Art takes many forms.

 

This morning we opt to drive off to see an old Chestnut tree down by the river. The tree's so old there's a sign telling walkers to tread lightly so as not to disturb its root print. I'd never seen the term root print before. The tree has been fenced off and is clearly much loved and cared for in a way you wouldn't expect a tree to be. Its main branch is supported by a large weight bearing iron post and the ground around carefully weeded. A local farmhand parking his Honda on the lane outside says it's 500 years old although, he quickly adds, some folks say it's been around since the 1200's. This is unlikely but it could be a seedling from the one that was originally here. These days there's something hugely reassuring about anything with a sense of continuity. The local blog page has an extract from the 1838 census which  bizarrely informs us that the villages climate is particularly healthy and that many of the local residents live into their 80's. Multiple births, it would seem, were ( and for all we know still are ) commonplace. The longevity thing must have been most unusual in the 1830's:https://www.thefifepost.com/genealogy/fife-parishes-numbers/parish-of-balmerino/

The railings that lead into the garden surrounding the tree were made in the days when ironwork was a thing of civic pride.

On either side of the gate a wrought iron hawk stands guard. A small gesture that amuses us. We'd seen three Sparrowhawks scooting low over the brambles as we've driven down the hill. Their predecessors might have give inspiration to the blacksmith. Art takes many forms - not all of them grand.

In front of the tree some old medieval buildings belonging to the old abbey are crumbling gently back to dust. They too are supported by metal beams.

There's a short poem 'Through the Spanish Chestnut'  etched into a piece of stainless steel and attached to a wall by some old pillars . It's difficult to read ( stainless steel doesn't photograph well )  but is as good a love poem to a tree as you'll find.

More winter Aconites in the grass verges that lead from the road into the village.

So starts a quiet Monday morning in a small, quiet village by the river. 

Heard on the car radio :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94sywKawc94

An artists modern tapestries on show in London :https://www.christinakimeze.com/

A new hotel in Savannah :https://www.staybardo.com/

This was interesting :https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/trump-starts-to-break-things

Hints of Spring.

We meet the farmer who tells us that January saw twice as much sunshine as January last year. It's also been much warmer.  He's  hopeful that his Brussel Sprouts yields will be up - substantially .

On the beach groups of tourists are standing on the dunes taking photos of the sunrise. Spanish and French accents heard together with a smattering of American and Canadian. Can the influx of visitors really be kicking off again so soon ? The weak Pound and the strong Dollar seem to be extending the usual tourist season.

Back in the village the C-A-T that patrols the potato barns glares at us . Can it sense that we're dog people ? Can it really be glaring at us ? Perhaps it has a long memory and associates us with our former canine companion ?

The snowdrops on the path up to the village church seem to have quadrupled in number overnight.

What we take to be Buttercups also seem to be enjoying the balmy weather.

Amazingly the first of the years woodland Daffodils are coming into flower. I'd reckon everything is a full two and possibly three weeks early.

So starts a Sunday morning in a small village in Fife.

Amigos improbables : Quite beautiful :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ur2Dm-0Ick

Hero dog :https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/this-heroic-dog-raced-across-the-frozen-alaskan-wilderness-to-deliver-life-saving-medicine-but-his-contributions-were-long-overlooked-180985905/

Unknown inventor:https://robertbryce.substack.com/p/frank-sprague-americas-greatest-least

Tariffs :https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/why-has-trump-gone-soft-on-china

Welcome to February.

 

First light and we have a visitor.  The wet and muddy paws are a clue that someone has already been down on the beach chasing the Shags. Life for village dogs is good. In fact it's more than good - it's wonderful and made even more wonderful by some slivers of buttered toast. Our visitor disappears when she hears her owners dog whistle. 

The local plant shop has a huge collection of snowdrops. It's their specialty and keeps them busy in February and early March. I'm always surprised at the price people will pay for a pot of snowdrops. The walk through the woodland to the church already carpeted in them.

