Humid.

Overnight it's rained heavily . This means that when the northern sun appears from behind the clouds it manages to be both hot and cloyingly humid. Northern sun - perhaps because it's so unexpected - has a ferocity all of its own. 

A dozen or hares are spotted as we walk down to the beach this morning. The larks seem to have moved on. There's no sign of the farmer. The heavy rain seems to have interrupted his schedule for harvesting the wheat. Puppy is being kept tied up on a long elastic rope in the farm garden. She has taken to following the combine harvester and her complete absence of fear brings her alarmingly close to the blades at the front. Until the wheat and barley are safely in she's grounded. This, as you can imagine, is not something she's happy about particularly as her more sensible elder sister is allowed to roam free.

The Japanese youngster who's here writing his PhD on corn buntings is nowhere to be seen. We can only assume he's headed back to Osaka for the summer. I guess everyone deserves needs a break from counting corn buntings. If he's reading this we can confirm that they're thriving.

The shopping street is humming.  With every AirBnB in town taken for the English holidays the Tesco and Sainsburys supermarkets are busy as soon as their doors open at seven. 

One of the village eighty five year olds , a retired professor of philology, has bought a new vehicle. We're rather surprised to see him draw up in a parking space beside us. He's traded in his sensible dark blue Vauxhall saloon for a rather jazzy Volkswagen electric van. It is, he informs us, easy to get in and out of. " The seats are just the right height and the views great " . He adds that he and his wife can make it over to Falkirk to see her sister  on a single charge . "Can you believe it's as smooth as a magic carpet with no noise at all and of course it has electric wing mirrors". We stand on the street and express what we hope is suitably enthusiastic approval of the new purchase. He seems as happy as Larry.

A very English piece of music on the BBC this morning :https://youtu.be/ckt1mAiq5Uo?t=13

Reflections on Spain:https://www.betonit.ai/p/reflections-from-spain

Measuring time :https://contemplationstation.substack.com/p/how-to-expand-time-the-neuroscience

Iceberg cartoons:https://steinbergdrawscartoons.substack.com/p/icebergs

Surely this is a crime ? :https://hypebeast.com/2025/7/liquid-death-x-fruity-pebbles-cereal-criminal-sparkling-water-release-info

Changes in dining habits.

This mornings local news broadcast tells us that the American vice President will be spending his August summer holidays in the UK. He and his family will spend some time in a small typically English cottage in the Cotswolds before moving on to stay at a Trump golf course in Aberdeenshire. Angus is left wondering what counts as 'small and typically English '. Blenheim Palace ?

The English school holidays have started. This, combined with the influx of golfers on their way to the British Open , means that any chance of finding parking in town after ten in the morning is impossible. Add into the mix the teenagers at the summer schools and it can safely be said that St Andrews is bursting at the seams. Angus reaches peak grumpiness when he discovers that the local council, who operate in the belief that all tourism is good, have recently approved the expansion of two large trailer parks. This will mean that one in four of all the static caravans in Scotland will be located near the town. 1 in 4 seems strangely disproportionate for a small medieval town with a population of 15.000. The concept of over development  as opposed to NIMBYism has yet to be understood here.

Before the pandemic most folks ate in restaurants at seven or seven thirty but in the  post-Covid years five and six pm dining slots have become all the rage. One or two of the local high end eateries are starting to offer discounts to fill post eight o'clock tables. It seems that the amount spent on wine is lower when people eat early and wine is, of course, where the profit is made.

Out here on the coast the morning sky is clear to the East ...

... but after last nights heavy rain it's still cloudy to the North. The farmer is delighted with the weather. The rain has come at just the right time to swell his yields. He'll start harvesting the wheat this coming week. That is a rather sobering sign of how quickly the year is racing by.

The last of the poppies soldier on but the first wind will put an end to them.

Outside the potato barns the patch of waste ground where the tractors are parked is suddenly covered in blue flowers. I'm guessing it's last years flax that's been brought to life by the warm rain.

The first of this years local corn makes it into the farm shop. Corn in France was always large and suffused with sun. Here's it's an altogether more spindly affair.

Pop stars are getting older :https://www.cantgetmuchhigher.com/p/why-are-pop-stars-getting-older

This chart took me by surprise. Did only 5% of Americans have passports in the 1990's ? :https://x.com/Duderichy/status/1946099435701727707

Headaches:https://undark.org/2025/07/18/book-excerpt-headache/

This video was not as impressive as I'd thought :https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/earthquakes/first-video-of-an-earthquake-fault-cracking-has-revealed-another-surprise

Polite and commiseratory.

