A new month.

A new month and we're now heading off into the second quarter.  Have you ever known time fly by so quickly? I look for April Fools Day stories in the paper but these days it's impossible to determine what is, or isn't, an outlandish hoax. 

It's sunny and there's the promise of another warm day. It got to 17 degrees here yesterday. More of the same is forecast for the rest of the week. Puppy is off by the shore chasing foxes. Her elder sister, who has reached that age where fox chasing has lost some of its allure, races over to see us.

There are two tractors hard at work in the field outside 'The last wee house before Denmark'. The farmers  teenage son is driving one and his father the other. The son ploughs long deep furrows in the soil and his father follows along behind towing a device that plants the seed potatoes. The eldest Jack Russell- a grumpy lady of advancing years -  is sitting on the farmers lap in the tractor cab. They're listening to the BBC breakfast show.  Both dog and farmer seem happy with this arrangement. She's warm and  gets to be the centre of attention while he gets to spend time with an old friend. He waves and we wave back.

The cafe by the chapel is open early. Someone on the staff is clearly finding it difficult to adjust to the clocks changing. Two well wrapped up Spanish tourists are sitting outside sharing a pot of tea. The blue uniformed university cleaning ladies chat to them as they wait for the bus to take them back to Dundee.

An ancient Land Rover ( it's one of those with the split windscreen so must be 70 years old ) is parked outside the post-grad reading room. It has driven up onto the pavement so the caravan doesn't block the road.

There is clearly a story here that involves Alzheimers and bowel cancer. I'd like to give the owner some money and find out what it is but there's no sign of life in the tiny caravan. The Union flags draped around the front are a cheerful touch.

The tomato business :https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/03/whats-the-best-way-to-make-the-tomato-industry-more-carbon-efficient-hint-its-not-local/

This used to be  rather run down hotel but has been beautifully restored as a rental house. It is extremely remote. Once, thirty or so years ago, we thought of buying it but deemed the location too impractical :https://rodelhouse.co.uk/pdfs/Rodel%20House_Desktop.pdf

Australia faces the same challenges to government spending that everyone else does - but is probably better prepared to deal with them :https://e61.in/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/E6003_5Theme_Report_5.pdf

Chinese Primary school kids to be taught AI :https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/china-schools-ai-courses-4990306

The April line up in the bookstore looks interesting :https://www.toppingbooks.co.uk/events/st-andrews/