Saturday, August 10, 2024

The blessing of an ordered existence.

 

The German family conform to their national stereotype and are down on the beach at first light. This morning mother is collecting Brambles for jam. They're still sun deprived and bitter but she hopes a healthy dose of sugar will work wonders. One more week before the house swap comes to an end. The children will miss the low traffic environment of a Scottish village.


Down by the crossroads one of the villagers has had a heat pump installed. He's keen to show us this new acquisition but is waiting for the electrician to show up and connect it to the mains. We stand an look at this inert piece of technology while making appropriate small talk. I wonder how much noise the heat pump is going to make. This is a thought I keep to myself.


Down on the shore the young gulls are busy practising their fishing techniques under the watchful eyes of their mothers.


I thought the preparations for the womens golf tournament were complete. Not a bit of it. The tents and marquees have gone up but now they have to be fitted with deep pile carpet and furniture. The cost and implied waste ( do we really think the carpet will be carefully removed and stored ?) seems an  environmentally unfriendly business model for a four day event .


The funfair has come to town. It will stay until Tuesday night when  the rides will pack up and go . Parking - difficult at the best of times - becomes impossible.  We shall get all our shopping done and be out of town by eight. The fun fair is targeted at a rather younger age demographic.


The bunting that went up for the Coronation has been replaced. New red, white and blue decorations flutter over the shopping street. This time the flags are triangular in shape rather than oblong. The Syrian refugee lady has taken up position on the pavement  outside the supermarket entrance . Many folks pass her by in disapproving silence but she always manages to smile despite lifes pathway having taken some unexpected turns. I quietly give thanks for the blessing of an ordered existence.

12 comments:

WFT Nobby said...

For a moment you had me thinking it was the German family who were bitter and sun-deprived.
The 'who speaks English' list prompts the question - do as many as 90.1% of the Netherlands population speak fluent Dutch?

Angus said...

Both Brambles and German visitors can fall in the category of sun deprived . Thankfully only the fruit is bitter.

Linda said...

I always think it's wonderful when the Lammas Fair takes over the streets of St Andrews, ousting the golfers and tourists and reminding the town of its agricultural hinterland and traditions. A deeper turning of the seasons than the revolving of golf tournaments.

jabblog said...

Heat pumps are noisy. I hope he won't regret it.

Camille said...

We installed a Mitsubishi heat pump two years ago to be used primarily as an AC unit and occasionally for supplemental heat. Its whisper quiet. Hopefully the Vailant brand the villager chose will be as well.

Lisa in France said...

Those statistics on fluent English speakers were quite surprising, if accurate. France seems high, India seems low, Japan apparently didn't make it onto the chart at all. I guess the Olympics must adapt to the times - out with poetry, in with breaking.

Travel said...

An interesting camera angle on the gulls, looks almost like a drone shot.

Stephanie said...

We have an excellent crop of blackberries this summer, mere steps from our back door. I'm guessing you'll not be giving us a report on the thrills of the carnival rides. Yes, thank God for an ordered existence. How privileged we are to have one.

Angus said...

Amazing what standing on a small rock outcrop can do to perspective.

Coppa's girl said...

An old house near to me had a heat pump installed some time ago. The installer had to drill down 15 - 20 metres and this was to precede some vast modernisation which began with removing the roof, and extending with steel beams in every direction. All very "Grand Designs". Four years on the house is till in it's ramshackle roofless condition and I gather the heat pump has never been used.
I'm always too late to help myself to the wild blackberries that grow in the lane nearby. I watch them patiently, seem to miss the ripening and find they've all been picked.

rottrover said...

we had heat pumps installed maybe 6 years go. LG. They worked well and were quiet until this year when two of the units broke - one just falling out of the wall! And yes, grateful for an ordered existence.

Iza said...

I have the same setup, but a different brand, Carrier. Mine is also whisper quiet.