Living the life

The six am news broadcast leads with the possibility that there will be a two month ceasefire in the Gulf. It then lists a series of pre-conditions that the Iranians are expected to fulfil. Wisely, the bulletin goes on to say that more details may emerge during the day. One of those extremely serious Washington think tank types with a gravely voice expresses his view that America won the war but Iran has won the ceasefire. This is a great sound bite but is memorable more for its imprecision than its practicality. Faced with uncertainty I've filled up the little cars petrol tank ( Now £1.57 a litre. A month ago it was £1.39 ) and arranged for the heating oil to be topped up. Let's hope this unpleasantness with Iran is over and not just taking a pause. Meanwhile the poor residents of Kyiv have faced another heavy attack.

Down on the shore a Golden Retriever is living the best life. The ball is thrown, retrieved and then thrown again. This goes on for at least half an hour. The dog seems tireless.

At one point the dog turns on his back and rolls in the waves. We've never seen a dog do this before. Let's hope the owner has been sensible enough to buy one of those Subarus with the easily washable black plastic interiors. There is going to be a lot of sand, salt and wet hair to be vacuumed up.

The last students packing up after their exams and heading home. Some hearty  types will stay on to make money as caddies for visiting golfers and a few others will get summer jobs in the local restaurants. 'The Font' observes that the first years who arrived in 2022 after we moved here from France will now be getting ready for graduation. Can four years really have passed that quickly ? Did the time shoot by  as quickly for them as it has for us ? Four years for a teen is an eternity whereas at our age it seems like a long weekend.

Good news everywhere you look :https://brucemehlman.substack.com/p/six-chart-sunday-and-now-for-the

For this years grads the issue of AI and what it will mean for their chosen career path has been huge :https://x.com/itsolelehmann/status/2057909733491937555

Tooth decay :https://www.the-scientist.com/stem-cell-insight-turns-back-the-clock-on-tooth-decay-74505

A different business model :https://davidoks.blog/p/why-japanese-companies-do-so-many

This is so French ( as are the comments )  :https://x.com/gabriellecluzel/status/2058090069827658008

Back home.

We're back in Scotland. Public transport worked well. The tram from Edinburgh  airport to the station ran on time. We had ten minutes to buy some fresh fruit from the supermarket in the concourse before the connecting train arrived.  London hotel to home in five and a half hours.

We've found a new London watering hole - The Italian Greyhound - on Seymour Place. Ideal for a pre-dinner glass of wine and a bottle of San Pellegrino. The wine list was good (and reasonably priced) and the service friendly. Three members of staff said 'Hello' as we arrived and four thanked us as we left. This is a big difference from Scotland where the art of cheerful repartee is less developed.

There, are of course, those who prefer drinking outside pubs to the comfort of sitting in a wine bar. To an outside observer the number of pubs seems to be falling.

Near the hotel a vast Victorian church. We must have passed it by a hundred times without registering its scale.  It towers over everything else around. It's as if the architect was oblivious to its surroundings. There again it may have been designed to overawe. Think Notre Dame dropped down into a side street to get a sense of what it's like.

I'm not sure we could afford to live in London any more. Cherries on Blandford Street are £35 a kilo. I'm not sure Snake Fruit makes its way north of the border. Demand must be limited at £44.75 for a kilo.  How do families with three kids manage ?

Florists displays are also very un-Scottish in their style.

To the Occitane shop for some after shave.

The lady behind the counter tries to get me to change from Verveine to Cedre Gingembre. After forty years of using the same product I'm not for experimenting. She offers me 15% off if I buy a second bottle, which I do.

Now we're back St Andrews looks as if it is also going to be hot . 23 degrees forecast for today. With the students and many of the staff gone for the summer it is not so much quiet as deserted. In the space of a week the population has gone from 25,000 to half that number. During term time I happily complain about the students walking along the pavements fixated on their i-phones. Now they're gone I miss them. Soon the foreign golfers will arrive. With their disdain for looking before crossing the road they will happily provide me with a new source of irritation.

