Eriska, Scottish Island

Weather wc 17th October

its hard to beleive that last night there were reports of snow on some of the Aberdeenshire hills especially given the stunning day we had here at eriska yesterday although the cooler conditions due to cl;ear skies at night needed the sunshine to burn the dew off the grass. Anyway it has been a great week just right for laying sports hall floors given the dry days and stable temperatures insuring taht concrete does not dry too fast or too slow. Now all we have to do is hope for still conditions in a weeks time when the steel frame arrives but that may be a step too far- so whats ahead fro this week?

Today -

Early fog patches clearing then dry with sunny spells.

Monday: Overnight mist and fog patches, especially around and on the hills, gradually clear to leave a fine and dry day with some long spells of sunshine. 

Tuesday: A mainly dry night with clear spells, allowing a widespread ground frost then in comes the cloud and patchy rain

Wednesday: A bright start but generally a rather cloudy day with outbreaks of mostly light rain through the morning and early afternoon. Freshening southwesterly breeze.

Thursday:Sunny spells and occasional showers, turning increasingly wintry over hills as winds turn more northerly and strengthen

Friday:We can expect a mixture of blustery showers and rain with drier and brighter spells.

Saturday:  Showers will be heavy at times and wintry over higher hills and mountains it will feel generally cold as winds come from a northerly direction.

 

Eriska Wildlife

Despite the changeable weather we have experienced on Eriska over the past week, our Guests have still managed to get out and about to enjoy life outdoors on the Island.  As ever, the wildlife on Eriska constantly gives our guests something to talk about which often brings them back to visit in the future!

Last weekend one of our Guests was exploring the island and having returned from their time at Eriska sent us some images (below) of the wildlife they came across during their stay.  
 
 


Possible book ends above?  Send in any more Eriska photo gems you may have!

It’s often difficult to guarantee our guests will see all the wildlife that inhabits the Island in just one visit but we do try our best to point them in the direction of various nature hot stops around the Island – also seen on our Virtual tour.  For those of you who stay us regularly will recall our regular night time visitors, the badgers, that visit us most nights after dinner are always in demand by our guests as long as we remember to stick to our part of the bargain – feeding them!  Have a look at our badger bedlam game which is still running – watch out for me!

Christmas Planning

It seems to come round so fast every year and whilst many may think that it is too early to think about Christmas I have always been a believer that the more planning we do the easier it will be nearer to the time. With only a few rooms left for Christmas and enquiries coming in the main thrust of thought is on the activities we will be able to offer.

 On a positive note we may be able to use our new indoor facility and with the huge number of opportunities this will bring even more options but on the negative side I am never willing to commit to finishing a product by a date unless I actually can see light at the end of the tunnel or in this case no light through the roof! The building is scheduled to be out of the ground by November with a full frame erected and the walls under way and then it will be the roof and cladding all before we can even start thinking about a surface on the floor and activities over Christmas.

However at the back of my mind is that if we can have it ready for Christmas MacPhersons Law- the one that says if you drop a slice of bread on the floor it will always fall butter down- says that it will be a stunning Christmas for weather and outdoor activities leaving any effort to finish by Christmas in vein and if we fail to make the deadline its sure to be a rotten- so we will strive to finish in time!

Other than that we are also working on the calendar for next year so it is ready in time for anyone who wants a copy before the year begins and we have just selected the image for the Christmas card,  fortunatelyDennis was alert last year when the frost was on the ground so we have plenty to choose from, in fact almost too many leaving a  tricky decision to be reached.

Multi Purpose Indoor Facility breaks ground

With the unpredictable weather we have here in Scotland, the team at Eriska are continually coming up with different ways in which we can make our guests’ stay at Eriska as memorable and enjoyable as possible regardless of the weather.

As a result, earlier this year we announced that we had gained planning permission for a Multi-purpose Sports Hall at Eriska to provide our guests with plenty of activities should the weather turn on us!  Having gained this planning permission, we have finally been able to push ahead with our plans. 

 

Back in August, diggers were brought in to clear the ground which has allowed the real work to begin in September.  This week, our Estate team have been hard at work moving our plans forward and laying the foundations for the sports hall.  However, this has meant that our tennis court is temporarily out of action as we work hard to finish this project in time for winter.

