isleofronalog

The past week has been eventful for sure, mainly sheep keeping us busy of course. We are keeping a close eye on them after losing our biggest lamb and this morning (Sunday) after days of care another lamb has finally been moved to the sick bay. Its poisoned foot/hoof is not getting any better even after a course of antibiotics and cleaning.

Invalid with Mother in the Barn

With the rain forecast for the next couple of days and the underfoot conditions in the field going wet, it was the only decision. Fingers crossed.

Cat’ Orca’s Annual Visit

The weather is grim to-day but not much better last week when Steve and Fiona arrived on their early spring/summer trip. Always good to see them arriving and to catch up. Steve knows a thing or two about mechanics so I was doing some quick thinking for a job for him to pass the time!!!!!!

Last Push At The New fence

We were in the middle of hanging gates to keep the sheep out of the new fenced area when our new guests arrived, so after they walked their two dogs they got to the house just as I finished hanging the last gate.

Secure Now

That should keep our ‘depositors’ out!!

Eda Frantzen’s Guests

Although we have had some great days later in this week there has been a few wet ones too and the Eda Frantzen arrived in one, pouring rain their guests came ashore for a walk, telling us the skipper was unsure what to do because the forecast was so bad. I guess it is very much pot luck when you book a sailing holiday. As it happened the weather got better rather than worse as the week progressed so we hope they had a good end to the week.

Now Where Does The Water Go?

Steve was on the go early and stripped the tractor brakes, serviced as much as he could then we discovered that a bolt had come loose on the master cylinder and that is how the brake fluid escaped. Well it was good to get the tractor’s annual service done. The rain had stopped but it was still pretty grey.

A Grey Scene

I headed over to Dry Harbour with L and on the way back the Eda Frantzen had already left for Portree. Next morning I was fed up of the weather and needed a walk, I headed South to look for deer and to have a wee count, always a good plan before the vegetation gets too thick. I was not disappointed, I saw plenty hinds and quite a few stags.

They Saw Me First

I was bumbling along minding my own business when 4 stags without their antlers popped up. They had a good look before taking off up to the East side of Rona. I took a walk up that way and followed the deer path and there in front of me was a set of beautiful antlers, off our master stag. Eric’s replacement. Quite amazing to find that the two had fallen off in exactly the same spot. Another couple of weeks and the grass would have hidden them for a year.

Now There’s a Thing

One of the antlers has a distinct take on Eric’s, so he may be a son, who knows. Hopefully we will see him this rut coming.

Hinds in Winter Coats

The weather got progressively better as the day progressed and I came onto some good hinds, but this lot were looking pretty ‘scabby’ in their late winter coats, their hair coming out in lumps. In a few weeks they will have their new coats and look pretty slick, I hope. Back to business and we have to dose the sheep every year with various nasty chemicals but if we did not then they would suffer from all the nasties out there, tick, fluke, worms, etc, etc. We got most of the flock done and dealt with the poisoned hoof. The bag of Sheep First Aid was getting run down and the antibiotics were getting pretty old so a phone call to our Vet Rhona (who has never been to Rona) and Kevin has now picked up the order.

Annual Jag

Next day we had to catch the sick lamb, but he was getting a bit too quick despite his bad hoof. When I fed the ewes in the morning he came a bit too close and I made a grab for him and put him in the kennel until I got his daily dose of anti biotic.

In Jail

I guess he doesn’t like me much, everytime I catch him I give him jags. But it is for his own good. Off he went after the treatment but to-day (Sunday) he is limping pretty badly.

After the tractor service where we were shifting everything about I decided to have a spring clean.

The Famous Rona Fish Box

Amongst other things I  decided to move the fish boxes down to the house ‘For Sale’. Now is the time to sell one or two. The shed was tidy but after starting fencing again, it seems ‘stuff’ is everywhere.

Going North To The Sea End

I finished the South end of this fence a couple of weeks ago so now I need to finish the North end. The sea ends will be tricky but up till now only a few of the sheep have wandered round the very loose end of the fence. It is just a case of getting going.

It is a great view

It is quite a nice spot to work in, it is where I saw the Northern Diver although they were not there yesterday, just cuckoos and swallows. I got the posts out and line wire, if it dries up tomorrow I will get a bit more done but we hope to get off on Wednesday morning so if it is pouring I’ll be packing and preparing for Calum coming.

Checking traps

Last thing yesterday was to check the mink traps at Dry Harbour, no luck for a while but I don’t think for one minute the mink have disappeared.

