Idle chit-chat

Now I'm feeling homesick. I was brought up on the coast of the Firth of Clyde, opposite Arran. In my dreams, the big bungalow we left fifty three years ago is still home! We could see the Paps of Jura from our dormer windows. Most years I go to Mull where I have friends and just love the island ambiance. The air feels different when I step off the Calmac ferry at Craignure.

Dear twizzle, I look out for you whenever I visit Gransnet. Funny thing is, I feel that I know you...

At long last, the wild winds and rain have moved away from Kintyre and the scene outside the window is stunning. There is barely a ripple on the sea and the islands of the inner Hebrides are standing proud against a clear blue sky. The seal at Ronachan Point are sunbathing on the rocks.

Our home is small and the little area of back garden is wild-ish as we consider it to be the birds' sanctuary. An ancient copse borders the back fence and the ground beyond is strewn with golden wild Iris and huge ferns. Any day soon the mother deer will bring her fawn to rest beneath the ferns. We have some beautiful photos of long-legged, liquid-eyed fawn, not much larger than a dog. It is difficult to resist popping outside with the camera for yet more images. You mention the heather. We have a decent amount of it in the front garden rockery. I've been trimming it this afternoon...the midges are not yet too much of a nuisance and the swifts and house martins are doing their bit to keep them under control.

With love from sunny Kintyre

supernana, your writing is so descriptive that it draws the reader in. You have painted a picture in my mind and I feel that I could reach out and touch the heather. Wonderful.

Your great enthusiasm, and the way that you describe the world around you, reminds me of Neil Oliver (the presenter of 'Coast'). He also has a great ability to captivate an audience.

lucid very descriptive I was there in the campervan with you

supernana would love to share a with you next time we are up your neck of the woods.

lucid...yes...Haiku. I used to attend buddhist meetings [long ago] and it was there that I was first introduced to Haiku. Seem to remember one example depicting the leap of a frog into a pool. Like you, I love sounds in the night...the shingle skittering as the waves lap the shore, the wind whispering through the large willow, the hoot of the owl, bark of the fox and low appreciative meow of the feral cat as it cleans it's whiskers [after supper] and ambles down the path beneath the bedroom window.

Feel free to copy Supernana....do you mean Haiku? I have written some Haiku as I like the tightness of form and brevity but this poem is not one. I was sleeping overnight in a campervan so you can imagine the noise the rain made....but it was glorious lying awake listening to all the wonderful sounds outside.

lucid I love your poem and will make a copy if you don't mind. Your style reminds me of Japanese verses -- cannot recall the term used. Keep it up - you have a gift.

Never a bore Supernana you have a lovely way with words. I have to track down my poem as when I moved 2 years ago a folder with my poetry in went astray! I know I should have kept back up but I only write for my self. I did, however, give a copy of The Otter to my friend and I'll see if she still has it.
This is a poem I wrote a few years ago while staying with my friends:
Drumming Rain
Crashing Surf
Rumbling Pebbles
Lowing Cattle
Breaking Dawn
Chattering Finches
Mewing Buzzards
Screaming Gulls
Quiet Night
On Luing!

glassortwo...If you ever come to Kintyre, we'll share a glassor two...

My partner and I go up to Scotland every September to help on a classic car rally, this year will be the seventh year we've been. We usually start the rally at Lockerbie and then day by day we work our way up into the highlands. We visit the Isle of Skye, Loch Ness, Loch Lomond, Oban,Perth, Inverness and various other places, we stay in different hotels each night, the rally lasts four days. My daughter lives in Nairn so we after the rally we go and stay for a few days. The scenery up there is glorious and each year we go we like it even more, I love seeing the deer and adore the higland cattle.

supernana you have not been a bore I have so enjoyed your posts,it has made me think that it is too long since we visited your coast line and that I need to address that!!

lucid What very nice comments from you and other Gransnetters. At last, after so much strong wind, torrential rain and far too much damage to our garden, the sun has put in an appearance. The islands of Jura, Isla and Gigha [not too far from us] are standing proudly against a blue-ish sky. We get the most amazing summertime sunsets here. The sun slowly sinks behind Jura and turns the sky deepest red...the islands then turn from a pastel lavender through to lilac until they are deepest purple and the sea is flooded with colour. I cannot resist the urge to dash outside and take photos and so have far too many for the album. I would love to read your poem about the otter. Yes, you're so right, they are big, sturdy creatures and terribly shy. About seven years ago, before our home was built, we were visiting the site on which it now stands and, as we got into our car - parked beside the beach - we saw a large puma wild cat strolling across an escarpment. We could hardly believe our eyes and imagined that people would think that we were telling fibs...however, we were told of numerous sitings in and around Kintyre and were advised to tell the Lochgilphead newspaper as every siting is recorded. We also had a wild peacock [from we know not where] come through the forest and take up residence near our garden. Boc [as we called him] would "help" me with the gardening and sunbathe on top of my husband's car! After one bitterly cold December night, he wasn't seen again. Hope that I haven't been too much of a bore

Granieee there are several hotels in Oban....