Photos from Houston :https://danielkalder.substack.com/p/tsdk-no-87-the-wire-temple

India :https://x.com/JesusFerna7026/status/2057926155588571435

A history lesson :https://www.edwest.co.uk/p/if-it-wasnt-for-us-youd-be-speaking

Intelligence :https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/social-instincts/202605/2-commonly-overlooked-signs-of-intelligence

250 years on :https://www.coolidgereview.com/articles/john-adams-declaration-independence

The memorial plaque

The Heathrow flight is cancelled but the flight to London City is going on time.  It's on one of those Brazilian planes with weak air conditioning and low headroom ( you can be sure to bang your head no matter how careful you try to be  ) but it's only an hours flight so we're happy to be 're-booked'. There's a group of thirty or so smiling folk from Fort Worth Texas onboard. We know this because 'Pastor Bob' , who is their leader, stands up before take off to introduce himself and tell his fellow passengers how ' blessed and uplifted they've been to visit Scotlands holy sites '.  He is wearing shorts, Birkenstocks, a large red money belt and a tee shirt with' School of Anesthesiology TCU Fort Worth Texas USA ' written in large letters across the back. He also has a closely shaved head which contrasts with a luxuriant beard that wouldn't shame an Old Testament prophet. Pre-flight  'sharing' may be common in Texas but is an unusual occurrence on British Airways.  'The Font' observes that anaesthesiology is spelt differently here. The Fort Worth group all clap as we land. One or two also shout out 'Praise the Lord'. This is also something that doesn't happen very often on British Airways although for those who are experiencing the rapid descent into London City for the first time it might be justified.

We have forgotten that it's a Bank Holiday on Monday. London is busy and hot. 30 degree + temperatures are expected over the weekend. Local cafe and restaurant owners have moved into continental mode with pavements and courtyards covered in tables. Our hotel is busy but not full.  Seems that visitors from the Gulf and American business men aren't travelling. By contrast leisure travellers from the US and Asia have taken up 90% of the slack. The staff at reception think this is because the UK is seen as the safely dull option for travel. On our way down we noticed that Jet Blue are now flying into Edinburgh which brings the number of daily flights from the US to Edinburgh to 8.

'The Font' heads off to Chelsea while Angus heads off for his six monthly check up with the eye doctor. ( For those heading down the Kings Road look out for the display in the bookstore where the flowers seem to magically grow through the window ).  My hospital visit is a periodic reminder that men of a certain age should not attempt to climb ladders ( repeatedly ) to prune tall wisteria without proper safety protection. There is a new AI enhanced system to measure my eyesight which is brilliant and takes a fifth of the time the old visual field tests used to take. On the way to the clinic I pass this house with a small plaque outside.

These days the number of people who pass by and who know who Benedict Arnold was could probably be counted on one hand. He's described on the plaque as an American patriot which may , by some, be seen as a somewhat subjective description. Will there be some sort of ceremony here on July 4th or has he been written out of history ?

On the plane I read this little book which turns out to be both interesting and well written.

Closing the Strait of Hormuz is something that's been happening for centuries. The British faced exactly the same problem in 1798. I Can't help but think that if only the book had been published a bit earlier someone in DC might have read it and remembered the possible pitfalls. There again who needs a foreign service and institutional memory ?:https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/jared-kushner-read-25-books_n_5e31f995c5b6fb636bae221f

Oddity of the day. The last handwritten newspaper in the world :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUmdx2YHGcA

This is unusual :https://www.discovermagazine.com/gabi-an-ai-robot-has-been-ordained-and-is-now-a-buddhist-monk-49119

Higher education faces a shake out :https://amardashehu.substack.com/p/what-the-university-is-now-for

The 'What do you want ?' stage.

Blogger has been playing up. I tried to post this morning but to no avail. We've spent the day travelling down to London which is extremely busy with visitors heading to the Chelsea Flower Show. Here somewhat belatedly are some pictures of life before we headed to the airport.

The calves on the village green are growing by the day. They have moved on from being shy to the adolescent  ' What do you want ?' stage . Twin brothers glare at us from the  middle of what they clearly consider to be their field.

The shop windows gearing up for visiting southerners who find themselves in need of warmer clothing. Mothers who turn up for graduation in clothes that would be ideal for the south of France but find the temperatures 20 degrees cooler are the target audience.

The 'other' town beach is usually crowded with surfers. Now, in the midst of exam week and with the towns population shrinking by 40% , we have it pretty much to ourselves.

Could any sign be more St Andrews than this one  ?