A while ago I got an email commenting that on my blog I always seem to be fixing things, that is what went through my head last week when I spotted a very damp wall at the back of the Skyescape holiday cottage.

The Clue

It was a very dry sunny day, so my suspicions were that there was an issue, sure enough.

On Closer Inspection.

On closer inspection it turned out one of the connections, the T on the right had popped. We have no one in the cottage so it was fortunate we were there to spot it. Otherwise it might have been a different story as the cottages are empty for a few weeks. Of course I did not have the bits so had to put that on the list for Portree.

Splinty and Friends

After that I thought I’d better check the other cottages and here in front of the Escape house was one of the missing sheep (splinty  when he was born, had bent feet which we splinted to straighten ) with his new friends a few hinds. I think the deer were a little bemused

Sunny With Showers.

It was a funny week weather wise with beautiful sunny periods warm in the sun but showers of rain and hail never far away.

Trapped, at Last.

We had dosed most of the sheep the previous week but missed two so I set up a trap in the ruin, the first time I tried it the escapees just jumped over the wall, but a barricade did the trick and now all the sheep are up to date. Needless to say the minute I had finished one of the sheep saw a gap and shot over the wall, sometimes I think I have goats!!

Playing Safe.

These lambs must think they are dogs!! I think they enjoy the cold concrete they are often found in the kennel.

Early Morning Start.

We had been catching up all week getting all sorts of jobs done and with no ferry on Saturday I took the opportunity of a calm Friday to head off to Portree, I had banking, rubbish and shopping to do. So it was on a cold frosty Friday morning I found myself enjoying a quick trip over to Skye.

My Favourite Boat

I passed Simon often the first out of Portree heading up to Rona, I really like his fishing boat, maybe one day……….. It used to be a small trawler and Simon has made a cracking job of renovating it to work creels.

The Best Time of the Day.

The boat went well and despite the wee ‘jabble’ the trip was smooth and I was in Portree before it had woken up.

Heading Home

After a mad dash I was heading back, Donald in the Pier Hotel was advising an early return as the weather seemed to be freshening. So after a bit of a rush I got out into the Sound. Certainly it was bumpy for the first mile but the closer I got to Rona the better the sea became in the lee. There were not many boats about, just the ‘Raasay’ heading North to the Qinetic Base with stores.

I was back only for a few minutes and pulled up to the door only to see our biggest lamb standing ‘looking funny’ I got hold of it easily and could see there was something seriously wrong. I thought at first sun or hypothermia? It had been very cold overnight but now it was very warm. The lamb, a ewe lamb of course seemed to be fading away and for the next two hours we were on the phone to the Vet/Charlie Harbro/Anyone but to no avail. Two hours after I picked it up the poor thing was dead, despite penicillin and asprin. The Vet had seen it many times and the thought is it had tetanus, but who knows, the joys of lambing I guess.

In the meantime MV Seaflower had arrived, Kenny and Linda came up to the house and in between the drama of the lamb we had our lunch and a catch up on their wedding. All too soon they were away and we were left with the lamb to deal with and the shopping which had been dropped at the back door.

Lunch Visit

I had picked up fencing materials and had a strainer post, so I was keen to get it into the ground for the Lodge fence which I was going to put up in the morning. I had dug the hole (no big stones this time) so it was just a case of putting it in the hole and concreting it in.

An Easier Strainer

Once we got cleared up it was good to have a seat out front, this year we seem to have quite a few Wheatears around the house. Normally they are alongside the road when heading to Dry Harbour but this year they seem to be favouring the field. They are so tame that this one ‘on the post’ came right up to the table in front of the house. The camera for once was inside, but I still managed to get a pic’. A lovely wee bird, lovely colours. The cuckoo is hanging about too and Linda observed that we had much more birds than in Shieldaig but it is the time when we see lots passing through on route to their summer haunts.

The Friendly Wheatear

Saturday morning first thing I got stuck into the new fence, I had never ‘done’ this type of fence before but a call to my forester friend Bruce who directed me to the SNH website on fencing answered my questions. It is much more challenging to do 7 line wires and droppers but I think it is a much better looking fence than the usual Rylock. MV Aspire, our ferry did arrive as usual but with a private charter, Kevin came up for a walk and to deliver the gloves that I had got the wrong size of the day before. Their guests had a walk and a chat then they were off down by the Raasay shore looking for Dolphins which had been reported in the Sound earlier in the day

Saturday Start

I thought it would take a couple of days to do this fence but with L’s help we got most of it done on the day and now it is only the gates left and to top the strainers. It will be good to shut out our mobile mowers the sheep, for a while. They leave too much evidence of their visits.

