Thursday, October 1, 2026

Unharvested.


This  moral dilemma makes it onto this mornings BBC breakfast news bulletin :https://tennesseelookout.com/2026/09/30/us-supreme-court-allows-execution-of-tennessee-woman-on-death-row-to-proceed/  I seem to remember that under medieval  English law a convict who survived a hanging would be reprieved.

A patch of cabbages in the field between the last wee house and the sea remains unharvested. The farmers attention seems to have turned to other crops. For the last few days he's been busy spraying his parsnips and checking on the state of his Brussels. The cabbages certainly won't be left to waste. I guess the cheerful Tajiks will cut them in time for St Andrews Day. We haven't heard from either the farmer or his wife about how the 'depositing of the youngest'  trip south of the border went.


We stop at the local butchers for some pork chops. The towns butcher is excellent. After the wonderful market in Toulouse we thought the food here would be a step down but to our surprise the quality of  most things, with the exception of fresh fruit, is as good. The fish is miles better. Berries are wonderful but forget peaches, pineapples or anything that counts as 'exotic'. They arrive semi frozen and never quite ripen properly. We are still looking for a good greengrocer. Someone has suggested to 'The Font' that we try a Filipino shop in Stockbridge.


Outside the butchers a dog is sitting bolt upright in the drivers seat of a white van waiting for his master to return from Caffe Nero. The dog ignores passers by and stares dutifully straight ahead. He does this every morning.


The door plate at the R&A has been polished to perfection ahead of todays start of the tournament. There's not a thumb print to be seen.


Justin Timberlake and Tiger Woods have opened a new members only club next door to their indoor golf venue. Other outposts of their empire include New York , London. Palm Beach and St.Tropez . The inclusion of St Andrews amongst these  hot spots is, to put it mildly, a surprise. Annual membership is £2,400. I'll wager that at tournament time it will be packed solid with  'corporate' expense account types. Members of the 'other' club will not go near it.


Some thoughts on the closure of the Kennedy Centre for 2 years. What will Georgetown folk do for culture in those long winter nights ? :https://davidaaronovitch.substack.com/p/when-i-hear-the-word-culture

What a beautiful ( and newly discovered ) animal :https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilcayo#

Quantum computing ups its game :https://www.sciencealert.com/ibms-quantum-computer-completes-in-19-seconds-what-could-take-a-supercomputer-a-century

Good news:https://spectrum.ieee.org/alternatives-to-animal-testing

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