The hotel is up for sale

A large flag pole has gone up outside the hotel that Donald Trump once tried to buy. It wasn't there last week. Perhaps it's a sign that some truly important tournament is about to take place. The hotel is now owned by a Wisconsin sanitary fittings manufacturer but it's rumoured that the hotel no longer fits with their business model and is up for sale. There is a certain nervousness as to who the future buyer might be.

A group of sprightly American gentlemen of a certain age are the first to tee off this morning. They have the sure and certain air of golfers who have played here before.  Those 'Titleist' baseball caps that have become standard golf attire are once again much in evidence. 

Next up on the first tee are a younger ( but middle aged )  group from Cincinnati . They too are wearing 'Titleist' headware. These folk are rather more animated than the first group and spend some considerable time 'high fiving' each other when they make it onto the course. The caddies are all in shorts which demonstrates some optimism about the weather later in the day. For now it's grey and chill.

In the supermarket Pomegranate Rubies. Something I've never seen before. In France we used to drink a pre-dinner glass of champagne with Pomegranate juice. Perhaps it's something we should start doing again ? The big difference is that by seven in the evening the air up here is starting to turn cold. In France it stayed warm and prime champagne drinking temperatures until late.

Back at The last wee house before Denmark elder sister follows me into the kitchen. She makes her way directly to the cabinet where the biscuits are stored. Village farm dogs know the centrality of their place in the scheme of things.

Modern French tumblers - at a price :https://www.saint-louis.com/en/collections/les-endiables.html

Oops. Be careful what you wish for :https://x.com/factpostnews/status/2056461616162431323

I'm seeing a lot written about this :https://x.com/jesusferna7026/status/2056341632253862099?s=61

Falling birth rates also appear here :https://www.derekthompson.org/p/why-the-whole-world-stopped-having

Reducing health care costs at source. A cigarette free UK :https://www.politico.com/newsletters/forecast/2026/05/19/the-new-politics-of-smoking-00928285

The porpoise.

It's rained quite heavily overnight. This will delight the farmer who has been praying for a downpour to kick start his potato crop. We stop to chat to two village ladies who are repairing the fencing around the apple trees in the communal orchard. This year the deer have developed a liking passion for apples. The ladies are repairing the wire mesh to deter the animals from grazing on the low lying branches. They don't hold out great hopes for success. From them we learn that the Water Board has discovered that one of the feed pipes to the village is made of lead. It must have been laid down at least a century ago. Health and Safety regulations mean that the lead pipe will need to be replaced by a new non-toxic one. This, it can be assumed, will be a lengthy and disruptive process. 

Heading into town in the car the BBC news informs us that an attack on Iran that was scheduled for today has been cancelled. We also discover that American petrol pumps aren't programmed to deal with diesel or petrol prices above $9.99 a gallon. If they go to $10 then all of them need to be reset manually. This is the sort of stray factoid that will be repeated at dinner tables up and down the country tonight.

The high tide has washed up a dead porpoise. It's surprisingly small. The usual cast of dog owners are taking it in turn to warn other owners to keep their dogs away. The waters around here can be treacherous for weak swimmers. It's probably got stranded on a sand bank and drowned.

Heading back in the car we see three competing company vans out collecting student belongings. The companies wrap and store the youngsters possessions until their owners return in September. This is a service industry that didn't exist in our day. It is, as you might expect, a highly competitive and highly seasonal market with this being by far their busiest time. With each passing day the exodus of youngsters picks up pace. Local cab drivers are busy with bookings to Edinburgh airport. In a weeks time there will only be post-grads and heavy party goers who are left in town. For two or three weeks until the cohorts of summer golfers arrive the place will be left to the locals.

Down by the busy golf course we pass the Jake and Edie bench. On a morning like this we can quite understand why it was their favourite place. 'Golf, Bridge and a view of the Sea' is a succinct summary of lifes charms.

At the garden store two metal lions. They're the better part of £800 each. Someone might like them. 

This Parisian cafe has the most French advert ever ? :https://serpentaplume.com/

Careful preparation pays dividends :https://uvamillercenter.substack.com/p/lessons-from-the-osama-bin-laden

A place to stay in New Orleans :https://ash.world/hotels/peter-and-paul

Consequences :https://robinjbrooks.substack.com/p/a-different-perspective-on-the-strait

Wall Brown butterflies.

