It felt like the summer turned into winter last week, it has continued with swings of temperature, high winds and lots and lots of heavy showers. The best bit is the huge activity of the wildlife, everything seems to be building up into a frenzy of activity, whether the wildlife can get the feel of a severe winter coming remains to be seen. The sea is full of birds fishing, the sea eagle is here every day, the wee birds are darting about everywhere and the deer are on the move. The hinds and feeding in the middle of the day, the stags are now showing after months of hiding.

A Late Calf

The only problem with all the wildlife is my cameras (digital) are on the blink!! Maybe I’ve got some settings wrong but maybe I need a new one!!!!!

Friday Ferry

It was working fine on Friday last when John my mate from darkest Dudley arrived. He’s here for a holiday (we’ll see about that) and our guests had to leave earlier because of the forecast. Kevin and Pam were supposed to be away delivering a yacht so MV Stardust was back for the day, the sea was calm and they had a good sail. Kevin unfortunately went over on his ankle so he was left behind and Pam ‘had’ to go rather than let her crewmates down, looking at her text pictures from the trip it looks like it was a good one from Oban to Southampton.

John wasn’t here two minutes when he was pressed into work.

Planing the floorboards

Whilst, John was at that I started on the stag in the larder, I’ve never seen such quality of meat. It looks like beef, tastes better than beef and there is lots of it!!

Best Quality Venison

I or at least we finished it to-day (Tuesday) with the final tray of burgers and sausages going into the freezer this afternoon. Been at it three days on and off but well worth it.

Sausages

Getting back to the wildlife, the swallows over a Dry Harbour were still there Saturday but after the last few windy days it will be interesting to see if they are still feeding young, seemingly it is not unusual to have swallow broods so late. Unfortunately we found a Goldcrest lying on the shed floor yesterday, the smallest bird in Britain. It must have got in when the door was open, a lovely wee thing. Sad to lose but I have seen quite a few here.

The Wee Goldcrest

In the last couple of days I’ve seen more stags than I have all year, possibly there will be an early rut, certainly the hinds are moving around all day. I always wonder where they hide.

Late Afternoon Visitors

It looks like we might have a calmer day tomorrow, it was pretty wild and cold to-day, fingers crossed, I am hoping to head over to Portree.

Evening Rain