Eriska, Scottish Island

Weather wc 31st May

If I was asked for the best month to be at Eriska in terms of weather I would always in the past have predicted May as it tends to be the driest although not the hottest of the year, however over the last couple of years there definitely been a change and shift in weather patterns to a better forecast for June and if this is truly a slight shift then this year is a perfect example with the weather in the middle of May being slightly disappointing, (to say the least!) and at the end of May being near perfect and the start of June continuing the trend.

I always think that summer is here if we have a day when we use all the sun loungers and if I get home and remember leaving a cushion outside I think it will not get rained on overnight so I do not need to return to the house to put the cushion away- a pretty simplistic test but seems to work. So how many days next week will be like this!

Today: A dry and bright day with plenty of sunshine. Warm or very warm inland, but slightly cooler around some of the coasts with light onshore winds.

Monday A fine day with sunny spells, staying dry overnight with well broken cloud, clear skies at times. A few mist and fog patches

Tuesday: Dry with any low cloud and mist soon clearing. Bright with good sunny spells expected, perhaps a little hazy at times. Remaining warm or very warm. Light and variable winds.

Wednesday: A bright day with plenty of sunshine. Warm or very warm and winds remaining light.

Thursday: Mainly dry and bright start to the day but patchy rain possible later.

Friday: During the morning it willbecome noticeably cooler with more cloudy with showers, particularly on the hills. There will be a chilly northerly breeze bringing cool temperatures in the north.

Saturday:, The weather is rather changeable with a risk of showers or longer periods of rain for much of the region, which could turn locally heavy, however there will also be some dry weather. Temperatures near normal to rather cool, feeling cold at times in the north.

Eriska Road widening

Its amazing to think of the changes in transportation in the last century and hard to believe that Eriska, the main house, was infact built before the bridge and therefore before the drive was ever considered. I suppose when the house was built most of the materials would have been delivered by sea and then brought up on carts from the water. Anyway such is progress that we now have a mile of driveway to maintain and now with all the right to roam legislation and a certain amount of ambiguity about the rules and the term curtiliage it is in our interest not only to maintain but tend and nurture the driveway to Eriska.

When my parents bought Eriska they had to push the bushes aside on the drive to enter the island and indeed it was said that the previous owner of the island actually encouraged the local farmer to graze the driveway so that the entrance was less accessible - how times have changed - we have to look after the drive to help access and spend a great deal of time to keep the borders clear to help viewing oncomming traffic. However there is a rather difficult balance to this in that we need to increase visability whilst at the same time trying to insure that visitors maintain the recognised and requested speed limit of 20mph!!.

If we ever have an incident on the driveway then normally the tyre marks suggest a much greater speed being travelled than the occupants would suggest.We do however try to keep the undergrowth back and then we have our wonderful stones. These were put on the drive for two reasons firstly to stop lorries from running on the verges and secondly to try and persuade visitors to take caution and care. Given the large number of walkers on the drive it is important that drivers maintain the speed limit to increase safety, especially as many of the walkers seem to wear head phones and therefore wander oblivious to passing vehicles! Howeerv we do try and keep the width of the drive between the stones well abovbe the recommended limits so tis week , as we did 4 years ago we have been widening the drive and replacing the stones to keep the regulation distanmce between the edges. It s amazing the reaction tis has, some drivers see the stoines being more pronounced and tehrfore proceed with more cautiona nd otehrs see the increaseed gap as being an invitation to rally drive. However on the whole it has a calming effect, especially once the speedsters have clipped the stones!!! Its only a mile they have to drive at 20mph and if the maintain this speed then we wil all be safer and happier. Anyway the job is now done and the sunshine is out so we will have to wait for the next rain to wash the sides of the drive although Chay has brushed most of the debris off the surface- good practice for him at home!

