Eriska, Scottish Island

Weather wc 5th July

After a great end to June with pleasant sunshine dunring the day and even a wee breeze in the evening to keep the dreaded midges at bay it looks like a change is on the horizon but at least we will be able to refill our water wells and dampen the lawns, the onluy down side is that the weeds in th garden do seem to be growing faster than n ever! well whats ahead this week?

Today: Mist will disperse after dawn leaving sunny spells and showers, some heavy and thundery and more so through the afternoon. A southeasterly breeze will develop across the water

Monda: Further sunny or clear spells with occasionally heavy showers through the afternoon so keep the brolly close at hand!

Tuesday: With a freshening northerly breeze developing there will start to be a change in the weather.

Wednesday: Becoming mainly dry with sunny spells as winds ease durning the afternoon.

Thursday We will see variable amounts of cloud across the region with the best of any sunny spells on the higher hills.

Friday: There is a slight risk of showers on the higher hills but at Eriska it should remain dry.

Saturday: The weather becomes more unsettled heading into the weekend, with showers or longer periods oof rain expected in most parts

 

Robin Buchanan-Smith Rose

A very kind guest arranged for a Rose to be named after my father in his memory and once the new Rose had been created a couple of plants were sent to my mother and she in turn has manged to create a few more shoots which have been given to close friends. It was therefore very appropriate yesterday when I received a copy of an image of the plant in full bloom.

The last week in June and first in July- Wimbledon fortnight , was always an incredibly important time of the year for my father as he was a very active supporter of the competition finding the highs and lows of the tennis far more important than any happening at the hotel indeed there had to be a huge happening in the hotel to draw him away from the televsion when later matches were being held and I am certain that the antics of Murray this week would have ensured that we never saw him.

Anyway true to form the Robin Buchanan-Smith Rose bloomed during Wimbledon and even though it looks a bit jaded in the early evening and wilts in the midday sun it soon picks up after a drink and this one in particular has been fed on donkey manure, hence the green vibrant leaves so my father would have appreciated that his beloved donkeys, whom he looked after in the field behind his house remain loyal to him and keep his memory flourishing!!

Boat trip!

One of the guests staying with us this week was entertaining friends from overseas and he thought it would be nice for them to see the atlantic. After my suggestion of standing on the bridge- a kind of "Bridge over the Atlantic" was dismissed as foolish- but a good value option in my opinion, we then started to explore other opportunities. Our first option was on the Fairline Boat sailing out of Dunstaffanage marina however they were fully booked so we then looked for alternatives and one guest mentioned that had bumped into- hopefully not literally- a boat when they were over at the Boathouse on Kingairloch. So after a wee bit of digging we were put in touch with Coastal Connection- a rib with canopy which offers trips through the connel falls, out to Tobermoray and even south to islay.

So after breakfast they were collected from our pier, possibly the last users before the replacement is installed next week, and set off for the Atlantic!After leaving the pier at a sedate speed it soon opened up and set off in search of adventure. in truth with 500hp on the stern and a top speed of 40 notts they soon covered th ground. Minky whale, basking shark and porpoise started the day then sea eagles and castles to finish off with a quick pop into the Atlantic although maybe my suggestion of lunch in New York was a bit adventurous. A well worthwhile trip and now another bow to our offering which once the pier is finished will make a great addition!

 

Mint manoeuvres!!

When we built the last two spa suites in the garden we had to relocate the old green house which had been recovered by my parents in 1973 when they arrived at eriska. They had been faced with a weak wooden frame with little glass and a great deal of wild plant life escaping to the sunshine with little control. After killing back the weeds and re-glazing the frame it had been utilized but in reality times had changed and newer materials had made modern glasshouses far more productive and it had outlived its usefulness.

So when the new spa suites were begun it was removed and the area in front of the green house which housed the rhubarb, horseradish and mint was all raked over and the roots transplanted and the remainder removed to the old dump area by the driving range. Due to the time of year and lack of attention some transplantation worked better than others for example the rhubarb is flourishing but the mint and horseradish has suffered and whether it will ever be as rampant as before will need to be seen but probably the greatest fault is the fact that we have moved them from really dead ground with little drainage or nutrients to ideal growing conditions and clearly neither are really suited to the new habitat.

