Welcome Home…

| February 28, 2018
It is the welcome you get when you arrive home to Persabus. Today the sun was shining. The flight was beautiful treating us to a bird’s eye view of snow-capped mountains, turquoise seas, with fishing boats and then the ferry boat below. Passing the Isle of Jura and those majestic Paps, and then following along [...]

Cityscape….Island Dreams…..

| February 28, 2018
I have been city living for a short break, which has grown into a longer break as college interviews call for youngest. A skyline of concrete, traffic hurtling along, smoke rising from tall chimneys, the hustle, bustle and energy of city living. So many people, so much noise, so few smiles. I am missing my [...]

Falling head over heels

| February 19, 2018
We are reaching that lovely time of year, when after cold rain and wind, the skies suddenly clear, the sun shines across the fields and we get a glimpse of the beginnings of the spring to come as the snowdrops come into flower and the daffodils begin to bud. The Happy Farmer has been out [...]

Camping with Breakfast

| February 19, 2018
The huge skies of an island winter, provide an ever-changing canvas of colour, deep cerulean blues with giant white clouds give way to dark purple storm clouds. The beaches become wild and windswept from the lashing winter storms. Islay is at its most beautiful when the sun shines on a winter’s day. Flocks of Barnacle [...]

Potting Around

| February 19, 2018

I have missed painting pots. Today I left painting walls behind and was able to indulge in my ceramic art once more. I love this time of year. The vibrancy of winter feeds my creativity. The colours flow and new ranges evolve. I have been working on ‘Islay time’, scenic mugs. Cups of tea are […]

January

| February 9, 2018
A biting cold easterly wind has been sweeping across our shores, and the island is swathed with the rich colours of a winter landscape. Spectacular sunrises give way to huge blue skies and vibrant sunsets. The Paps of Jura are covered in a peppering of snow. The Happy Farmer is struggling with back problems. The [...]

It’s Tradition

| February 9, 2018

The last of the revellers retired home at 6.45am – Hogmanay celebrations merging into the blur of Ne’er Day festivities as we celebrate a traditional Islay Hogmanay on the farm. 2017 had drawn to a close and the New Year was welcomed in with fireworks and a good gathering of ‘first footers’, which lead to […]

Ardnahoe Distillery: Still

| February 9, 2018

The Happy Farmer was beside himself with glee. Christmas had arrived early, or so he thought, as he looked out of the farmhouse window to see a lorry roll up with a large, gleaming copper still sat comfortably and invitingly on the back. Reality soon set in, this was no illicit still, and Persabus is […]