Free Day and Cozy Night in Plockton
Chapter 8

Bruichladdich As Self Defense

Once again ensconced in the bar, we ran into Lennie, another familiar face from last trip. It's so enjoyable to see people we know from before.  But now it was time to discover Bruichladdich, with the help of our good Jamie.  This is an excellent, excellent drink to choose when having fallen in with wild companions because, when wasted, it is quite impossible to say: "Another broo.. boo... bwoo... umm..." - and hence one must go home to bed.  (And a very good idea that was!)

Free in Plockton

An Artistful Day

To wake to - at last - a free day in Plockton.

First stop, a visit to Kate in Plockton's fine, new post office.  An unexpected treat is that one can now find art cards from local artists, including Kate herself.  I picked up quite a few, thinking to send them to friends, but I ended up being to selfish, and will think of a way to mount them.  I will try to get a chance to scan a few, so you can see their charm.

And of course I had to send the daily postcard to young Kevin.  For the first time, he was old enough to understand what time means and thus what my being away would mean, and he was quite anxious in the weeks preceding the trip.  So it was important to me to do something to let him know that he was very much in my mind, and that I hadn't vanished.

Then I noticed that the Ken Carr gallery was open (the schedule is quite random).  The Plockton gallery is run by his father, Ken Carr, Sr., and I was able to see some new works and to pick up some striking prints.  And I also got a chance to see some Robert Barnete pieces, horses in action, that were something to behold.

And the cows, glorious cows.  They were all over the Rhu, doing what cows love to do - eating and lounging about (come to think of it, that's what I like to do).  One very funny cow was over by the children's swing, trying to scratch her head on it.  I would have thought that, experiencing how unsatisfactorily that worked out, she would abandon the effort, but she kept at it for a very long time (and might be at it still).

After a great chocolate and ice cream concoction at The Buttery, I revisited the individual gardens which were, as always, lovely.  This trip I was surprised by spotting some Californians - oenothera and ceanothus (evening primrose and California lilac).  All sorts of spring flowers were in bloom due to the odd climate spawned by the warm Gulf Stream here.

A Cozy Night

Now firmly in the spirit of doing A Whole Lot of Nothing, I picked up a couple of UK authors, Quintin Jardine and Michael Dobbs, thinking to have a good read.

Whereupon David and I discovered Ted Roache's The Bill on ITV.  Sad to say, subsequent episodes we watched during the trip weren't that great but this episode, Information Received with Paul O'Grady, was fabulous.

I knew that nearby, Tom and Donna were enjoying this loafing break as much as I.

Bad Cows Photo Gallery