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