Hello all
we went to Oban earlier this year it was lovely, we stayed in the Hotel (I think there is only one (not sure if I can name it) as part of a coach tour.
Also a couple of years ago we went to Gairloc (sp) we love the parts of Scotland that we have visited, also we met a lovely couple from Edinburgh.
We also live by the sea, we have Oyster catchers and other sea birds.
Still a novelty, I did a midnight walk for the local Hospice and commented about the lovely smell of the sea. Other walkers said ??? what smell?? as I said its all new to us.
Love and hugs

I agree you shouldn't go anywhere for the weather and we don't but when you go for the hill walking and you can't see the hills because they are shrouded in mist and it is peeing it down it doesn't endear you to a place. We are not fair weather walkers but there have to be limits to what you can safely do. We will give Scotland another go at some stage I'm sure. We don't give up easily!

We went to Skye in June a couple of years ago and it rained and it rained but I really did enjoy it. I stayed beside Loch Dunvegan and watching the seals and seeing the whales feeding at Neist point. I don't go to Scotland for the weather, I can go abroad for that.

em ,Would love to 'do' your part of Scotland, my uncle was a Marine he was stationed in Leith for a while, he met and married a lassie from Cowdenbeath just after WW2. I always loved her accent and the phrases she used, she was quite exotic here in NW England!

Artygran The car park in Oban always floods when it rains...I've lost count of the number of times I've had to wade through on my many visits. Don't let that put you off though...the sun does shine, I have seen it.
Supernana I am now yearning for July....on one of my visits a big dog otter ambled through my friend's garden and we all sat spellbound, hardly daring to breathe. It was the most amazing thing...and I hadn't realized how big they are - only ever having see their heads popping up from the sea. I was even inspired to write a poem about it. Do keep telling us about your views...I love the way you write.

Artygran - please do try again. My city - Dundee - featured in the papers a couple of days ago. The bad news was that there is a slightly higher incidence of skin cancer but the good news was that we are Scotland's sunniest city.The east coast is lovely. Start at the Borders - maybe Kelso on the famous salmon river, the Tweed, then on to Edinburgh and travelingl north through Fife with the lovely coastal villages of the East Neuk. Visit St Andrews before crossing the Tay to Dundee. In a couple of years we'll have the new Victoria and Albert museum in a spectacular situation reaching out onto the river.Further north there is cosmopolitan Aberdeen - the capital of the oil industry. That's before you hit the spectacular Highlands and the malt whisky trail.Compare and contrast with supernana's idyll and you'll see what variety there is to enjoy north of the border. Sorry about your rainy trips - don't let them put you off any longer!. .

I envy you your idyllic Scottish home - every time we have been to Scotland (three times) it has rained... and rained..... and rained..... It rained so much on our only visit to Oban that it flooded the car park we were parked in and we had to wade back to our car! (We took refuge in the distillery!) I have yet to see much of Scotland at all! On our second visit, we drove all the way up to Inverness from Fort Wiliam and back and never saw a thing! I'm told it is very beautiful. We are now experts at driving around in very wet weather! Do you think we should persevere and give it another go?

supernana your otter reminds me of a cottage we stayed in on Isle of Danna, there was an otter who came everyday fishing and we would sit in the fishermans cottage watching him with his catch. That was one of the most relaxing holidays I have had, we would wander along the shore to see the seals, and the weather luckily was fantastic, that coast line is so beautiful.

lucid and harrigran...Today the sea is huge and a beautiful teal green. Haven't spotted the regular ferry to Isla, so perhaps the winds are too strong. We often watch an otter that swims down the wee burn beside our cottage and goes hunting in the sea. If he gets lucky he sits on a vast rock and eats his catch. Both feral cats visited last night. By the amount of whisker-licking, they appear to approve of the super-duper cat food that was donated by some kind friends. The deer are keeping a low profile at the moment. There is plenty of lush vegetation for them to enjoy. Any day now though, the latest fawn will be left to sleep under the cover of the ferns until mother deer returns at the end of day. In winter time, one particular deer will take chopped apple from my husband's hand. It's a mutual admiration society...

Oh yes supernana, a wonderful place to live. We were on Islay the year they did springwatch there. We greatly enjoyed Jura too, especially the walled garden. My son loved it that much he called his daughter Isla

supernana I know where you are! I can now picture where you live.You can see Jura from Luing and also Mull. Went on a Seafari last time I visited - through the Corryvrekan whirlpools, very exhilarating. It is such a beautiful area - I usually visit my friends a couple of times a year but couldn't get up to Scotland at all last year so am suffering withdrawal symptoms. Should have been up in the spring but my new granddaughter arrived 3 weeks early and so I ended up going south to visit them instead. Am so looking forward to my July visit.