There will be dancing on the lawn.

A quick morning chat with the Manhattanites. Last week Iran was the big thing. This week its Senator Tillis and Zohran Mamdani. The Manhattanites are somewhat sympathetic to the former but consider the latter to be the be the harbinger of New York becoming  'Caracas on the Hudson'. To most Europeans he sounds like a middle of the road Social Democrat.

The young eider ducks are now learning to fly. Eider ducks are not aerodynamically svelte. In fact they have the shape of small flying anvils. We stand and watch a group of youngsters launch themselves off the rocks on the shore by the harbour. Some manage three flaps of their wings before barreling into the water. Others manage six or seven. Mother eider ducks are big believers in the old adage " if you don't succeed .... ". Chicks are pushed back onto the rocks to try again and again.

There's a couple sunbathing on the storm wall down by the small beach. It's barely seven and although the sun is up the temperature is struggling towards double digits. The Scottish summer is short enough for people to use any and every cloudless moment to soak up a few rays. The BBC breakfast broadcast informs us that it may get to 34 in the south. Such extremes are unlikely to trouble us here.

A solitary Sheltie stands and stares at the ocean. It is completely lost in its thoughts. Is it overawed by the majesty of the ocean or dreaming about breakfast ? Finally the dog hears the calls of its owner and bounds off.

Outside the Catholic church a car towing a ridiculously small caravan pulls up. A woman gets out of the passenger door and runs inside leaving a young man to wait. Two minutes later she reappears and the car and caravan head off. 'The Font' observes that two people sharing a caravan that size would be acrobatically intimately cosy. Perhaps the young woman's popped in to do  some form of super quick penance ?

People in strangely formal attire up and about and strolling through town. Excited parents who've already had breakfast in their hotels. They haven't thought about what they're going to do to pass the time until the start of todays first graduation ceremony. Physics and astronomy kick off the season.

The lawn in Quad is looking very smart. It has been trimmed to perfection. For the last two weeks tourists have been chased off it by a tall man in a black tee shirt and trousers. At night the gates that lead to it from the street have been padlocked shut. It is the pride and joy of the university gardeners and groundsmen. Today , and for the rest of the week, it will be home to dancing. Even lawns have their moment in the sun.

The cost of a summer barbecue :https://politicalcalculations.blogspot.com/2025/06/the-cost-of-summer-cookout-in-2025.html

Helicopter cash :https://eu.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2025/06/27/witnesses-helicopter-dropped-thousands-of-dollars-onto-gratiot-avenue-detroit-michigan/84391286007/

This was interesting  challenging :https://www.codastory.com/rewriting-history/my-mother-tongues/

Cosmology :https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2025/05/adam-riess-hubble-tension/682980/?lctg=6050e2b7f98ec7553cab3a85

Ostensibly about peacock kings but there's a hint that the author is really writing  about current politicians :https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v47/n03/tom-johnson/who-plucked-the-little-dog

Good weather set to last ?

The old mayor calls from the French village  to tell us that the temperature there hit 41. This sort of heat is expected in mid-August but is most unusual at the end of June. Restrictions on topping up swimming pools will be introduced if rain doesn't arrive soon. A huge thunderstorm is expected on Tuesday night. In London, according to the BBC, it was a muggy 32. Here on the coast the sun pushed the mercury to a very pleasant 21 degrees. More of the same is expected for all of next weeks graduation ceremonies. 24 is forecast here today which the villagers consider to be a heatwave.

The number of European tourists milling around in town indicates that there are a lot of folk who will happily pay to go in search of cool summer temperatures. 

The auld kirks hanging baskets have been freshly planted out and have a particularly jaunty air. 

There's  hint of sea mist down on the dunes. Do the Hebridean sheep find these conditions hot and uncomfortable ? They seem happy .

Yesterday afternoon you could almost see the barley in the field that lies between us and the sea soaking up the heat. It seems to be growing by the minute.

