Monthly Archives: May 2016

Peonies are one of my favourite flowers – such wonderful colours and beautiful markings on the petals. The dark red one is a Tree Peony and the plant is a mass of flowers, the most for a number of years.

The mill now offer bookable tours on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The only mill in the hebrides to do this and well worth a visit. Really interesting to see the rest of the process, especially once you have visited a weaver at work at home. All tweed given the famous Harris Tweed Orb has to have been woven at the home of the weaver. Most of the tweed is then sold by the mills, and much of it goes abroad,  but there are independent weavers who sell their tweed directly to you.

Words are not necessary, except perhaps to mention the Iron Age house reconstruction on Great Bernera and the Time and Tide Bell.

Amazing colours, expansive land/seascapes and a Tern for company. So quiet and empty – if you know where to go!

An observer wonders just how do those dogs have so much energy?

Just back from from a wonderful visit to the Outer Hebrides. Incredible weather and glorious sunsets over Broad Bay.

Glorious weather over that past few days has cheered us up considerably. The camera was out early this morning. Quite why a flock of Goldfinches is called a “charm’ I don’t know. Yes, they are spectacularly colourful birds (even when photographed through a dusty window!) but there is nothing charming about them. They are the bossiest, noisiest birds at the feeders, chasing everything else away until they have had their fill. However, it is lovely to see so many of them in the garden.

Then one of our regular squirrels visited the feeders for breakfast and was suddenly frightened by something. It sat bolt upright, and motionless, on top of one of the feeders for a few minutes and then ‘hid’ on the bird table, cowering low and almost curled up, for several more. This photo shows him/her just deciding if it was safe to continue breakfast. We have watched several instances recently when another squirrel has appeared and then much chasing and dashing about the lawn takes place before one of them departs the scene.

The beautiful and delicate clematis looks stunning against the blue sky. The back of these erythronium flowers is equally as pretty as their ‘faces’ and the osmanthus delaveyii is a mass of blossom, filling the air on this warm afternoon with a wonderful scent.