leg by a wet nose reminds me to hurry up and get our day  started. Dog owners may see it as just another outing to the beach. For my furry companion it's high adventure. For her there's no such thing as  an 'ordinary' day. There's a whole universe out there to explore, dogs to be greeted , or, depending on their nature - challenged. There are sounds to be listened to, vast mysteries to be studied. Hidden amid the seaweed are taste bombs waiting to be uncovered and tasted . 

Sophie was right to hurry me along. We're on the beach an hour later than usual. What a difference an hour makes. Yesterday it was deserted. This morning it's busy. The tide is also in. Sophie stands at the top of the dunes, surveys the activity, and then she's off. A howl of delight pierces the air as she goes. Some emotions can't be hidden.  A pair of senior labradors are greeted like long lost friends. Then it's the turn of a Sheltie, then a poodle and finally an overly friendly small ginger mutt. Collective canine effervescence. This morning Sophie finds a small mackerel in the marram grass. She carries it with her head held high. The joy when those olfactory discoveries explode on her taste buds !


Back at the last wee house before Denmark all is calm. A ship that services the wind farms has anchored in the bay. Does this herald the arrival of bad weather ? 

Yesterday, half a dozen folk wandered along the track to the shore. Their Polish great grandfather was stationed , in this very spot, after the fall of France in 1940. His unit was tasked with manning the coastal defences against the threat of invasion. The old cow byre down by the water was converted into a gun emplacement. 80 years of wind and waves have swept the surrounding pillboxes away but the byre where the gun was mounted is still there.  It was here in the village that their great grandfather  met and 'courted' his Scottish girl friend. The rest as they say is 'history'. Polish names are common here. Many members of the Polish army opted to stay in Scotland when the war ended in 1945 rather than return to life under the new communist order. The sophistication of passionate, hand kissing Poles won the hearts of many of the local girls. 


The farm shop calmer now after the madness of Christmas. The surplus of  heavily reduced Christmas cakes still aren't selling. We buy some sausages for breakast. Sophie knows here day is going to get even better.
 

It's taken a while but they've finally figured out the reasons for the longevity of Roman concrete. https://news.mit.edu/2023/roman-concrete-durability-lime-casts-0106

14 comments:

Coppa's girl said...

Sophie looks remarkably well groomed in the top photo! Sausages - the start of another best day ever?
Christmas cakes have obviously lost their appeal now the festive season is over.

Angus said...

Coppa's girl - She managed to wake looking vaguely like a dog. Must have been an undisturbed nights sleep. The 'groomed' look did not survive a trip to the shore.

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
Fascinating article on the concrete of ages... YAM xx

Pam in NH said...

LOL "vaguely like a dog".
Almost choked on my coffee! As a reader who worried through the knees repairs, I am so happy to see Sophie having ALL the fun she is having.

Jake of Florida said...

I too thought Sophie had been carefully groomed!

Travel said...

Humans need to greet the day, with all of the optimism and curiosity of Sophie.

paphosmuseum said...

There's a very good series of detective novels based mainly in Dundee, but with St Andrews links by Hank's Allen. The back story supports your narrative.

I get the impression you don't read a lot of fiction, but ...just sayin'....

Lisa in France said...

Sophie really does look quite different today - rather sophisticated.

Angus said...

Paphosmuseum -Thanks for the link. 'The Font' is the fiction reader in the house. All T F Muir books, bar one, have been digested since we've been here. They detail a series of improbably gruesome murders in this most law abiding of towns where murder is a rarity. You have provided the follow -on reading. Thank you.

rottrover said...

Sophie also looks quite 'puppy-ish' in that first photo :). Also, since when has Sophie enjoyed the company of other dogs? This all seems new since moving to Scotland. Wonderful.

Angus said...

Rottrover -Since moving to Scotland Sophie seems to have decided to become more 'sociable'. Why this should be is a mystery.

Gemma's person said...

She didn't realize there was such a place as Scotland.

Megan said...


When I was attending a Catholic High School in Fife in the 1960's most of my classmates were of Polish, Italian or Irish descent. The Poles were as you described, staying here after helping in the war, the Italians had been prisoners of war but helped on the farms mostly and the Irish, like my own father,had come to work in the coal mines to release men to fight. It made for interesting friendships and sleepovers. And meals!
"The Font" might be interested in a new series of crime fiction set in St Andrews by Marion Todd, police procedural , the first one called "See Them Run.No crime when I lived there though!
"Wish she was here to help me with learning Swedish from the internet...for no reason except I like learning languages.
It was lovely to see Sophie's beautiful eyes clearly today.

paphosmuseum said...

You're welcome