There's a lot to be thankful for.

Quite a sunrise this morning. Usually the wind farm offshore is invisible. This morning the pylons  stand out low on the horizon. Two deer and a small but chirrupy clutch of wrens watch us as we wander down the farm track to the sheep field. On a calm morning like this there's a lot to be thankful for. 

The weather is, for the time being, being well behaved. Heavy rain is forecast for later in the day so we're out early making the most of the blue skies. The shortage of parking spots tells us other people have the same idea.

The fishmonger is delivering to the restaurant down on the sea front. He's parked his van on the grass by the bandstand and is carting a hundred and twenty lobster to the kitchen door.  He must have started work well before six this morning. Thanksgiving dinners bring some welcome cash flow to the local restauranteurs in the pre-Christmas quiet spell.

 

Down by the first tee on the Old Course a solitary American golfing father is waiting for the remaining three members of his foursome. He's sporting a pair of  sun glasses on the rim of his cap. I doubt if he'll need to use them.

At the cafe by the crossroads banana and cinnamon toasties are on offer for the reasonable price of £3.50. This is the sort of thing that appeals to the student breakfast palate - and wallet. Angus wonders how many nineteen year olds set themselves up with Fries n'cheese on their way to lectures? 

Thanksgiving music :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-4N4bfHTjc

Reconfiguring minds. Mine just gets slower :https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/five-ages-human-brain

The 21st century comes for the knitting world :https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2025/11/24/the-ai-invasion-of-knitting-and-crochet/

Visible magic:https://www.quantamagazine.org/particle-physicists-detect-magic-at-the-large-hadron-collider-20251125/

Life in Africa :https://josephlevine.substack.com/p/field-notes-from-four-african-currencies

The head of the International Relations Department isn't getting any happier :https://phillipspobrien.substack.com/p/the-bloomberg-story-demonstrated

I used to be driven to school in one of these. Looking at the sharp and protruding instrument binnacles I'm glad we were never in an accident. I am not tempted to bid on it at auction :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2ZScIBwXJw

The signs are everywhere

The farmers irrigation system hard at work in the potato field. Every five or so minutes it does a full 360 turn. As it does so the water hits the roof of the wee car with a therump therump that wakes us up and scares off the pigeons at the bird feeders.

A strange linear cloud formation in the sky above town. The Font' thinks the clouds are very high and wispy. We take this as a sign that the weather must be about to change. 

End of term means wedding time. This morning 'Joanie's Flooer's' already hard at work in the chapel.

The usual cast of dog walkers on the beach. The taciturn Chinese gentleman says 'Good Morning'. Breaking the ice has only taken two and a half years. Surely this takes inscrutability to whole new levels ?

A group of students are doing something 'studenty' down by the bandstand. We stand and watch them for a while before leaving. We're none the wiser as to what is going on.

For those in the know the signs of the end of term exodus are appearing everywhere.  Vans from the storage company  that packs the contents of student rooms are out in force. The taxi companies are on the busy side of hectic. In restaurants the golfers have been joined by parents here to collect their offspring. Hotel car parks are full of luggage swallowing Range Rovers.  At the cafe facing the bandstand a young couple are sitting side by side in that overly romantic way teenagers do. They peer mournfully into their lattes. She red eyed and holding onto his wrists as if her life depends on it. After the trauma of exams comes the realisation they're going to be separated for the summer. He looks unconcerned as if he wants to say ' It's only for three months ' or ' we can talk on the phone ' but something at the back of his mind is warning him that logic is not the best - or expected - emotional response. Teenage males quickly learn that at moments like this the all purpose 'grunt' is worth its weight in gold. Not all education is taught in the classroom.

How Britains abolition of slavery made it an enemy of America :https://providencemag.com/2025/05/john-c-calhoun-ayatollah-khamenei-and-the-geopolitics-of-middle-powers/

The mind is a wonderful thing :https://aeon.co/essays/how-the-human-brain-is-like-a-murmuration-of-starlings

Not sure I'd like to shower at night rather than the morning :https://theconversation.com/is-it-better-to-shower-in-the-morning-or-at-night-heres-what-a-microbiologist-says-256242

Big yachts :https://louispisano.substack.com/p/the-bezos-cannes-tastrophe

Sunday sights.

A group of American golfers have hired a video camera man and sound engineer to record their round on the Old Course. We've seen camera men before but never sound engineers.

The golfers have also hired students to act as Caddies. The students know the course and the etiquette. At the end of the round much time is spent looking for cash to pay them. " Do you take dollars ?"  asks one gentleman while searching frantically in his bag. I'm sure the students will take anything. 

