#30DaysWild - June 4th 2016

#30DaysWild - day 4.  

I had to go to Lochaline straight away having got off the Turus Mara boat at Ulva Ferry yesterday afternoon. We just made the 6.10 ferry and I dropped Daughter and friend off for the party the were going to.  I spent the evening with friends - we had Cockle Vongole using cockles they had dug on the beach near their house.  (delicious) 

I was woken by a cuckoo sitting in the trees very close to the bedroom window. It called incessantly from 4.15am until after 7am when I finally got back to sleep!   That was a wild way to start Day4, but I failed to get a photograph of him. 

After breakfast, and before I had to pick up Daughter and friends, I drove out along the Drimnin road.  The verges are ungrazed and abundant with fresh lush grasses, vibrant patches of Red Campion, Bluebells and Buttercups.   A carpet of Sea pinks along the shore are bright against the rocks.   Patches of Wild garlic (Ransome) are flowering in rich clumps of startling white.  Quite pungently beautiful!  

I stopped for a while to soak in the view.  This roundel of Beech trees has caught my eye before so it was good to stop this time.  Something special to me about roundels of trees in the landscape, an almost spiritual place.  It was so quiet and peaceful, the warm air filled with birdsong.  

Back to Day 3...

Harp Rock.  

We saw Guillemots, Razorbills, Kittiwake, Fulmar, Common Shag in varying abundant numbers.  

I don't remember the Bluebells being quite so abundant here, and so vividly blue.  The Sea pinks were numerous, huge clumps.  Everything looked so alive and bright, despite the dry weather. 

I loved looking over a sea of Puffins and seeing Rum in the distance.

Leaving to come back to Ulva Ferry, we passed Fladda, and the Carnaburgs.

This is the Carnaburgs with Treshnish Point behind.  I loved seeing Treshnish from the water.

Carnaburg beag and Rum.

#30DaysWild - June 3rd 2016

What an amazing #30DaysWild day we had - Day 3.  

We went on a rare family day out to the Treshnish Isles with Turus Mara.   

It was bright and sunny all day, so lots of dark contrasty shadows, and bleached out views - but SO beautiful.  

It is 11 years since we last went, we certainly won't leave it as long next time.  I am not great on small boats (i.e smaller than the Calmac ferries) but it was flat calm and Turus Mara have been taking visitors to the Treshnish Isles for a long, long time, so they know exactly what they are doing - in other words we could not have been in safer hands! 

My command of the English language is not sufficient to express how wonderful it was so I will let the pictures speak for themselves.  

Staffa!

My family being together is very rare, and it was wonderful to be in such a special place with them.

Bird Rock.

And on to Lunga.  If you haven't already been here, please consider putting a visit on your bucket list.  You can see Puffins in other places, but the Treshnish Isles are just so beautiful...

I am going to post the rest of the photos from this fantastic day on Day 4 of #30DaysWild. 

Ready, steady, go

There are lambs. But not here.   Some farms and crofts have already started lambing.  Our ewes are due to start next week.  The Farmer is ready. As ready as he can be.  His lambing bag is in the porch.  He has his medicines, his ropes, his spray, everything he needs to assist in deliveries, and something to carry a lamb home in, if he needs to bring one back from the hill.

The cottages are ready too.  The guests arrived for Shian to the smell of fresh paint.  We had finished painting the day before, but the transformation from building site to lovely welcoming cottage took until five minutes before arrival time.  Phew!

These two photographs were hurriedly taken on my phone - I will put some better ones on the website soon! Above is the kitchen, with the new window in the end wall.  Below is the sunroom looking out to the sea.

Farmer still has about 200 sheep being fed every day.  These are the older ewes who are expecting twins.

We had an hour off one lunchtime to retrieve something from the beach I call the Donald Sutherland beach, as he starred in the film 'The Eye of a Needle', a large part of which was filmed here in 1981.  People still talk of the amount of money that was handed over by the production team to locals for helping out.

East, Middle and West were wired for generators and used as the actors' changing rooms. The generators were taken away at the end of the filming, and the cottages reverted to paraffin and gas lights, until we had mains electricity put in in 2005!

This is the Middle Cottage fish box garden.

Along the coast, it was grey and misty as we took a visitor to look at the Treshnish Isles!

The next day it was sunnier, and the celandine were flowering in full force.

It was an absolute delight to see my first viola. 

As well as the islands, in the brightness of the early afternoon.