Peak quiet.

 

The Scottish summer may be late arriving and soon gone but when it's with us it's simply wonderful. Overnight it has rained, heavily, but this morning we've got sunshine and a hint of warmth. Swollen by the season the wheat and barley fields have finally turned from green to gold . Harvesting can't be far off.

Twenty large, well fed, geese fly honking overhead. They're heading south. The first departures of the year. We wish them well and stand watching them slowly disappear down the coast. Whisper it softly but when the geese head away Autumn can't be far behind. The swallows are still here but  they fly with that that pent up staccato energy that hints that they too are packing their bags. In less than two weeks the local youngsters will be starting their first day of the new school year. In three weeks the first of the fresh cohort of undergraduates will be arriving. A lot of new chapters are going to be written in this coming month. Soon three village toddlers will be starting primary school. Their 'first time' mothers already on tenterhooks. On the track down to the shore we startle the young buck that has made this his territory. He heads off through the barley carefully following the path made by the tractor tyres. Thunderstorms are forecast for later this morning.

On the village green the calves and their mothers are enjoying the sunshine. Life, for them, for now, is idyllic.

We detour to a local pottery. They open for an hour every day between 2:30 and 3:30.

The pottery is big on brightly coloured C-A-T-S. 

Village life, far from the bustle of town, has reached peak quiet.

This mornings car radio music :https://youtu.be/gtnTaaLTTmw?t=40

Lobster !

The fishmonger is working a seven day week. This is his peak season with the coastal villages bursting at the seams with big spending Edinburgh second home owners. We're fourth in line behind a sixty something couple who've arrived in an impractically low BMW coupe , a grumpy man in a sleek silver Mercedes and four 'bubbly'  Fulham women who are big on air kissing. The women take forever to order and  seem unsure of what ingredients are required for a lobster risotto. 'The Font' mouths the word  'lobster' but thankfully says so sotto voce. We buy lemon sole, salmon tail, dressed crab and halibut. All the lobster are taken by the bubbly foursome. Our drive back is spent wondering how they're going to cope with cooking them.

Into town for the opening of Starbucks. A chance to sit outside and watch the world go by. There isn't much of the world going by or doing anything at all this early on a Sunday so we're soon finished.

Opposite our Starbucks table a stall with Slushies machines churns crushed ice -  endlessly. Have the ice crushing machines been left on all night ? Has the owner switched them on early in the hope/knowledge/belief that there will be a burst of demand at seven am for ice cold artificially flavoured drinks ? Guess we'll never know.

The market might be bringing a touch of Coney Island to one end of town but at the other the university remains deserted. As we get in the car four large coaches arrive and disgorge a mass of Chinese tourists outside the cathedral. Their guides will walk them through the quad, make a left to the Old Course, then retrace their steps ( via the public lavatories and the Martyrs Memorial ) back to the coach park. In forty five minutes they'll be on their way to the Highlands - or what passes for the Highlands in an eight hour 'See Scotland - lunch and gratuities included ' tour. The Chinese tourists seem quite happy with their limited exposure to the 'exoticism' of this cold and distant land.

Back at home we shall soon settle down on the shore with blankets, our books ( despite its age the John Updike picked up earlier in the week is proving to be border line shocking ) , a punnet of the farmers just picked strawberries and two slices of the village treasurers Malteser cake that she has just dropped off as a thank you for providing wine for the Hogmanay celebrations. After the usual tasting of a mouthful and 'The Fonts ' ritual mouthing of the word 'delicious' Angus will end up having both slices.

An unexpected chocolate market :https://www.sammendelsohn.com/post/a-personal-guide-to-india-s-bean-to-bar-chocolate-brands  and more of the same  but with photos :https://www.sammendelsohn.com/post/varanashi-farms . I'm sure this will soon be on sale in London - if it isn't already.

Hope Elon Musk doesn't read this :https://www.thelocal.se/20240809/denmark-boosts-border-checks-with-sweden-amid-gang-violence

The blessing of an ordered existence.

 

The German family conform to their national stereotype and are down on the beach at first light. This morning mother is collecting Brambles for jam. They're still sun deprived and bitter but she hopes a healthy dose of sugar will work wonders. One more week before the house swap comes to an end. The children will miss the low traffic environment of a Scottish village.

Down by the crossroads one of the villagers has had a heat pump installed. He's keen to show us this new acquisition but is waiting for the electrician to show up and connect it to the mains. We stand an look at this inert piece of technology while making appropriate small talk. I wonder how much noise the heat pump is going to make. This is a thought I keep to myself.

Down on the shore the young gulls are busy practising their fishing techniques under the watchful eyes of their mothers.