The Sand Martins are back and so too are the Swallows. A dozen of the former and half a dozen of the latter are wheeling above the courtyard as we head off on our morning walk. We're up early. It's the time of year when the fierce northern sun manages to find any chink in the curtains. This renders sleep impossible. It's light enough to read by four. This may explain why the farmer has already been at work for the last two hours. He stops his tractor and wanders over to tell us to look out for some small Wall Brown butterflies sun bathing on the wild roses near the potato barns. " Any idea when this bloody war's going to end ?" he asks. Seems the price of diesel for his tractors has nudged up again and he's wondering whether to top up his farm fuel tanks while he still can. We still have two thirds of our heating oil left but I might join the farmer in arranging a 'top up'. Right on cue the BBC six am news bulletin tells us that Senator Lindsey Graham thinks that Iranian energy infrastructure should be bombed  - again.

Buses and trains now starting to fill up with students heading home. For a lucky minority exams are done and dusted. As the week progresses the gentle trickle of homeward bound students will turn into a flood.

Thousands and thousands of razor clams washed up on the shore. They run in a strip three or four yards wide all along the two mile length of the beach. The crows and gulls are delighted with such a tasty and accessible breakfast.

For those students taking exams the weather has been annoyingly perfect. Today seems set to be another beautiful day.

With the students going it will soon be much easier to find a table at the pavement cafes. Cut throughs that are usually ( and annoyingly ) blocked with nineteen year olds rushing off to lectures are now deserted. By contrast local restaurants are now full with young lovers splurging out and having a romantic dinner together before heading home for the summer. Last night the calm of the fish restaurant is shaken by one young man trying to reassure his girlfriend that ' the next four months will rush by '. This insight is not well received.

The house that always has fresh flowers in the window has a white theme this morning.

If only all graduation speeches were like this :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSYEDc7-Ah0

An English garden re-opens :https://www.gardenmuseum.org.uk/benton-end/visit-the-walled-garden-at-benton-end/

Reverting to form.

The life of a 19 year old in St Andrews is not all exams. There is plenty of room for some high jinks :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ngj2fJOAiBw  The dog walkers at the 1:20 mark look quite perplexed. 

The weather in May has been wonderful but now it's reverted to form. Since five this morning the wind  has been blowing from the North in one of those endless gusts that doesn't pause for breath. In most places the squalls ease off every so often but not here. Faced with this unrelenting tempest the sea below The last wee house before Denmark has worked itself up into an angry mood. Waves thud against the rocks and spray scuds up into our faces. The gannets love it. We stand and watch them - and the cormorants and shags - diving for fish. They circle, rise and then plummet deep down into the water, wings pressed hard against their bodies. Despite it being barely six o'clock there are three French minibuses parked out by the village hall. They belong to a travel company that specializes in walking tours of Scotland. Their clients have been dropped off seven miles away on the coastal path and the friendly young staff are preparing breakfast in readiness for their arrival in an hour or twos time. The village hall looks very grand with  trestle tables, chairs and a portable six ring gas stove. The croissants, I note, come from Marks and Spencers. The village hall  'facilities' are getting a thorough spring cleaning. 

The Hebridean sheep in their long coats are oblivious to the cold. They graze from one end of the paddock to the other without so much as looking up to see who, or what, we are. The females have all been moved to pastures inland leaving thirteen grumpy males to keep the grass under control.

Down to the fish shop. Lemon Sole, monkfish and halibut will see us through to mid-week. We were going to buy some langoustines but they've just come off the boat and are waving their claws in a way that says they're still very much alive.

Back in the village the calves on the village green are getting braver.  Two of them wander over to greet us. Methinks that local mothers, taking their children off to nursery school, have taken to stopping by with a carrot ... or two.

Events in London maybe crazy but life in a small Scottish North Sea village does its level best to remain calm and unchanging.

The spark that makes us different :https://press.princeton.edu/ideas/the-night-humans-learned-to-sleep-together

Maybe you need to be an astrophysicist to enjoy this :https://www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/05/15/przybylskis-star-still-bizarre-after-all-these-years/

Nearly blowing up the Statue of Liberty :https://www.military.com/german-spies-blew-up-new-york-harbor-lady-libertys-torch-never-reopened

Remembrance as art form :https://iveyredding.substack.com/p/in-the-garden

A susbtack with snippets of poetry - some beautiful. I shall dip into again as the week wears on :https://substack.com/@coralwarmth

Migratory routines.

