A braw morning. Blue skies over the village and scattered banks of cloud inland. Concentrate hard , really hard, and you can almost feel the warmth in the sun. The BBC six am news bulletin seems once again unsure as to whether the Iran issue is 'alive' or 'dead'. Last nigth we go to a small presentation by an American politician. He speaks of a post midterms high risk 2027-2028 window in international affairs. This is slightly unsettling.
There is a gold metallic Peugeot parked in the corner of the potato field. It has French 54 plates. A quick Google search indicates the car is registered in Meurthe-et- Moselle. This is a department we've never been to. The Peugeots owners can be found on the beach skimming stones and laughing like teenagers. They have never seen cormorants and are amazed at their diving skills. They tell us the Scots are 'charmant' which is a surprise.
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It's not just the village that's waking up to the World Cup. The newspapers are now shifting their front pages to covering the tournament.
The shopkeepers are also tuning in on football. Two matches are being played in Boston and a third in Miami. I fear that the Scots team - and the fans - will not cope well with Floridian heat and humidity. The motto ' Good luck Scotland - We can do this ! ' seems ever so slightly forlorn.
Here in the village the New Zealand man who makes soap out of seaweed had a dry run with the device that projects television pictures onto a screen. A dozen or so 30 something fathers could be found in the village hall drinking beer and making sure everything works as planned. They were joined by a collection of three to five year olds who are given orange squash and Pringles to keep them quiet. It was agreed that the Emperor sized sheet onto which the match will be projected needs to be carefully ironed. Wrinkled sheets substantially degrade the viewing experience.
Not sure about the architectural design of this. A bit dystopian ? : https://www.obama.org/visit/
An unusual travel destination :https://notcompeting.substack.com/p/have-money-dont-complain-live-better
Woke paint . I've ordered some and will let you know the results :https://www.atelierellis.co.uk/
Eyes:https://www.popsci.com/science/why-humans-have-white-part-eyes/
Unusual story of the day :https://notesfrompoland.com/2026/05/31/built-140-years-ago-and-still-in-use-today-warsaws-sewers-connect-the-city-to-its-brutal-past/
America seems to produce 'interesting' politicians :https://www.mediaite.com/politics/gop-gubernatorial-frontrunner-claims-he-killed-a-man-at-age-7-wont-say-how-many-people-hes-killed-in-bonkers-interview/
A former Portugese Foreign Minister has written a new book :https://brunomacaes.substack.com/p/the-age-of-world-order-is-over-the
3 comments:
Meurthe-et-Moselle is worth a visit. Lovely east of France architecture with pointy slate roofs. It contains Verdun, where the ossuaire at the WW1 battlefields outside the town is the most powerful anti-war statement I've ever seen.
You have reminded me that we have been to Verdin. Many years ago we were heading back to Calais and needed somewhere to stop off. Angus glanced at a map ( this was long before GPS ) misread ossuaire and interpreted it as a bird sanctuary. It was a surprise when we got there.
I wish Scotland well, although when push comes to shove, I will have to support Japan. Japanese soccer was just getting off the ground when we moved there, and it has been so rewarding watching it develop. I was debating if I should shift my loyalties to France at this point, but no, at least not unless Japan gets knocked out. Anyway, it will be great to have something different to think about for a period of time. I enjoyed the blog about Turkmenestan.
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