Sound advice

Each year Iprepare a paper firstly looking back at what we have achieved in the previous 12 months and then setting out our plan for the next year and beyond. I normally circulate it to those in the need to know at Eriska and sometimes to some who don't seem to know! Anyway this year one of the trustees of Eriska, (who happens to work for a bank!) decided not only to read but also comment on my observations.

He has never had such interest in the past but I suppose this is similar to many bankers when looking at business in that when things are rosy and going well they just carry on regardless and whenthe economy contracts and things don't look so positive they start to knit pick and find fault. Anyway on this occasion, i like many others was painting apretty gloomy picture and set out mys tall to prepare for the wost so the trustee deiced this was time for a bit of advice and wrote suggestiong two new sources of business, the first was the wedding market and the second the significant birthday market- as in his words- in a recession everyone loves a good party!

So heeding his words when a local family contacted me to see if they could hold their mothers 70th birthday at eriska last night I politely accepted and let the matter ride. However there was as stroke of luck involved as last night with the Football Final in full swing and several guests choosing to dine in their rooms we would have had a quiet dining room however given our extra birthday diners we managed quite a party and indeed I was glad of the Trustees good advice! 

No more talk about geothermal heating

For some time now  we have been interested in alternative forms of heating systems in preference to our reliance on fossil fuel, so when I designed my own house I saw this as a great opportunity to not only install but also trial Geothermal systems for the future use of the main house.

It was, as with all these things, not only a learning process for us but also a really steep learning curve for the installers. Initially they misquoted me for a system, so they said, for a single phased supply and then they had to change it as it was only suitable for a three phase supply. then they supplier a manifold which did not match the connections but we eventually go there. Anyway it seems like every time someone asks me about it, they catch me on a day when n all is rosy and warm and I am happy to endorse the system. Indeed when it is working it is great and certainly a better system than fossil fuel usage. it keeps the house dry, warm and very consistently pleasant and for that reason I would recommend it.

However I have also now noticed the direct correlation between me speaking highly of the system and breakdowns which seem to go hand in hand. First it was a faulty control panel, then a compressor, then a by passing valve and only last week after spouting forth about the benefits of the system, I returned home to cold water as the supply had shorted out. luckily electrician Chay was on hand with his tool bag and tester and he soon identified the fault, although the smell of melted wires and burn marks on the wall should have been a giveaway, and now I am back in business.

So no more talk of the benefits of the system, no more  fossil fuel preaching and hopefully no more problems!!

Weather w/c24th May

Its hard to believe after yesterdays afternoon of rain that we are only a month away from the longest day although it did brighten up and the evening became quite pleasant with bright blue skies and much longer light, infact almost better daylight than we had around tea time! Anyway that is one of the wonders of Scotland with no two days the same never mind no two hours and that what keeps it everchanging!!

Anyway what ahead for the next week is summer just around the corner?

Today: A mainly dry and bright start, occasional sunny spells however, cloud tending to thicken, outbreaks of rain and drizzle developing on the hills.

Monday: Mostly cloudy but generally dry, although outbreaks of rain and drizzle still possible

Tuesday: Still plenty of cloud around with occasional rain or showers. However, some drier and brighter spells expected too.

Wednesday: A bright and breezy day with scattered showers later outbreaks of rain and strong winds on

Thursday:getting more settled and  becoming mainly dry and bright

Friday: Is expected to be mainly dry, but rather cloudy, though a little rain or drizzle is expected across some  hills.

Saturday:It looks like settling down for several days with increasing amounts of sunshine, and most places should remain completely dry.

.

Raes Revisit the Sculptures

It amazing to think that it is now over 14 months since we arranged for our two new additions to the Eriska herd and even funnier to think that we set out on this path with no such intentions in mind. In reality I saw the extension to the spa at the stables as an opportunity to showcase some young scottish artists giving them the opportunity to display their work on the two plinths. In reality both fate and destiny played a greater part, firstly finding Ronald Raes work on the internet and adding his details to those possibilities, secondly discovering that we had mutual aquantances in our interior architect Jack Notman who was related to Pauline, Ronnies wife, and thrdly having wished for a certain piece and to find that it was already promised to another so we chose another and then by destiny the owner of the coo

 contacted Ronnie and asked about a trade with us as he preffered our piece to his.