For those of you who will be joining us this winter and during future visits, we look forward to welcoming you to try out our new Multi-purpose Sports Hall while we will put on our thinking caps for our next venture!

 

 

 

 

 

Weather wc 12th September

As I wandered round the estate this morning its seems as though different parts of the island are in different seasons, one area saw the ground covered in a carpet of golden leaves and another has a full canopy of green above , one area saw a lush grass and another sees the grass turning to a yellow dead straw.

I suppose if I analysed the situation further I would find that the aspect of the ground and the drainage played the greatest part but so too does the wind and over the last week these strong breezes have certainly played their part as they were unusually persistent and have certainly heralded the onslaught of autumn where the leave scould no longer hang on. So will the the weather forecast be able to help me judge when leaf sweeping and collecting will start or will i not be able to hold off the inevitable for long!

Today: Mainly dry, bright today. Rain reaching coast later.

Monday: Apart from the risk of an odd light shower at first, today will be dry with bright or sunny spells breaking through.

Tuesday: Becoming cloudier from the west in the afternoon with outbreaks of rain and strengthening southwesterly winds.

Wednesday:Cloud and rain will spread to all parts during the day.

Thursday: A cloudy day with outbreaks of rain these again heaviest and most persistent over the local hills.

Friday:Mainly dry with sunny spells. It will become cloudy later in afternoon with rain towards dusk. Freshening southwesterly winds later.

Saturday: Sunny intervals and showers continuing throughout the weekend.

Four or Five Men in a Boat by guest contributor- Vernon Gayle

Every so often a really welcome e-mail appears in my in-skip (this is a more accurate term than in-box). A message recently arrived from Beppo very kindly inviting me to crew his boat for some of the races in West Highland Yachting Week. Beppo had pre-positioned the boat, a Delphia 24, at Dunstaffnage Marinain preparation for the Oban to Craobhrace on Saturday.

 

I understand that somewhere in the United States there is a Scottish ex-patriot called Menzies Farquharson-Urquhart, who is constantly explaining how his names are pronounced. I really hope that this poor chap isn’t originally from Craobh, which is pronounced Croove.

 

The weather wasn’t ideal but I am pleased to say that we arrived safely about four hours after the starting gun in twentieth place out of a field of twenty seven. The next day we raced back from Craobh to Oban. All eyes, and cameras, were on one boat. Griff Rhys Jones (no hyphen), Dara O’Briain and Rory McGrath of ‘Three Men in a Boat’ fame where racing a classic yacht. I’ve just been searching for my old copy of Jerome K. Jerome’s wonderful book. Many years ago I heard the old sociologist G.A.V. Sergeant ask ‘what impression might a burglar form of us from looking at our bookcase?’ The search for my copy of ‘Three Men in a Boat’ was fruitless but I noticed that amongst the many cook books and wine guides, there was a book on yoga and another on Marx. Would an intruder therefore jump to the conclusion that I was an obese but supple alcoholic communist?

 

 The BBC’s three men managed to arrive in second place in their class. We managed tenth in our class, but were still warming up. Watch out for the series which is due to be aired over the Christmas period.

With five, rather than four, men in the boat on Monday we had a victory, coming first in our class in one of the Firth of Lorne Races. The 2010 campaign ended today with a very respectable third place in the Round Lismore Race. I plan to contact Hancock & Co. of Burlington Arcade to see if they can strike a replica trophy for more permanent display in the hotel! If this is not possible then Beppo will have to win a trophy again next year.

Vernon Gayle

Weather wc1st August

Sometimes its hard to believe that the year is racing by but given an advert in one of the papers I saw recently advertising for Christmas I suppose we should start to think about getting ready for the nights drawing in. However this is against a background of most children being only half way through their "Summer " holidays and therefore we would like to think that the best of the weather is still ahead us. Anyway if the weather could not behave for the queen when she visited the western Isles last week it is unlikely to perform for the school children. But we can hope!!

Today: Dull and drizzly start to the day, gradually turning drier with some clear intervals tonight, with the odd light shower these mainly across Argyll where they may merge at times.

Monday:Another variable day when we will have a mixture of sunny intervals and showers, the showers perhaps turning heavy and locally thundery in the afternoon.