The new portable sauna now up and running. It is , as the beach warden forecast, proving to be extremely popular with students. Perhaps that's why it's called a 'Wild Scottish Sauna'.

The tide far, far out today. The rugby team have discovered that if they run in groups of three, rather than as a cohort, they can avoid the enthusiastic attention of the local dogs out on their morning walk. Last night France beat Wales 43-0 in the first match of the six nations rugby championship. This is a surprise to the local rugby playing crowd https://www.youtube.com/shorts/oope9PBMbt4  It does not auger well for Scotlands chances.

I pop into the book shop to pick up a book that's been on order for the last three weeks. A local lady is up a ladder looking for something interesting on 17th century Spain. She greets me with a cheerful ' It's a lovely day ' as I head to the cash desk. I've never seen a customer up the bookstores ladders before. 

Angus retreats to Starbucks with his new book. A few weeks ago we were the only people in Starbucks. Now its packed solid with talkative students and townsfolk coming out of hibernation.

So starts a quiet Saturday morning at the start of a new month. What happened to January ? To say it raced by would be an understatement.

In memoriam:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsPJqn3clAE

We can still build beautifully. Charleston my favourite :https://www.worksinprogress.news/p/new-development-survey-1

Where history meets politics . If you want to understand America today it's worth reading this. The third para from the end lays the blame fairly and squarely on the border folk :https://www.edwest.co.uk/p/britains-frontier-people

Unexpected and charming. The Hornpipe:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1_m9lq-wCE&t=410s

Sofas and birthday parties.

Only one topic of conversation on the radio this morning. The breakfast programme journalists can understand the control tower in Washington was short staffed but  find it embarrassingly difficult to fathom out what DEI has to do with it. The implicit assumption is that aircraft disasters are simply not the thing that politicians would ever be expected to comment on other than to unite the country around praying for the victims and their families. Judgements are what accident investigators are for. " Of course we've sadly not been blessed with politicians that are omniscient " says one pundit with the faintest undertone of what might, or might not be, comparative  irony.

Down to Edinburgh ... and back. The trains run on time. In fact the return journey sees us arriving three minutes early.  Parking at the station is 60p a day. Can't be many stations where 24 hours parking is less than £1.

It's sunny all the way which makes the small storm battered fishing villages look uncharacteristically inviting.

The up escalators at Waverley station aren't working. The up escalators at Waverly are never working. The down ones never have a problem. Go figure.

Angus goes off to see a sofa making man about a sofa. All he has to do is agree a price and a timetable for delivery.

What should have been a ten minute visit turns into an hours ordeal of trying out cushion fillings to judge their hardness. Whoever knew cushions came in so many varieties of firmness ? The workshop is tidy which may indicate the man works alone. He tells me he's been building sofas for 40 years and all - bar one lost in a house fire - are still doing what they were designed to do.

From the back of a cab on my way to join 'The Font' I see a cafe serving coffee, porridge and cake. Add on bacon rolls and you'd have the essence of Scotland.

Gordon Ramsays on St Andrews Square does a £20 two course lunch. Sea Bream with steamed vegetables  for 'The Font' and a steak and chips for me. There's Apple Crumble to follow. We're in and out in 45 minutes which means we can get the 1:30 train north. Six identikit Scottish ladies are at the next table. It's the eightieth birthday of one of them. Her name is Jessie and she's come in from Falkirk. All are wearing their party outfits.  A bottle of wine is ordered and then a second. By the time we're leaving a third is on its way amid expressions of ' I shouldn't but I will '. The six ladies were happy when they arrived and are well on course to be even happier when they leave. 

Recommended by a Professor at Columbia. Slightly out of tune but very French. The violins are great  :https://youtu.be/6Pa-M3qtquo

India through Indian eyes :https://siddhesh.substack.com/p/culture-shock-2

Is this unexpected ? :https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2418077122

The bizarre restaurant reviewer tries a Scottish chain with outlets in London, Tokyo and Bangkok. Who has ever heard of a Scottish restaurant chain ? Bars yes but restaurants ?  Irn Bru makes an appearance :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkYnEykGloY

Chaos is fun.