Anyway after much discussion Chay and I decided that we would abandon the plan for the display on the North plinthes from the Stables reception, for the moment and we worked with Ronnie to impose the new pieces in varying points of the island. They were never seen as the foundations of a tour or display, and hence the lack of signage, but merely as pieces that visitors would come across and make their own judgement on. To this end they both vary in style and composition, although the locations do seem to fit them to a T with the more refined Horse amidst the golf course with the firth of Lorne and Appin in the back ground and the Coo in a more rugged positioin amongst the grass with the Atlantic in the distance.

The Horse is kept company by wayward golfers and the Coo has its own friends in the two donkeys who keep it alive come rain or shine whether the sun warms the stone and keeps them cool or as it was this wek damp and windy keeping them a little drier. The good thing is, and fortuneate thing is, that Ronnie appreciated the life in the pieces and the fact that the location must grow with the art and only then will they reach their full potential. Hence the benefit of them having their friendly donkeys to keep them in touch with the world around. We always justified the cost of the pieces by the simple judgement that once in place would Chay and I miss them if they were taken away and hence they have a value to us and hopefully will remain at Eriska for the foreseeable future.

Day of learning

Well its been quite a week for learning, firstly on Monday Ihad to attend a course to qualify me to be able to apply for my Personal License so that Icould legally serve alcohol here at Eriska after september the 1st!. This is part of the recent shake up in Scotland to all the licensing legislation and has meant that the course I took, and exam I passed 3 years ago, has now become invalid!! So I I have been reminded, gently , that I needed to go on a refresher course and dutifully turned up  listened and learned all about the wickedness of drink and the wonders of drugs, a subject I knew nothing about and now am probably amazed by how little I still know but obviously i learnt enough as I managed to pass the exam and await my certification.

Then today I attended an industry briefing in Edinburgh covering such wonders as legislation and all the red tape and continual changes imposed by Holyrood, Westminster and Europe and more importantly the facts and figures behind employment trends and training. By lunch time I was completely confused and utterly depressed about the mountain we have to climb if we are to train and improve in terms of world competitors. The gulf between our academic and industry seemed to be growing and the relevance of what was taught and expected seems to be drifting apart.

Then after lunch, if the morning had given me downers, I was then treated to my uppers as I was given a tour of the new Campus of Queen Margaret University just outside Edinburgh. It is an amazing purpose built campus on a reasonably green field site just inside the bypassand whilst the achitecture and buildings are striking the changes to university life is gob smacking. Everywhere I looked were either computer terminals or hot desks with students on their own laptops, the classrooms and theaters were all high tech and multi purpose and the courses seemed to be relevant and essential - indeed if Scotland is to progress in world tourism this must be the way forward.

I was invited to the campus as we have been asked to help as Eriska will be part of the case study set aside for the MBA and Masters degrees next year. Whilst I am happy to help and enthusiastic about getting involved in the course I am really not entirely sure what we are letting ourselves in for but as they say "in for a penny in for a pound" . Even robert has been involved with his knowledge and experience in the kitchen and sourcing local suppliers being used as part of the study and so now they simply require students to enroll and then we can see what advice and suggestions they can come up with to help us develop and think differently!  No one can say that they are not at least trying to link with industry!

Anna obilges for Spirit of the West to complete!

