Now, we are in the business of offering a ‘health tourism’ destination on Rona, enjoying the peace and quiet as a way of re-invigorating the soul, away from the hustle and bustle of the day to day life in the Uk, WiFi, iPhones and their like. BUT it seems to us that the only holidays/breaks/time off from Rona lately is catching Doctors, Dentists or Hospital appointments  and it is certainly not good for the soul!!!!

This time it was the Dentist, last time it was Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, two days of rush for an hours appointment, resulting in a tooth extraction (ouch). Hey, ho it will soon be November then we will get our holidays and hopefully not a medical practice of any description in sight.

Let Me Back To Rona

This was the scene on the pontoon when we got back from our whistle stop tour of the Highlands. We had to forgo the haircut and last minute shopping in Portree to get our slot on the pontoon. There was a cruise boat in and flit boats going back and fore, causing mayhem (as usual).

It was not so busy this week although we pressed our guests (Bruce and Angela) into service.

The Work Goes On

The chores are still there despite having a house full. In this case the Dry Harbour fuel tank needed replenished and we took a couple of hundred litres of diesel over and Bruce kindly ran up and down the ladder to fill the tank. (Must get an outside tank).

Sheep Shed

We pressed (asked nicely) Mike and Lorraine, who are in the cottages into service too, we are hoping to get a start on the sheep shed in the repaired ruin in front of Rona Lodge shortly. So we needed to scrape off a couple of years growth and find a square so as to get the timbers up and the roof on. We are now reaching our 20 ewe herd and it will be good to have a lambing unit inside just to give the lambs a chance when they come. We were very lucky this year and hopefully we will keep our dates the same this coming lambing season. Our lambs were early but enjoyed the best bit of the year when the early spring was the better weather (although nothing grew for weeks after).

A Good Year For Chanterelles

Mike mentioned that the wash machine was not working at the cottages so we headed over to fix that and our visitors went on a mushroom hunt. The weather is ideal for mushrooms and hardly any midgies too. So it is not all bad. Food is never far away for us on Rona and a dinner including Chanterelles is always welcomed. The haul was impressive but as always in a good year there is so much unpicked. Hopefully they will last a while this season and bring a bit of colour into the diet. Oh, the Midgies!!! They may be struggling but if it gets warm at all, they appear especially in sheltered areas, like where we sit or work on mushrooms/crabs outside.

When we woke up Wednesday morning we saw the NW wind and swell were fairly high, I was undecided as to whether I should go to Portree with L but after Gill the architect gave us the crossing report there was no question. So a mad rush ensued and stuff was thrown into bags as we got ready to leave. We got Bruce and Angela to jump in at the deep end and man the fort until we got back. They had a few yachts in and dealt with them very well.

We had taken advantage of our enforced 24 hour break from Rona  and headed to Ft William where we had a look at a new (er) JCB. The sun was out in Armadale and we had a lovely summers run down to Ft William, quite a difference from up at Rona where the North Wind was blowing.

We returned yesterday mid afternoon and Bruce and Angela  headed off to finish their holiday on Skye, although there was a thought that the weather was going to get worse (4 degrees overnight!!!!!). So they may be in the East coast (possibly the best place to-day). We had had a delivery of kerosene on our Wednesday boat that had been scheduled anyway to take fuel and the (R House) architect , Gill over. So I had fuel sitting on the boat and with the weather…………..it was important to get it off rather than dancing about on the pontoon.

Back To Work

It was a little bit of a blur the last few days, architects looking at sites and possible house design, dentists to get teeth out, round about drives via Ft William then onto visit family in Strathpeffer, back to Rona. When we arrived MV Seaflower was on the pontoon, yachts were in and straight into the work again. There is no time to dwell on Rona.

People often ask me do we not get bored………………………