The restaurant in what used to be the Salvation Army Hall is charging £75 for a whole lobster. That's the same rate as you'd pay at the modern 'cube'  restaurant with its stunning views of the sea.

The bakers 'universal' biscuits have had New Years, Burns Night and Mothers Day variants. They have now seamlessly been repurposed for Easter.

A fudge doughnut inside a Belgian chocolate egg. This is a product Angus can relate to. 'The Font' - who is one of those people that thinks a single square of dark chocolate a day is a sin - mutters something about you can take the boy out of Scotland but .....

One intriguing paragraph:https://zoekeziahmendelson.substack.com/p/20-dogs-sitting-in-a-row-with-their

Sunday morning music:https://youtu.be/6y-eZf-IgtM?t=54

We shall pop in to see this in London on Friday:https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/great-mughals-art-architecture-opulence

Life in a time before Google:https://hedgehogreview.com/issues/the-varieties-of-travel-experience/articles/the-department-of-everything?ref=thebrowser.com

This is common sense spelt out clearly:https://x.com/cfishman/status/1907802208399142972

Lent, a Puli and a fancy new restaurant.

An evening lecture by a thirty something woman on the interplay between religion and medieval agricultural . This is the sort of conversational topic that might come in handy on our trip with the Californians. The woman explains that Lent is the old English word for the days lengthening - lencten. This was a time of year when fowl and livestock had to be left alone for 40 days or so to hatch their eggs and suckle their young. Eat them now and you'd starve later in the year. Moderation was vital. The woman sees it as the prime example of the needs of church, agriculture and economics working in perfect harmony. The things you learn. 

On the beach this morning the taciturn Chinese gentleman reappears with the Puli and the small 'chubby' dog. The Puli is very much alive although we're still no closer  to working out which end is which. 

With the students away we venture into the cafe by the chapel. I'd love to takeover the lease and turn it into a wine bar. At night lit by candles in Chianti bottles it could look less utilitarian and more 'Marais' like. Two young people are working on their laptops at a table in the corner. Their body language suggests the young lady has recently told the young man they have to get up and go to the library. 

 

The bakers has Easter Buns for sale. There is some uncertainty as to what goes into an Easter Bun. I buy one and shall report back. Let's hope it's not as underwhelming as the Baklava. ( Update - 'The Font' has half of it for breakfast and thinks it's just like vaguely related to Swedish Pepparkaka ).

Lemon sole and turbot are collected from the fishmongers.

The American Vice Presidents throw away line about random allies has not gone unnoticed in the popular press. 

This weeks Private Eye cover says it all.

An urban housing 'stadium' wins the Pritzker Prize:https://www.pritzkerprize.com/

The way wine bars should be ?  :https://www.10cases.co.uk/

One of our favourite restaurants in Edinburgh is opening here this coming week. Not convinced about the decor :https://www.seatonhouse.com/dine/ondine-restaurant

This article on 'the legions coming home ' was a different take :https://theamericanenterprise.com/the-trump-administrations-strategic-choice-prioritization-or-retrenchment/?  This piece was also good :https://www.aei.org/articles/thinking-about-tanks/

Settling back in.

The local paper announces that St Andrews has become home to a galaxy of music and film super stars. They're here for the Dunhill Golf Championship. The story is accompanied by a photo of Bill Murray, Huey Lewis, Tico Torres, Michael Douglas and Andy Garcia sitting on a bench in front of the R&A. We are left to consider what exactly the cut off level for 'superstar' is. Out here in the village the red Ferrari is still attracting the awestruck attention of the six to sixteen year old male demographic. Passing in the car we see that the town cinema has now closed and work has started on the new Tiger Woods / Justin Timberlake sports bar.

A big surprise on our recent trip. In Annapolis we had one of the best meals we've ever had in the US. We discover 'Preserve' a small 'modern American' restaurant with a young, creative chef. The house Chardonnay at a reasonable $12 a glass was a delight . The cooking had a sophistication and subtlety that stands out from the steak and crab cake offerings on the water front. The pork loin and the tiramisu cake worth trying.  It's reassuring ( and rare )  to find a young local guy managing to follow his own path. As we left the chef came out to say thank you for dining there. It's a long time since that last happened.

We've passed this bronze statue in DC many times but never paused to take a photo. The wounds on the feet the subtlest of pointers.

'Flight into Egypt' catches our attention in the Smithsonian. George Hitchcock  another American artist we'd never heard of. To begin with we think its a picture of a native American woman on a mule in a dusty corner of the South West. The scrub seems to dominate the picture but closer inspection shows an almost invisible Joseph stumbling dutifully and tenderly along behind. The things you find in little visited corners of art galleries.

