So far and yet so near

This week we fulfilled a long time ambition to see Derek Jarman's beach garden and the unique landscape of Dungeness. It was a journey seeking inspiration from the remotest corner of Southern England and the artistic genius of Jarman to take back to our garden on Islay. 

So what will we transplant from southern shingle to the windswept and salt lashed garden at Rowan Cottage?

1.   See the beauty in your own backyard - from washed up relics to inspirational garden 
      installations, gardens are so much more than plants. 

2. Stay low to grow - so many of our favourite plants have had their heads blown off, or       never even managed to get a head start, so stay low in windswept environments, or at least until our shelter belt has grown. 

So we return home full of inspiration and plans to spend time combing the beaches of Islay when we are next up in June and see where we can use Jarman's inspiration to create our own style beach garden. 

Why come to Islay in June?

Whilst the eyes of the world turn to Brazil for the worlds greatest football event devotees of beach rugby make their annual pilgrimage to Port Ellen for Islay's greatest sporting event. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKc9_4mnmb0






Brazil may boast Copacabana beach but for the ultimate chill out experience the deserted beaches of Islay are second to none. They play host to nesting terns and colourful oyster catchers, so come and get a beach of your own.
   
The vibrant colours are easily surpassed by the greens & golds of Islay. Verdent verges and golden sunshine. The verges are peaking in June with a riot of pinks, reds & purples all hues of native wild orchids and ragged robin. 

Forget the rhythms of  Samba because natures symphony is even better! 

I sign off from Machir Bay at 10.07pm, still waiting for the sun to set.

So why wouldn't you want to come to Islay in June?

A whisky lovers dream venue for a wedding ...

on the malting floor of Ardbeg distillery. 

I recently spent an afternoon with Mom on the malting floor at Ardbeg distillery measuring up for flowers for a wedding being held in April. The space will be transformed with a walkway of barrels adorned with flowers.

The ceremony will take place over the barrels then festivities follow in the visitors centre

  
i think the bottles may be removed! but flowers will take their place.

 
A busy morning followed by an afternoon of gardening back at Rowan Cottage, then to relax in front of a film, but look what i missed ...

 
The Aurora over Saligo Bay. Still kicking myself that i had the curtains closed.  

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   

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.

   

Next step in the garden at Rowan

Work got underway in the next  stage of developing the grounds at Rowan Cottage this week.   

 

We look forward to sharing photos of the next phase of the garden development next year.

 

Paul Jones comes to Islay

 

 

Luckily for me I came to Islay on the week that Paul Jones and his wife visited. They were in  Bowmore Village Hall telling us their story of how they found their faith, which they did in an entertaining and enthusiastic way. I just loved listening to him and his wife singing and his harmonica playing was just great.

 

 

Oh and by the way he does look that young!

 

picture on the patio

 

Thank you to Rachel and husband Marc for creating this picture on the patio. It is made up of stones and shells collected from various scottish islands, including Islay. As they were too heavy to take back to Germany on the plane, Rachel made them into a picture for us during her trip in June. When I visited a few weeks ago, the picture was still intact.

 

If anyone likes collecting shells I have found that the beach at Ardnave is a great place to go. For those who like collecting shells with cockles still inside them a trip to killinallen across the bay from ardnave is a good place to go cockle raking. We have spent great times on claggan beach making stone towers from lovely looking stones, a great way to spend some time with the kids and be creative.

garden continues to grow

The garden continues to grow even though the growing season is coming to an end. The framework of the garden is well established even though it is taking time to implement. Innes our neighbour has done a wonderful job of putting up fences to frame the garden and the washing area. He is now working on creating different levels in the garden for us.

view from rowan cottage

Amanda and I recently visited and managed to gravel the washing area and we were able to do this in the wonderful November weather and take in the views as we did it.

oars well thats ends well

the gig oar makes it to Islay.

 The gig oar used by friend Toby in gig races off St.Martins makes its way to Islay. The old oar had been resting behind the seven stones pub on St.Martins when it was spotted as a potential name plate for Rowan Cottage. Toby sawed the end of the oar and it was transported to the mainland by the helicopter to Penzance, then it continued its journey on the new ferry the Finlaggan to its final resting place on the gate of Rowan Cottage.

In the same trip we managed to paint the shed, now looking quite coastal and adorned by oyster shells.

the green green grass of home

can you tell the difference!  Well yes you will be able to but you can do all the things on artifical turf that you can do on the real stuff. As you can see it is being thoroughly tested by the "kids" but a big thank you to Frank and Chris who made a momentous journey to lay the lawn and edge the pond. They did a great job.

 

                                                                                        the pond is now ready for planting up in  June    but there are already tadpoles, water boatmen and

whirlygig beetles bringing life to the pond.

Here come the girls ...

what a hairy landing .... 4 times around the block and eventually touch down. So a stiff drink was called for. Then an action packed two days included wildlife spotting - lots of seals pups at Portnahaven and Ardbeg, (do try the clooty dumpling at Ardbeg - to die for) and lots of red deer on the road to claggan bay. Well Deb and Chris couldnt resist dipping their toes in the Atlantic, whilst Claire and I observed from a safe distance, then another stiff drink was called for to warm up. And then time for something completley different  scottish country dancing, well what a laught, we were made to feel so welcome and Deb got the gold star for being able to follow the moves another stiff drink was called for to cool down. 