The woman who mistakenly threw her dog her phone waves at us. We can report that despite a brief immersion in the North Sea the phone still seems to be working well. Her dog trots along happily behind.

They're already queuing up at the first tee on the Old Course. This mornings lucky foursomes shake hands with their caddies and concentrate as the niceties of Royal and Ancient protocol are explained to them. They furrow their brows as suggestions are made on the best ways to avoid the bunkers.

On the first tee there are whispered conversations between caddie and client about wind direction and what club to use. Photos are taken. Some players limber up and swing their golf clubs too and fro in much the same way a medieval knight might have practised swinging his sword. 

Such is the excitement of playing the sacred turf that many players have shown up an hour early to watch.  One man slices his shot. The ball rises vertically, pauses in mid-air as if unsure what to do, then falls at right angles back onto the fairway. I half expect someone to shout out something indecorous along the lines of ' You should try opening your eyes ' but the comments are muted and polite and commiseratory - a sure indication the onlookers are scions of Andover and Choate pausing here on their way to Portrush for The Open. Next week they'll probably be meeting up again at Bedminster or Cypress Point. Tonight many of them will be having a glass of Macallan in the bar here :https://theharbourviewhotel.com/

MIT on meat :https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/the-we-evolved-to-eat-meat-argument-doesnt-hold-up/

Coke :https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/07/trumps-claims-of-a-coca-cola-agreement-quickly-go-flat-as-nutritionists-groan/

The elusive ninth planet :https://www.universetoday.com/articles/a-rare-object-found-deep-in-the-kuiper-belt

Pink grapefruit sorbet. Something we miss about France :https://berthillon.fr/

Long overdue or the end of civilization ?

The six am news broadcast leads with the story that 16 year olds will be allowed to vote in the next general election. A long segment follows in which various teenagers are interviewed. The majority of them seem 1) unexcited about the electoral changes and 2) undecided whether they will or will not vote. Various politicians then express their views. The politicians seem to think the change is long overdue or is the end of civilization as we know it.

This story on teenage voting is followed by an American gentleman who talks about President Trump suing Rupert Murdoch over a claim in the Wall Street Journal that someone sent someone else a 'bawdy' letter . The segment is so hedged around with legalese that it takes a while before the name Epstein is mentioned. The American gentleman concludes by saying that whoever succeeds President Trump will be more 'Christianist'. This is a word I'd not heard before. In fact I'm not sure it even exists but is a useful linguistic bookend to 'bawdy'.

The summer racing along. The sound of the bees on the wild thistles provides a low contented background noise to life out here on the coast. There seem to be more bees than there were last year but in terms of numbers I'd say it was more of a 'solid' year for them than a great year. The same cannot be said for the hares who, judging from their numbers, are enjoying a spirited renaissance.

The crows are frightened by the arrival of half a dozen fighter jets far out at sea. The jets trace vast circles in the sky and then race off in formation to the East. I'm guessing the Russians are busy again over the North Sea.

Strawberry tarts replace the fudge donuts in the bakers window.

Not a great photo but on our morning walk we pass hundreds and hundreds of small lines etched into the sand along the farm track. They start on the grass verge and extend at right angles as far as the grass strip that runs down the middle of the path. There they mysteriously stop.  We can only assume that an army of snails has been on the move.

Italian cool:https://ilmonasterocastelloaragoneseischia.com/it/

The mathematics of using a Dixie Cup twice :https://www.econlib.org/dixie-cups-cafe-standards-and-numeracy/

Obscure criminals :https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/pseudoscience-history/prince-quackery

An unusual golf job :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbRBpR7NR2M

What virtue is in short supply ? :https://nanransohoff.substack.com/p/what-virtue-is-undersupplied-today

A boom year coming

The sparrows have had three broods this year. We count sixty or so fledglings on the lawn. They are at that stage where their mothers are teaching them how to eat. Most learn quickly but there are one or two who struggle with the concept. 

The weather is good enough to open a bottle of Gigondas rose and sit out in the garden in the warmth of the evening sun. A neighbouring professor stops by. He's been working late and is delighted to be offered a glass of wine. It seems that applications from foreign students for the coming year have soared . Applications from the US alone are up 14% and for post grads double that. This coming year more than 1 in 10 American students in the UK will be coming to this little wind swept town. Economics and International Relations , despite tough acceptance rates of less than 5%, are the 'in' subjects. Students from India and Malaysia who had been thinking of US institutions like Harvard or Columbia are also applying here. It's an ill wind ....

