Rosemary Fletcher | April 14, 2019
For the past few days there has been a bitterly cold wind blowing across the land. According to the Happy Farmer it’s a ‘snell’ wind, one that doesn’t go around you, but bites right through you. On the farm the whisky journey continues as today the tractor is trundling up and down the field, ploughing [...]
Rosemary Fletcher | January 25, 2019
It was not a mission for the faint hearted. The Haggis hunting season is here. With Burns night upon us the Happy Farmer has been out on the seasonal Persabus Haggis hunt. It began with ‘pre-hunt refreshments’ in the new Persabus stable for the Happy Farmer and his small cohort from the farming contingent, all [...]
Rosemary Fletcher | December 21, 2018
Persabus is rocking and rolling with Christmas just around the corner. With youngest home for the festivities the baking has been flowing. Oranges, lemons and limes have been sliced, studded with cloves and dried in the Aga. We have been out collecting foliage for the mantle pieces and table decorations. The last of the pottery [...]
Rosemary Fletcher | November 21, 2018
The Happy Farmer has been ‘heuching and cheuching’. We’ve been away for a short break of mainland living. Shops, restaurants, trains, mountains, museums, galleries, Christmas lights, fireworks and rugby. It was lovely to get away and lovely to return home. When you step off the plane the crisp cold air envelopes you. You can breathe [...]
Rosemary Fletcher | October 7, 2018
Seasons don’t end at Persabus, they just change. Summer visitors often ask me what an Islay winter is like As the summer months fade to a happy distant memory, Autumn is upon us and our guests can look forward to a very different island experience. Our ‘whisky visitors’ are back staying with us on the [...]
Rosemary Fletcher | October 1, 2018
Times are changing. The houses that were once home for the workers at Bunnahabhain Distillery have nearly all been demolished. Building work has begun. Bunnahabhain was a thriving village when the Happy Farmer was a young boy. It had a school, a village hall, post office and shop. It was once home to some twenty [...]
Rosemary Fletcher | August 13, 2018
When a young couple are to be married on Islay it is local tradition to have a ‘blackening’ for the couple. The bride and groom are ‘kidnapped’ by friends and relatives and tied to the back of a trailer. They are then towed through the villages, where buckets of anything rotten and smelly is thrown [...]
Rosemary Fletcher | July 1, 2018
The heat is on at Persabus. Temperatures have been soaring and the island has been bathed in golden sunshine and boasting the most amazing vibrant sunsets. When the pottery closes, the car is packed with dogs and beach bag, and we head for the sea. An after-work swim in the cool ocean waters is just [...]
Rosemary Fletcher | June 26, 2018
Islay is at its picture-perfect best. The sun is splitting the skies. Beach time is calling. We have been away for a few days. We arrived back to paradise. There is something quite cathartic about leaving the heat of the bustling city behind as you step onto a small plane and fly off into the [...]
Rosemary Fletcher | June 18, 2018
The front field appears to be growing barley and…. lobster pots. Stacked ever so neatly above the sprouting field of barley in front of the farmhouse, are 200 or so lobster pots. The Happy Farmer has been smiling broadly ever since their arrival on the farm. He was more than happy to help then, in [...]
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