A glut of cherry tomatoes.

The weather proving to be very Scottish. Bright sunshine one minute, desultory wind and rain the next. The last of our visitors has gone so today will be spent with the cleaning ladies getting the wee house in town ready for the new Texan tenants who may, or may not, be arriving tomorrow.

More and more youngsters showing up in the cafes. Not yet a flood ( that will come on Saturday and Sunday with the arrival of the Freshers ) but definitely a strong trickle of fresh faces appearing. Everyone seems happy.

Twelve hardy bees on the lavender beds this morning. Above us flocks of honking geese continue to fly over on their way south. There's not as many of them this year but this is based on observation not scientific foundation. The starlings are now turning their attention to this seasons rose hips which seem particularly lustrous.

The souvenir shop windows offer visitors four major options:

1) Loch Ness monsters ( sometimes mixed up with green non-aquatic dinosaurs ) 

2) Smiling Highland Cows .

3) Westies ( or any dog that is white and fluffy ) and Scotties wearing a tartan bunnet and a badge with the word 'Mac' printed on it. 

4) 'Plaid' Golf club covers for golfers wishing to demonstrate to their fellow country club members that they've been to ( but not necessarily played ) the home of golf.

There is also a fifth option which is any ( or all of the above ) printed on a mug.

Scotland is a veritable super power in the trinket market. I'd wager that 90% of these products are made in Chengdu and the other 10% in Bangladesh. 

This morning the cheesemonger has gone overboard with its offering of exotic cherry tomatoes. It seems that the heatwave on the continent has impaired the output of large tomatoes ( anything above 35C and their yield plummets as the plants self regulate and drop their flowers to save water ) but boosted the small tomato crop. The things you learn on a start of day walk.

Overheard outside the music centre some Chinese music :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCthiLvVh7A

Scroll through to get the full experience. Our ancestors would marvel at our good luck :https://ordinaryabundance.com/

How long before a series based on this appears on Netflix ? :https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/alleged-dimethylmercury-incident

For anyone who has ever visited East Anglia its hard to believe there was a time when it wasn't flat :https://gizmodo.com/scientists-discover-a-hidden-supervolcano-buried-beneath-england-2000805057

Stonehenge :https://www.bbc.co.uk/culture/article/20260828-the-startling-1960s-theory-that-stonehenge-was-a-prehistoric-computer