Great news.

The farmers wife and the wife of the Portugese professor come laughing ( and almost skipping ) along the farm track. 'Great news ! We've seen an otter and two cubs on the beach by the rocks '.  They are delighted. We agree that this is indeed great news. Before going the farmers wife says she's counted fourteen eider duck chicks in the rock pool. They've all survived last weekends gales. This is also great news.

The couple who have rented the house the ' University of Austin ' family stayed in introduce themselves. He's Canadian, she from Wisconsin. They have a four year old boy and a six year old girl. He will be teaching at the university and she, hopefully, will get a job at the local secondary school. She is talkative and stylish. He is extremely taciturn and adheres to the 'crumpled' academic look. We discover that the house by the 'T' junction has also been sold. The new owners are an American family but nothing more is , so far, known about them. 

A Jack Russell  arrives in the courtyard and  heads straight to the kitchen garden where she hunts for something important  in the newly planted lavender. She gives us a look that makes it clear she has work to do and is far too busy to talk to us.

On the breakfast table more roses. They are busy dropping their leaves. The bouts of warmth  continue to spur our northerly, sun deprived,  roses into manic growth.

Along the stone wall by the main road the poppies are going wild. In the sunshine they look stunning. In this mornings half cloud less so. The potato farmer is putting up yet more barns and the excavated soil now forms a small mountain that dominates the view towards the kirk.

English tourists find narrow twisty Scottish country roads to be a challenge. Visitors used to southern infrastructure hurtle along the lanes as if they own the place. This morning we pass a Mercedes and a Porsche that have managed to clip each others wings on a tight right angled bend. No one is hurt but egos have been damaged. We stop to make sure everyone is alright and are told 'the Police have been called'.  It's amazing what happens in a place where nothing ever happens.

Cheese :https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/3500-years-ago-someone-packed-cheese-for-the-afterlife

Students and AI :https://arnoldkling.substack.com/p/student-assessment-in-the-age-of

Tourists and that expensive museum chair :https://youtu.be/RnweJ-xUkZM

More and more pipers appearing in time for the influx of foreign holiday makers. Perhaps people think this is how we live all year round ? :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJuog4XtGtw

On a windy day this would make sense out here on the coast but where would you keep the lid ? :https://www.ladoublej.com/en/homeware/how-to-set-your-table-homeware%2Fhow-to-set-your-table/kitchen/lidded-mug-libellula-DIS0008CER001LIB0003.html