My Hebridean Blog

Future Posts

2011-10-09T06:24:00.000+01:00

I left GB's and the Island at the end of August and all the posts I've done so far were scheduled before I left. Now I'm back home and in the thick of a busy life - (can't you come and do my dinners for me like you did for weeks on the Island, please, GB?) - so future postings will not necessarily be oin a daily basis. Nevertheless I hope you'll keep following my blog as I still have quite a few photos to publish

One distinct advatage is that while the weather is cold and wet and windy outside the window you'll be able to see the Hebrides as they were in August.. (OK - that too was occasionally cold and wet and windy but I tended to be out with the camera in the better weather!)

Some more Flowers

2011-10-08T00:08:00.005+01:00

Horgabost

2011-10-07T00:59:00.010+01:00

Fungi

2011-10-06T00:49:00.005+01:00

Fungi in the grounds of Stornoway Castle. I think they are all Russula species.

The Cobbler's Bench

2011-10-05T00:44:00.005+01:00

On the pathway by the River in the grounds of Stornoway Castle.

Rodel

2011-10-04T00:56:00.001+01:00

Rodel Church - the interior

2011-10-03T00:52:00.003+01:00

Rodel Church - the exterior

2011-10-02T00:50:00.002+01:00

Hebrides Art

2011-10-01T00:32:00.016+01:00

In August, GB and I went around Harris one day and called in at Hebrides Art at Seilebost for a coffee. A fine coffee, excellent cake (GB said - I was good for once and abstained) and most pleasant host and hostess. It is a fairly new establishment and I wish artists Alisdair and Lesley Wiseman all the best in their new venture.

Going trawling at dawn...

2011-09-30T00:01:00.004+01:00

The Broch at Carloway - Black and White

2011-09-28T00:32:00.000+01:00

Found on the beach...

2011-09-27T02:37:00.000+01:00

The road through Coll, Gress and Tolsta to the Bridge to Nowhere.

2011-09-26T00:44:00.015+01:00

The road through Coll, Gress and Tolsta to the Bridge to Nowhere.

(Looking over Point to the mainland).

More boats

2011-09-25T02:54:00.003+01:00

Divers

2011-09-24T02:42:00.012+01:00

Red-throated Diver

Black-throated Diver

Great Northern Diver

The problem with divers is - they fly away...

... or dive.

More Odds and Ends

2011-09-23T00:56:00.014+01:00

Stornoway War Memorial

The moon on the wane in August.

The Library Coffee Shop

Coll Beach looking across to Point

Found on the beach...

2011-09-22T00:29:00.010+01:00

More shots at Tolsta beach

2011-09-21T00:11:00.006+01:00

More boats

2011-09-20T00:36:00.003+01:00

More Abstracts and Hebridean Impressions

2011-09-19T00:47:00.003+01:00

Garynahine War Memorial

2011-09-18T00:41:00.000+01:00

Grey Heron

2011-09-17T00:16:00.002+01:00

GB's

2011-09-16T00:17:00.003+01:00

Ships that pass in the daytime

2011-09-15T00:33:00.000+01:00

Some Hebridean lepidoptera

2011-09-14T00:27:00.010+01:00

Red Admiral - a very tattered specimen

Common Blue - an old female

Red Carpet moth

Bayble

2011-09-13T00:22:00.014+01:00

Upper Bayble

Lower Bayble

Bayble Bay

Bayble Island

More Hebridean Birds

2011-09-12T00:11:00.010+01:00

" Look out - that bloke that doesn't like us on his bird feeder is about."

Rock Pigeons

Meadow Pipit

Stonechats

Approaching Tolsta Beach

2011-09-11T00:10:00.001+01:00

Odds and Ends at the beach

2011-09-10T00:09:00.001+01:00

More Abstracts and Hebridean Impressions

2011-09-09T00:40:00.002+01:00

Peat

2011-09-08T16:55:00.001+01:00

When GB came to the Island nearly forty years ago a high percentage of the local population and some of the incomers - as he was then - cut their own peats and used it as their main winter fuel. Nowadays the peat banks still being cut are few and far between.

