The Bad Plus – For All I Care
The Bad Plus – Discography (Shuffleplay)
Eliza Gilkyson – Beautiful World
Bill Mallonee and the Vigilantes of Love: Resplendent
Yo La Tengo – Popular songs
Noah and the Whale – The First Days of Spring
Woke very early and started the day with some Bad Plus on the jazz jukebox…
Anne arose around 9 and we walked through the wind and light rain for around 15 minutes to the wooden hut type place which is the only shop on the island…
Having procured milk and orange juice, we walked back and Alan and Penny were awake…
For breakfast we were joined by Norrie, Birgit having already set off for the shop, and some good start of the day chat ensued…
With the target of taking the ferry to the mainland around 2pm, we set off in the Brodskimobile for a wee trip around the island…
By this time, the sky was blue, the sun was out and the island topography was at its best…
We saw much wildlife...
...and visited Black Mill Bay –the hub of the island in the 19th century when it was a centre for slate quarrying, which provided the raw materials for much of the roofing of Glasgow…
The pier is now a ruin…
Then, on to Toberonochy, another slate mining town, the quarry at which closed at the outset of the First World War and, with the loss of its markets during the war, never reopened...
Then to the ferry...
...and off up to Oban, where we browsed around the shops and eventually made our way to Birgit’s, where our party partook of some of the fine knitwear on offer...
Then to the Oban Fish Bar for lunch of tasty Mull Plaice with chips and mushy peas (a healthy Baked Potato for the Exec Producer though)...
We took a walk around the rest of the town and enjoyed the colourful harbour area...
Then, back towards the ferry, stopping off at the Tigh an Truish Inn on Seil Island...
...which is connected to the mainland by a small bridge known as The Bridge Over the Atlantic...
A swift drink and then on to the ferry, where we met up with Birgit again and crossed back to Luing...
Another very enjoyable evening ensued, Norrie was “mein host”, ensuring no one went short of Cava, wine or beer...
Once again Birgit prepared the evening meal, roast chicken with a spicy mushroom and cream sauce with potatoes and runner beans grown in the gardens of her and Norrie’s cottages....
Some excellent stories were recounted, probably the best being Birgit’s, of the time, while driving down to Glasgow to visit Norrie at his home there a few years ago, she thought she’d almost run over a penguin...
It turned out to be a stranded guillemot which was unable to fly...
The guillemot spent some time with Birgit at her cottage (after the trip to Glasgow) and quite happily sat with her in her living room watching TV or meeting Birgit’s friends...
Unfortunately, the bird was elderly and couldn’t fly, nor produce the chemicals which it needed to maintain its waterproof coat, hence the need to stay in the cottage – though it did love taking a bath...
Sadly, it passed away after a few happy weeks...
Eventually, age and drink started to tell...
Norrie turned in around 12:30 am, Anne and I around 1:30 while the remaining three musketeers finally called it a night around 4...
A good day...
Highlight of the Day : The whole day really, apart from the rain at the outset...
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