主播大秀

We went to Tiree yesterday. It is very green. Maybe the rest of the world has gone green too, but Tiree is very very green. Except for the daisies and celandines. How do they manage to get spring so much earlier? On a Thursday Calmac's timetable lets Coll folk (or Obanites) go to Tiree for six hours, while the boat chugs out to Barra and back. We were taking some furniture across, which meant we had to go yesterday, otherwise we would have gone on saying 'next week' like we did all last year. Furniture delivered it was time to see how different Tiree is. It is very different, to start with, it is very green. The lambs are much bigger. We saw some smaller ones later, but the first ones I saw made me think of roast potatoes! We went west to Hynish to see where the Skerryvore lighthouse was prepared before it went out into the sea. The museum was closed, but there are signs up outside, and we had been to Ardnamurchan so we knew a bit about Stevenson and lighthouses. The walled gardens for the lighthouse men were impressive (and very green). On our way back we passed several places that were open which had been closed. Tiree in April works on a one until five opening time. Coll manages to have different times for every day of the week, but Tiree obviously refuses to let the ferry timetable dominate it. We passed the bus again, we passed it quite often, it always had the same driver so we wondered why it needed a number. We found the chocolate shop, which we had been told not to miss, they were right, DO NOT MISS THE CHOCOLATE SHOP. They rang Elephant's End for us to check they were doing late lunches. They were, we had steak baguettes, and got a loyalty card. Now we need to go back nine more times and we can have a free lunch. It was good steak. Back through Scarinish to find Skinners. On Coll Skinners is a legend. It proved rather hard to find but it meant we stopped at the cafe next door and had coffee and very sweet chocolatey cakes. I'm surprised Tiree folk have any teeth left. Skinners is by the airport, which is very red, and a polytunnel (I collect polytyunnels). We didn't buy anything in Skinners, but we can now separate some of the fact from the fiction. Back to Scarinish (and past a school bus) to buy steak for tea and visit the co-op. We resisted the urge to push a trolley round, some things have to be reserved for trips to the mainland. Then back to Gott Bay to let the dogs have a swim. We picked a bit away from the sand kite, which made me think of Owain. Driving a sand kite must be complicated, remembering to watch the kite and the buggy. We went east to look at Coll and the Icelandic ponies and then it was back to the pier. A perfect day weather-wise was finished drinking Lewis beer on the top deck. When we got home even Coll looked a bit greener. We had steak and chocolates for tea. The chocolates are good, the steak is very good. I suppose the short distance between the farm and the slaughter place is important, and understanding how a live cow becomes red meat and seeing it make that journey helps, but I think all that greenness must make a huge difference. And next time we go to Tiree we will visit the ringing stone and see the golfball and the pottery and eat lamb!