Don't bark.

The bramble picking couple from Dorking who parked their motorhome by the potato barns have finally moved on. We don't usually snack as we walk but the brambles are temptingly ripe and sweet . Try one and you want to have another. There is something very Edwardian about grazing on brambles as you walk. In its simplicity it's an out of time pleasure.

This being Scotland the weather is temperamental. Sunny one minute wet the next. The farmer is going to try to get the bales moved into the dry of the cow barn this afternoon or tomorrow morning. His new combine harvester is having transmission issues and he's fallen behind schedule. " Bloody things only six weeks old " he says grumpily. We move along. Out at sea a huge cruise liner is navigating its way slowly between the shore and the windfarm. It's close enough for us to make out that it's the Nieuw Statendam which according to Google has left Rotterdam with 2692 passengers onboard and is bound for Lerwick. Life on board must be very relaxed if a detour to a windfarm is the days main excitement.

Two small poppies have somehow managed to seed themselves way down by the heron pond. They provide an out of season splash of colour and have emerged after all the others have died back. Have they chanced upon their own micro-climate ?  I shall quiz the man who works at the Botanic Gardens when I next see him.

 

The reed buntings are in their element. There must be forty of them pecking away at the thistle heads as we stroll along the dunes.

Down by the harbour the last of the European campers and their motor homes line the old abbey walls. Dog walkers, mindful of the early hour,  urge their companions not to bark.

Another dog sculpture in the fancy art gallery. It has a whimsical air to it.

Life in this small university town is ambling towards the start of the new semester. The tenants in the old wee house in town are due to arrive on September 4th. The builders finish ( we hope ) on the 3rd. This timetable is perhaps just a wee bit too close for comfort. 

How do they do this ? The Biden eyebrows win hands down :https://x.com/DiaperDiplomacy/status/1958645640273015038 or :https://x.com/DiaperDiplomacy/status/1956104935403106762

Dogs:https://www.usnews.com/insurance/pet-insurance/most-popular-dog-breeds-study

Cats :https://www.popsci.com/science/why-cats-hate-water/

Fake honey :https://observer.co.uk/news/national/article/the-scandal-of-fake-foreign-honey