This the view from the bedroom window, every morning must be one of the best. Well, it does change, as the weather changes, but it is still very special and it is what greets you when you emerge from the land of nod. This is the story behind it.

You know you are going somewhere special as you approach the ferry terminal at Tayinloan on the Kintyre peninsula. Across the fields the clutter of bungalows & parked-up vehicles glitter in the afternoon sun, the foreground to the low shadow that is the Isle of Gigha, with the Paps of Jura behind, like a favourite old roller-coaster.

The journey takes just 20 minutes with the vessel zigzagging its way across – with ramps at each end to enable vehicles to drive on & off at each end, propellors are positioned in the middle and prevent it from moving in a straight line. On the Gigha side, vehicles wait patiently in a queue awaiting their turn for the return leg.

Once off, the centre of the island is a short distance. Here are collected most of the homes and most of the services & amenities – the village school, the church, the village store which trebles up as the post office & a takeaway fish bar, a restaurant, a hotel (closed at present), a new cafe, a gift shop with smellies & local crafts and the Trust offices. The weather changes by the hour – the following images were taken within 30 minutes of each other!

Our destination is this cottage, home for five days and a 15 minute walk from the ferry, up on a small hill.

From this location one can really appreciate both its position and the elements. One can smugly watch the clouded sky grow & darken and plough by on either side or pass along the Kintyre peninsula over the water, dumping its wet stairrods on the hills opposite while overhead a warm sun warms the island through light cloud, its rays picking out houses and vessels down by the ‘marina’.

Around the house a host of wild plants & grasses spread down the slope. Bird feeders enhance this seed-based paradise for numerous species of birds. In the space between the outhouses raised beds with an abundance of of veg & edibles show themselves off in full glory before trapsing off indoors to feed family & friends.

I leave you with the view from the kitchen window which is just as amazing.