Last Week

Washing day blues.

Edith comes for coffee and birthday cake with friends 

and I only think to take a picture after the guests and cake have gone!

We discover yet another little cove tucked away on the west coast. Altan na Bradhan. and well worth a visit should you be in the area.

On the way down to the shore we find the remains of an old corn mill

I think one of the old millstones would look perfect in the garden...

but  don't think it fair to ask Niels to carry one back to the car!

A friend arrives this afternoon for a few days and right on course the weather is changing back to wind and rain and more rain!

Running Behind

This was a walk we did back in February. I've been meaning to post it on here for a while, but I'm running behind with blog posts! We were also running behind when we did this walk! Back in February it was dark by 6.30pm. We still had several miles to walk when we ran out of daylight. It could have ended in disaster, we had forgotten to take torches (when it's dark here it really is very dark) Luckily for us there was a clear sky and an almost full moon. We completed the walk by moonlight. It was very cold -4ºc but by slowing down and treading carefully we made it back to the car. Later, our son ticked us off saying we  should have taken torches with us. He was right of course! It was reassuring to know that all the years spent as nagging parents instructing our children to 'take care' had paid off. Even if his aged parents had forgotten the rules he hadn't!
You may recognize the white cottage in the picture from previous walks we've done. At the back of the cottage is a bothy, owned by the Estate, it's used by walkers looking for shelter overnight. I needed to use the rather 'wobbly' toilet facilities and was amused to see the notice someone had thoughtfully stuck to the back of the door!

The tide has turned

You have to hurry or the tide will turn and cover up the wonderful world of shapes and patterns and small creatures down at your feet. The best time to come to Gruinard Bay is when the tide is  out and you can walk along the sand dipping in and out of puddles and peering into crevices and under rocks. The sand has a pinkish quality to it. Gruinard Bay is situated in a region of pinkish/purplish sandstone - Torridonian sandstone. The beach stretches for what seems like miles (only probably isn't!)

I'm sure I've said this before and I expect I'll say it again, but I'm always  staggered by the perfect patterns that nature provides in such a seemingly casual way. If you're passing, especially when the tide is out, you must stop your journey and come down onto the beach - you couldn't possibly be disappointed.