A covering of chaff.

 

This morning the car covered in a fine coating of dust and wheat chaff. The farmer and his sons worked until ten last night to get the last of the crop cut before the rain blew in from the south. We notice that the deer enjoy sleeping on the piles of cut hay.  Four of them dozing happily away on the straw in the field by the courtyard.

Sunday was a near perfect day. In town tourists and wedding guests mingled outside chapel. The presence of ushers in tail coats a sign that the groom is English and the wedding 'formal'. In these parts Scots ushers tend, by and large, to be kilted. While wedding photos are taken half a dozen men in bright waist coats rush across the road to the bar for a restorative 'dram'. 

This year, for the first time, we've noticed that tourists ( usually American ) have started wandering around town carrying a single golf club. Some carry a putter, others an iron or, less commonly, a wood.  The only possible reasons for this, that we can think of, are 1) the visitors want to blend in and think all Scots golfers do this or 2) they're wary of the natives and think a blunt metal instrument is a sensible thing to carry in case the locals get restless.  As I said, this is the first year we've noticed this and it's so common it must be a 'thing'.

Down by the golf course the stands are still up but things are getting back to the way they should be after the tournament. Folks are sitting on the steps of the Royal and Ancient enjoying the sunshine while watching a group of brightly clad gentlemen from Marietta, Georgia tee off . For them it's the golfing experience of  a life time. The onlookers politely clap and one of the golfers bows. Two back packers share a Pret a Manger sandwich and take in the view.

So starts a Monday morning in a quiet wee town in Scotland in the week before the 'freshers' arrive. Our tenants for the house by the cathedral are set to fly in from Texas this morning. The gardener popped in for a couple of hours yesterday to tie up the roses that had blown down in last months storms. The fact he showed up was a small, but welcome, miracle.