The clocks change and giant Easter Eggs appear

By accident we watch the first episode of 'Inside Britains National Parks' on the television :https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002tfst/inside-britains-national-parks  The scenery is stunning but the love the farmers have for the countryside is simply wonderful. These are kind and caring folk. If you get the chance watch out for the point in episode 1 where a pig falls into a deep sleep while having his head tickled. Simple but beautiful. 

This morning the radio introduces us to the concept of "looksmaxxing" and a young American gentleman called 'Clavicular ' who is ( for some reason that's not quite clear ) in trouble with the law.  We are told that Clavicular believes Crystal meth is the drug of choice to develop hollow cheeks. What the early morning rural radio audience in the Highlands must make of all this doesn't bear thinking about.  All of a sudden the Atlantic seems to be very wide.

There are three enormous Easter Eggs in the bakers window. The largest must weigh at least 5 kilos. Will they be bought by someone hosting a Chocolate Party ? Is there such a thing ? How would you get them home ?

Nothing has been officially said here about the Kings visit to Washington at the end of April . I'm wondering if the latest temper tantrum about the UK's 'toy aircraft carriers' might have been one jibe too many ? The government seems to have adopted the attitude that ignoring the early morning missives is the only adult thing to do.

Overnight the clocks have changed. We're out at what was five thirty. A young man in a wet suit rushes past us onto the beach. He's singing that old Abba staple 'Mamma Mia ' at the top of his voice. This is presumably a way of steeling himself for a dip into the North Sea. The air may be getting warmer as we move towards April but the sea doesn't seem to have got the message.

When we make it onto the sand we can see him in the distance doing a pre-water warm up routine. We catch occasional snippets of music that indicate he's still singing .

Back into town for our morning espressos in Starbucks. People are standing on street corners for a start of day blether. Wee blethers are very important in small university towns.

Alan Bennett remains a national treasure. 'The Font' is enjoying his latest book and reads out occasional snippets. 

Down by the golf course the British and American flags have been tied to the mast to stop them being shredded in the strong winds. 

Birthday cards seem to fall into two categories. Awful and mind crushingly awful.  Both are equally expensive.  We are delighted to discover that Waterstones, the other bookstore in town, is stocking a new range of cards that combine humour and something approaching good  taste . 

Tomorrow we go to get our booster shots for China.  I wanted to go without ( you're unlikely to get exposed to much in the Four Seasons in Beijing ) but have been over ruled.

A question for Paris in the sunshine :https://x.com/Parisianaes1/status/2037228086438355428

Prize of the week goes to this :https://rabbitcavern.substack.com/p/do-animals-make-art

Who wrote 'There is a house in New Orleans ' :https://www.taylorforeman.com/p/there-is-a-house-in-new-orleans

Hazards in the night sky:https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/something-is-happening-around-earth-inside-2026s-massive-fireball-surge/

American military humour :https://x.com/general_ben/status/2037796824627683432