The stylish Chinese golfer.

 

Monday early evening. It's dry and sunny. We opt for a half an hour walk along the shore to the large Canadian golf hotel for a pre-dinner drink. This hotel claims to be a 5 star but the dried Seagull guano on the outside tables hints at a less stellar rating. A gaggle of disinterested staff standing by the waste bins for a cigarette break reinforces this impression. The post-Brexit absence of Europeans makes running any Scottish hotel or restaurant a difficult task. The really good Michelin restaurant in Anstruther - which was a gem -  has recently given up the fight and closed for good.

While we wait for our drinks to arrive 'The Font' informs Angus that Murdo the boilerman has called and arranged to do a full service of the central heating system a week on Monday. We both agree that Scotland is a country where winter preparations are best done early and thoroughly.

The '5' star hotel is quiet between 5:30 and 6:00. Golfers are only then returning from town . We're alone with the exception of a Chinese gentlemen in a white track suit covered with a surprising amount of gold braid trimming. He's smoking an enormous cigar. His baseball cap matches his track suit but with the addition of a 'Golfy Buddy' logo in red letters. The Chinese gentlemen is stretched flat out on a long bamboo bench and is almost invisible to passers by. Every so often a puff of cigar smoke and a snatch of music from his i-Phone signal that he's still awake.

A helicopter brings in some Gleneagles folks for dinner. It lands rather closer to the hotel than we'd imagined would be possible under Health and Safety regulations. The noise, and the ensuing down wash, causes the  Chinese gentlemen to sit up and see what's going on. The sight of a helicopter moving across the grass causes him , sensibly, to head inside.

This book has now been finished. Angus now knows all he needs to know about Byzantium between the 4th and 11th centuries. A good , if weighty, read.

The cashier in the bookstore recommended this. It's rather fun .

A climate emergency in LATVIA :https://x.com/WxNB_/status/1817665362185318508

Camouflaged Hippo :https://x.com/AMAZlNGNATURE/status/1818059184094470288