Wednesday, August 26, 2026

A change of scenery

Dolly Parton dies, the Ontario Premier gives as good as he gets and heavy rain with flash flooding is forecast in England. The BBC announcer informs us that some American commentators think the US is ratcheting up the rhetoric on Canada to divert attention from the lack of progress on Iran.

Elder sister arrives, unannounced and uninvited, in the kitchen. Her younger sister, imprisoned in the farmhouse garden, can be heard howling in the distance. Our visitor gives us a tried and tested ' I know I shouldn't be here but if you could spare a biscuit I'd be eternally grateful ' look. She gets half a ginger hobnob. This sets the tail wagging.


More geese heading along the coast.They pass by in a never ending conveyor belt. The geese fly down from the Arctic in search of warmth. Some will over winter here, others further south in Northumberland.  Their honking is one of lifes transient pleasures. The telegraph wires are empty this morning. A sign that the well fed and rested swallows have finally set off on their long journey to Africa. 

The bee numbers continue to fall but a hardy cohort  still beaver away in the lavender. By the end of the month they too will have gone. In Scotland September is a time of the year when all the stage scenery changes.


No action in the cabbage field. The replacement part still hasn't been despatched.


Two paragliders take off from the sand and head towards town. Look carefully and you can just see them. They are soon up at a thousand feet. There's Russian activity out towards Norway so four jet fighters come hurtling across the sky on their way to deal with whatever's going on. 'The Font' wonders if the paragliders have logged their flight path with air traffic control .


Our old Fermob table and chairs from France have been repainted.  I can't remember the original colour being that strident. They get their first christening in a surprise shower.


Timely. Heard this at the Fox theatre in Atlanta 50 years ago :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixrje2rXLMA

Rediscovered :https://e360.yale.edu/digest/spinach-pipefish-rediscovered

Unloved wild dogs :https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/africa-wild-dogs-most-hated-carnivores-continent-heres-how-conservationists-saving-them-anyway-180989287/

History can be strangely prescient  :https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/benedict-arnolds-invasion-of-canada/


8 comments:

Lisa in France said...

Wow, lots of interesting things this morning. Nice to see Elder Sister again - I do recognize that look from my own JRT experience.

I am so jealous that you saw Dolly perform live. I worked in the music industry for a few years and saw lots of famous performers, but in those days Dolly was not yet a thing in the Tristate area. What's been amazing is that, based on all the posts this morning on both Twitter and Bluesky, it seems that everybody, across all the usual partisan lines, loved her. Perhaps we should have elected her president. Meanwhile, we do agree that the current president is doing absolutely everything he can think of to distract from his failure in Iran, but it doesn't seem to be working very well for him this time. Lake America??

I think your table and chairs look terrific against the stone and the greenery. Meanwhile, I still failing to convince my citified husband that bees are both beautiful and harmless.

I had no idea that Benedict Arnold tried to invade Canada.

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
Some fantastic reading this morning - particularly enjoyed the African Dogs....oops, so engrossed, it's tipped over into arvo! I will say it's a little disappointing that Angus fed a sugary biscuit to Elder Sister. A cube of cheese or a quarter slice of toast would have been equally well received and much healthier! YAM xx

Travel said...

Old dogs are the best.

Bailey Bob Southern Dog said...

I am happy to report the Fox theater is still here in Atlanta. I am also jealous you had the opportunity to see Dolly perform at the Fox. The acoustics there are amazing!

rottrover said...

I don't think I'd like to be paragliding while fighter jets are out and about. Of course I'm not much of a paraglider. My friend is currently on a safari in Kenya. I've received no photos of wild dogs.

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

I was at that show. x

Stephanie said...

So nice to see elder sister and bees on lavender.

vfh159 said...

Oh, how we know that “white eyes” look.