Saturday Finish (almost)

Sunday was an in house day, catching up on housework, a bit of painting, paperwork and watching a bit of telly. We did have a walk looking for the missing ewes and lambs, we found one but the other will be in a hollow somewhere out the back. The day was greyish but calmer than the barometer would have you believe. Our visiting yacht never moved until mid afternoon, just when the wind got up. But we think instead of heading North it ended up heading to Portree, another yacht or maybe the same one came out of Portree later that afternoon and was heading East? There are a few about.

Heading Out

I was writing this last night when the power went off, not unusual but it has happened a few times lately, two hours later it did it again, dammit!!! I must have got the reset wrong. So there I was last night sorting out the reset on the computer out in the shed at 10pm. Whilst I was doing that I was thinking about this blog and was counting up what we have to ‘fix’ here. There are 13 working buildings, 5 vehicles, 2 boats, various outboards, 2 generators, 2 mobile generators, various petrol powered small tools, 40 sheep and maybe 100 deer, no wonder things need fixing.

4 Season’s in one day to-day (Tuesday), west, east, north, south wind, rain, hail, sleet, snow, glorious sunshine, now flat calm and a sunset, what strange weather. As I start to write this it has gone very calm and quiet.

Just looked out the window and the last ewe, no 10 is in the process of having its lamb. It is last light around 9pm, there is not a lot we can do but wait and see!!

Last Weeks But Much The Same

This was last week but it is much the same tonight with two yachts rafted up on the East side of the Bay. They came in late that is three so far this week. Yesterday’s yacht, a charter from Skye Yachts was crewed by some Swiss guys, it arrived in snow. But they were happy to get a shower and sample some of our whisky.

RedBay

We had a visit from a very fancy RIB too that day, I found out later is was Red Bay Ribs from Ireland’s owner. That was Monday, quite a change from the previous week where every day was wall to wall sunshine. The Archaeology parties annual week went well with good weather enabling them to cover a lot of ground.

The Archaeology Party

They all went home with suntans and new discoveries.

Archaeologist have T Breaks too

Through the window we could see them enjoying the sun at their lunch, it did not take the hens long to smell crumbs.

Still Performing

Of course it is all about the sheep just now and the lambing has been the best, not enough ewe lambs but that is the way it goes.

The Spring Work Continues

There are lots of ‘wee’ jobs to do and with the sunny weather it was good to crack on, with L’s brother and his friend Brendon here it was good to get a couple of extra hands to muck in. The sheep had been jumping in and out of our herb garden.

Dry At Last

During the winter the gate entrances turn to porridge and it was great to get this one done, I often sank up to my knees in it. Just a one more to do.

Fencing Delivery

Mid week we got a fencing delivery on a flat calm sunny day, we also needed fuel with the landing craft being a bit later this year we are running short, so Kevin came to pick up the cans for some kerosene.

Poly Tunnel Tidy up

With it drying up fast we decided to tidy up around the poly tunnel and drain it. The years of growth around it had choked everything so with a view to leaving it open this year it will be good to have it properly drained.

Every Night a Feast

Every night the meals were pretty good and it was Tapas/seafood Thursday night, it did not last long. Brendon remarked that ‘you guys certainly eat well here’!!!!!!

Late Night Arrival

Friday night the fuel arrived but too late to unload, the forecast was not too bad for Saturday but with no one coming out it was a good chance to get a load over.

Kevin With The Whisky Table

I went down to the pontoon to arrange the mornings unloading and was offered a dram, not having been known to refuse we had a good crack around the saloon table for half an hour, Kevin on the water!!

Fuel At Last

Saturday morning it was an early start and with the fuel to unload and three trips from Dry Harbour with the archaeologists luggage it promised to be busy. The weather had broken and it was very cold with a North West wind building. The sea looked pretty rough but the report was that it was a stable sailing.

A Quiet Saturday

I got on with unloading the fuel and it was calm enough in the bay to get the MV Boat alongside the new pier and the fuel lifted off.

Getting The Feet Up

Sunday we tried to finish early and eventually got up to the cabin for a few hours r&r. The film on Sunday night was ‘Maleficient’. Basically Sleeping Beauty but worth a watch.