A beautiful Friday night. The pavement cafes busy with youngsters enjoying a drink or two in the late evening sunshine. Star crossed lovers sit staring into each others eyes before they face the sweet sorrow of being parted for the summer vacation. Tearful hand holding is one of the migratory routines particular to small college towns the world over. We've been invited to a talk on the Gulf War. The lecture theatre is packed to the rafters with earnest students. We, as oldies, have reserved seats on the front row. The speaker says that the world is running a deficit of 14 million barrels of oil a day and that something must give in the next three to four weeks. There may be a 'convulsion' in the price of oil. 'Convulsion' is said in a tone of voice that makes it clear that this is something extremely unpleasant. The students ask probing questions which hints that they would make a much better job of running the world than later generations. Their thoughtfulness always makes me feel optimistic. By the end of the Q&A we're still unsure whether the war is close to being resolved. Certainly, the trip to China didn't bring any relief in this matter. I shall keep the tank at least three quarters full of petrol.

One of the village gardens has turned into a mass of bluebells. Can anything cry out 'I'm in Scotland ' as much as a garden full of bluebells ?

Something small and delicate and exotic  is growing in the grass near the potato field. It looks to have seeded here by chance. We pause to admire it. The village is about to enjoy a brief but exceedingly colourful summer as the wild flowers burst into bloom. The farmers wife  is taking the 17 year old son into Edinburgh shopping.  It has suddenly struck them both that the weather in America might be hotter than it is here in Scotland. The elder brother - who is also off to the World Cup - will meet them for lunch on Thistle Lane. He's just had his 19th birthday and is in the middle of end of term exams and is feeling 'hard done by'.

A squall blows in from the North Sea. It arrives just as we make it back to the car.  A young couple are up early having their wedding photos taken before they tie the knot in chapel at 10:00 am. The groom has to help the brides dress from billowing upwards in the wind. He plonks his hand firmly on her backside. This is perhaps not the most decorous of looks as they wait for the traffic lights to change.

This early the golfers waiting to tee off can't get a drink at the nearby hotel but they can get a cup off coffee. Titleist baseball caps are this years 'must have' golf accessory. They are everywhere and I mean everywhere.

The strawberry hut is now open. In the summer we live on strawberries. At the moment they are at their start of season best. We still miss the savoury flavour of the Gariguettes in France.  They weren't better, just different.

The Birdman of Oswiecim. Interesting but should this house be used for exhibitions ?  :https://archer.counterextremism.com/

Poor mice :https://www.sciencenorway.no/dental-health-drink-natural-science/a-researcher-gave-mice-unlimited-coca-cola-heres-what-happened/2663159

Shocking. 21st century and there's not a single woman to be seen at the table:https://x.com/BrigidLaffan/status/2054933606376583204

The way the world sees it :https://time.com/article/2026/05/15/trump-xi-us-china-summit-analysis/

Fondant fancies.

The UK's political crisis continues to entertain - but not in a good way.  A number of politicians have put themselves forward to replace the current Prime Minister but none of them have deigned to tell us how they will deal with inflation or debt or the lack of  growth. We're back to that old ' Trust me. I'll sort it out on the night ' style of governance. Of course its not just our politicians who entertain. On the local radio we learn that Americas FBI Director has been on a business trip to Hawaii. While there he went on a 'VIP Snorkel' of the sunken battleship the USS Arizona. It seems that a group of veterans think diving on a wreck that contains 900 graves is 'vulgar and cheap'. This is the first time either of us has ever heard the term 'VIP Snorkel ' and our breakfast time conversation detours into an analysis of what sets apart the  VIP option from a mere 'Snorkel'.

Groups of forlorn tourists wandering around town as we pass through on our morning constitutional. One group is led by a guide with an orange flag. Another follows a woman holding a blue flag and wearing enormous gold framed sunglasses. Both guides have cigarettes dangling from their lips. Neither seems to be enjoying life. They must have left Edinburgh on the dot of six so this lack of enthusiasm is perhaps understandable. 

As we get near the language tells us the orange group are Spanish, the blue group Italian. Both guides follow the less is more approach to sightseeing - duomo, capilla, universidad - barked out, staccato style, as each of the towns sights are passed. Sights of martyrdom generate more interest and arm waving. Stragglers are told to keep up. Starbucks ( and its facilities ) is soon full of Madrilenos trying to warm up.

