The Menendez Brothers, Plants and Wine.

We've now watched all nine episodes of 'Monsters' about the Menendez Brothers on Netflix. A modern take on a ' The love of money is the root of all evil' morality play. An extremely bizarre tale but with some superb acting. Nathan Lane and Cooper Koch were outstanding. Nine episodes was probably pushing it . Seven or eight would have kept the tempo going at a more focused pace.

The bitter North Easterly wind blows all day and the temperature falls. Many of the students wander around dressed as if it's Spring time in Menton. I'll wager that by the end of the week they'll all be dressed like the Michelin man and that as it gets close to freezing any pretence at being fashionable will have been forgotten. 

The University has a wonderful Botanic Gardens. They are having a plant sale. We only discover this when 'The Font' decides we should use a brief spell of sunshine to go out and do something.  What was planned as a walk through the trees turns into a full hour of plant buying. The weather has deterred other shoppers so we have the place to ourselves.

We end up buying more than our small wind swept garden can sensibly hold. However, the plants are more exotic than you would find in most garden centres.

They're also cheaper. Some have been dug straight out of the ground and are sold, bare rooted, in paper sacks. These are so big they have to be laid on their side on the back seat of the Volvo. The new car is due any day now but the dealership maintains a haughty imprecision as to when it might actually arrive in Scotland. I'm beginning to wonder why we didn't opt for a Kia.

At the entrance to the Botanic Gardens a lady is selling pots of jam for charity. University towns always seem to have determined women like this.

A jar of Marmalade is bought for Angus and something Beet Rooty is acquired by 'The Font'. Neither of us are really jam or chutney fans.

In the late afternoon we take the train down to the Balmoral bar in Edinburgh for a glass of wine and a light supper. It's also a chance for 'The Font' to go to the Apple store to sort out a few problems on the new phone bought to replace the one that was stolen. We're dressed for the Fife countryside so the staff in the hotel treat treat us with that slight aloofness that Edinburgh folk display towards visiting Teuchters. From leaving the house to returning to the front door  takes exactly five hours which seems an efficient use of time. The trains in both directions run to the minute and are spotlessly clean. 

This apartment block has twice as many inhabitants as St Andrews :https://x.com/songpinganq/status/1842697474991133008

Painting as politics :https://x.com/bfcarlson/status/1026662355613052928