We managed to stretch our legs before a spot of DIY,  up goes the house name, even though we couldn't get the "stud" detector working! The shelves in the oven were sorted, and a picnic table negotiated. the flight out was much easier or at least for some of us .... the culprit knows what I am talking about.

Back up tomorrow to see the lawn that Frank and Christopher have layed and the pond that they have edged, I'll keep you posted....                                                                          

Snow on the Paps

Arriving at Port Askaig full of another Cal Mac breakfast, the Paps were wonderously white, but there was more weather to come!




Operation "tree plant" was our battle plan, but the biggest enemy was wind and rain (and possibly trench foot!). This was no time and place for light weight infantry,we needed reinforcements. Bring on Martin, the digger man.

He made light work of a fifth raised bed, moving wet earth and digging lots and lots of holes.

Glenegadale "forest" gets a few trees nearer, Rowan trees line the drive and now onto operation pebble beach. 

first signs of Spring at Rowan Cottage

back on Islay, for some peace and quiet. I couldn't wait to check our newly planted hedge for signs of life. Sure enough all were in bud and waiting to burst forth. A future generation of wind breakers. Then off to inspect the many bulbs we had planted in December. The snowdrops are looking fresh and adding some colour to a winter landscape. Lots of other green shoots and more colour to come.

A couple of appointments with local "stone man" and landscape designer, some great ideas and more visions for the garden. A bee friendly fuschia hedge, pebble beach to the pond, Boulder area with special grasses & alpines and a 'one more raised bed for flower lovers.

Some local wildlife has taken up residence by the pond. Fresh dug sandy soil shows we have our very first 'Rowan Rabbit' !

Down at the village hall the local scottish country dancers are practicing for the 29th annual Scottish country dancing weekend at the end of April . They welcomed me and some French visitors into their midst to help us fathom the intricasies of "Mrs Stewart's Jig" and "St Andrew's Gardens". They were very patient, but I managed to get tied up in knots.  To see the ceilidh programme check out the royal scottish country dance society website, or visit the local classes on Islay where there is sure to be a warm welcome.

We'll be back in Spring.

   

Visit Colonsay Festival of Spring

Visit the festival of Spring on colonsay running for three weeks in May. visit the website for more information http://www.colonsayestate.co.uk/ 

We love to visit the garden and the kids "go ape"  in the magnificent Cupressus macrocarpa.
You can visit Colonsay on the day return ferry which travels to the island every Wednesday from Islay in the Summer.

burns night

Greetings

we hope you have had a great burns night. This is how we celebrated ours south of the border.

First find your pub with a burns minded landlord (http://www.thestarinn-eccleshall.co.uk/) and a bonny tartan clad landlady.

second - loosen up with some early drinks

step three - let the ceremony begin.

step forward master of ceremonies - Phil, who hits us with Rabbies life story

now for some tag poetry readings from three locals fully preped with haggis, tatties and neeps.Rabbies words of wisdom are all about the downfall of man at the hands of wicked women, a message mostly lost on the well lubricated guests.

step forward again Phil to thank the readers and toast the life and times of Robert Burns.

Even this far South of the border we are never far from Islay as evidenced by the fine collection of Simon & Elaine's Islay malts to supply late revellers with some fine dram(s).   



hedging goes in December 2010, to create a windbreak and attract wildlife to the garden

new year

A very Happy New Year 2U. We travelled north after Christmas in Staffs. All the snow & ice melted away just hours before our journey.

The car was loaded up with 100+ hedging plants, champagne & wine, lots of items for the house & a 3kg Haggis. Only 4 cars at the Kennacraig ferry - a record low ! Calmac staff outnumbered passengers by a massive margin.

Just 2 miles out of Port Askaig hundreds of Greenland White fronted Geese on roadside fields. Not a tourist in sight !

Cottage is warm & welcoming & peat basket is full. Ready for the cosy evenings ahead.

Before Breakfast I (that’s Les')  goes for morning run down hill to Airport & on to the 'Big Strand' for one of the most scenic & atmospheric runs ever. Sea, sky & sand - perfect ! Back to cottage for hot shower & breakfast before the day's main gig.

The Beatles sang about 4000 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire - We only needed to dig 100 in Glenegadale. Spade meets rocks, clay & water in bone aching clash of elements. Every hole is a minor triumph in a race against the fading light of short Islay days. In go Hornbeam, Spindle, Scots Pine, Alder, Sea Buckthorn, Willow & Dogwood. Pioneer plants for summer birdsong, windbreak & a carbon neutral Rowan Cottage !

In between times Vicki lays some more gravel paths & we enjoy the beautiful soft pinkish light of an Islay dusk in Winter.

New Year's eve is Chinese Takeaway (just opened in Bowmore), Champagne, Peat & Fire.

Last of the trees get a berth in Glenegadale ground & we end with a lovely meal with Vicki's mum at the Harbour Hotel.

Packed ferry out of Port Askaig taking all the Holiday visitors home.

Already looking forward to going back for more tree planting in March. Much achieved, lots to do & enjoy.