An easy journey home. We do it door to door in just over two hours. It would have been quicker but for the sheep sleeping in the middle of the road. Outside Braemar we're overtaken by three 4x4's driven by impatient locals. You just know they're going to get to their destination and say ' Sorry I'm late. I would have been here ten minutes ago but there was a tourist in a Volvo dawdling along'. The Volvo is quite well suited to doing 50 mph on serpentine roads but I wouldn't have wanted to go much faster.
A calm sea and a cheerful setting sun mark our arrival home.
This morning Puppy is up and about early. She's in a 'You throw a stick and I'll catch it ' mood. Puppy never tires of this game.
Town in that strangely quiet phase between the tourists leaving and the students arriving. Parking spots are easy to find. A few 'young people' are beginning to show up at their flats ahead of the new semester. Newly inducted staff are holding meetings and the porters are laying out bollards in front of chapel in readiness for a mid-morning wedding. Florists are hard at work putting up a rose arch - a sure sign this is a large and expensive wedding .
A detour to the bakers for a wholemeal loaf. Angus buys two coffee towers. In a sign of the times the bakers have now started to make croissants. The croissants display a close family relationship to the bakers breakfast rolls.
Outside the small Italian coffee shop evidence of a traffic accident. There's a roundabout there which seems to have been forgotten about. On the road in from the village we pass another accident. Someone has been surprised by a sharp bend, failed to turn the wheel and driven through a stone wall.Their vehicle ( a very fancy sports saloon ) has ended up propped up against a tree at a 90 degree angle. There's a policeman attaching ' Police Aware ' tape to the doors. He tells us no one was hurt. ' Scared but not hurt ' he adds. Saturday night is peak accident time.
In our brief absence the last of the fields have been harvested. This morning the farmer is finishing off the barley field. Clouds of chaff mark his progress. His two sons scoot backwards and forwards on tractors. The barns are full of seed potatoes so the next round of ploughing can't be far behind. Today the village Kirk is celebrating the Harvest Festival which, in these parts, still remains a thing.
So starts a Sunday morning in a small Scottish village enjoying a bout of glorious harvest weather.
5 comments:
Puppy will be delighted at the neighbours' return.
As the sole female graduate of Imperial College's 1983 M.Sc.in Geophysics class, I'm delighted to read the latest news from Caltech. A career in science and engineering has comprehensively dispelled any doubts I might once have had that women are every bit as capable as men in these areas.
Cheers, Gail.
May we live long enough to enjoy that barley in 15-20 years.
A lovely sunset followed by a bright sunny morning with Puppy. What a pleasant beginning to September.
What a wonderful variety of subjects covered in today's post! Osa, Buddy and I are always thrilled by a visit from Her Puppyness!
I had to laugh at the bakers window...same cakes on display as when I passed in the morning on my way to German lectures. In 1966! I'm sure they are still just as delicious.
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