Catching Up (BP Warning)

I'm sitting in a car showroom waiting area in Glasgow. I'll be here for a couple of hours. My car is having it's annual service, checkup and sat nav update. If I'm lucky the car will have been washed as well. Having just driven down from Lewis yesterday it's a tad dirty. Not that that concerns me overmuchly. There seem to be two sorts of car owner that I know of: those who look after their car but so long as the dirt hasn't significantly altered the weight of the car (and thus the fuel consumption) and those who are fanatical about their car(s). I am definitely the former and my next door neighbour and my son are definitely the latter. It's not just a man thing, by the way, my next door neighbour is a lady. Don't misunderstand though: my car is meticulously looked after mechanically. 

I like moments such as this. There are no pressures: no garden, no house distractions and, indeed nothing to do other than read (but there is nowhere to buy a paper between where I am staying and the garage) or write letters or play on my phone or laptop. There is a comfy waiting area and as much coffee as I can drink.

Oddly a few weeks ago I started a post entitled "A Trip To Gisla". Every week I used to drive on a Thursday morning to a wee place of perhaps 6 houses on the other side of the Island to visit a friend of nearly half a century who was in her ninetees. However before I came away I had an exceptionally full couple of weeks and my weekly routine altered as well because my friend died: peacefully in her sleep. The previous day I had had a lovely visit. Although frail my friend had a mind as sharp as a tack. We had had a longer than usual reminisce. So her demise was a significant surprise. 

I had started the post trip post because YP has been suggesting for a long time that I show more pictures of the beautiful Island on which I live. After a particularly beautiful drive I saved my dash-cam footage but it will need a lot of editing before it's ready for posting. 

I'm away for a routine operation at the moment and then I have a New Zealand 'Family' member visiting and then other friends of many years staying so this might be a thing for afterwards.

(PS: BP is short for Boring Post).

Trout

When CJ and I were over at Gisla recently the river down from the hills contained some splendid trout:

A Visit To Gisla

On Tuesday (is it really that long ago?) Pat and Dave and I went over to see Carol and Jenny in Gisla. Apart from the excellent company I always enjoy the fact that there is a wonderful garden surrounded by high trees which provides an excellent home for lots of birds - despite the explosion in the semi-feral cat population. They also provide wonderful still air for the midges but that didn't affect us at this time of year. I had hoped to get some photos of the Dunnocks on the bird table but they left soon after we arrived and I didn't see them again.

The most amusing part of the visit was finding squeezy Marmite. As a lover of Marmite I had reservations about such a potential travesty but I'm assured that it's perfectly good. I do love the Marmite manufacturer's sense of humour though:

A Journey to Gisla

Since I arrived back on the Island in April I have been to the Mainland a couple of times but, on the Island, I have not made many journeys further than Stornoway. I've had the occasional trip with CJ to the West Side and we ventured down to South Lochs and saw Steve. That's been about it. Pretty disgraceful really for someone who lives amongst such beauty. So yesterday I ventured a little further and went to see Carol and Jenny at Gisla in Uig. It was a stunning day (one of many we've had this summer although we tend to forget that every time we get a few bad ones). I had a lovely morning and thought I'd share with you a few of the views on the way over.

Across the moors to Achmore from Stornoway

A hidden gem in the moors

The Harris Hills

Above Achmore and Loch Ganvich (The only Villages in Lewis which are not on the coast).