Before I start let me state that I am a bloomin’ good driver. Not everyone agrees. Johnny seems to develop phantom brake foot in the passenger seat of the truck. Also he alerts me to sheep/oncoming traffic/dust molecules when they are a very long way away. But anyway…

Dear lovely drivers who come to our island. I know it’s beautiful. I understand you slowing down to pop your Go-Pro out of the window and catch that view. I appreciate that our single track roads and passing places can be intimidating. So I really, honestly don’t mind you travelling at 25 mph all the time. I also sympathise with the *which side of the road am I on?* dilemma. After a year of living in Djibouti I still went the wrong way round the only roundabout in the country on my bicycle.

But please understand that those of us who live here have places to go. The bright lights of Or may be calling, with shiny things to buy as a treat for one of the staff…. There could be bargains to be had in the Co-op or an emergency squid run. That’s what passing places are for…. just pull over and let the little woman in the big truck pass. Then smile and wave…. if you don’t a fairy dies. or something. We don’t mean to stress you out, but when you have a picnic in a passing place or park between the hopeful cones on the distillery brae someone may shout at you a wee bit.

I promise I will be try to be patient with you. I want you to enjoy your holiday, to return to your home in one piece with a shed load of amazing pictures and memories. I want you to look back with fondness on the cheery islanders with their wavey hands and impressive cornering skills. Unless you’re in one of those *Wicked* camper vans (TM appaz). In which case I will run your tragic, misogynistic rear bumper into a big puddle.

I like gin. This will come as no surprise to most of you. You only have to look at Taigh Ailean’s Trip Advisor reviews to see I bang on about it quite a lot. And every person who doesn’t like gin when they arrive and skips off merrily singing the praises of a good grapefruit garnish is a personal brownie point between me and the juniper goddess Astarte.
People often ask me about my favourite gin – I really don’t have one. In the bar we have between 25 and 60 depending on stockists, season and demand. What I fancy depends on my mood, the time of day, the temperature, the company I’m keeping. I have a soft spot for Death’s Door from Wisconsin because it was the first *good* gin I ever tried. I am delighted that our two most local gins, Glen Wyvis (Dingwall) and Isle of Harris (Harris obvs) are delicious gins of excellent quality. The people at Daffy’s, Eden Mill and Caorunn are wonderful, friendly and produce the most beautiful glasses and accessories as well as fabulous gin. I could go on.
But gin in particular, it seems to me, Scottish gin, has become a bit of a *thing*. And this I do not love. The ‘shhhh, it’s actually gin’ coffee mugs and ‘I’d rather be drinking gin’ aprons have me singing the twangy beginning of the Stones’ Mother’s Little Helper rather than chortling into my nosing glass. Gin flavour popcorn, crisps etc are an abomination against both salty snacks and gin. I need to know exactly what my taste receptors are getting. Which is why I have always been suspicious of Snack-a-Jacks (surely something can’t come in caramel AND salt and vinegar flavours?) and why my mother’s cream cheese and Marmite profiteroles sent me into a small bout of hysteria one Christmas dinner. Don’t even get me started on the pea and banana salad…..
And the new gins, oh the number of new gins. Each week more come flooding into the market. Some, for example AVVA, are a welcome addition. Classy, herbilicious and crisp, this gin from Elgin has already become a local’s favourite. (The joy of seeing a large Skye bloke in bobble hat and wellies demanding lime AND berries with his gin because that is the correct serve never gets old). But some new gins are so much form over function, so much hype you can almost sniff the musty seats of the bandwagon…..
So, is my love affair with gin fading out in the same way as my pash for BA Robertson or my obsession with pastel hair extensions? I don’t think so, I hope not. I’ll keep you posted. In the meantime have a very wonderful Christmas, may your gin fizz be the fizziest possible xx

I’ve come a long way in the past 18 months. My Amazon recommendations for instance. They used to be glories such as Irregular Choice pumps, obscure snail slime face cream or biographies of random feminist icons. Now it’s mostly multi packs of Toilet Duck (or Lavatory Pheasant as I prefer to think of it) and ultra bounce pillows.
It’s like that with moths. I used to consider them creatures of dust and fear, whilst I’d never deliberately squish one I have been known to evacuate a room if one is mindlessly circling a light. They all looked the same to me, and that look wasn’t a good one.
A few months ago I was chatting to my new friends (and Fritz’s walk buddy’s pack leaders) Jean and Keith. I was rather disappointed when Keith mentioned he was interested in moths as up to that point I had thought they were really very interesting people. But then I learned that there is a moth specific to this area. Not just this little island, but this little part of this little island. It’s called the Talisker Burnet moth and it is terribly rare. I would tell you where to find it but Jean said if she told me she’d have to shoot me. And that would be a shame. This moth flies in late June and early July and it’s actually quite pretty. I did some reading and found out my perception of moths was all wrong. The place that I live in never ceases to surprise me. I’m looking forward to going *mothing* or whatever it’s called, later in the year. Tho I might be wearing Irregular Choice pumps because not everything has changed.

The eagle eyed amongst you might have noticed it’s been a year since my last blog post. (That feels a little like it should be preceded by *bless me father*).
I spent a long time reading blogs, hanging out in forums and even read a book about blogging. I clicked on *21 Christmas gifts for bloggers* and so many *how to*s my head went spinny.
I was struck by the cyclical nature of bloggers reading other blogs, endorsing the products of other bloggers and receiving freebies in return.
At the end of this extensive research I came to one conclusion… I am not cut out to be a blogger.
So altho you might have clicked on the word blog at the top of our web page this is not a blog. It will be a collection of rants (many of which will finish ‘Skye: not just the Fairy Pools’, ponderings and things from our adventures that amuse me.
If you’d like to send me something for free however, I won’t say no.

Fritz after a very muddy walk. Taigh Ailean is a very dog friendly place to stay – a welcome haven all our well behaved four legged friends!

Just make sure you wipe your paws down!

By Katie Heron aged 48 and a bit (a big bit really).

Some people can’t believe I’ve got to this age and never written a blog post before.
‘You’ve got an opinion on everything’ they say, possibly supportively.
Some people don’t really know what a blog is and some, like me, have never really been sure that anyone will be interested in my ponderings and musings.

But our wonderful new website (thankyou so much Skye Websites) is in need of a blog so I am going to step up to the challenge.
Maybe I’ll never hit the giddy heights of the Huffington Post (110,000,000 followers) but I hope those of you who read it will find it interesting/informative/amusing.

Johnny, The Sossidge and I have been here at the Taigh Ailean Hotel for nearly 5 months.
There have been days when I’ve been so tired a small breeze would topple me over.
And days when the hoolie has been blowing so hard that dog has actually toppled over.
But we love it.
Every single blooming day.
The residents of Portnalong have welcomed us with a kindness that is overwhelming.
The views from the hotel in every direction range from lovely to breathtaking.
It’s our home.