Back last summer I attended a presentation to launch the concept of a festival in the middle fo may top celebrate the best of the west coast in terms of whisky, food, arts and crafts and drama. the concept was to hold a 2 day festival at Inverarary Castle and bring togtehr all these elements in a real celebration of the west. It seemed like a good plan and the date at that time seemed ideal, may being the best month for predictable weather and before the midges arrived,  amidst the whisky monthto help sell the concept and also within the calender for homecoming 2009 to allow maximum support. This all seemed ideal but by Friday the world seemed to be conspiring, firstly locally a significant shinty cup Tie ended up being planned for the Saturday, nationally the pipe Band Championship clashed on the Saturday and then after a week of stunning weather the forecasters started projecting a dreadfully wet weekend and finally Chay and Anna announced the proposed birth date of tehir second child for the Sunday!

as they say if you plan for the worst often it doesn't happen and at least when it does you are not surprised!! So the weather fro the saturday was not too bad and certainly the sun shone on Sunday and brought out the crowds, the shinty match whilst disrupting slightly on the Saturday at least made the roads seem busy and helped increase the awareness of the event with many returning the next day to see what all the fuss was about and the winning pipe band from te Saturday by good judgment had been booked to play on the Sunday and close the festival so all felt a stroke of luck!

And finally having kept my fingers crossed that Anna would go into labor a week early as he had with Torr and then realized that Imight have been abandonded alone at the show for the weekend with Chay reneging on his offer of help I prepared myself. However firstly the show ws a success in terms of it being the first one and crowds whilst not huge were at least respectable, the mix of events seemed to fit in well and was well received, especially all the extras like the "Red Hot Chili Pipers" to open the show and the "Drakes of Hazzard" and "Big Roory", we saw several of our guests who had either come down from eriska for te day or popped up from Glasgow to see what all the commotion was about and best of all Anna held on untill Chay was home from breaking down the stand and gave birth to a healthy wee boy called Ethan Nils, 8lb6oz.

I have however learnt my lesson and next time however I will firstly check everyone Else's diary before agreeing to participate and secondly I will consider theimpact of taking part although I do think that it was a worthwhile event if not only for Eriska but also for the area in general as it was a great showcase for all that is good about the area and hopefully next year it will be even better.

Weather wc 17th May

Having kept my fingers crossed for good weather this weekend to see the inaugral Spirit of the West event at Inveraray and been a little disappointed by the showers which came and went although they were not nearly as serious as the prediction I think  we can now look forward to more typical May weather. Hopefully after a generally showery start to the week the temperatures will begin to rise and  a settled period of weather will begin to form- well that's the plan!

Sunday: Sunshine and showers, these merging to give a longer spell of rain through the afternoon and more so across the west.

 Monday: Remaining changeable with bright, sunny or clear spells and occasional showers,

Tuesday: After a dry start the showers will beginm  merging at times to give longer spells of rain and more so across the hills.

Wednesday: It will remain unsettled and at times windy especially over the north and west with rain or showers in most areas, and some of these may be heavy.

Thursday: A drier day but still a risk of showers

Friday:Becoming warmer and drier for a time, but with a risk of some heavy and thundery rain developing.

Saturday: There is a possibility of more settled weather with a rise in temperature some quite high temperatures .

 

Rose of Argyll movement

When Chay was up at fusion marine investigating the possibility of updating our pier and mooring facility at Eriska Iasked him to pop his head in next door and check on rose of Argyll. My mothers launch, Rose of Argyll wasdue to be put back in the water a week ago but bad weatherr and imminent visitors had deterred Chay and I think that he then had other matters on his mind like the imminent birth of another child.   

Anyway Chay reported back that she was very lonely sitting on her lonesome in the middle of the big shed so he arranged for her to be lifted in immediately. This probably translated to "he met the boatmen who asked if they could get Rose back in the water as she was blocking the shed up!" Anyway she was duly launched and that afternoon I was dropped off and brought her back down the loch as Chay returned to Eriska where he stood on the end of the pier to welcome me home. A couple of good tugs on the Eriska Mooring insured that it was sound and as I came down the loch I continued to pump out the bilge.

When I thought it was slowing down and the automatic pump could handle it I abandoned ship and Chay is now back in charge of bilge pumping on a daily basis until she has taken up. Hopefully this will be the year of big Rose use and we will be able to justify her