The hotel in Georgetown, which we will not use again, had a large coffin shaped ( and sized ) marble coffee  table which Angus stubbed his toes on morning, noon and night. The gap between the sofa and the table required careful navigation. This level of mind motor coordination was rarely achieved. There was something about the decor that was underwhelming.

We are still not sure whether this thing that appeared on our dinner table was 1) a table decoration 2) a bowl to wash your fingers in or 3) part of the salad.

Not all new discoveries are good. This Oregon sparkling Pinot Noir is probably targeted at less jaded and more youthful palates. It was a tad too sinus clearingly lively for us.

Kilts for hire in the window of the Irish Traditions store.

2024 in a nutshell.

Gusty.

A slow start to our day. There's a traffic jam. The dustbin men have arrived in the village at the same time as the window cleaner / chimney sweep. We wait patiently as the bins are emptied. The chimney sweep gets out of his van and asks us if we want our chimneys swept while he's out this way.

It was gusty yesterday. The wind blowing at 50 mph. One of the oil supply boats is still at anchor in the bay. Does this signal that more 'weather' might be on its way ?

In town the first Christmas advert we've seen.

2,500 freshers have now settled in. This weekend the other 7,500 students will show up. I'm not sure there's anywhere else in the world that (relative to its size )  sees its population go through such a sudden seasonal shift. The emotional parents that were much in evidence earlier in the week now seem to have moved on. The freshers are at that stage where they are in the process of making new friends. They move around town in groups. They also consult maps which strikes us as amusing in a place with three streets.

The chaplain has a timely reminder for the incoming youngsters.

The price of Taco Bells varies enormously :https://taconomical.com/

School starts and the golfers face the elements.

The  couple In the cottage near the village hall have returned from their house swap in Germany. We are told that they found their home in a 'spotless' condition. Plans are already underway to repeat the swap next year. The couples children started school yesterday. For them,  it was literally back from holiday and straight into school uniform. That's a sensible , if frenetic, way of doing things.

For two of the village youngsters it was a red letter day. Their first day at  the local Nursery School. The children seem to have enjoyed the experience. Tonight there will be pizza and ice cream for a special 'second day at school' dinner. Some rites of passage, it seems, are timeless.

In town the golf tournament is battling against the weather. Wednesday was one of those rain one minute, sunshine the next type days. Through it all the wind made its presence known. This morning there's a dozen or so golf tourists standing outside Starbucks. They're from Atlanta. On our way back to the car we see that the golf shoes on the bar window ledge have been spruced up for the daily post-match influx of visitors.

Golf titles in the window of the bookstore. Seems that books in the ' I played St Andrews and it changed my life'  are popular as gifts for the folks back home .

Rich golfers in their Rolls Royces are an unusual sight in this town of Volvos and Renaults. Presbyterians are of the belief that 'wealth whispers'. There are no less than five Ferraris in the car park outside the Jehovahs Witnesses hall.

The first of the days golfers have teed off by seven. In the distance we can see them heading towards the third hole.  It's too early in the morning for many spectators to be up and about .

The Police have been busy with traffic cones.

In the process they've closed down much of the parking in town.

We shall visit the butcher and cheesemonger and be gone by eight.

On the radio this morning. I've never heard this sung in Gaelic. It bears little resemblance to the version sung at rugby matches :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtHShiXxw4U&list=RDEMPURb130ZsU71YuYFk6lbhQ&start_radio=1&rv=D4EAbwViaWk

The doughty smell of faith.

Thunder and rain followed by sunshine . The combination  makes for a  decidedly humid start to the day.

We drive off into the country.  'The Font' is a believer in doing something new every day. The logic of this is that we end up heading off in search of ever more remote and ever more esoteric things to see.  Single track roads are something we're used to navigating but southern tourists find the concept of 'Passing Places' difficult to comprehend.  Even short journeys can take a surprising amount of time while we reverse and manoeuvre so that others can squeeze their cars by. We go thirteen miles but it takes forty five minutes.

Our destination today is an old church with a strange barn like structure behind it. The barn roof has an unusual fluted shape. Wikipedia tells us it it's the resting place of the 9th Earl of Lindsay but the tomb inside is for the 20th Earl . I'm guessing the barn is pre-reformation and was left standing when the old church was replaced by the current one.