From the mid 1970s - GB and our family turning his peats to help them dry:-

Some photos from 2007:-

This year I hardly saw a single person at the peats.

Gannets

2011-09-07T00:31:00.000+01:00

All Yellow

2011-09-06T00:32:00.000+01:00

Meadow Buttercups

Yellow Loosestrife

Tormentil

Yellow Meadow Vetchling

Some Airidh's

2011-09-05T00:15:00.000+01:00

Some aridihs and some that were airidhs!

Paint a Pot

2011-09-04T00:04:00.029+01:00

A couple of weeks ago GB and I went into Coll Pottery - the concern GB owned for many years. It must have been a strange experience for him to sit down and have coffee and cake (made by Jacky - or is it Jackie - creator of superb home-made cakes!) and do our traditional crossword.

The new owner of Coll Pottery is Debbie Woods and her Paint a Pot concern has been busy all summer with the children off school being taken in to paint pots. But painting pots is suitable for all ages and if you are in the area I recommend calling in and taking part. (It's open Tuesday to Saturday in the winter and Monday to Saturday in the summer.) Debbie is a delightful character and even if you only go for coffee and a look around it's worthwhile.

There are also lots of GB's pots still on sale there.

Tolsta - Traigh Mor (Big Beach)

2011-09-03T00:21:00.014+01:00

GB walked the length of it (and back). Why? Because he could.

A Grey Day on the Briaghe

2011-09-02T00:35:00.000+01:00

Enjoying a Sunflower

2011-09-01T00:08:00.003+01:00

More Abstracts and Hebridean Impressions

2011-08-31T00:44:00.002+01:00

Flowers - again

2011-08-30T00:21:00.010+01:00

Sorrel

Common Spotted Orchid

Dock

Knapweed

Red Clover

Meadowsweet

Unusually pale Creeping Thistle

On the Beach

2011-08-29T00:07:00.005+01:00

Flowers again

2011-08-28T00:10:00.000+01:00

Common Spotted Orchid

Monkey Flower (Musk)

Bird's-foot Trefoil

Bell Heather

Heather

Mind's gone blank - begins with a P...

Self-heal and a Hawkweed

Knapweed

Dandelion

Meadowsscape on the Briaghe

Scabious

More from The Chessmen Exhibition

2011-08-27T00:46:00.001+01:00

The exhibition at the Stornoway Museum didn’t just have chessmen. There were other interesting finds on display like this ivory belt buckle. The one item in the Lewis hoard that was not a chesspiece it is thought that this may have been on the belt that fastened the bag holding the chessmen.

The item in the front of this case is a walrus ivory reliquary - probably made in Trondheim in the 12th century and originally the leg of a throne like those in which the chessmen kings are shown seated.

This ring from the 12th or 13th century was discovered near Mealasta in a midden (rubbish pit) near one of the possible sites of the original chessmen finds. It is made of bronze and provides evidence of occupation for the period when the chessmen would have been in use.

Morse, or walrus ivory, was the favoured material for carving chessmen but was hard to obtain so in some cases whale tooth ivory was used instead.

The long tusk is walrus ivory and the smaller, hollow tooth on the left is from a sperm whale.

The detail on this King shows the quality of some of the carving.

Centaury

2011-08-26T00:36:00.011+01:00

Centaury is one of the prettiest flowers there is and yet it's so small that people can be excused passing it by without even noticing it. (I think this is Seaside Centaury - Centaurium littorale - not Common Centaury but I couldn't be sure.)

On the shore - again

2011-08-25T00:58:00.001+01:00

Grasses

2011-08-24T00:30:00.003+01:00

On Bayble Beach

2011-08-23T11:32:00.001+01:00

For McGregor - The Woodlands windows

2011-08-22T00:43:00.000+01:00

Some of the windows in the Woodlands Centre have poems on them - both in English and Gaelic.

My apologies that the photos are not easier to read (clicking on some enlarges them).

Sorry they're not better quality, Karen.