I thought the preparations for the womens golf tournament were complete. Not a bit of it. The tents and marquees have gone up but now they have to be fitted with deep pile carpet and furniture. The cost and implied waste ( do we really think the carpet will be carefully removed and stored ?) seems an  environmentally unfriendly business model for a four day event .

The funfair has come to town. It will stay until Tuesday night when  the rides will pack up and go . Parking - difficult at the best of times - becomes impossible.  We shall get all our shopping done and be out of town by eight. The fun fair is targeted at a rather younger age demographic.

The bunting that went up for the Coronation has been replaced. New red, white and blue decorations flutter over the shopping street. This time the flags are triangular in shape rather than oblong. The Syrian refugee lady has taken up position on the pavement  outside the supermarket entrance . Many folks pass her by in disapproving silence but she always manages to smile despite lifes pathway having taken some unexpected turns. I quietly give thanks for the blessing of an ordered existence.

An odd Olympic insight :https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/poetry-was-an-official-olympic-event-for-nearly-40-years-what-happened-180984838/

Who speaks English :https://x.com/stats_feed/status/1821525017076605152

The dog house

5:45 am. There is a scratch at the door. Elder and younger sister have heard that we're having breakfast and have shown up looking for tickles and biscuits. They invite themselves in. It is clear they consider this to be a 'dog' house and therefore an extension of their personal territory.

One of those sun one minute, rain the next, type of days. In fact we seem to get all four seasons in the space of our half an hour walk on the beach.  The good news is that there are hundred and hundreds of young gulls down on the shoreline busily practising their flying technique.

To the bookstore to pick up a copy of John Updikes ' Memories of the Ford Administration'. It's still in print but has had to be ordered. It seems there is little demand for Updike outside term time. 'The Font' is not surprised.

Updike in hand we backtrack to the chapel for the start of day organ recital. This mornings organ scholar has chosen a very English piece of music . Not a tune you hear in Scotland very often - if at all. The smattering of golfers and surprised Chinese tourists seem to enjoy it :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81UqEcxVro0&list=RD3F7q4T0YOas&index=3

A new ice cream outlet has opened up in tiny hole in a wall premises near our physiotherapist. Folks are sitting outside drinking breakfast coffee and eating breakfast ice creams. Angus considers eating ice cream, in public,  prior to eleven  to be the hallmark of a civilisation in decline.  Another - worrying - sign I'm not so much turning into my father as turning into my grandfather. The new ice cream store has a sign outside saying it sells ' Fresh Italian ice cream'. How would you know ? It also sells candy floss.

Coffee and cognition : https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/medical-health-and-nutrition/coffee-brain

More than I need to know about synchronised swimming :https://www.georgetown.edu/news/the-surprising-history-of-synchronized-swimming-in-the-olympics/

Good question :https://www.oxfordsour.com/p/adverb-english

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

Napping in the sun.

 

Close study of this picture will show how one Council refuse operative dealt with the heat. It reached 26 degrees yesterday.

Could Rome, rather than Britain, have had the industrial revolution ? : https://www.maximum-progress.com/p/romae-industriae

Making sense of what's been happening in Bangladesh :https://scroll.in/article/1071602/bangladesh-student-led-protests-morph-into-a-mass-uprising-to-unseat-an-autocratic-government

Where the hipsters go to eat :https://houston.eater.com/2024/7/16/24199620/houston-restaurants-michelin-guide-texas-dining-coming-2024

This mornings car radio music :https://youtu.be/JyLtFiMkUSI

Seasonal complaint.

 

The ongoing right wing riots fill the morning news bulletins. Seems the 'Proud Boy' constituency exists in the UK. A lot of those guys ( and they're almost always guys ) who have been stirring up hatred online don't seem to recognize they leave a digital footprint. They are in for a surprise.

Here in the village the local policeman is pinning up a list on the village noticeboard. It shows the number of calls the constabulary have received so far this year. Illegal parking is the issue that generates the ire of most residents. This is the seasonal  'Some idiots parked in front of my driveway and I can't get out' complaint. 

Volunteers are needed for the Community Speedwatch scheme. This enables participants to wear a day glo jacket and note down the number of speeding vehicles. Training is required. ' The Font' thinks a role that involves a clipboard, a low - but constant - level of grumpiness and a high visibility  jacket would suit Angus down to the ground.

The other big story involves an 8 year old boy who plans to visit 50 Scottish Police stations in order to raise money for the Police Benevolent Fund. He's already visited our local police station. The Duty Sergeant played ping-pong with him. 

This is not a country Elon Musk would recognize.

