We meet the local farmer walking his Sheltie. The farmer plans to cut down on his potato acreage this year. Due to the Ukraine war fertilizer costs have risen and prices have failed to keep pace. A lack of rainfall reduced his yields by 25%. He had 50 acres of potatoes last year. This year he'll cut it back to 15. The farmer also lets slip that the demand from artificial meat companies has collapsed.
The rugby season has started again. The Scottish team win against England. The farmer and Angus are both delighted ... and more than a little surprised. To celebrate Angus stops taking Codeine and reverts to Pomerol. Thanks to the wonder working power of three glasses of red wine he sleeps the sleep of the blessed. The back pain doesn't bother him in the slightest.
We try a fancy new cafe . Sophie gets a bowl of water and a biscuit.
Angus is told that a Jaffa Cake sponge has just come out of the kitchen. It's a bit early for something that sweet but what better way to finish off an extended dry January ?
Getting this mornings blog published has been a nightmare. Blogger is having one of its 'moments'. Anyone else having the same unexpected delete the post issues ?
11 comments:
Hari OM
I am scheduled for the week, so cannot say whether there are posting gremlins to deal with at the moment. Glad you made it here, though - that daily dose of Sophie and the seaside are succour to the spirit! YAM xx
That cake looks delicious! And as it's 10am in France and coming up to "time for a little something" - very appropriate! Glad you managed to overcome blogger's quirks. Your morning stories are a part of my day.
Lovely first two photos of Sophie, but she does look lost and alone in the fourth one - what a huge beach to patrol.
Did you share the Jaffa cake sponge with Sophie?
I realise that I've been following your blog since the days of Wilf and Digby- and your time in Italy! It's always been my first go-to of the day.
This England rugby supporter enjoyed the thrilling game at Twickenham yesterday and will concede that the Scots deserved their victory. Also delighted to learn that Pomerol is an effective treatment for back pain! I didn't know Waco was renowned for golf and will have to ask my local cycling friend Muriel (Thomson), former globe-trotting professional golfer, about it.
Cheers, Gail.
PS Nobby would love a romp on the beach with friendly dogs like those pictured. He is fast getting frustrated by his post-op regime of sedate walks around the neighbourhood on the lead.
I'm pleased to hear of your back's improvement. I'm sad to say (I should know better at my time of life) that yesterday's rugby shenanigans has led to a requirement for painkillers, not putting them aside. This afternoon, with my second team, should be a bit less tense.
A propos of Friday's post, I tend to get my history from fiction, but if the Civil War interests you, then the intersection between it and the early US in Robert Harris's "Act of Oblivion" should tickle your fancy. He is a brilliant writer and a great researcher, and I learned a lot.
So glad your back pain is lessening and that the cure-all of red wine has worked. A French relative, when informed by the doctor that he should only have one glass of red wine a night, sensibly complied by buying the biggest glass he could find.
Did the farmer say if he was going over to wheat? A school friend of my son's is a farmer and also agronomist in Scotland. He says all his farmer clients are rapidly converting as much land as possible to wheat because the prices have been so buoyant. Thankfully we are year-round self-sufficient in potatoes from our garden. I just need to find some space for wheat...
Sorry to hear you are struggling with the back pain. I also found that the best painkiller for it was wine, especially champagne, I have no idea why!
People thought I was making it up just as an excuse to drink more of it so I'm glad to see that someone else agrees with me!
Sophie’s morning walks in Scotland seem to have a higher level of sociability than in France. For a diva, she seems to really enjoy her more social outings. Maybe she thinks she is giving her fans all a thrill by interacting with them. Her interactions with both people and pups on her walks and visits to town make me smile. She appears to be quite happy in her new hometown.
Never to early for cake.
I'm glad your back feels better. Wine, especially red has been considered a medicine since ancient times. When you went dry for January you might have been depriving your body of it's medicine and it went into withdrawal thus pain. Something to remember next time.
Sophie seems to be thoroughly enjoying living in Scotland and the pictures are beautiful.
We had three days of -28C with wind chill of -35C. Today it is currently 0C and going to 4C this afternoon with rain. Our masses of snow will start to melt. North shore of Lake Ontario. Sharon
I'm sorry about Blogger. It all looks beautiful from here. And yes, red wine is an excellent analgesic! Especially for back issues.
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