This morning the university end of town is quite. A couple of high flying jets make a St Andrews cross in the sky by the chapel. Weddings earlier in the week had to battle with grey skies and rain. Today the couples set to tie the knot will think they're getting married in the Seychelles.

Archie the ageing labrador is well. So too the feisty Pomeranian who has had her annual check up at the vets. 

The poodle with the arthritic ankles enjoys paddling in the water. His owner thinks the water must provide some form of relief. Dog  owner conversations are the same all over the world.

Town before the first tour bus arrives from Edinburgh is a calm and reflective place.

We see three squashed fledgling gulls. The speed limit in town is 20 mph but the council is strapped for cash and there is no one to enforce the rules.

This is sure to spark a conversation round the breakfast table :https://secondvoice.substack.com/p/why-were-surrounding-our-kids-with

Well, that's a relief :https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/mars-spiders-nasa/

George III revisited :https://www.coolidgereview.com/articles/wrong-about-king-george-iii

Medieval medicine :https://www.binghamton.edu/news/story/5669/medieval-medicine-was-smarter-than-you-think-and-weirdly-similar-to-tiktok-trends

Helicopter season.

 

Another of those Scottish days. Bright and sunny in the morning, wet and windy in the afternoon. I bring out the cushions for the garden benches and then put them away again. Still no sign of the solitary buck but the young hare are thriving in the thickly packed wheat and barley fields. Day and night the farmers bird scarer continues to blast annoyingly away. The crows, who breakfast in their hundreds in the barley field, completely ignore it.

The Rosebay Willow Herb adds a touch of colour to the view of the castle ruins. From the cliff top it looks as if the Eider Ducks have gone. There were a thousand of them on the shore at this time last month but they and their chicks seem to have headed north. The rocks are now home to the acrobatic fulmars.

A young gull still in its juvenile plumage is drinking from a puddle that's been refreshed by the overnight rain. We have to detour round it. The gulls - no matter what their age -  are completely fearless. Tourists eating fish suppers on the beach will discover just how fearless they can be.

Into the new chocolate shop. The staff tell me it gets really busy with tourists. "After lunch we're jam packed " says the young woman who sells me a bar of 50% milk chocolate.

Heading back to the car a helicopter thuds away overhead. Twenty minutes earlier we'd seen it land at the 5 star hotel to pick up a group of golfers. We're getting to that time of year when the private jets start to be double parked at Edinburgh airport bringing 'C' suiters in to play golf. Get the jet stream right and a high flier can get on to the Old Course in about the same time as it takes to get from Teterboro to Van Nuys.  I'm guessing the guys in the chopper are heading back to their Gulfstream and will soon be on their way to New York. A few years ago Rudy Giuliani used to be a regular feature at the bar by the sand traps on the 16th . I wonder who we'll see around here when the American President comes to Scotland later this month ?

This mornings cheerful radio music :https://youtu.be/GXjw44wdcs0

What is old ? :https://www.skeptic.org.uk/2025/07/what-age-was-actually-considered-old-in-medieval-europe/

Noisy languages :https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/why-warmer-countries-have-louder-languages/

Next generation power is closer than you think :https://gizmodo.com/these-mini-nuclear-plants-fit-on-a-flatbed-and-thats-exactly-the-point-2000627089

Escaping the heat in Italy :https://www.veteramatera.com/

Scam of the day.

The phone pings. There's a formal looking text telling me I've been fined for over staying my time in a parking bay in town. The text has instructions to click on a link and enter my credit card details. It all looks so official and above board. Last week 'The Font' got a similar text and being methodical quickly determined it was a scam. There was something ever so odd about the format and the language. A  Google search show that it's the con of the week. I quickly delete it. The joys of modern life !

The weather forecast called for heavy rain. Instead we get blue skies interspersed with an annoying on/off drizzle that appears when you go out and disappears when you come home. The farmers crops continue to ripen despite, or perhaps because of, the weather. 

Young hares emerge out of the wheat fields to explore the world around them. We count seven on our morning walk. There is no sign of their (much larger) parents. The youngsters have already learnt to rush into the safety of the tall stalks when they see humans.

