It's a Fact of Island Life

After discovering that half the business I wanted to visit this morning had changed premises in my absence and after having had coffee with Pat (at least The Woodlands Centre hasn't changed), I went into the Co-op Supermarket to get supplies and 75 minutes later I had managed to complete about 4 aisles and caught up with so many friends and acquaintances I was beginning to wonder how many more there were left to meet.  I suppose when one has lived in a relatively small place (population 20,000 not all of whom shop in the Co-op!) for over 36 years (more than half of one's life) and worked in the public service then I suppose it's not that surprising.  It's one of the more endearing things about Island life

Thankful Thursday

Well my post today is short and sweet and fairly trivial if truth be told.  Until this morning when there is some light rain, the sun has shone out of a cloudless sky and as a result I have felt alive and motivated almost to the point of being in manic mode.  Which made me think of Manic Miner which was the first game my children had on their  ZX Spectrum computer.  Those were the days!  I say that but I think Andrew had his first Spectrum in about 1983 which, as that was about the birth of the personal computer coming into homes, is not really that long ago.

So this morning I am thankful for the beautiful weather and the fact that it's enabled me to paint fences and do lots of outside jobs wearing shorts and a polo shirt at this time of year!  What a bonus.

I am also thankful that so many friends have called in and stayed over the last few days.

Great Northern Diver

When I was driving across the Braighe (the isthmus between the peninsula on which I live and the main body of the Isle of Lewis) into town yesterday I was thrilled to see what I was fairly certain was a Great Northern Diver.  Unfortunately I couldn't stop because I had an appointment in town.  On the way back, however, I stopped and took a walk.  There about a 200 metres away out to sea was the very bird.  It is, I think, the first one that I have positively identified and managed to photograph.  Bearing in mind the distance and my modest bridge camera lens (albeit at an equivalent of about 600mm) I was quite satisfied with the resulting photos.

There were also some Cormorants swimming and diving nearby:

Weekends

As Maggie Smith's character, Lady Grantham, in Downton Abbey's first episode said "What is a weekend?"  Friday was a holiday in the UK (someone was getting married) and today (Monday) is a Bank Holiday.  I realised that something was up on Friday because when I was in the supermarket it was deserted by Friday lunchtime standards.  Today I had an appointment with the optician but when I arrived in Town almost everywhere else was closed.  If it hadn't been for those events however  one of the things about being retired is that weekends no longer play as important a part in one's life. 

However the last four days have been truly exceptional in that the weather for the end of April and the first day of May has, in my experience, been truly exceptional.  I haven't seen a cloud since I returned.  People have been down on the beach and the children have been swimming and making the most of the holiday and the weather.

A truly beautiful pre-sunrise dawn

Another sunrise - sorry, but I just can't resist.  It's only the first day of May!

Pat, Dave and Briagha with another dog lover, photographed from the house.

The garden is looking amazing considering I've been away for the winter.  Thanks Sue and Brian!

Crowds like this are unusual in mid-summer!

That cold water is not for the faint hearted!