The criticised house.

Sunrise. Two of the villages rather polite ( and usually apolitical ) seventy year olds are heading off in their little red Volvo. He a retired professor of economics, she a designer of fabrics for Harrods. They've prepared a packed lunch and will be joining  a protest against the building of a data centre in a village on the road to Edinburgh. Scotland is an ideal location for these things. It has lots of wind power and no shortage of water to fuel and cool the servers. This combination has attracted droves of resource hungry AI companies. What is only now becoming apparent ( and generating unhappiness ) is the size of these things. The one they're protesting against will cover 60 hectares and be 12 metres high. That will dwarf the wee place.

We tread carefully around an army of small snails heading across the garden path towards the safety of the flower borders. A light sprinkling of rain in the wee hours seems to have brought them out in force.

Dubai chocolate is hard to find in Scotland. Marks and Spencer produce something with pistachio cream but it's a very distant relation to the real thing. We shall go to Glasgow next week to see what's on offer there.

The gardens at one of the local 'houses' are being opened to the public. You wouldn't know this if you missed the sheet of paper with an arrow and the words ' Garden open today' posted at the 'Y' junction by the falconry centre. This is a very minimalist and Presbyterian form of advertising that hints that the organizers would be happy if no one showed up. 

The building is controversial. The owner has taken an old tower house and brought it kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

The ochre lime wash on the harling is well done and the moon gate under the arch a thoughtful touch.

Two pavillions with rills have a 'French' air although on closer inspection it's clear that they are new.

We're both less sure about the large Celtic cross that's been laid out before the front door. It's certainly a statement but is possibly just a tad too religious for most tastes. On a stormy winters night with the lightning flashing it would have a Boris Karloff feel to it. Perhaps it's just too large ?

The place is huge fun and having owned a huge old Scottish castle we wholly approve of anyone that battles with the eye watering costs of keeping the structure water tight in a cold and windy climate.

The weather perfect. It's almost too hot. After a day of blue skies and architectural criticism it's time to end the day with a bottle of Sancerre rose which (despite being a 2022) is still lively and provides some gentle companionship as the sun sets. We stand by the garden wall looking out over the sea as the Orkney bound cruise liners twinkle like gin palaces in the gloaming.

The secret to visiting Scotland is avoid early and mid-August and aim to come here either in May or September when the weather patterns in the North Atlantic are docile if not dormant. Whether next years  El Nino changes that advice remains to be seen. 

Strange story of the week. Mushroom visions:https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/tiny-people-mushroom

Norwegian research:https://www.sciencenorway.no/language-marine-animals-whales/linguist-maybe-well-be-able-to-talk-to-whales-within-20-years/2700360

Addictive foods :https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/health-and-nutrition/junk-food-addiction

As ye sow so shall ye reap. Letter from Ukraine :https://michaeljudge.substack.com/p/sergey-maidukov-habits-of-war

Tom Hanks speaks wonderfully at Harvard ( and note the man in the top hat behind ) :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz32lq_iZfI