Tuesday: A fairly cloudy day with outbreaks of showery rain. Becoming drier and brighter in the afternoon. 

Wednesday: There will be variable cloud, some bright spells and also some showers.

Thursday:The morning will be cloudy with rain at times but it should clear and become brighter in the afternoon and early evening.

Friday: Today continues to be characterised by fairly changeable weather. we will see some rain or showers at first, with a tendency for the focus of any wet weather to shift further towards the higher ground

Saturday:Today we are likely to see the best of any dry and sunny weather for the whole week.

Weather w/c 25th July

When the Clyde Cruising Club announced their plan to break the world record Sunflower Yacht Rafting record last week we should have anticipated that the summer weather would break and it really did but at least we have returned to normality with sunshine and warm days. Anyway given that this is the last week before West Highland Yachting Week and the build up to the summer bank holiday I suppose we should and will expect a bit of variable weather.

So what does our weather expert predict:

Today:Mostly it will be dry and rather cloudy although it may have some showers at the start dying out later.

Monday: A cloudy start with some drizzle and mist. Gradually brightening up with some sunny intervals developing by the afternoon.

Tuesday: A dull start with drizzle and hill fog, then brightening with some sunny intervals breaking through. Mostly light winds.

Wednesday: Rather cloudy in the morning with a little rain and coastal mist.

Thursday: The morning cloud will clear by the afternoon and remain mainly dry.

Friday:it is likely to be rather cloudy with rain or showers, and possibly some locally heavy downpours. However, some bright or sunny spells are possible at times too.

Saturday It should be much drier than the rest of the week with variable amounts of cloud, some prolonged spells of sunshine and above normal to warm temperatures.

 

Eriska "Vuvuzelas"

As I walked round on my evening inspection last night I could hear  faint buzz as I passed the spa suites. Initially I thought it was simply the sound of a guest watching the world cup in side and the din of the now synonymous Vuvuzelas or what has now become the sound of the South African world cup. However Isoon remembered that this was all over and it was unlikely that one of our guests was watching any more football or even worse highlights of the event as I think most of the country- and in this I count the whole of the United Kingdom- has probably had enough football for the time being.

Closer inspection then revealed that the bush I was passing was not only full of wonderful red buds but that half of it was moving and on even closer viewing I noticed that it all seemed to be moving. The complete bush was full of bees and wasps and was a hum of activity as they were transferring from one plant to another. The still evening and dim light just magnified the effect and indeed it left an eerie noise and one I thought wisest to move on from as I realised whilst they were all busy and intent on collecting food I was safe but should they decide that I was interfering with the harvest I could be pursued.

Its always amazing how each day if we pay attention we notice the wonders of nature and that it can be right on our doorstep. I have never heard such a noise or seen a bush so infested with Bees and wasps and it must be down to a combination of the warmer weather and more severe winter as we do seem to have far more blossom in the garden and the flowers a seem to be budding and growing faster than ever. However for now I will not be investigating too close for fear of disturbing them. 

Weather wc 11th July

Whilst i am not really superstitious it does seem remarkable the coincidence in the weather and other factors such as the start of Scottish School Holidays and the laying of a new water pipe in anticipation of a long drought!! Ever since we started to worry about shortages of water and sat back and relaxed in the knowledge that we had taken appropriate action there seems to have been regular deliveries from the skies above and the hot dry spell of weather that had been residing over the west coast has disappeared.

Anyway that said I have now decided to start pursuing the new parasols for the lawn in front of the main house and if I continue to call them rain umbrellas then maybe the  sun will start to shine- worth a shot!!So what really is ahead this week?

Today: After a  cloudy start with rain  this will soon die away with some bright then sunny spells developing

Monday: A few showers forming over the hills but this shall allow sunshine to push in in the  afternoon. 

Tuesday: Any showers will gradually die away  to leave some fine sunshine to end the day. 

Wednesday: A fine start with some bright or sunny spells. As we go through the morning a scattering of showers will start to develop these slow moving.

Thursday: A mainly dry day with sunny spells  but rain arriving in the evening.

Friday: Cloudy wet and windy for most of the day but may brighten in the evening.

Saturday: Staying cloudy and murky with further rain towards the end of the day.