20% of the students here are from North America. A quick back of the envelope calculation indicates that over the coming week 500 or so will be picking up their degrees at the ceremonies in town. We go down to the bar by the golf course for a pre-dinner drink. It's packed solid with parents and grand parents here for their offsprings big day and determined not to miss a single moment of the proceedings. Conversations with other tables flow. Soon to be graduates are introduced. 'You must be a smart cookie ' said to smiling youngsters. Mothers glow with pride. Fathers share their 'special' cigars and comment on the competence - or lack of it - of  golfers on the 16th. There are certain times when shared happiness becomes the common currency. In a large town such things would go unnoticed but in a place with a population of 15,000 you can't miss it.  The wait staff at the bar are completely swamped but everyone is too happy ( or polite ) to notice the 'leisurely' service and the faulty orders. The first bottles of Krug are spotted. Summer nights at the Old Course are special. 

Canada comes top :https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2025/04/11/which-countries-would-benefit-most-from-an-american-brain-drain

Graduation week. To top it off the kids are arriving for this :https://www.issos.com/  In the space of a few days the age profile in town has dropped from late 40's to late teens. 

More on Canada. Supermarket shelves :https://lenispooner822538.substack.com/p/the-unseen-hand-on-your-grocery-cart

Medical esoterica. Boerhaave syndrome :https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/06/man-eats-dubious-street-food-ends-up-blowing-apart-his-gi-tract/

An e-mail precis of the Big Beautiful Bill arrives in the inbox. Presume they meant whaling : 'Swing senators got legislative treaties, too. Alaska – Murkowski’s home state – got rewarded in the bill. The GOP bill now expands the charitable deduction for Native Alaskan subsistence wailing. 

Our favourite time of year.

A Japanese bird watcher is standing stock still in the barley field when we head off on our morning walk. He's still there , in the same place, when we return half an hour later. We peer at him from the window of 'The Fonts' cabin. I'll try to have a chat and find out what's brought him to this remote spot. Could it be corn crakes ?

The poppies having one last fling. The field verges all the way down to the heron pond now lined with them. By next week they will be gone. They're fun while they last.

Town suddenly busy and bubbly. People arriving from far and near. Range Rovers with personalised number plates much in evidence. Graduates are allowed to get married in chapel so not surprisingly this  is peak season for the ' he graduated in '23, she graduates next week ' crowd.  Parking spaces have been blocked off by yellow cones to allow large bridal limousines to arrive and depart gracefully.  One of yesterdays brides set off to the reception in a vintage Aston Martin. Getting her , and the groom, into the back seat after the wedding was a challenge.  Bridal trains do not lend themselves to the rear of 60's era two door convertibles. They drove off, smiling, amidst the cheers of friends and a large group of bemused but delighted Italian tourists who fully entered into the spirit of the moment. La vita e bella.

I would like to go to Qom but have a feeling the chance has gone. However, demand to learn Farsi seems to be robust. One of the villagers, a professor of Iranian politics, gives an excellent summary of the regimes succession crisis on Radio 4 this morning.

One of the fish and chip shops is offering a 'Filthy Breakfast'. It's arrival comes just in time for the pre-graduation parties or post wedding celebrations. The concept  is designed for a younger audience with cast iron stomachs :https://foodanddrink.scotsman.com/in-the-news/the-stunning-scottish-coastal-town-where-you-can-get-a-pure-filthy-chippy-breakfast/

This is our favourite time of year. The town is filling up with cheerful youngsters, serious looking fathers wondering if they need to 'feed the meter'  and proud  mothers determined to wear the broad brimmed hats and 'outfits' they've brought with them. Broad brimmed hats and Scottish wind can surprise the unprepared. Husbands or teenage children are despatched to collect hats that become separated from their owners by particularly muscular gusts. Restaurants and hotels are full. In the evenings the buzz from outside tables is almost Parisian. 21 degrees forecast for today. Even the weather is smiling.

Stawberries and cream :https://theconversation.com/how-strawberries-and-cream-were-a-rare-and-exciting-treat-for-victorians-and-then-became-a-wimbledon-icon-258629

Why would you want a house built and furnished by a car company ? :https://www.carscoops.com/2025/06/aston-martin-private-residence-tokyo-n001-minami-aoyama-house/

Change is coming :https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/the-dawn-of-the-posthuman-age

You can now stay at Londons hippest Indian restaurant :https://www.permitroom.co.uk/stay/portobello/

Gulls and Jaffa Cakes.

