Grumpy rams.

The six am BBC news bulletin leads with comments by J D Vance. According to the American VP the Brits are ' in civilizational decline '. He goes on to say we have a ' politics of self hatred '. Quite why the UKs domestic political scene should be of such interest to a foreign politician is something of a mystery. Perhaps things are going so swimmingly at home he has a lot of spare time on his hands ? The news broadcaster wonders if he will be spending his summer vacation here - again .

All the female sheep have been moved back to the farm on the hill leaving fourteen grumpy males in the field by the shore. The rams do not look happy with this change in their domestic arrangements.

The sun highlights some of the gargoyles on the old science building. The one in the middle is enough to give you nightmares. Minimalist modern buildings lack these architectural 'flummeries' which, nightmares aside, is probably a loss.

The colour in this photo don't do justice to the cornflowers that have started to bloom at the edge of the sheep field. The blue is quite remarkable.

I'm not sure whether these purple poppies are natural or have escaped from someones garden. They're in the golf course wild flower meadow so the green keepers must think they're kosher. The place is alive with butterflies. It seems to be a bumper year for Red Admirals. 

'Flourish and Joy' on the uninspiring  fresh flower stand at the local garage. This may be some sort of wry humour. I'm still unsure what's going on with Iran so every week I drive to the garage and top up the tank. Prices have now nudged up to  £1.61 a litre.  Overnight , as a backup, the little BMW's hybrid engine is recharged. This gives us 30+ miles of range. For some technical reason to do with being so remote we can't get the cheap overnight electricity tariff . This would reduce the charging costs by 80%. There seems to be little difference between the cost of plugging into the grid and using petrol.

Baskets for the garden :https://studioamos.co.uk/baskets

Norwegian advice on storing olive oil :https://www.sciencenorway.no/food-food-and-health/why-you-should-store-olive-oil-in-the-fridge/2672135

Englands oldest ally:https://bowofodysseus.substack.com/p/the-original-special-relationship

'That' development in Albania :https://tomselliott.substack.com/p/what-is-jared-kushner-actually-building

Some Saturday morning music :https://youtu.be/0u0M4CMq7uI?list=PLcSkPXginhQfNhQa4hYJKiYn7hQMZ66q8&t=47