Rattling around .

The morning news bulletin tells us that London has just recorded the highest temperature ever recorded in May. 35 degrees - the sort of thing usually seen in August. More of the same is expected today. I'm glad we were there last week when it was in the low 20's. London in the heat can be a 'sticky' place. Here in Scotland it was a more pleasant 24 which the locals treated as somewhere between a heat wave and a climate emergency. By mid afternoon the towns  beaches were crammed to the gunnels with day trippers seeking the sea breezes. The heat has replaced events in the Gulf as the top story on  the radio. This is just as well as there still seems to be confusion as to whether the war is on or off again or what it's achieved.

The local farmer is up at 4:22 planting brassicas.  We know this because  a small army of tractors rushes  past The last wee house before Denmark making enough noise to wake us up. It's that time of the year when it's light pretty much all the time.

The overnight tide has spared the sand castles on the beach. Yesterday they were some wee lads pride and joy. The tide has also  brought in thousands of small jelly fish which have been deposited all the way along the sand. These intrigue the local dogs but alarm their owners.

Out of term time the university end of town is deserted. A couple of Spanish tourists rattle around in the empty cloisters.  The groundsmen have roped off the lawn outside chapel to ensure it's in pristine condition for the graduation ceremonies in a months time. 

In the absence of customers the student cafe in the old 16th century building  has only put out one table and two chairs. Even they are empty.

The Chinese chef emerges from the Asian supermarket with his dogs. I'm guessing this is the front end of the 'shaggy' one.

The peony has stopped whatever it was about to do and is deciding whether  to burst into bloom .... or not. Perhaps it's been shocked by the heat ?

So starts another day in an out of season small Scottish university town that is suddenly very quiet .

The first Scottish World Cup song makes it onto the radio. This one seems rather low key ( and low budget ) :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yT3_NDeCql0&list=RDyT3_NDeCql0&start_radio=1

Ewan McGregor joins in the excitement with this slightly misty eyed contribution :https://x.com/i/status/2056676474787086606

Going decades without food or water :https://x.com/Rainmaker1973/status/2058744865744376129