The parcel

 

Elder sister arrives at the back door. She has taken to joining us for breakfast. A chance for her to have some peace and quiet before 'Puppy' appears.

It's rained heavily overnight but this morning the sky holds out some hope that the day will remain dry. The Royal Navy ship has left the bay with its complement of Marines and headed off into the North Sea. The pheasants squawk and scatter as we walk along the track to the shore. The German family are already down on the sand. They wave cheerfully. Perhaps there is some truth behind national stereotypes ? I'm not sure how many Scots families would be out and about at six thirty. 

With many of the university staff away town is quiet and parking is once again easy. We have the place to ourselves apart from a few locals who are out and about opening up shops or visiting the bakers.

It's 'The Fonts' birthday tomorrow. The courier shows up with a large box of Swedish delicacies. We're #1 on his schedule. The box is one of those extremely heavy refrigerated ones. The courier grumbles as he puts it down and Angus grumbles as he picks it up. It's made it from Uppsala to Stockholm to Edinburgh and then onto the Fife coast  in under 24 hours which is some sort of DHL miracle.

The box contains all sorts of brands that are hard to get in the UK.

Angus is unsure what is worse. Marinated herring,

Fish roe,

or Reindeer fillets .

There is not a single bar of chocolate so Angus has less than zero interest in the boxes contents. 'The Font' is delighted.

The things you learn :https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-enduring-mystery-of-how-water-freezes-20240617/