Dawn

2011-08-21T00:12:00.000+01:00

Fishing Boats in Stornoway Harbour

2011-08-20T00:53:00.005+01:00

On the West Side

2011-08-19T00:44:00.003+01:00

Morning Light at GB's

2011-08-18T00:56:00.005+01:00

More Flowers

2011-08-17T00:38:00.000+01:00

Eyebright

Ragged Robin

Heather

Heath

Water Lily in Iain & Carol's pond

Angelica

Angelica is said to be a very good tonic herb for women and children, the elderly or general debility, it is said to strengthen the heart. Powdered root is said to cause disgust for liquor. It has an antibacterial action, preventing the growth of various bacteria. N.B. The fresh root of Angelica is not edible, and is said to be poisonous. Do not use Angelica while pregnant or breastfeeding without consulting your doctor.

Little candied diamonds of angelica stem were used to decorate cakes and trifles when we were children.

Statsraad Lehmkuhl

2011-08-15T15:27:00.000+01:00

Statsraad Lehmkuhl in Stornoway - August 2011.

The Statsraad Lehmkuhl is a three-masted barque rigged sail training vessel owned and operated by the Statsraad Lehmkuhl Foundation. It is based in Bergen, Norway and contracted out for various purposes, including serving as a school ship for the Royal Norwegian Navy (using RNoN's prefix "KNM", English: "HNoMS").

It was built in 1914 as a school training ship for the German merchant marine under the name Grossherzog Friedrich August. After the First World War the ship was taken as a prize by the United Kingdom and in 1921 the ship was bought by former cabinet minister Kristoffer Lehmkuhl (hence the name, which means 'Cabinet Minister Lehmkuhl'). With the exception of the Second World War, when she was captured by German troops and called Westwärts, the ship has belonged to Bergens Skoleskib until it was donated to the Foundation in 1978.

More Birds

2011-08-15T00:58:00.007+01:00

Cormorants

Greylag Geese

Hooded Crows

Goldfinch

Mistle Thrush

Twites

Pied Wagtail

The Broch at Carloway

2011-08-14T00:26:00.008+01:00

On the beach

2011-08-13T13:05:00.002+01:00

Near the Butt of Lewis

2011-08-12T00:46:00.004+01:00

Semi-abstract

2011-08-11T00:15:00.003+01:00

Some pictures inspired by the Isle of Lewis.

Gearrannan Black House Village

2011-08-10T13:10:00.002+01:00

Gearrannan Black House Village

One big fat Frog

2011-08-10T00:22:00.003+01:00

Some Hebridean insects

2011-08-09T00:05:00.018+01:00

A Carder Bee or a Bumble Bee?

The dreaded Highland Midge

An ichneumon wasp

Antler Moth

Hoverfly

Black and White and Blue

2011-08-08T21:05:00.000+01:00

More Hebridean Birds

2011-08-08T00:49:00.025+01:00

Shag

Herring Gull

Dunlins

Starling taking a nap....

and having a feed.

Great Black-backed Gulls

Odds and ends on cloudy days

2011-08-07T00:36:00.018+01:00

Approaching the end of Eagleton.

My favourite pillar box - Lower Bayble.

Barvas moor.

The dun in the loch at Shader.

Not exactly your average Hebridean home!

The Butt of Lewis

2011-08-06T12:05:00.013+01:00

Judging by past experience rhe Butt of Lewis is the sort of place which, even on a fine day, requires heavy oiter garments to combat the cold and a lean angle of 60% to combat the wind. Imagine my amazement last Wednesday to find that one could stand there in a sleeveless shirt and not have to keep brushing one's hair from one's eyes. (OK,. if I'm honest it's a long time since I had enough hair to need to brush it from eyes but you get the picture...)

In black and white

2011-08-06T00:21:00.005+01:00

Hnefatafl, Tafl

2011-08-05T11:54:00.016+01:00

Scottish Blackface sheep

2011-08-05T00:05:00.005+01:00

The Lewis Chessmen

2011-08-04T12:39:00.002+01:00

On loan to the Stornoway Museum from the British Museum and National Museum of Scotland.

The King

The Queen

The Bishop

The Warden

The Knight

The Pawn

The beach at Mealista

2011-08-04T00:54:00.014+01:00

The beach at Mealista on the West side of Lewis.

