Saturday, September 6, 2025

Brave sheep

 

The letters page in the London Review of Books throws up this intriguing alarming letter.


The sheep in the field by the sea are getting braver with each passing day. The dog attack earlier in the year seems to have been forgotten. The lambs are now grazing right up to the fence and seem unaware of passers by.


We stop off for a coffee at the little cafe by the harbour. The owner is there and makes us bacon rolls. " Don't tell anyone but you've got extra bacon " she says in a tone of voice that indicates we've become regulars. To begin with we're the only customers but within five minutes three American couples accompanied by teenage children arrive. The little cafe seems to have moved from being undiscovered to being on a TikTok 'things to do when in St Andrews' list. One American family ask for double fried egg in their bacon rolls which occasions some surprise and a look not unlike this :https://x.com/dublinbypub/status/1963868680019730493


We pick up some tomatoes at the farm shop and some lemon sole at the fishmongers.


Back in the village a sun blest corner of a cottage garden reminds us of France.

It is time to adjust the 'in town' driving to style to accommodate kamikaze teens who stare at their phones and wander oblivious and uncomprehending into the path of oncoming traffic. Angus can once again mutter grumpily under his breath. There's nothing like a good ' what in heavens name do they think they're doing ?' grumble to get the day off on a good footing.


More revelers in the water and a choir rehearsal in chapel sure signs the holidays are over and things are about to kick off :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxcoFe3_rM4

More on coffee:https://www.the-scientist.com/how-does-caffeine-wake-people-up-73355

Yesterdays missing parrot link :https://birdhistory.substack.com/p/parrots-gone-wild

China and C-A-T-S :https://x.com/GlennLuk/status/1962258662744826274

Student housing :https://joshuatravisbrown.substack.com/p/behind-closed-doors-the-inequalities


6 comments:

Lisa in France said...

I have long thought that some of what is going on in the US can be traced back to Burger King and the "have it your way" mentality. It took moving to Japan for me to realize it removes a lot of unnecessary stress if one just takes things, like bacon rolls, as they are. Thank you for the parrot link, which was really interesting. We have had wild parrots almost every place we've lived - Los Angeles, Tokyo and here in France. To our lasting regret, we unknowingly contributed to the trade in wild birds when we bought two little grey-cheeked parakeets in Los Angeles in 1990. We realized that they had been imported from Peru only when we tried to take them back with us to Japan. Fortunately, we were able to prove they had been legally imported and they ended up living a long and, I am confident, happy life in Tokyo. They were wonderful birds, but you can no longer find them, as they don't breed well in captivity.

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
Ohh... I wonder if you realise that the photos of the lambs, the tomatoes, and the sunflowers, all bring forth thoughts of harvest and mark that bridge between summer and autumn so beautifully? The last might be worth having turned into wall piece... YAM xx

Travel said...

If I win the lottery, I want a flock of black-sheep. You have it nearby, you have won the lottery of neighbors.

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful collection of photos this morning.
JoAnn in Maryland

Stephanie said...

Sun-silhouetted sheep, baskets full of tomatoes, and glorious sunflowers complete with a bumblebee: what a grand way to begin the morning.

rottrover said...

I, too, love the sheep picture. The golden lighting makes it spectacular. I had descendants of the Busch Garden parrots visit my yard (actually the little native tree in my yard with the berries) the other day. There were six of them. So beautiful and so noisy!