Sun and scudding clouds as we head down the path to the sheep field. We spot two linnets. 

The potato plants are coming into flower. Soon we shall be surrounded by a tapestry of blue fields. The farmer is happy with the recent rains that should swell the crop and boost his yields.

We get to the fishmongers just as the morning delivery from Stonehaven arrives. The herring gulls are out and about and excited. They don't need to go hunting for breakfast. Room service has come to them. The noise they make is remarkable.

The gulls line the roof of the fish warehouse watching the trays of fish being moved from the truck into the cold store .The more adventurous flit in and out of the open tarpaulin at the side. Overhead the less brave form a vortex of squawking, circling birds. Hitchcock fans will know the feeling of being in a car park surrounded by large numbers of hungry birds.

Marks and Spencers has still not recovered from the major denial of service attack. Most things have found their way back onto the shelves but today the local store has received an enormous delivery of Lemon and Lime Jaffa Cakes. Seems the computer system still has some glitches. Boxes of Jaffa Cakes fill the aisles and every empty space. Where are the PONs when you need them ? 'The Font' wonders if Lemon and Lime might be too sophisticated a flavour for sheepdogs.  A nanosecond of reflection dispels this thought.

A first :https://www.worksinprogress.news/p/the-first-non-opioid-painkiller

Another lost civilization I've never heard of :https://thedebrief.org/scientists-discover-ancient-temple-from-lost-civilization-that-mysteriously-disappeared-over-1000-years-ago/

The aliens did it :https://www.livescience.com/space/space-exploration/zombie-nasa-satellite-emits-powerful-radio-pulse-after-60-years-of-silence

Oregano claims :https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/oregano-snake-oil/

Carnegie's take on the weeks events :https://carnegieendowment.org/emissary/2025/06/iran-strikes-us-impacts-iaea-nuclear-weapons-monitoring?lang=en

The first of the summer wine.

Seven am.The courier arrives with the summer order of wine.We're his first call of the day. The wine merchant only had three bottles of the Gigondas rose left ( a shame as it's really flinty and hard to get in the UK ) so a Bandol makes up the bulk of the delivery. A solitary bottle of Macon-Fuisse has also been included on the basis that " it will make a change from Pouilly-Fuisse". We shall see. It's not a wine either of us has ever heard of. Later today I shall unpack the wine and transfer it down to the cool of the garage.

Out here on the coast we not only have heavy showers but also a thin blanket of sea mist. In fact it's not so much sea mist as borderline sea fog. Puppy joins us on our walk down to the shore through the wheat fields. She leaves us at the beach and goes off in search of more excitement than we can provide. The rain seems to have given the poppies a new lease on life. Our daily routine here, as you can probably tell, is quiet in that brief pause between next weeks graduation ceremonies and the influx of golfers that follow the start of the school holidays.

Thousands upon thousands of small snails have clambered up the tall grass stems to ensure they don't get swept away by the rain. 

Inland the mist thins out and the sun peaks through the haze. The farmers black lambs are growing in leaps and bounds. The village dog walkers tell us that otters have been seen ( again ) on the sand beach by the rock stack. There have always been otters on the shore where the fresh water burn reaches the sea but now their population seems to have grown and they're spreading towards the heron pond ... and us.

Yet more roadworks in town. I'm sure there are very good reasons why roadworks can't be coordinated but in a town of three streets you'd think at least one of them might be kept free of obstructions. 'The Font' unhelpfully points out that this is a sign I'm transforming from my father into my grandfather. 'Harrumphing' is now second nature.

The house facing the language lab is having its roof repaired. Half a dozen workmen scurry up and down a single ladder carrying replacement pantiles. They conduct a loud and lively conversation from roof top to pavement. The residents are unlikely to sleep through the cheerful banter. The language lab to the right in the photo has to be one of the worlds ugliest buildings. Stylistically it has more than a hint of the 'Third Reich' to it.

