Well it is nearly the end of the month, another one under the belt and ther season for visitors to the cottages fast approaching. The moorings are in the signs are nearly up, the cottages nearly ready and we are totally relaxed (aye right).

Looking back it has been a busy month off and on the Island as Grant and Stacey get going with the spring work allowing us to head off to the annual deer meetings. More later. In the meantime here is the story this month so far.

The trouble with feeding deer is that they get impatient. Here’s ‘Tufty’ looking into the house first thing this morning, more or less saying hurry up, I’m hungry!!! He’s looking for the peelings, applecores and a few cobs for breakfast.

I am going to be a wee bit lazy to-day and re-post my facebook posts of to-day so excuse the different fonts and differences, the content ois the same:

“A month of two halves, March. It is the time of year when the pressure should be off, holiday time, but no. Holiday time first then meetings, lots of them. With the Wildlife Management Bill going through Holyrood plus the next disaster coming from the Greens/SNP, the Managing Deer for climate and nature consultation. The usual Deer meetings this year took on a more important meaning. First it was off to Glenquioch for a ‘Finding the Common Ground Meeting, the next week the Association of Deer Management Groups AGM and finally the Scottish Gamekeepers Association Deer working group meeting. The SGA AGM I missed due to illness. All good, well attended meetings with very good content and discussion. It is a strategy of ther Scottish Government not to involve any of the people attending these meetings directly in their discussions apart from NGO/non government organisations. Why is that? Because they only want to hear what they want to hear in the Scottish Government nowadays. For me they should have those voices from the hills and glens who work in this field every day on their Committees/discussion groups.”

For the rest of the month, here is part of the story.

A wee boat trip a week ago, round the shore out to the Gap, plenty winter flotsam on the shores to be picked.

Seaflower was out of the water in Stornoway getting a refit of windows and a spruce up, so Tommy stepped up and took us back to Rona with our new fitness regime, a Reebok Treadmill!!!much to Tommy’s amusement.

We were lucky to stay on Skye in between trips to and from the many meetings and got to quite liking Earlish at the North end, Mike and Lorraine who have helped us many times in the past were our hosts, a highly recommended Bed and Breakfast.

Finally we came back to Rona last Saturday with Calum Stiven his partner Cat and the dog. He was over to sort out the Applenet system and confuse me with internet speak. But it was good to get some direction from him.

Good to be home now and preparing for the season, the last three weeks have seen many miles travelling about the country attending meetings. I cannot stress how much under threat the rural industries are from urban based politicians with no real life experience outside politics, who are being influenced by an anti shooting and an anti farming agenda.

I have just had an email from our American cousin Tom Opre, film maker and author of ‘The Last keeper” he has asked me if this line is correct from the Deer Consultation recommendations take from the John Muir Trust, he cannot believe it:

This will not end well.