The tide is out.

 

The beach quiet this morning bar half a dozen students returning from a night of excess. They strip off on the sand and run down to the sea for a restorative dip . The tide is far out and the party goers have a long, long way to go before toes and water make contact. The wind makes two of them think better of the idea before they make it to the shoreline. They retreat to the shelter of the dunes. Piercing shrieks tell us when the others finally come into contact with the North Sea.

A brilliant article on the US election by Janan Ganesh in this mornings FT. I fear it is behind a paywall :https://www.ft.com/content/75dda875-8398-4299-8969-4974d3b6065b  This from The Atlantic attempts to be optimistic :https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/11/america-trump-democracy-harris/680482/

At the small  bakers  Halloween offerings are now reduced and are being sold at 70 p each. The small bakers  remains peculiarly Edwardian in both its offerings and its  layout. Croissants are not sold. They are considered to be flighty foreign things and therefore to be treated with suspicion. I buy a wholemeal loaf which the lady behind the counter offers to put in her slicing machine. I politely decline. " As you wish " she replies in a tone of voice that makes it abundantly clear that buying a loaf without having it sliced is most unusual. 

Lemon sole, cod , dressed crab and a salmon tail  complete this mornings purchases.

The sunshine seems to have taken the plastic garden gnomes by surprise. When we first arrived the garden bench they stand on was covered by gnomes. Now, passing tourists on the lookout for souvenirs have whittled their number down to just four.

Brightly coloured garden trugs enliven the pavement and provide a perfect contrast to the grey skies that are heading our way.

The town is slowly getting ready for the arrival of winter. Bags of de-icing salt have been delivered to the hardware stores 'garden' department. I buy one bag and shall return later in the day for another.

Filling in a medical form. A brief burst of Scottish humour :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wItIwQ8Xe4E