An absolutely wonderful Scots Adventure .: Spick and span

Tuesday, June 9, 2026

Spick and span

This morning the BBC news broadcast leads with the war in the Gulf ( it seems even less sure whether it's on again or off ) and the news that yet another AI company is filing for a $1 trillion IPO. We use Claude a little bit but if the price we pay is anything to go by it's not nearly enough to justify all these valuations.

It's a still wind free morning and the garden is alive with bees and butterflies. The orange pompom buddleias are covered with them. I always think of buddleias as sturdy weeds that grow beside railway tracks. They may look humdrum but they thrive out here in the coastal winds and our decision to plant a shelter belt of them has proved to be a good low maintenance idea. Is there anything as magical as a garden full of hundreds of bees buzzing and butterflies dancing ?

' Brown dog' stands on the bonnet of the lilac Mazda Miata that belongs to the woman who lives in the house by the village green. From his vantage point he can guard his family while overseeing the herd of young cows. He is a true multi-tasker and watches us pass by in magisterial silence.

There is no sign of the farmers wife this morning. It can safely be assumed that she is celebrating the departure of her two little angels with a long lie in.

In winter you are lucky if a workman stirs much before ten am. In high summer the workmen can be seen beavering away from seven . There is a mad rush to get the place looking spick and span for graduation and the summer golf tournaments that stretch into August. Gutters are being cleaned.

Most painters would just paint the railings. University workmen put out bollards and tape off the area.

The walls down by the Principals House are being regrouted. After the grouting has been mixed and applied the walls are covered in wet hessian. This seems a very reassuringly old fashioned way of doing things. The whole area has been carefully cordoned off to avoid any grout related incidents.