The power cut.

We rarely have power cuts but this morning we do. Thankfully, it's a bright and sunny ( and warmish ) start to the day but one without hot water or coffee. Within 20 minutes a utility company 4x4 is driving slowly down the farm track checking the overhead cables. The driver is a cheerful soul who lowers his window and says " I've nae idea what the problem is but we'll find out soon enough ".

The outage cannot have made the departure of the farmer and his wife to the airport with their offspring any easier. There's no sign of the mud spattered Discovery at their house so they must have set off super early. Male teenagers being male teenagers they were probably ready for the off at first light. To their mothers horror the boys baggage is minimalist - a spare kilt, jeans, sneakers and tee shirts. It is unlikely they will need anything smarter. Anyway is there anything more formal than a kilt ? The Hyatt in Cambridge has been chosen for its accessibility to Gillette Stadium where Scotlands first two matches are being played. The hotel is ( or was when we last visited a decade or so ago )  a rather genteel Harvardy type  place. We wonder if the staff are going to be ready for what's about to hit them.

The bees are out in force covering the buddleias. We can hear them from inside the house.

The young cows on the village green have come to associate humans with food. They watch us pass along the road with an accusatorial air. Their disappointment is obvious.

A young farmers wife has taken her seven dogs a walk on the beach. Loading them into the back of the truck isn't plain sailing. Four go in, one comes out, then three go in and the rest come out. These must be an easier way of doing things. It goes without saying the dogs are having a whale of a time.

The rams remain unhappily separated from the yewes.

The bollards outside the graduation hall have been freshly painted with black gloss  and the troughs filled with begonias. The redecoration of the town is in full swing. It's three weeks to graduation season and everything is being made to look its absolute best.

Parents who haven't made reservations for graduation lunch had better hurry up. Places are fast disappearing.  For a week Champagne consumption goes through the roof.

The migration is underway. This gentleman from Papa Westray is already en route  :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj0YZKfwrHE

Hidden gems. You can ( more easily ) get planning permission for a sky scraper in London if you include a roof deck that's open to the public . Here's some of them :https://diamondgeezer.blogspot.com/2026/05/londons-free-roof-terraces.html?m=1  This could be my favourite :https://diamondgeezer.blogspot.com/2019/02/120-fenchurch-street.html

A very British Library podcast :https://www.blplayer.co.uk/eventlink/1082/GuUq7UXv

Florida is thinking of getting rid of property taxes which is probably a bad idea if you ever need to call the Police :https://www.governing.com/urban/could-florida-really-eliminate-property-taxes

Why fly the fish in from Japan ? :https://www.wildizakaya.co.uk/

Moby Dick without reading it :https://www.deezlinks.com/p/the-74-most-incredible-lines-in-moby