It is Friday and where has the week gone, or where is the year going. It seems like the days pass too quick around here just now. The last while life keeps getting faster, it feels like we are chasing our tails a bit but at this time of the year it is always the same. After the long winter the slightest sign of good weather and it is all systems go. However, at this time we are as likely to get snow as glorious sunshine.

Deep Blue but Cold North Wind.

Spot the fish farm boat rockin’ and rollin’ (No G, yes I’m listening to Steve Wright). When the sun came out it was pretty clear and blue but all the while we had a North wind which was very cold in exposed places.

I was out last week looking for two escapee sheep. We had them in the gardens at Dry Harbour, trapped but we did not have time to catch them and take them home. Now they are on safari so they might end up in the freezer!!

The Tup nearly ended up there too, he got his horn caught in the fence and was there for quite a while before he got released. I did see him but was thinking he was having a long feed in the morning, but when I sat down to have lunch outside I noticed he was still there, a quick look with the bins’ and the dinner was put in the oven.

Stuck Fast

I had to cut the wires as he was a bit to unhelpful. The lunch did not suffer too much.

Grilled Crab Mayo on toast (A toast topper, remember them?)

It is water in the glass, honest. We have had a few boats in but the North wind was keeping them back for sure, ” Yacht Full Moon” arrived Thursday after a bounce up the Inner Sound, regular visitors and we will see them again for sure. Three yachts had been in the night before but they were all away in the morning.

Full Moon on the Mooring

I was on the digger that day, getting fill for the top of the walls of the ruin we are roofing just now.

Looking For BackFill

It was a good day for it and with the frost, rain over the winter and a bit of scraping on the day I got a few tonnes out of the quarry.

Filling in the gaps

Needed it all too. The ruin is taking shape and hopefully we will get the roof on soon. Finished that and next morning early I went over to Dry Harbour on my rounds, I found a kayaker wandering around the holiday cottages as you do. I guess it is that time of the year.

Prowling

Back to Base and it was a very good day (overcast)  for catching up on the sheep work, long overdue as the tool for tailing and……………had broken.

Overcast, sheepwork day

The sheep in the pen is “Bonsai”, she was born very late, her Mother was deemed to be barren but three months after everything had lambed she came down the road with twins. Sadly 3 to 4 months later she died so the twins had to survive, survive they have and this year she has produced a good lamb and is a very good mother. We dosed the rest and with only two missing it was a good day to get it done, the sun came out just as we finished.

Seaflower Visit

After a quiet weekend it was all go Monday with a landing craft coming the following weekend I was keen to get to Inverness and buy a jeep to replace the old Sportstrack which had been here for over three years and was getting past its best.

Roof Arriving

Kevin came out with Calum his son as crew, we had the chance to take the roofing out on the MV Aspire for the ruin and had an hour getting that ashore but a quick shower and I was off to Portree then Inverness.

I made a few calls coming across the Sound and then called Mickey at M2 Motors in Portree. We have hired quite a few cars from Mickey in the past and he is very good at any time should you want a car. He pointed me in the direction of a jeep in Portree and it was just perfect, freeing me up for the next day or so in Inverness.

Two Customers

After a couple of half days rushing round Inverness I was glad to get back. There were no beds in our usual accommodation in Portree Tuesday night, Kevin offered me the boat to kip up in but we were just as well heading to Rona. We got in to the harbour at 8pm to find two yachts ithere but they did not come ashore. Such are the sailors at this time. They seem to spend a lot of time on their boats and it is more the next phase of yachts that come ashore and explore. Maybe they had seen the Great Northern Diver with a chick at the mouth of the harbour we passed on the way in!! It had been noted a month ago by Pam but until then I had not seen it. They are regular visitors around these parts, always a special sighting and this year with a chick, or at least that is what it looked like?

More Work

We had a lot of things to put away that night and to add to the workload I spotted the lead flashing had slipped from one of the upstairs windows, seems that 20 years on from the Lodge’s renovation a lot of issues are coming to the surface. More work!!!

Bunkhouse Makeover

The rest of the week we have been ploughing through the paperwork, oh and getting the landing craft re-organised as Hugh has done some serious damage to his achilles tendon. We are working on the best option for all of us but we do have a load of material  waiting on Mallaig pier to come to Rona. Fingers crossed. Thursday we had a booking for our new project. “The Crew Pot” We are offering a dinner for 6 at the shore in the shoreside bunkhouse. Paul on a charter yacht had been emailing, he called and was on his way when his engine failed, by the time they got it fixed it was blowing 30 to 40 knots. So that was cancelled, most annoying after working towards it for a few days, transforming the bunkhouse into a pop up (rustic!!!!!!!!) dining.

We need 6 to make it worthwhile, menu to follow after our first try, hopefully soon.

We are keen to try  out “The Crew Pot” and hoping to expand on what we can offer to the visitors in the coming years. There is too much work here for the two of us and contractors certainly help us out very well but there is and will be an opportunity for another couple coming soon. At the moment we envisage a summer help and this is what we are moving toward this year, watch this space.