Seasonal vibe.

This thread on events in the morning news was good :https://x.com/samagreene/status/1993309588310122944

A week since we got off the boat. How time flies. Today the weather drizzly and dreich as we drive into town. On the radio a very English choice of music to start the day :https://youtu.be/PM9mVdb7M7o

Overnight the towns gentle drift towards Christmas has picked up pace. The golf shoes on the bar window sill have gained poinsettia sprigs.  Hat wearing robins and a flashing reindeer complete the seasonal vibe. The French, of course, do Christmas with rather more style :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivVPqwFiocg&list=RDivVPqwFiocg&start_radio=1

The baker has been busy repurposing his ginger biscuits. For some reason he's also selling mincemeat tarts rather than mince pies.

The supermarket tree remains stylishly minimalist. I'd assumed baubles would be added but this appears to be it.

Hard to say whether the small Indian restaurant has decorated for Christmas or has simply brought out the olive trees from the inside for an 'airing'. 

Here in the village preparations are underway for Saturday nights St Andrews Day ceilidh. Angus has delivered 6 bottles of Malbec and 6 of Pinot Grigio to the village hall kitchen.

In Starbucks this morning two families from Colorado are amazed to discover that they're both here for the university 'Open Day'. They chat, uninhibitedly, with a ' Jeez. What are the chances of that ! ' sense of amazement. By the time we leave the fathers are arranging a round at the golf course down the coast.

Shopping carts. I do. Do you ? :https://behavioralscientist.org/why-dont-people-return-their-shopping-carts-a-somewhat-scientific-investigation/

Smaller still and smaller :https://www.quantamagazine.org/a-cell-so-minimal-that-it-challenges-definitions-of-life-20251124/

From 1970's fad into the mainstream :https://www.acsh.org/news/2025/11/24/anatomy-food-myth-49837

Not what I expected from a Texas school :https://www.civitasinstitute.org/research/trumps-ukraine-fiasco

Native Americans have Japanese ancestry ? :https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/11/05/first-americans-may-have-sailed-from-asia

What an embarrassment for Lufthansa :https://www.euractiv.com/news/three-eu-prime-ministers-stranded-after-flight-to-angola-fails-to-take-off/