The bakers 'Festival of Chocolate' is in full swing. In the main window Chocolate Belgian Biscuits share the spotlight with Chocolate French Cakes. I bought two of the French Cakes earlier in the week and can report that they have a memorably high sugar content. Why they are described as French cakes is a mystery. They are closer to being super sweet fondant fancies. It should also be noted that the word 'fondant' implies that the filling has a continental lightness that these more solid Scottish examples disdain.

For true chocoholics the side window has a display of  YumYums, cupcakes, doughnuts and some industrial looking Pain au chocolat. With the students in the midst of exams any and everything sells out within minutes of it being put on the shelves.

Back out in the village the farmer is about to plant brassicas in the field by 'The Fonts' cabin. He launches into a long description about crop rotation and phosphate levels in the soil. As he talks yellow hammers, corn buntings and wrens flit in and out of the wild roses that clamber over the old dry stone field walls. 

The ultimate British dining car :https://www.belmond.com/trains/europe/uk/belmond-british-pullman/celia

Opening just in time for lovers of Burgundy heading off on holiday :https://chateaulacommaraine.com/en

The Chelsea Flower Show lifts its ban on gnomes :https://www.rhs.org.uk/shows-events/rhs-chelsea-flower-show/news/2026/gnome-ban-lifted

Europe v US :https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/yes-europeans-are-poorer-than-americans

The White House Director of Communications posts this unusual photograph. The world of diplomacy is changing :https://x.com/StevenCheung47/status/2054325027659448711

A bridge and what could have been a travel agency.

The slow motion political assassination of Britains Prime Minister dominates the news here.  So far it's all been a bit Et tu Brute but without a dagger. Perhaps that will change today. To jolly things up the BBC plays a sound clip of the American President emerging from a two hour session with President Xi . He informs us that this is ' the biggest and most fantastic summit the worlds ever seen . It's so big I can tell you that in the States no one is talking about anything else '.

This estate agent style hyperbole causes us to  wonder if we should keep a small pied a terre in Edinburgh. We used to have a rambling old flat at the top of the Mound . You can see it just to the immediate left of the castle in this photo. It was unusual for having a Georgian wig cupboard. We rarely used it. In August the Edinburgh Tattoo was held on the castle esplanade and the noise and crowds used to drive us crazy. The military police would diligently search the take away pizza boxes or delivery vans for explosives. This consigned us to cooking at home for the duration. 

There's a little known entrance to Waverley station that leads out towards a side road onto Calton Hill. This is a part of town tourists seldom see. Facing anyone who walks this way is the Regent Bridge. It was  built as a memorial for those who fell in the Napoleonic wars and spans a large deep volcanic gully. It was , in its day, prohibitively expensive to build and subject to huge cost over runs. I'd bet not one in a thousand folk who walk along the road above know that they're crossing a bridge.

The Starbucks on George Street has an interesting 1970's era frontage with five brass sculptures mounted on triangular granite walls. The brass figures seem to be a strange combination of Jacobite Highlanders and native American Indians. This modernity is out of place in the New Town but it is, in its own way, a quite wonderful piece of architecture. It's certainly too good to be a coffee shop. It has the look of an upmarket travel agency but try as I might there's nothing to be found about its original use or who the architect was. It's the sort of architecture you can walk by a hundred times without noticing it. That in a sense is a measure of its success.

The beaches on the train ride home are the preserve of solitary dog walkers. Five miles outside Edinburgh and the population soon peters out as the big city retreats into the distance.

Far away from big city life mother duck continues to monitor control the footfall on the pavement outside the Shawarma House.

Something bright and exotic in bloom on the banks of the heron pond.

Just another quiet day in a small corner of Scotland. St Andrews is in full on exam mode and the streets are quiet. Two more Gulfstreams and a half dozen smaller business jets fly over The last Wee House before starting their final approach into Dundee. A reminder that the high rolling golf crowd are starting to arrive from Florida.

Spotted on a neighbouring  villages notice board :

The artist on display at the Scottish Royal Academy is Irish :https://www.artandhorseracing.com/kayla-martell#&gid=1726120867&pid=9

The Sahara reveals some surprises :https://theconversation.com/we-found-hundreds-of-huge-ancient-mass-graves-hidden-in-the-sahara-desert-281978

Tectonic movement :https://gizmodo.com/scientists-think-africa-may-be-cracking-along-a-new-tectonic-plate-boundary-2000757562