Sublime.

The sun is warm, the skies blue, the breeze gentle. The busy pavement cafes are more St Tropez than Fife. Students paddle on the shore, others sunbathe on the castle lawn. The weather isn't so much wonderful as sublime. Golfers can't believe their good fortune. We pass groups of formally dressed American parents standing outside chapel joking about how cold and wet they thought Scottish weather would be. All the men ( and their student sons ) wear identical blue blazers, the women ( and their daughters ) pastel dresses. The 1970's era WASP is alive and well. Every year the weather welcomes the students with this beguiling continental sunshine. The more innocent think this is the norm. Give it three weeks and things will change. Those 'layers' that they were told to pack will soon be needed as protection against the nip of the  wind.

Halloween biscuits for sale in the farm shop.

Sleeping Beauty is this years pantomime. Tickets are now available from the box office. Every year Christmas marketing seems to start just that little bit earlier than it did the year before. Or, is that yet another sign that I've become my father ?

This morning a group of students are gathering on the beach for a start of day lecture. I'd warrant a guess that this is a Marine Biology 101 class scheduled around the days tides.  Some of them seem shocked at being up so early. Life for these eighteen year olds has changed into top gear and they're in the driving seat.

A novel cure for stress :https://theprint.in/feature/orangutans-indian-classical-music-odisha-zoo-stress-anxiety/3039228/

Another of those things I'd never thought about :https://www.washington.edu/news/2026/09/10/fossil-feathers-preserved-inside-dinosaur-poop-could-help-explain-why-some-birds-survived-the-dinosaur-mass-extinction/

An unusual holiday let :https://www.thebridgehouse.com/