Golfers and dogs.

It's taken a month but the little BMW has been repaired and delivered back to us and the large Ford Kuga has been picked up by the rental car company . I can report that parking in the narrow little car is so much easier .

Down on the beach there's a man with one of those pull along shopping bags which contains a thermos flask and a small mountain of cellophane wrapped sandwiches. He's setting up one of those old fashioned tripod mounted box cameras. It seems to require a lot of adjustment and keeps him engrossed in whatever he's doing. We say ' Good morning' but our arrival doesn't even register. 

There is something Celtic about this mornings sunrise.

It poured for a full hour late last night. Today, the drenched first tee is looking refreshed and pristine for the tournaments golfers. There's already a long queue of players and officials outside the breakfast tent waiting for pancakes and bacon.

On the other side of the fairway the first of the days spectators are showing up. By lunchtime the street that runs parallel with the course will be solid with people lining the fence. Tomorrow tickets to view the proceedings will be £21. The polite young  steward - clearly a student -  who tells me this pauses and then adds the words " You'll get a 20% discount if you're a senior citizen ". The delicate  way this was phrased tells me he'll have a bright future ahead of him in the diplomatic corps.

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The pedestrian management  systems that have been put in place for the tournament channel the local dog owners and joggers into a detour that passes the 18th tee. This is where many of the faces we pass on our morning walk can be found having a 'wee blether'. 

Someone has a new black labrador puppy. This requires every other dog owner to stop, say hello and offer a chin tickle. I stand by my view that no town elsewhere on earth has a comparable mutt to human ratio. Places with this many dogs pretend to be grand but can't be.

A brief burst of Gaelic as it should be spoken :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nBV9IieqAg

Honest chimps:https://news.berkeley.edu/2026/09/30/chimps-plunder-less-pineapple-from-friends-and-expect-them-to-do-the-same/

Some music from Vilnius :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cl5NfMm7kGY