Slow moving owls.

Gaza, the Trump trial, Zelenskys delayed trip to Israel and the problems of Portugals Prime Minister all pop up in this mornings telephone call with the super smart Los Angelenos. The Kentucky and Virginia elections also get a brief mention. I think this is the first time Portugal has ever made it into a morning conversation. The other issues, in one way or another, have become fixtures . 

A mini monsoon , as brief as it is intense, has sent dog walkers scurrying for cover and filled the wheelbarrows outside the hardware store with an inch of water. 

The hardware stores plastic garden ornaments are popular with visitors. Almost all the small dogs and most of the hedgehogs have gone. Closer examination shows that the owls are not flying off the shelves. Perhaps they look too stern ?  The stock of garden gnomes is now down to two and there's only one solitary Meerkat left. A replacement order to Chengdu Garden Ornament Factory #17 is surely due ?

By the time we make it onto the beach the storm clouds are lifting and the sun coming through. High flying geese are still heading south. Have they been delayed on their journey by the recent storms ?

A young couple with a hyper active two year old  watch, bemused, as a surfer heads off into the waves. The two year old is keen to join the surfer but is 'dissuaded'. 

The cathedral is looking good. The metal fences are still in place but the Health and Safety folk seem to have finished making sure that masonry won't fall on any unsuspecting tourists. I note that a sandstone door lintel has been replaced on one of the abbey gateways. The new sandstone glows in the morning sun. Maintaining a 900 year old ruin is hard work.

This French hotel is so 'English ' :https://www.abbayedesvauxdecernay.com/

I had never seen this Turner picture of a dog until someone we were having dinner with mentioned it :https://medium.com/the-worlds-great-art/dawn-after-the-wreck-a-painting-by-j-m-w-turner-cd146edd7f25

And here is a cafe on Skye - photos taken in the summer :https://www.cafecuil.com/