The church, unusually, is open. More and more of them are closed to stop pilfering.  In the entrance hall a 15th century stone effigy of a knight has been squeezed into the right hand corner . Perhaps it's the 9th Earl ? A hand written note, hidden under a jungle of church notices, says the knight was found buried head down in the churchyard during excavations in the 19th century. It was moved here for safe keeping. This raises more questions than answers. Why go to all the trouble of burying it ? Why was it buried head down ?

The church retains its box pews. The ones on either side of the central aisle have tables. Why ? Not many of these old box pews survived the 1950's and 60's fashion for chairs. These ones will soon be gone. Planning permission has been requested to rip everything out and turn the kirk into a community centre. The place smells of generations and generations of furniture wax. The doughty smell of faith.

Wonderful Perseid meteor showers last night. Sitting out on the rocks by the sea the views are spectacular. The clouds stay away until eleven but return soon after. Eyes peer at us from the safety of the long wheat. The young deer are irritated that their domain has been invaded by two ageing humans that should know better than go galavanting around on the rocks in the dark .

No doubting this is golf country. Even the weather vanes are golf themed. This one is recognizable as the Spanish golfer Seve Ballesteros. Perhaps he lived here ?

No wonder it was popular :https://daily.jstor.org/who-took-the-cocaine-out-of-coca-cola/

This was shocking :https://cosmosandtaxis.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/coyne_hall_ct_vol10_iss9_10.pdf

A gentle pace of life.

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner is on the radio this morning discussing the failed recent riots. He says that a number of perpetrators have been identified by their tattoos and will wake this morning to find the police on their doorstep . They will ' have their collars felt '. This is a peculiarly Victorian phrase.

We're greeted by the sight of a group of folk sploshing rather than swimming in the water below the fish restaurant. Their presence a reminder that this is the height of Scotlands brief but beautiful summer. The swimmers seem happy enough although the temperature of the sea must be 'bracing'.

The municipal flower beds looking their best ahead of the womens golf tournament. Down the coast from The Last Wee House before Denmark final preparations are being made for the concerts that will follow each days play. A tournament 'village' is appearing around the farm shop out by the golf range.  25,000 ticket holders are expected every day. Posters for the opening artist are already appearing :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDvX1hzGZN4  . Angus must admit he's never heard of the gentleman in question but there again there is much about modern music that remains unexplored territory.

Back here in the village the barley fields are ripening fast. For miles in every direction we're surrounded by a sea of gold. Strangely, all the birds with the exception of a the swallows and a few local ravens seem to have flown off. Even the sparrows have gone. I'm guessing they're using the good weather to go grubbing in the untouched fields further inland.

The wet weather seems to have made this a banner year for poppies.

In the sunshine the village life is tranquil. Those three or four glorious weeks of  calm before the harvest begins and the pace of life moves back into top gear.

The 'vibes' are back but are they enough ? :https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/the-democrats-new-sunny-vibes

A benefit of age :https://theconversation.com/why-we-get-less-narcissistic-with-age-234437

Emotion and an anthem. The sigh at the end says it all :https://x.com/rshereme/status/1821309159733612671

Sporran fondling.

It's Scottish school holiday time. Although we're out early the beach is already peppered with young fathers banished from the house with early rising and overly excited four year olds. It rained heavily yesterday so there's a lot of pent up pre-schooler energy around. A few toddlers confuse adventure with foolhardiness and venture into the water. They quickly discover that the North Sea remains toe numbingly cold all through the year. Shrieks rend the air.

In town large groups of sensibly dressed Italian tourists prowl the streets. They stick closely together as if danger might lurk around the next corner. On the pavement outside the  kilt makers they stop and examine the bekilted mannequin by the door. Without exception they all touch the mannequins sporran as if it's some sort of  venerable religious relic. A Celtic Shroud of Turin . Sporran fondling is not something you see every day. All the Italians are wearing sunglasses which signals a collectively optimistic view of the Scottish weather.

The art gallery has a new owner. 

Two ceramic dog sculptures have pride of place in the window. I bet they sell quickly.

The wildflower meadows down by the estuary home to scores of larks. A particularly audacious one rises skywards and flies defiantly over us  before heading back to its nest. The presumably soar like this to distract intruders wandering close to their chicks. https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/skylark . Lark song is particularly beautiful.  They used to be common birds but are now firmly on the red list . 

Todays radio music. The eagle eyed among you will notice the butler from Downton Abbey and a young  Ewan McGregor in this snippet from a 1990's 'tear jerker' of  a British film  :https://youtu.be/9LnGM2Ee9lY?t=59

We've come a long way in our understanding :https://daily.jstor.org/the-seventeenth-century-space-race-for-the-soul/