Autumn 2015 - And More Of Sue's Phone Photos

The all too brief Indian Summer that we enjoyed here for the last few weeks seems to have left us now. Last night we sat in our cosy lounge at Roskhill listening to rain beating against the window and wind whoosing round the chimney - definitely Autumn sounds...!!!

In daylight this morning, all looks much the same outside - if a little soggy. I don't think we are going to get a long period of colour-changes this year. The heather, which usually turns the hills purple in September, did not flower well, and the bracken and ferns are still pretty much in full summer green, so they will probably die back very quickly as the colder weather arrives. Some local trees are shedding leaves, but the moorland remains almost the same colour as it has been throughout the chilly summer we have just had.

The dramatic changes in vegetation, light and colour are one of the reasons we take so many photographs. On a dark winter evening, great pleasure can be had from browsing our photos taken in spring and summer - reminders of what has been, and what will be again.

As an example of our photo archive, I'll post below a few more of the hundreds of photos I recently downloaded from Sue's phone - all pictures taken by Sue.

Garden at Roskhill Barn, June 2015

Dunvegan poppies, June 2015

Loch Harport from Carbostbeag (close to Loch View Cottage), July 2015

Foxglove and MacLeod's Tables, July 2015

Oxeye Daisies and the Cuillin from Roskhill, July 2015

Sun, mist and a rainbow, Roskhill, August 2015

Sheep, Loch Mor and Waterstein Head, September 2015

The Skye Magic Isn't Fading

When we first moved to Skye, we would often gaze in awe at the sky, the sunsets, the sea and the stars, and we wondered if we would ever become complacent and numbed to the beauty of this magical place in which we live.

Well, we've lived here over seven years now, and with weather like we've had today - and Sue and I both agree on this - Skye remains the most sensational place on the planet - the magic is not fading at all.

 Here's a few photos taken today during Cupar's evening walkies....

Sue's Evening Walk (Video)

The memory card in Sue's phone became completely filled with photos, so I have downloaded the whole lot (over 500 of them) onto my computer so I could delete them from her phone. Sue often takes pictures while en route to her care calls - which can be very early in the morning - so she gets to see sunrises and cloud and light patterns that most of us miss, as we are still in bed. I'll post some of her best pictures on another day. 

Sue also takes pictures when out on her walks with Cupar, and a couple of times, she has taken a video clip. I'm posting one of her videos here. Enjoy!

Cupar, our Collie

I don't say much here about Cupar, though he occupies a fair bit of our time. He was a 'rescue', so we're not exactly sure how old he is, but we guess he's now about six. In the four years or so that we have had him, he has become an extremely loyal and loving pet. He is also very lively, and loves to play with his tennis balls - he has quite a collection. To keep him occupied, he gets four walks a day, plus occasional play sessions in the house. Sue and I share the walks, but between us, I guess we are out with Cupar upwards of three hours per day, every day, come rain, hail, sleet, snow, wind, plagues of frogs.... Here's a picture I took yesterday while we were out on the shore of Loch Dunvegan...

Cupar above the shore of Loch Dunvegan - can you spot him?

And then I had a go at video... this one's a bit fuzzy. I will try again soon...!