In the churchyard a wonderful old table tomb. It's made of local sandstone and has a pleasing geometrical design. It was  probably made in the mid-1700's and has been crafted with some care for a local worthy.  It's right outside the church door so it might have doubled up as a dole table to distribute money or food to the poor of the parish. These days young couples with a taste for outdoors excitement find other uses for it. The tomb has started to tilt to the right which indicates the vault beneath it is sinking into the ground. 

Opposite the churchyard a house that screams out 'I'm Scottish'. It would seem to be of the same date as the tomb. Scottish domestic architecture of the period is of the Presbyterian no-frills architectural school. There is just enough practical window area to let enough light in while keeping the North Sea gales out. Like most of the old houses around here it would have originally been thatched, then pantiled and has now been reroofed in hard wearing slate.

The strawberry farm by the Tay bridge continues to be extremely busy. The asparagus season is over but they now have blackcurrants and blueberries. A second variety of strawberry is on sale but sometimes it's best to stick with what you know.

We watch a wonderful 1960's era documentary on the BBC's Gaelic channel. It follows the changes in the life of a ten year old on Harris. In one scene the boy is seen walking along the main ( indeed only ) street of Tarbert the islands biggest town. " This is the boys first metropolis, his first street. His preparation for life in  London , Paris or New York ". The choice of music is inspired. Tarbert has a population of 500 so calling it a metropolis says a lot about life on the western isles :https://youtu.be/SB4gZLNvRlM?t=1664

Space debris :https://www.universetoday.com/articles/these-are-the-most-concerning-pieces-of-space-debris

Is Mondayitis even a thing ? :https://www.sciencealert.com/mondayitis-could-have-a-deadly-effect-on-your-body

Want to reduce crime ? Open a blood plasma centre : https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5259763

Nothing happening.

July 14th. There seems to be a little more amity in Franco-British relations than there has been recently : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLMOy7XHNWE .The morning news informs us that the American President is due to be in Scotland between the 24th and 28th of this month to play golf. I'll bet all Police leave has been cancelled.

The towns souvenir shops making their Scottishness plain to any passers by. I'd reckon local 'souvenir' retailers book 75% of their sales in June, July and August. The same goes for the restaurants if the queues outside are anything to go by.

The sound of a brass band is a regular feature of Sunday afternoons here. 

Thursdays see the official sandcastle competitions. Lucky winners get a toasted cheese sandwich. Commercialism is yet to run rampant here.

Anything to do with golf - no matter how esoteric -  attracts swarms of eager 30 something males. They're latter day pilgrims.

The municipal flower troughs were in full bloom for graduation week. They're still radiating colour. We're glimpsing the first badly dressed academics here for summer schools. They stand on street corners deep in conversation while talking earnestly to each other. It's difficult to judge whether they're enjoying themselves or are deeply unhappy at having their routines interrupted and having to come to somewhere so deserted remote.

There are a few white horses on the sea out by the estuary. The hot, balmy weather may be about to change. Heavy red cell rain is expected by late morning. The farmers wife says the 'crops need it '. This is a very farmers wife view of the world.

Readers of the blog may be able to tell that very little is happening here in the absence of the students and the staff.

In 1774, firewood output accounted for 28 percent of US GDP. Chopping down and burning trees was as significant to the 1770s economy as health care plus manufacturing are to today’s economy:https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w33974/w33974.pdf

A John Muir inspired sketch :https://sketchplanations.substack.com/p/going-out-is-really-going-in

Cousins :https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2023/12/cousin-relationships-fertility-rate/676892/

Everyone makes them but who has the time to watch ? :https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/are-podcasts-ruining-our-lives

Picturing the sun :https://www.universetoday.com/articles/this-is-the-closest-picture-ever-taken-of-the-sun

It's sunny everywhere but here.

The whole of Britain is bathed in sunshine - except us. Out here on the coast we are blanketed by a thick sea fog. The temperature hovers in the mid-teens. Overnight the German naturists have decided to head inland in search of warmth. Naturism and sea fog don't make good bedfellows.

No sign of the young deer but heading down the farm track towards the house we have to pause the car while four young hares bound by. The farmer, who is out checking on his wheat, says he's seen the better part of a dozen this morning. It's a bumper year for hares. The farmer is already talking about harvesting. Both the potatoes and the wheat are 'coming on'. 

The bakers omni functional biscuits have been through another seasonal metamorphosis. This time they've been reincarnated as ' Strawberry biscuits '.

