Midsummer Weather

We're rapidly moving towards midsummer's day and the weather has been entirely appropriate for the west coast of Scotland. So it's good to see so many people out and about doing what they enjoy, such as the crew of this yacht who, bar a bit of thin Kilchoan sunshine, had almost perfect sailing conditions.

It does seem as if the camping fraternity isn't made of the stern stuff it used to be, as Trevor Potts' Ardnamurchan campsite was unusually deserted.  For those for whom a bit of extra heavenly water isn't a problem, the pick of the sites is available to them, with no danger of any queues at the campsite's facilities.

We don't allow the weather to prevent us from enjoying our usual walks around the village.  I had to go to the Learning Centre for a meeting, a brisk stroll of about 30 minutes each way, but was wise to give it 45 and, even then, arrived later than I should.  There's always so much going on along the verges, including this poor goldfinch parent being unmercifully bullied by its teenage chick, who wanted an iWatch and wouldn't take "No!" for an answer.

The only way to cope with summer weather is to go appropriately dressed, as these two geology students are. They were obviously mapping the Ormsaigbeg foreshore but had managed to get themselves on the wrong side of both a cliff and a fence.  As an ex-geology student, I can empathise.

The main cause of delays on a walk through the village is that so many people stop in their cars to pass the time of day and to comment on the weather.  These days, the conversation inevitably turns to which forecast site one is following, and whether YrNo is better than XCWeather, and whether the BBC is any good at all.  In fact, the BBC did well today.

The walk also provided an opportunity to meet a couple who have just moved in to the area, obviously because the weather here suits them so much better than where they came from.  We're seeing these wood pigeons now almost every day.