The tide out in the harbour this morning. Continental motor homes line the parking spots by the old abbey walls. Alongside the usual Irish and French registration plates we see Norwegian and German ones. How exotic.

Progress at the Tiger Woods/ Justin Timberlake sports bar. A planning application has been posted asking for a license to serve alcohol between the hours of eleven in the morning and eleven at night. There will doubtless be some locals who consider the sale of alcohol at eleven at night to be a prelude to the whole town becoming a latter day Sodom and Gomorrah.

Thinking plants :https://aeon.co/essays/what-plant-philosophy-says-about-plant-agency-and-intelligence

No sooner thought than done :https://thedebrief.org/speech-using-only-the-power-of-thought-may-soon-be-a-reality-new-research-reveals/

Science is moving by leaps and bounds : https://www.thetransmitter.org/ethics/is-it-time-to-worry-about-brain-chimeras/

Horses in the water

It's been wet and windy overnight. 'The Font' has been up early pruning battered shrubs. The breakfast table a riot of sea holly and going to seed alliums with a few wild things thrown into the mix. After the storm the courtyard is home to scores of acrobatic swallows burning off their pent up energy. The young birds have pristinely bright white and red feathers round their eyes. They are loving life. When they get this frisky it's a sure sign that they're strong enough to start thinking of their long journey back to Africa. By the 15th of the month I'd reckon they'll start on their travels and by the 18th they'll be gone. Meanwhile we'll laugh and marvel at their flying skills. Fearless, they follow alongside as we head off down the track in the Volvo.

Our local strawberry hut has now closed. The farmers two daughters have made a small fortune with their  'cash business'  and have headed off for the summer.  The farmer tells us that his youngest and her boyfriend have flown off to Crete for three weeks while the one who is studying at Oxford is off to meet her boyfriends parents in Baltimore. The farmer thinks that there is nothing in life quite as challenging - or serious -  as meeting the others parents for the first time. He chuckles and says ' it's probably not as uncomfortable as the first parent to parent get together '. We leave him alone as he loads fertilizer onto the back of a tractor. This morning we pick up two punnets of strawberries from the hut on the road out to the air base. Here they take credit cards.

Two horses in the water down by the harbour.

They're joined by two more and a pony.

As we set off home more appear in the car park. Monday morning is clearly peak horse riding time. 

We go to Starbucks this morning. The Italian coffee place has closed for a couple of weeks . Starbucks is full but we manage to get a table outside. A Mercedes rental cars arrives and tries to park in an empty spot outside the supermarket. After a half dozen attempts the driver finally drives off leaving his buddies to order him a skinny latte. " Don't know how anyone manages to park around here " he says by way of farewell.

This mornings car radio snippet :https://youtu.be/3aVET-CDRWk?t=332

Thoughts on water :https://thebulletin.org/premium/2024-07/peak-water-in-an-era-of-climate-change/#post-heading

I'd never heard of aphantasia :https://www.quantamagazine.org/what-happens-in-a-mind-that-cant-see-mental-images-20240801/

Educational technique.

From down here on the beach we can see a line of long, low tents stretching across the horizon. Seems that the preparations for the golf tournament are finally complete. The workmen who've been busy putting up the infrastructure have gone and been replaced by stern security men with walkie talkies. The security men all wear black one piece overalls that have an ever so slightly menacing 1980's 'Man from Uncle ' look to them. The area around the clubhouse is packed solid with pastel clad ladies from Ohio practising their putting. 

No doubting that summer is here . Strawberry tarts have taken over from fudge donuts as the big draw in the bakers. The lady behind the counter tells me the strawberries are local and come from the farm at the top of the hill. I buy four. The strawberries I'm also told have to be of a certain size and shape to fill the pastry cup. " It's nae as easy as it looks but it's a big order for the farmer ".

Early August is the time when the town is busy with groups of European pre-teens here on school trips. A safe and quiet place to come and learn English . I wonder what the kids ( and their teachers ) must make of the local dialect. Today, a group of little Italians have settled down in a sunny spot on the cobblestones outside the university lecture theatres. It's barely six thirty and you'd think they could have found somewhere warmer and more comfortable to congregate. Their teachers must subscribe to the sensible ' get them up early, tire them out early' mantra. The little Italians each have a notebook and are busy sketching the street scape. For eleven year olds they seem slightly subdued which shows the teachers educational approach might be working.

.

This mornings unusual radio music :https://youtu.be/MhIKwG6AMO4?t=218

Canadian construction particularities :https://www.themoneyillusion.com/the-odd-distribution-of-high-rise-construction/

How safe is your fridge ? :https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/student-contributors-health-and-nutrition-did-you-know/are-your-refrigerator-habits-inviting-unwanted-bacteria

Harris Tweed boots.