Gardening

Back to the list last Monday and the herb boxes over at the cottages needed a wee lift, a generous amount of mulch/compost brought over Friday night and fertiliser was applied and fingers crossed the deer don’t eat the results.

Escapee

The weather contrast this week is chalk and cheese, one minute freezing next blue skies, warm sun. The lambs are good at getting into trouble and this one regularly finds a way through the fence only to start bawling for its mother.

Snow Showers

Nothing more miserable than wet snow and with no 10 still to lamb we were keeping a close watch.

And on the Other Side

Over to the other side after I took the last picture and this is the contrast, even in a small area it can be so different .

After the Rain

Yesterday, Tuesday it was much the same and with the sheep trashing the grass in front of the house the pressure is on to get the fence up. I put in 5 strainers by hand yesterday, not my most favourite job and there is always one stone in the hole trying to defeat you. There it is to the left. I took this picture just after the snow shower and had not noticed the lens was soaked.

One of the strainers I put in was on the new sheep fence heading over to the sea end at the shore just North of here. When I arrived I was delighted to see the first Great Northern Diver very close in by the shore. A beautiful bird but I don’t think they nest on Rona, the only  fresh water loch has little or no fish in it must read the bird book!

5 Strainer Posts Later

It dried up though and ended up a good evening with a reasonable sunset. Two yachts came in late and rafted up across the bay, could have been a school trip. The crews looked pretty young.

Just as we were going to bed no 10 ewe started lambing, there was not a lot we could do at that time and of course at 2 or 3 am in the morning the rain started hammering down. At 5am it was light enough to see, so as I was not sleeping I got up, dressed and went round the sheep. It was great to see that no 10 was a good mother and her ‘male’ lamb was very strong, fed but very wet. I dried it off but left it to it and this morning after a night of rain it is shakily walking about following its mother. Now, in the glorious sunshine!!

That’s the last one, great.

It has been one of the easiest lambings on Rona this year. Almost one lamb every day and sunshine to boot. We had a couple of days of heavy rain where we put the small lambs in the barn but otherwise all the ewes lambed well and the lambs are bouncing about, great fun.

Bouncing About

Sometimes the heat gets a bit much and they are ‘flakers’!!

Flakers

On wet days they will find a corner to shelter.

No Heat Here

The sheep are never far away when the feed bag comes out despite the sunshine the grass is still very slow to come.

Early Morning feed

Apart from the lambs it has been (as usual) a busy week. Ably assisted by Calum we found the sunshine a great encouragement to get things done.

At Last

I had finished the fence down at the shore I had been trying to do all winter, I had started it in sunshine but the rain that was forecast came a bit earlier than planned and it very quickly turned to the Battle of the Somme. So wet it has been it does not take much to turn it back into mud. So I abandoned that and noted that we would return to it when Calum came.

Clear Up

After the winter storms and the general decay it is always a good time to have a spring clean.

Rescue

The first job for Calum was to help lift the IBC that had been blown off the pontoon in the winter storms out onto the shore (at low tide) for the pick up after the flood.

Pick Up.

We towed that back to base and made a plan to do a tidy up around the shore later.

Path Work

Sometimes when you cannot get the digger in you just have to get going with the shovel. There was plenty of discussion about Calum’s Road when we were doing this!!!!

Bad Timing

With the plan  made for a boat trip in the evening, I set of for Dry Harbour to pick up Lorraine. I felt a bump as I caught a stone on the road and when I arrived at the cottages I found that I had a puncture (and no spare). It must have been the only time I have ever driven to Dry Harbour with my slippers on. So it was not the most comfortable hike back to get the recovery team. No harm done, we quickly replaced the wheel and got back to get the boat ready for an evening sail.

Monkey Rock

It was a beautiful evening with a promise of more for the next 5 days ahead. We sailed round to Dry Harbour, there was a lid from one of the fish farm boxes on the shore to pick up but when we got there it had disappeared, possibly the wind had lifted it into the sea. No harm we found some more plastic and headed back, the rocks were well lit up with the low sun, very dramatic.

Staffin From Rona

There was a length of fish farm feed pipe on the shore just inside Big Harbour and it has caused problems before so we decided to lift that and pull it back to the beach in front of the bothy for pick up in the morning. The sunset was stunning and it had been a very enjoyable sail.