However the good news is that the remainder of the roots that we simply dumped in a large pile by the driving range has adapted and grown like wild fire so last night during dinner and anode round of pimms was ordered I had to set off over the croquet lawn and off to the driving range in search of mint, luckily a returned with a large clump as a mojito had also been requested and even between I returned smelling of a combination of spearmint and lemon mint!!  Just shows that sometimes natures course is better left on its own!

Weather w/c 28th June

This is probably my favourite time of the year as trhe days are as long as ever and the weather is reasonably predicatable- ie rain at wimbledon and sunshine at Eriska!! Well that is normally and whilst the latter sentiment seems to be true it also looks like being a hot and sticky week down south. Its funny to think that from now till Christmas the days will simply start getting shorter! But hopefully we will have some more summer before then- although a wee bit of rain to wet the gardens is always good otherwise the grass will soon start to turn- except the putting green where I am watering daily. So whats ahead next week

Today: A grey and overcast start with patchy mist a bit like yesterday although skies will brighten during the day.

Monday: Some bright or sunny spells but becoming mostly cloudy,by the evening

Tuesday:  Early mist lifting then mainly dry and bright with sunny spells developing. A scattering of showers developing later. Warm or very warm in any sunshine, winds mostly light.

Wednesday: Bright and very warm. Some showers developing, especially through Wednesday.

Thursday: Although it will remain dry and bright the increasing humidity will allow some patchy rain when some will be heavy and thundery, mainly inland.

Friday: Hot or very hot and humid at first with scattered thunderstorms especially across higher grounds, some of those thunderstorms becoming severe with hail and torrential downpours causing localised flooding.

Saturday: A slightly fresher front will mean these thunderstorms will move away and it becomes cooler and fresher. However, some showers or longer spells of rain are likely on the hills

 

Midge Forecast?

One of the questions asked by many visitors to Scotland is when is the midge season closely followed up by a question about ferocity of the wee insect. In truth we are very luck at Eriska being by the sea and almost always the breeze keeps the little pests at bay. Indeed we have three midge magnet machine to tempt the bugs away from the main house and we also now sell excellent repellent called "Stop bite". However it is still an issue in that people are dissuaded from trying Scotland because of the horror of the midge when in reality if you stay away from still damp areas you may never meet a midge.

Anyway I think hysteria is about to hit as I was alerted to the start of the new midge forecast on STV tonight. The Daily  express  has covered the story and makes it sound like an epidemic and I think grading areas from 1-5 whilst giving the hay fever measurer and pollen counter a summer job may dissuade even more. Anyway lets wait and see what the mass public think and indeed I wonder who will be sponsoring the event- not Visit Scotland- I hope!

Eriska receives Silver Award from Whisky Magazine

It is often the case that the best awards and commendations come from anonymous nominations where they are least expected and therefore most surprise- such as the Catey award last year with nominations from fellow hoteliers in the industry then voted on by a panel of experts and then awarded with no warning and therefore most delight. However there are some awards that whilst they require further information or even images to help with the actual ceremony they certainly remain independent.

The same could however be said for the recently announced awards from the Whisky Magazine but in many ways the accolade was supported by the hotel rather than being completely independent. Yes we were asked to submit and application but in truth I had forgotten about the effort in putting this together as it was some time ago, but to achieve in Scotland- the home of Whisky- a silver award when only 4 other of our peers have achieved such a rating is a real recognition of how Fabrice and his team behind the bar have moved our offering forward.

Eriska's commendation highlighted the tasting trilogies we offer and the knowledge of the team behind the bar along with the extensive list of malts that we have strived to build and serve. The bar in the library whilst only a very small part of our operation, does become te hub of the evening with many guests using it before dinner and then, given the badgers nightly visits, many stopping off on their way back to bed for a wee dram. We were therefore delighted when it received the accolade from the Whisky Magazine and although I am sure it will spur Fabrice on to ask for more funds to indulge his passion for offering an even wider range of malts, it will also encourage him and the team to insure that we continue the good work and carry on spreading the good malt word!! 