I forgot to open up the ScotRail parking ap when we went down to Edinburgh yesterday. We return to the station to find we've been ticketed.  A £70 fine. Reduced to £35 if I pay it within 24 hours. This will be my first, post walk, pre- wine unpacking  chore of the day. Lyse Doucet is in Tehran. What a brave lady ! Her interview with young Iranians on this mornings ' Today ' programme on Radio 4 an emotional joy.

Devotees of the Netflix series ' Resident Alien ' will agree with this :https://sentientmedia.org/octopus-farming-in-the-u-s-doesnt-exist/

Another of those things I'm not sure I wanted to know :https://theconversation.com/sharks-freeze-when-you-turn-them-upside-down-and-theres-no-good-reason-why-259448

Reassuring ? :https://www.uva.nl/shared-content/uva/en/news/press-releases/2025/06/what-the-human-brain-can-do-that-ai-cant.html

Plus ca change :https://novum.substack.com/p/the-new-vertigo-years

Kind policemen and the replacement laptop.

Last week 'The Fonts' laptop turned three and the extended warranty expired  . A few days later it began to show signs of technical absent mindedness. Shortly after it became completely comatose. We hastily head down to Edinburgh to see what John Lewis have in stock as a replacement. The answer is not much. We head on to the Samsung store where a Lithuanian gentleman patiently explains the latest in chip technology to us.

The model we want isn't in stock but will be delivered to us first thing in the morning. Having chosen and paid for the new lap top ( and become educated on 2nm chip benefits ) we make a bee line to Valvona and Crolla for a restorative coffee. 

The cafe is busy but the shop is empty. With the exception of the chairman of a large Scottish insurance company the cafe is entirely populated by Americans who have read about this Edinburgh institution in the LA Times. Edinburgh has somehow become the fifth most popular destination for American tourists. London is of course first and Paris second. A group of four men are talking loudly and seriously about the attack on Fordow. Their conversation becomes extremely heated. Our recent ( and not entirely relaxing ) trip around Japans inland sea has taught us just how passionately explosively partisan our American cousins have become. Two of the table of four storm off leaving the other two sitting there. An embarrassed silence descends .

We buy some some Pecorino ....

... and some freshly made artichoke ravioli.

Before we go a chance to have some Prosciutto sliced thinly.

The train back is supposed to have 5 carriages but only has two. It's busy and in the weak northern sunshine soon becomes overly warm. As we leave Edinburgh a young woman is escorted onto the train by two police officers. She must be in her mid-twenties but is cuddling a teddy bear and is prone to what might be best described as 'random bouts of emotion'. They seat her by a window and take the two seats on the corridor . The bearded policemen look fierce but they talk to her calmly, smile and display great skill in keeping her calm. I'd never thought of the police as being so well trained in psychology but they are. Professional kindness appears in the most unexpected places. Why she should be on the train and escorted by burly officers rather than driven in a police car is a complete mystery .

Sentience :https://cosmosmagazine.com/nature/marine-life/killer-whales-display-rare-behaviour-using-tools-to-groom-each-other/

Flu vaccines :https://thebulletin.org/premium/2025-05/the-holy-grail-of-pandemic-preparedness-the-search-for-a-universal-vaccine/

Swedes dance around maypoles :https://www.deseret.com/entertainment/2025/06/21/history-of-summer-solstice/

Eloquence :https://x.com/ChathamHouse/status/1937233182962909616

An exhibition in Provence :https://www.fragonard.com/en-int/exhibition-collections-collection-2025

Painting the lamp posts.

'The Font' manages to get another fuzzy picture of  a corn crake inflight - or what we believe is a corn crake. Village opinion is divided. Some think the birds are grey partridge. A few of our neighbours agree with us and think they're corn crakes pausing on their way to the western isles. The corn crakes, or whatever they are , prove to be remarkably wary and difficult to photograph.

A lost gull chick in the doorway of the lady outfitters. The mother sits on a chimney on the other side of the road and calls out to it with a warning shriek that could shred concrete. Gull nesting season is a fraught 'heart in mouth' time for both gulls and humans. Fluffy wee things can be seen wandering across streets oblivious to oncoming traffic. Not all make it.