The Berserker

2011-08-03T16:16:00.000+01:00

The Lewis Chessmen (or Uig Chessmen, named after the bay where they were found) are a group of 78 chess pieces from the 12th century most of which are carved in walrus ivory, discovered in 1831 on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. They may constitute some of the few complete medieval chess sets that have survived, although it is not clear if a set as originally used can be made from the pieces present. They are owned and exhibited by the British Museum in London, which has 67 and the Royal Museum in Edinburgh. There has been fairly heated debate about the best place for the display of the pieces.

The chessmen were probably made in Norway, perhaps by craftsmen in Trondheim, in the 12th century, although some scholars have suggested other sources in the Nordic countries. During that period the Outer Hebrides, along with other major groups of Scottish islands, were ruled by Norway.Some historians believe that the Lewis chessmen were hidden (or lost) after some mishap occurred during their carriage from Norway to wealthy Norse towns on the east coast of Ireland, like Dublin. A large number of pieces and their lack of wear may suggest they were the stock of a trader or dealer in such pieces.Along with the chess pieces, there were 14 plain round tablemen for the game of tables and one belt buckle, all made of ivory, making a total of 93 artifacts.

Around the Isle of Lewis one occasionally comes across a large wooden carving of one of the chesspieces.

My favourite is the Berserker - seen here Uig. I'll post again about the chessmen shortly - having seen some of the originals in Stornoway Museum where they are temporarily on loan from the British Museum.

The A858

2011-08-03T00:42:00.010+01:00

When one travels from Marybank to Achmore on the Isle of Lewis, one is, according to Google Maps, on the A858. The passing places all the way along would suggest they may have made a slight error!

Ferns, mosses, lichens and liverworts

2011-08-02T00:53:00.014+01:00

Stornoway Water Wheel

2011-08-01T12:41:00.019+01:00

The Stornoway Corn Mill was constructed in 1816 and was fitted with the best equipment available at that time, according to contemporary reports. It seems to have been one of three mills built by the Mackenzie owners of Lewis in the early 19th Century. According to the New Statistical Account of Ross and Cromarty, compiled about 1830, there was also a wool carding mill and a sawmill with "an excellent kiln appended to it."

All were "perfectly complete in their kind" says the New Statistical Account. Also brand new at that time was a distillery which is believed to have stood where the Woodlands Centre now is.

The current building is a modern reproduction of the mill.

I love the look of mill wheels and machinery so long as no one expects me to do anything about mending it!

Odds and Ends

2011-08-01T00:20:00.001+01:00

Storonoway Town Hall (as was)

A monument to the Land Raiders

Stornoway Harbour

The ruins of St Cuthberts

An Lanntair Harris Tweed Exhibition

2011-07-31T12:20:00.006+01:00

There is a wonderful exhibition on at An Lanntair at the moment.

Uig Community Centre

2011-07-31T00:37:00.000+01:00

This chessman model and Breanish Tweed jacket were being raffled. I bought some tickets for GB - we've worked out just where the Berserker would look best!

There was a brilliant notice on the door but I shall GB blog about it first!

Uig

2011-07-30T05:10:00.013+01:00

Meadow Brown

2011-07-29T22:49:00.009+01:00

Sunrise

2011-07-29T15:16:00.006+01:00

Sunrise at 5.10 a.m.

Some Island flowers

2011-07-29T00:52:00.030+01:00

A Hawkweeed or Hawkbit?

Kanpweed

Ragwort

Red Clover

Yellow Meadow Vetchling

Tormentil

Devilsbit Scabious

Meadow Buttercup

Common Spotted Orchid

Gaz at Grimshader

2011-07-28T09:46:00.000+01:00

This is the view my nephew will have from the new house he is building at Grimshader. Not bad, eh!

The rermains of the original black house.

The current house.

From the lounge window of the present dwelling (the window frames are in better condition than the walls so a re-build is definitely necessary).

Discussing the future house with his dad, GB.

This is as near as the road gets at present. That's going to be some job putting the drive in.

A Stonechat was there to welcome us.

Loch Grimshader from his friend's croft next door.

I doubt it will always be as sunny as this but may he always be happy at...