Inland it's sunny and fog free. By the time we make it into town the tourists have already taken all the parking spaces. The cafe by the cocktail bar is full with happy latte drinkers.

The colours of Assisi :https://dandelionseeds.substack.com/p/the-colors-of-assisi-1

Good news :https://scitechdaily.com/the-first-in-30-years-scientists-discover-new-class-of-antibiotics/

Jabs for children - the importance of : https://www.marginallycompelling.com/p/stop-blaming-the-us-for-measles

Misophonia :https://www.emilybynight.com/p/the-moist-mind-virus-why-we-hate

THE topic of conversation

A few dog walkers far ahead of us and a few behind. Apart from that we have the pre-seven am beach to ourselves. The woman with the Briard is talking on the phone while throwing the ball for her dog. At one point she gets the two mixed up and throws her phone rather than the ball. Multi-tasking is not everyones forte. She screams, swears and runs after it. The phone although wet and covered in sand seems to have survived. We pass by leaving her chatting away to whoever was on the other end before the mishap happened. The Briard trots happily along behind.

In town the tour groups are out and about early. A tall young man in a beanie hat is doing his best to talk to a group of a dozen or so folks from Milwaukee. The other half of his group are less diligent and are either strung out in a long line back towards their bus or are looking in the window of the Christmas shop and wondering when it will open. The visitors are all dressed for the heat. It got to 26 degrees here  yesterday although a more 'refreshing ' 21 is expected today. In the Great Glen they're preparing for an earth shattering 29 degrees this afternoon.

The pavement cafes provide a  welcome chance for day trippers to take the weight off their feet. You could almost believe you were in France.

Double yellow lines don't deter day tripping Glasgow folk from parking where they want to .

Back out at the coast the German naturists in their silver Mercedes van are still in their parking spot by the heron pond . They're sunbathing. We turn back to allow them privacy.  I wonder how long they'll stay ? Presumably they'll need to head off to a supermarket soon. Their arrival is THE topic of conversation in the village. It's not every day German naturists show up here. In fact according to the collective memory of the locals this is the first time naturism has ever been a thing. Opinion is fairly evenly split between those who think this marks the end of civilization as we know it and those who are delighted that the weather is ( briefly ) good enough to bare all.

Travel notes. Germany v Italy : https://www.maximum-progress.com/p/notes-on-northern-italy

For tennis fans :https://post.substack.com/p/wimbledon-unstacked

Shorter days :https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/earth-just-had-a-freakishly-short-day-but-the-fastest-day-of-the-year-is-yet-to-come

This seems important :https://iai.tv/articles/the-first-great-joke-told-by-ai-might-be-the-last-one-humans-hear-auid-3251?_auid=2020

German naturists.

A  silver Mercedes motor home with Tubingen plates comes down the farm track just before midnight. This morning we find it parked near the heron pond. A couple are sitting on folding chairs under a pull out awning taking in the sea view and enjoying breakfast. They are naturists. This is an unusual pastime on this exposed and windswept coast and is perhaps the clearest sign yet that global warming is a thing. You most certainly wouldn't want to try being a naturist here by the North Sea in February. The weather forecast calls for 26 degree temperatures this afternoon .

I'm guessing the Russians are busy out in the North Sea. As we turn for home four jets , afterburners on, head off at high speed towards Denmark.

By last weekend the poppies had all gone but this morning there's a fresh batch that have miraculously reappeared.

These are the last ones left flowering in the village. The summer is moving on and its now the turn of rosebay willowherb, Queen Anne's lace and ( this being Scotland )  thistles to liven up the grass verges.

Down on the beach the day is shaping up to be warm. Give it a couple of hours and the dunes will be lined with parked cars disgorging children onto the sand. School holiday season is well and truly here. In  these northern parts people flock to the beach whenever the sun appears . What better way to pass the school holidays than down on the sand ? Sand castle competitions are arranged by the rangers. These are the cause of much innocent excitement amongst the under tens.

Koala mortality :https://www.zmescience.com/ecology/animals-ecology/koalas-spend-just-10-minutes-a-day-on-the-ground-and-thats-when-most-die/

It's not just a boy thing :https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-are-so-many-more-women-being-diagnosed-with-adhd-180986909/

Climate change :https://bsky.app/profile/whitehouse.senate.gov/post/3ltkssutffc2x

More Canadian history :https://www.americanheritage.com/plight-massachusetts-loyalists?issue=133708