Three ladies in matching coral pink bathing coats emerge from a small car. They stop and do a small jig on the cobble stones outside Starbucks. Their early morning swim in the rock pool has clearly given them a burst of energy.

The university maintenance team have finished giving the railings a fresh coat of  black gloss paint. They now turn their attention to the old lamp posts. Parking in town is becoming difficult. Give up all hope of finding a space after nine in the morning. The university staff tasked with collating exam results and issuing degree certificates are back at work. I see two  serious looking men wearing ties and with a purposeful air walking along the street.  It is the time of the year for departmental budget meetings.

Things I didn't know about Paraguay :https://cpsi.media/p/thoughts-on-asuncion-paraguay?hide_intro_popup=true

This is apparently worth seeing :https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/06/09/medieval-manuscripts-tres-riches-heuresonce-in-a-lifetime-opportunity

Dogs :https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-06-22/medication-dogs-behavioural-issues-what-the-duck-what-the-dog/105374914

Another head spinning 24 hours. Ghosts Posts of history :https://www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/perils-middle-east-triumphalism

A rare sighting.

Excitement ! On our morning walk we spot two corn crakes walking along the path ahead of us. They wait until we're within ten yards of them and then with a snap of their wings shoot off into the safety of the barley field. On our way back to the house from the shore the farmers wife and the judge tell us we're mistaken. " You'll only find them on Canna and Iona" says the judges wife referring to two distant islands. 'The Font' has taken a photo which, although blurry, when checked against the RSPB ap confirms that they are indeed corn crakes . The birds are extremely rare ( as in extremely rare ) but do sometimes pause here on their way to the western isles. News travels fast and soon there's a group of villagers sauntering along the path to the shore. We discover from the professors wife that the badgers are having a bumper year but have eaten all the young ground nesting lapwing chicks. There have been three deer born within the last 24 hours ( the farmer keeps on stumbling into them and their mothers ) and the hare population is doing really well after a poor 2024. Scottish village conversations have a rhythm of their own.

The good country clothing store with the rather fine Georgian curved window  has changed hands. It has now re-opened with an inquisitive dog guarding the front door. What better or more fitting welcome could there be to a country clothing store than a canine greeter ?

The weather is back to being Scottish - all four seasons within an hour - but when the sun does come out it's warm and the scent of roses and honeysuckle fills the air.

The town has a golf course and a university. The university end of town , which has been deathly quiet,  is now busy with folks getting ready for graduation week which is fast approaching.

Workmen are sprucing up the paintwork on the iron railings while others are touching up the windows in the administration building. Round the corner the university gardeners are planting out a cheerful border in red, orange and pink. The colours may clash but the overall effect is memorable.

The security and response team are out checking to make sure that everything is looking spick and span. Crime is not much of an issue here. The big thing for the security and response team is lost keys. Chip pan fires are also a thing. This comment is in no ways a slight to the teams prowess but it does say a lot about life here.

A sure sign that summer has arrived. The marquee for the graduation ball is going up. There is a sense of happy expectation in the air as can only be found in very old , very remote and very small university town. I'd almost say it's a feeling unique to here. It certainly makes us smile.

This is being practised in the music centre. Can't be long before Auld Lang Syne is on the choirs menu. Why do fleeting snippets of music caught in the air always sound magical ? :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtHShiXxw4U

Sunday morning travels.

A surprising number of shops in London, like this butcher, look as if they haven't changed since the time of  Charles Dickens. You half expect someone to pop out wearing a frock coat and carrying a goose to be roasted for their Sunday lunch. This morning the streets are quiet. The Sunday papers in the newsagents windows were printed before the bombing of Iran was announced. Most of them lead with headlines like ' Trump gives Tehran one more week '. 

Sunday morning is a great time to travel. It takes barely ten minutes to get to Paddington from the hotel for the Heathrow Express. This runs on time and is empty apart from a womens football team heading for their six am flight home to Glasgow. They have a happily disheveled post celebration look to them.

Security, as might be expected, is rigorous but all the scanners are fully manned and we're through in thirty seconds. There's a stunning view of London from the aircraft window. The river front from the Ministry of Defence (in the lower left) to Waterloo Bridge outlined in the sunshine . Today, the flight goes on time and takes a mere forty minutes.