 

Saturday morning. It's cloudy and, thanks to a gentle southerly breeze,  a tad humid. We stop for five minutes and watch the gannets diving for breakfast. They take off from the jagged rocks, soar up, tuck their wings back and then plunge vertically into the water. This is done over and over. The sea a churning mass of birds. Two young deer observe us from the field. They think they're invisible but their ears stick out above the top of the wheat sheaves. They look comical and we laugh aloud. 

A dozen dolphins are enjoying themselves leaping and pirouetting in the dark water. We see them here once or twice a month. Just offshore there's a cleft in  the rock which suddenly plunges thirty or so feet into deep, cold, lobster rich water. Presumably the dolphins have been attracted here by the same shoal of fish the gannets have been feasting on.

Puppy joins us to see what's going on. We meet the local GP who tells us she's seen three Orcas out beyond the point. I find a stick for Puppy who is much more interested in playing than she is in the local wildlife. The farmers wife comes down the track for her morning swim. She's followed at some distance by the middle sister and then some way even further behind by the grande dame of the family who has left her warm spot by the AGA.

Harris Tweed footwear makes its debut in the kilt shop next to the tourist office. This design is probably more practical in sunny ( and dry ) California than here. Neither of us have ever seen Harris Tweed boots before. Opinions are divided.

The delicatessen is looking very summery.

We're at the time of the year when our journeys into town have to be done and dusted by 10:30. After that the influx of day trippers makes parking impossible.

The typing doctor :https://www.sensible-med.com/p/what-matters-is-how-you-use-it

Scotlands oldest tree :https://scotlands-yew-trees.org/yewtree/fortingall/

Edinburgh police.

 

A quick trip to Edinburgh to see the eye surgeon . It's time for the 4 monthly check up. The Festival  is about to get underway so the appointment is set for the crack of dawn in the hope we ( and he ) can avoid the traffic on the bypass.

To be doubly sure of being on time we opt to take the train down the night before . This provides a chance to go out for dinner with friends and stay at the hotel on St Andrews Square. Last time we enjoyed it but this time we get one of 'those' rooms. The sofa is set at right angles to the wall mounted television which makes watching the Olympics neck wrenchingly difficult. The bed is set on a platform accessed by climbing a steep flight of stairs. This may be stylish but in a brief Scottish summer the sun beats through the ten foot tall windows and makes the sleeping area as hot as the Amazon. The architect seems to have forgotten that heat rises. He also has forgotten to instal air conditioning. 

On our way to the restaurant we are amazed to see six police vehicles pull up outside a shoe store.  A group of officers silently surround a man and - after a brief altercation -  take him away. After the events in Southport earlier in the week  the forces of law and order are on high alert. I don't think I've ever seen this many police in one place. It's a sufficiently unusual event for us to turn and ( briefly ) watch what's going on. The tourists must have been impressed. The whole thing was done and dusted within a minute. Angus notes that Edinburghs finest are now driving Volkswagen EV's.

Forty five minutes with the surgeon ( we've both arrived early ) and then I'm off to the station. We'll meet again in four months time. 

At the station a quick detour to the newsagent to pick up a copy of the Glasgow Herald. It must be a decade since I last picked up a physical copy of a newspaper. Inside there's a wee aside about the importance of punctuation .

Dog memory :https://gizmodo.com/can-dogs-remember-the-past-2000481443

Bland buildings :https://worksinprogress.co/issue/the-beauty-of-concrete/

Aygwoe.

 

It's insanely early but the sun is already out and so are the golfers.

We try to park by the links but a gentleman in a day glo yellow vest bangs aggressively on the car roof and announces " Ye canny park there. It's fur Aygwoe ". 'Aygwoe' it transpires is the AIG Womens Open or , as seen on the yellow parking signs that have suddenly sprouted everywhere , AIGWO.

All of ten yards away we find an Aygwoe approved parking spot opposite the hotel that had the lead stolen from its roof. Angus mutters about 'officialdom'. A good grumble cheers him up considerably. We head off for a coffee. This morning the golfers gender balance is evenly split. Usually it's 95% male but today a large crowd of slim American ladies are standing around waiting for their tee off time. They have a steely determination to them that hints this is no 'friendly' golf tournament. In recent weeks a medium sized town of marquees and bleachers has sprung up to cater for them. A fleet of large Mercedes saloons - some black other silver - are dropping more of their number off at the course entrance. All have AIGWO decals on their front doors.  Seems that golf is BIG business.