Friday 7 June 2013

Garden moves

The garden has lots of colour now but the yellow poppies are taking centre stage, with their cheery blooms .. 



although we are so pleased with the gravel bed we created last year, it is full of colour and the sedums have started to self seed, so very soon we will have enough plants for the next stage of the garden, which will be the beach garden which we hope to start later this year.




Thanks to Kenny who built us a sort of fence come screen last month and now we are able to put the finishing touches to it with the addition of rope.  It is not to be mistaken for an adventure playground though, as the rope definitely wont take the weight of cheeky monkeys.

We hope you enjoy spending time in the garden when you are at the cottage, we managed to eat our breakfast and lunch outside most days.  The evenings were spent sipping a glass of wine on the bench by the pond, but make sure you do have your midge spray on!!

BLUE

Blue has dominated the trip to Islay this June. Blue skies, Blue seas and Bluebells.

woodland walk - Loch Gruinart

the scent of coconut from the gorse is overwhelming




With temperatures soaring into the 20's, blue skies and white sands and the heady scent of the gorse have given the island a slightly tropical look and smell this June.

Walks on the Big Strand have been dominated by a very unusual sight. A dead sperm whale has been washed up on the beach and we read that a sperm whale had been sighted in Oban, again very unusual, but the article said that whales do come in closer to the land when they are unwell. So I wonder if it is the same whale. You can read more here http://islaynaturalhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/sperm-whale.html   

Sunday 24 February 2013

Carpets of Snowdrops
The storms and bad weather that has effected ferries sailing to Islay has not deterred the snowdrops from making an appearance in Bridgend woods. They are carpeted with the first flowers of the year and are a truly welcome sight.


 Back from a walk in the woods and on to finishing another path in the garden at Rowan Cottage. During a welcome break from path laying the sky caught my eye, the shafts of light seemed to create golden pools of light on the loch.