At Edinburgh the United flight to Chicago has landed. United use a Boeing 757 on the route. It must be the better part of 30 years old. I'm not sure about crossing the Atlantic in a single aisled aircraft. BA had 757's with extra fuel tanks on the Edinburgh to New York route  in the 90's but they retired them long ago.

A hundred yards from the front door of The last wee house before Denmark the world is very different from the hustle and bustle of the big city. No sea mist this morning and there's a cloudless sky. It's pleasantly warm. For us the priority is checking up on the eighteen eider duck chicks . They're all safely paddling around in the rock pools under the watchful gaze of their mothers. That's good news for a turbulent world on a  fraught Sunday morning. 

This being a Sunday the BBC morning radio broadcast cheers us along with the sound of some happy Nigerian Anglicans :https://youtu.be/BqgzbA_Fd54?list=RDBqgzbA_Fd54&t=145

The bike in a bag.

Another 30 degrees plus day in London. We skip the super expensive breakfast in the hotel and head off for croissants and coffee at the small French street cafe.  At seven this is already busy with dog owners and their pooches avoiding the heat. We rank the croissants a 9.1/10. They're almost as good as those at the cafe opposite the LeClerc supermarket in Toulouse. Sadly, we have yet to find anywhere in Scotland that comes close to these levels of culinary artistry. They're playing the national anthem on the radio in the cafe kitchen. A quirky constitutional nicety for Prince Williams 43rd birthday. 43 ! I guess that means he can't be referred to as the 'young prince' any more. 

A quick visit to the David Mellor shop. Our twenty year old coffee maker is still  functioning but showing signs of advancing age. We don't like the new design - it's too busy.  The staff will see if they can find one of the older models for us. https://www.davidmellordesign.com/

To the French pharmacy for all those little things we got used to having  :https://en.roger-gallet.com/c/shower-soaps

The breakfast place on Marylebone High Street sells Nougat Sticks. Angus has never had a Nougat Stick. The Font and I have different views as to whether it would count as one of my five a day.

One of those marvelous old Mercedes that looks great but you know keeping it on the road is a labour of love. It has a remarkable 'overhang' at the rear which forces pram pushing mothers to divert round it .

We sit at a table outside for dinner. In the evening the heat of the day has eased and the temperature is on the pleasant side of warm. London really has become the crossroads of the world. We spend three hours over dinner watching the passers by. 'The Font' notes that not a single person is wearing a tie. They've become extinct and now not even 'City' types wear them. The young , largely Australian and South African, crowd at the pub on the Corner are corralled behind a rope and prove to be both well behaved and quiet. A solitary security guard tells anyone who moves onto the pavement to get back on the right side of the barrier. The restaurants wine list has a  Pouilly-Fuisse at an attractive price. This is fun but , oddly, for these crispest of wines  is as buttery as a Meursault. This makes us wonder if it's been mislabeled. The restaurant is having a Provencal week. We order Sea Bass to share and are surprised to discover it's been deep fried. Strawberries come from the same farm that supplies Wimbledon so our choice of dessert is easy. All in all a fun evening.

A gentleman sitting three tables away from us finishes his dinner and says goodbye to his companions. He then unpacks a small bicycle from what appears to be a shopping bag, presses a couple of buttons and Voila! he pedals off on the perfect urban transportation. Of all the global mega cities London has perhaps become the most laid back.

The security camera at The last wee house before Denmark shows that the garden is wrapped in a deep impenetrable sea mist. The temperature there is 13 degrees. Here it's 27. What a difference 500 miles can make .

Questions for any Canadian readers. Where is fun to stay in Montreal or Toronto ? Suggestions , please, for restaurants ( with a wine list - Canadian ice wine is very good  ). Is end of September too late/wet/cold to go ?

An unusual item at auction :https://www.christies.com/stories/battle-of-trafalgar-union-jack-flag-from-the-hms-spartiate-c3f23cd0428d4528bef698ca3c1296f9

Some wonderful piping :https://youtu.be/cTRQqCHbN3U?t=1674