A brave one.

The six am BBC news broadcast is still unsure whether the war in the Gulf is over or is escalating. The presenter observes that oil prices in Asian trading have gone up sharply which seems to indicate the latter. Closer to home the British Prime Minster faces a make or break speech to woo back MP's unhappy with his leadership. It wasn't so long ago that we were led by a succession of performative buffoons and people couldn't see the back of them quickly enough. Now we are governed by someone boring but diligent and people are still even more unhappy. Go figure. 

Our local professor of International Relations sends out this latest take on where he thinks things stand :https://phillipspobrien.substack.com/p/the-us-military-is-failing-facts

Inquisitive faces peer at us as we head up past the village green.

The calves are now at the stage where they're cautiously interested in anyone who  passes by. They wander over to the gate to see us . A particularly brave one sticks his nose through the bars.

It's shaping up to be a perfect day. Down on the beach it's shirt sleeve weather. This is probably due more to the lack of wind than any real warmth in the sunshine. The locals schools have had a seven a side rugby tournament here over the weekend and the sand has been churned up by the presence of players and spectators. It is strangely compacted and unyielding beneath our feet. A ranger stops to tell us that he's seen the first cuckoo flowers coming into bloom. He's also seen hares in the dunes.

Today is the start of the full on exam season so there are one or two students out running in an attempt to clear their heads before their Accretion Physics papers.

This is a small town of distinct and long honed routines .

A little known American painter is back in vogue :https://www.christies.com/en/stories/edward-hicks-the-peaceable-kingdom-6ffd5133f81148af82c5dfb9bf043915

There's so much we take for granted :https://x.com/patrickc/status/2053103361176813791

Can't remember ever having seen this show. The camera work is relaxed and the people all seem real and unpretentious. A different age of television :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwsSbAKs3yo

Will El Nino surprise ? :https://gizmodo.com/chances-of-super-el-nino-approach-100-setting-the-stage-for-the-hottest-year-on-record-2000756197

48C in Africa but the Med is facing a chill :https://x.com/extremetemps/status/2053193399134515617

Monday morning thoughts for those taking exams today :https://sketchplanations.substack.com/p/i-will-study-and-get-ready-and-perhaps