Welcome to September.

Welcome to September. There's a wonderful sunrise but the air is decidedly nippy this morning. We discuss putting the heating on but decide to tough it out for another couple of weeks.

The owner of the little medieval house round the corner is an advocate for bees. Her garden has self seeded onto the pavement and she is determined to let it continue to spread unhindered. A hand written sign on an old slate roof tile makes it clear that weedkiller is not welcome here. One of the joys of college towns is that there are lots of people like this who make their views known. Council employees might view things differently.

The four ladies who work in the university administration office are back at work and have restarted their early morning dip routine. The sound of their laughter drifts up the cliff face towards us.

Foreign motor homes line the old abbey walls. Germans and Danes are in the majority today. Spanish and Italian registered vehicles are nowhere to be seen.

The sheep outside the farmhouse are enjoying some fresh cabbage leaves.

We are surprised to see a small army of detectorists beavering away in the field that runs up towards the farmers windmill. The archaeologists found a 10,000 year old village in a field further down the coast https://archaeology.org/news/2025/08/27/scottish-field-encapsulates-10000-years-of-local-history/ and they think another may have existed just inland from here. This would explain why we have an ancient burial site outside the courtyard. There must be the better part of a hundred enthusiastic folk with metal detectors scattered across the field .

Something very Irish and seasonal on the radio this morning :https://youtu.be/gKS7o7px9g4?list=RDgKS7o7px9g4&t=15

History and horses :https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/a-single-mutation-made-horses-rideable-and-changed-human-history/

Americas empire :https://www.maximum-progress.com/p/should-we-have-kept-the-american

Prediction markets. Only 53% ? :https://kalshi.com/markets/kxpresparty/party-winning-presidency