 

Dog walkers, a few students and the 2nd XV rugby team out running on the beach this morning. It's the  varsity match in Edinburgh in six weeks and some post Hogmanay  fitness training is required. A number of dogs feel the need to chase the 2nd XV as they pound along the sand. Any pretense at order disappears as dogs and youngsters become intertwined. There is much laughter and tail wagging. Owners embarrassedly try to retrieve their dogs but this only acts as a signal for other dogs to join in the fun. The ensuing chaos makes us smile. 

By the wooden bridge that leads from the shore to the car park a mobile sauna has appeared.  It can hold eight and can be booked by the hour or the day. The beach warden thinks that it will be very popular with students who will use it for 'hanky panky'. When was the last time anyone used that term ? The beach warden then mysteriously adds " Oh, to be young again ". Mobile saunas are becoming a thing here. The next village along the coast has one and planning application has been submitted for another  to be installed by the harbour.

Down to the fish shop for some Lemon Sole and dressed crab. The shop is busy and there's a queue of half a dozen waiting outside the door. Who would have thought that Thursdays were busier than Fridays ?

The year racing along. The supermarket aisles now filling up with chocolate Easter Eggs and animals.

Ralph the Cavapoo and Dougal the Puppy look as if they'll be big sellers.

From the supermarket car park more contrails in the sky - a sign that the Russians are still out there beyond the horizon although there seem to be fewer fighter jets up this morning.

Played on the car radio this morning :https://youtu.be/VIASSQziiIw

Who remebers RCA ? :https://globalfinancialdata.com/rca-and-the-roaring-twenties

Indian EV's - they'd be ideal for London :https://www.dezeen.com/2025/01/28/hyundai-electric-e3w-rickshaw-concepts/

Spy ships and sheep.

The Air Force are up and about bright and early this morning. We're woken by jets flying low overhead. There must be a Russian convoy in the North Sea. Earlier in the week the Navy was keeping a watchful eye on a large spy ship that was loitering near the cross Channel power cables. From the level of military activity today I'd guess the ship has now made its way 400 miles North and is somewhere near the new windfarm offshore from us.

The sheep on the village green seem unbothered by the roar of afterburners. They munch contentedly on the grass by the burn. The farmer tells us that the Burns Night raffle raised £1650 for the village kitty. He is very happy with this. 

The pilots seem to be flying in circles. Lots of 'O' shaped contrails can be seen in the sky to the North and South. On their way to school the village children stop and stare skywards at this strange spectacle.

A new exhibition is being set up in the art gallery in town. A rather stylish lady is overseeing the hanging of pictures. Peering through the window it looks like the dog sculptures have gone.

Opposite the art gallery one of the medieval houses in town is being repainted. Lilac and puce make a rather low key combination. I'm sure it's historically correct although maybe just a wee bit drab ?

Another of those questions I'd never thought of asking :https://substack.com/home/post/p-155848665

AI writing our laws :https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/01/ai-will-write-complex-laws.html

This house is very Swedish  :https://rc.se/bostader/obj12549_2096885059/

Shoes in the trees.

I open the door to take out the rubbish and within a nano-second there's a visitor in the kitchen. From the state of the visitors paws and fur I can safely assume she's been down on the coast chasing the Shags.

We go to collect the sheets from the dry cleaners. The trees in the park by the football ground grab our attention.

They're covered in shoes. Does this have a meaning ? All the shoes are neatly tied onto branches. Some of them a good twenty feet above the ground. Getting them up there can have been no easy matter.