Sunset Tow

Saturday the Archaeology party arrived for their annual survey. Lorraine’s brother came too with his work colleague all the way from Canada. It was flat calm, a bit foggy but a super day. We had everything ready for the ferry coming then I remembered Kevin’s order of two ‘Rona’ fish boxes. He was just in the harbour when I finished the ‘M V Aspire’ stencil and got the name onto the boxes. Quite incredible to consider that there were thousands of wooden fishboxes on the go a few decades ago and now you can hardly find one. To date I’ve made about 30 and am just about to order some timber for another ten.

We got the visitors installed and spent the rest of the day catching up. The plan then for a boat trip to see what was about. Going down through the Gap between Raasay and Rona we were treated to a wonderful display from the Sea Eagles. They seem to be living around Eilean Tighe and are often ‘floating’ about there.

Sea Eagles in The Gap

Dave is a keen hill  walker and was looking to explore the South end of Rona and the Islands so I took them round in the boat and dropped them off.

Enjoying The View.

There was a bit of activity on the Range with a sub’ lying off RTB (Applecross), there were a few fishing boats about but no sails of approaching yachts. Early yet!!

Ongoing Repairs

The list of jobs is not getting any shorter but it is good to tick them off as done, this chimney cowl was blown off in the winter gales and I only found it last week when I was looking for a lamb one morning.

Late Evening Cloud

It had been such a good week, week end and so warm. It was no surprise to have two yachts sail in last night late. We had a bottle of Prosecco up at the cabin but no film last night, too warm and bright but when we came down from the cabin the sky was shaping up for a lovely sunset. Here I am Monday mid day writing the blog and as promised blue skies but a cooler wind is blowing from the South East.

Rona

Easter Sunday, the sunniest and warmest day of the year so far. A foggy start but promising.

Foggy Start

Back to last Tuesday and we were gearing up for the weekend, trying to get things going for the season, although sun at this time gives us a false sense of the season being upon us. The weather has a habit of taking us back to the winter pretty abruptly.

Creels Out

The boat is in the water, so a chance of some crabs would be good as we have had very little in the way of shellfish for a while.

Cutting the cake

MV Aspire came out Thursday to pick up Calum and Irene but also with a return of wedding guests to visit and to see us cutting the cake.

Happy Days

We entertained our visitors and then cut the cake ( no pictures, we were cutting the cake)!! A couple of hours later the ferry had to return as appointments were booked for 3pm.

MV Seaflower First Trip

MV Seaflower had just arrived with their first day trippers of 2015, so quite a crowd were gathered on the pontoon for MV Aspires departure. With the tide low I had to take them out to the boat which had been left on the mooring.

Ready for off.

Casting Off.

Friday was tidy up day and sorting out the sheep because the first spring lamb arrived during the night, it was very wet so we took the lamb in to get properly dry and to give it a boost.

The First Lamb of 2015

At 4pm we finished and headed out to lift the creels hopefully get some crab and to shift them ‘to a better place’!

Lifting Creels

The creels were in a pile and the bait was old so we were not hopeful. But we did get enough for a ‘wee’ feed.

Not A Great Catch.

Shooting the fleet.

We shot the fleet and headed home, smiles all round after a calm hour at sea.

Happy Days.

Saturday our weeks guests departed on a misty morning.

Misty Morning.

Our new guests were the Salmen family who had taken all three cottages, they were a bit damp with the rain but I promised them sun later in the day (I had seen X C Weather).

Invasion

Just when the ferry was arriving we spotted another lamb, number 2 this year.

Our Second Lamb

Back to Easter Sunday and very soon the sky cleared, deep blue skies appeared only to be streaked with many vapour trails, a busy day for the airlines.

A Scottish Moment

Mid morning a call came from the cottages the escapee sheep were in the garden at Skyescape. The view from the top of the hill was as ever, stunning.

Clear View

The escapees were looking apprehensive when I arrived.

Apprehension.

I caught the ewe quickly but the wild lamb just went straight through the fence and disappeared, as usual. I delivered the ewe to the lambing field and hopefully she will stay there for a while.

There was a lot of chat on the radio from yachts, the first of the season and sure enough they arrived, en masse. 3 for lunch and 1 overnight. Nice to see the Skye Charter Yachts out and about again.

Lunch Break

We enjoyed a seat outside after 6 and just took in the calm  evening, very warm and quiet. The birds were busy and there were quite a few fishing and commercial boats out in The Sound.

A Promise of things to Come.

Last thing, we were checking the lambs and putting the hens in for the night and two of our ‘yachties’ arrived looking for showers, we were officially closed but…………………….

7.30pm, (we are closed at 7pm) sorry!!!!!!

Roll on the summer..