Weather w/c 21st June

Well we have reached the middle of summer and it is either the longest day or shortest night depending on your point of view but the real pessimists will start to point out that the days only really get shorter from here till Christmas and that even the weather starts to deteriorate. however we hope that will not be the case and that being the middle of summer the last 4 weeks could be replicated so lets keep our fingers crossed. At least the long term forecast ie the next century- is for the general Scottish summers to become more sunny and warm although the downside will be an increase- if possible- in the winter rainfall! Anyway what of the shorter term ie this week?

Today: It will be rather dull and misty with rain or drizzle at times. However, later in the day it will becomey mostly dry but rather cloudy.

Monday: Rain will spread across the mountains and some of the rain could be heavy and it will continue, on and off all day so we may be lucky and miss it or we may think it has been with us all day!.

Tuesday: Starting off dull and damp but soon turning drier and brighter.

Wednesday: Dry with some bright or sunny spells and becoming very warm.

Thursday: A definite change in the conditions to largely fine and settled.

Friday: The fair conditions are set to continue with sunny spells, although there will be a continuing threat of persistent low cloud .

Saturday: In line with normal years as the country gears up for Wimbledon and the worries of rain the west coast will benefit from more settled conditions

 

Peir discussions near a conclusion

 Following on from lengthy and extensive discussions we seem to be reaching a conclusion as to our plans for the Pier. The good news is that it seems that the stalling and delay tactics will allow us to not only find a really good long term solution but we also potentially may be able to install the new facility sooner rather than later. This slight irony comes from the fact that we have through discussion discovered a potential solution lying close by and once we have ironed out the technical details we will be able to get started immediately.

The new plan involves replacing the current iron pier with a new floating structure, on the down side we will not be able to dock supertankers alongside as the pontoon with be at water level, but the positive side is that there will be no steep steps or potentially hazardous drops. The first stage will be to create a beachhead on the shore then attach pontoons which will stretch out as far as currently and then they will be tethered at low water to stop the tide playing too much havoc! it all sounds great and now we simply have to install and start using.

Discussions have taken place to arrange for the beachead to be created and then the pontoon can be floated round and attached. It willoffer us a much more stable and functional facility and will I hope create a safer enviroment. We also have thepossibility to remove the structure in the winter if the storms start to blow and it is going to come with a long term guarantee and support deal - or so Chay promises. It seems a long time since Chay replaced the wooden structure with steel deck and even longer still when he was painting the old wooden pier from a boat.

Broadband- broadly but not wisely!!

Its amazing and interesting to hear our government announce the huge expansion and development of digital technology within Britain when clearly other areas of the world are well ahead of us. It is slightly ironic that many around the world are watching the developments in Iran from contacts within the country and the clear widespread both availability and technologyy of communications when we in Britain struggle to even get a mobile phone signal through much of Scotland to even contact our local shop!

Over the last year I have been amazed by the development of technology that first we had internet connection through dial up in the office, then dial up in every room, then a broadband connection in the office and now broadband wireless in every room. However now we seem to have reached a bottleneck as with all-our nieghbours- many of them in the staff accommodation, now using the internet for television connections, music downloads and communication home the local exchange seems to be overloaded.

This became apparent when last week the installation of a new connection seemed to lead to others in the locality loosing theirs in turn as the engineer kept trying to find a satisfactory solution - simply pinching from another that was dormant - did not seem to work when they returned home and logged on and then were confronted by a lack of signal and so the search continued for a new link. Maybe the wisest thing to od would be to insure that all have the bare essential, and promised broadband link, before developing further speed increases? This would then allow us to consolidate the situation and may at least allow us to offer a consistent service and stop the need for Chay to spend his days on top of a ladder trying to assure us that the problem is outwith our control and not our technology!- Or so he is convincing us!