Fudge donuts once again on sale in the bakers. We're back in term time and student tastes are being catered for. The lad behind the counter tells me there's been a run on strawberry tarts this morning. There's only five left. " A girl came in and bought a dozen " he adds. I'm not sure how to respond to this so reply with what I hope is a surprised sounding ' Goodness me '. 

Why did I never formulate this question ? :https://www.sciencenorway.no/sleep/why-dont-we-fall-out-of-bed-while-we-sleep/2456764

A storm post mortem :https://theconversation.com/why-meteorologists-are-comparing-storm-eowyn-to-a-bomb-248203

Up and running.

 

The students are back, the weather is clear and after the storm the old town has been tidied up and is once again looking at its best. 

While 'The Font' goes to a concert in the music centre Angus ventures into a pub. He used to visit the same pub for breakfast every morning 50 years ago. In those student days he would start his day with a steak pie and a pint of IPA.  Half a century on and the thought of beer and a steak pie for breakfast is no longer enticing.....or wise. Two third year  students at the counter are lamenting the fact that they've chosen to major in a subject that has a nine am lecture on their very first day back.  " Nothing like being thrown in at the deep end " says one as he orders a second round. Their early starting professor is referred to as an 'ogre' which seems mild in comparison with some of the terms they could have called him.

On the wall of the pub there's a photograph of the local Home Guard on parade in 1940. The caption underneath makes it clear they'd had a reviving pint here before setting off.

This morning another northern sunrise. The colours are glorious but don't quite reach the  awesome level we saw in the skies before the storm.

Seville oranges make a seasonal appearnce in the farm shop. It's the annual Scottish marmalade making season.

Why we downsized to a smaller car. Owners of the Edinburgh airport multi-storey please take note :https://www.carscoops.com/2025/01/as-cars-get-bigger-and-wider-so-must-parking-lot-bays/

Sub-Saharan Africa :https://www.ggd.world/p/why-is-african-teen-fertility-so

Northern England :https://tomforth.co.uk/whynorthenglandispoor/

Quiet after the storm.

 

The village Burns Night was due to start at seven but  someone had forgotten to make sure that the kitchens gas cylinders were full. As a result dinner started  an hour and seventeen minutes late. While waiting Kenny, the gentleman deputed to give the toast to the Haggis, drowned his stage fright with a dram or two of whisky. His declamatory style , when unleashed, was memorable. The farmers youngest son and his teenage pals provided 'musical' accompaniment although this was not to everyones taste. Before the raffle this was sung - https://www.youtube.com/shorts/c8--TZDHTWA  . The retired gentleman who doubles up as the local taxi driver/odd job man left early. He tells me he's get three jobs collecting storm delayed students from Edinburgh airport and bringing them into town.

This morning the winds have fallen to 30 mph. That , in these parts in January, can be classed a calm day.

In the field that faces the courtyard the sun picks out what I take to be a circular patch of stones thrown up by the recent ploughing.

Closer inspection shows that the stones are moving ... and chirruping. It's an enormous Covey of quail. We've seen a dozen or so every morning for the last month as we set off in the car but we've never seen so many. There must be at least sixty of them.

Looking off at right angles we can see three deer. This is good news. We've not seen the deer in weeks and were worried that they might have been in a collision with one of the large trucks that speed along the road that runs inland .

Mother and youngster are oblivious to our presence and munch on the newly sprouting grass. Father has us clocked and monitors our progress carefully.

It's going to be a clear day with blue skies. It is however cold. Blown over rubbish bins are still being collected. Life after the gales has returned to its old routines. 

Singing to your cows. Possibly the most Highland thing I've ever seen :https://youtu.be/ilmhR_EgK8Y?t=648 

This may, possibly, only be of interest to Brits ( although the search for easy solutions is not confined to them alone )  :https://davidaaronovitch.substack.com/p/the-impossibility-of-axel-rudakubana

The visual thinker :https://thevisualthinker.substack.com/p/sketchpad-feeling-sadness-for-objects

A gratuitous piece of Scottishness :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZkvvICG4TE