Wind Turbines

2011-07-28T04:34:00.033+01:00

I know there are lots of arguments for and against wind turbines but without wishing to enter into those I have to say I think these three on the Grimshader road have a certain graceful beauty as they turn their giant propellors (or sails as I gather they are called).

Birds at the feeder

2011-07-27T22:45:00.010+01:00

Greenfinches

House Sparrows

Starling

In the Castle Grounds

2011-07-27T12:12:00.000+01:00

This cottage in the Castle grounds at Stornoway has some unusal garden features.

And nearby are a Wicker Woman and an exceptionally imaginative living tree sculpture.

The Woodlands Centre

2011-07-26T22:45:00.002+01:00

The Woodlands Centre in Stornoway Castle grounds is where GB and I can usually be found around coffee time...

This little yellow van used to be GB's, it obviously knows where to find him.

Two models of Lewis Chessmen guard the entrance to the car park.

Stornoway

2011-07-26T06:36:00.001+01:00

On Thursday 21st July we drove into Stornoway, stopping on the Braighe to photograph some birds.

A Common Gull which, despite its name, is not so common.

Red-throated Diver.

Cormorant.

At the Co-op a Hooded Crow was seeing what it could find to eat around the car park.

Just outside the castle gates were some familiar sights.

And an unfamiliar one.

When you consider how many hundreds of thousands (millions?) of barrels of herrings used to pass through Stornoway in the heyday of the herring industry it is ironic that these in the garden centre probably came from the main land and were made just recently. Stornoway Historical Society has a good page describing the work of the herring girls.

Inside the castle gates the golf course is bordered by trees with the most splendid mosses and lichens on thewir trunks. It is amazing to think that a few centuries back all our British trees would have been coated thus, before the industrial revolution created the pollution that has extinguished such lichen from most of the country.

Arriving

2011-07-25T18:46:00.000+01:00

We came over to Lewis on the second sailing of the MV “Isle of Lewis” from Ullapool to Stornoway on Tuesday 19th July.

He’s happiest when he’s got a signal for his phone.

It was darned cold out on deck and we had some unpleasant swell in The Minch.

It’s cold and wet out on deck but the work has to go on.

Approaching Stornoway.

The freight ferry is already tied up at Stornoway.

What a pretty facia.

The mezzanine deck is lowered to let us off.

And we are about to land on the Isle of Lewis – my holiday begins in earnest.

I'm Back!

2011-07-24T17:03:00.001+01:00

This is the view I shall be facing for the next few weeks at I sit at my laptop on the kitchen unit at GB’s. One of the things that delights me most is the fact that I can step outside the front door and sit on the garden seat and hear only the sound of the sea. No lorries or buses going past, no noise from next door’s doctor’s surgery or nursing home as we have at home; noises which occur at all hours of the day and night. No constant sound of people drilling, mowing and all the other things that people seem to get up to in Pensby. On a Sunday afternoon in GB’s garden the loudest thing you can hear, besides the rolling surf, is the beat of Rock Pigeon’s wings as it comes into land at the bird table.

Looking across to Upper Bayble.

This is the sort of thing that passes the front door!

Though it’s a little bit further away than the lorries that pass the side of our house at home.

Lichens thrive on the unpolluted air.

A baby Whinchat (or Wheatear - GB and I have different views as to what it was) paid a visit.

As did a Skylark.

A misty start to the day

2009-11-30T13:13:00.012Z

4th July 2009

5th July

There's a storm coming in

2009-11-28T13:10:00.000Z

2nd July 2009 -

Fifteen minutes before the storm.

Ten minutes to go - time to head for home
.

Eight minutes before it broke.

Five minutes to go.

Three minutes to the rain arriving.

One minute - it's time to get indoors.

And the rain arrives.

More Hebridean birds

2009-08-27T19:46:00.005+01:00

Great Skuas

Meadow Pipits

Ringed Plovers

Great Black-backed Gull

Oystercatchers

Arctic Terns

2009-08-26T19:38:00.002+01:00

An evening walk to Bayble Island

2009-08-13T19:13:00.004+01:00

Despite the title I didn't really walk to Bayble Island. Walking on water is not my scene! What I actually did was walk from the end of Eagleton to the headland opposite the end of Bayble Island:-