Uig

Was spoiled for choice for blips today. We drove from Harris to Uig in Lewis to meet one of the island's beekeepers, Iain Smith. What a lovely man - also an expert stonemason who has won awards for his work. I couldn't help smiling, however, at the realisation that the beekeepers I had met on Lewis and Harris were called Smith and Jones. What are the odds?

We also had a reunion with an old friend we hadn't seen for 27 years, actor John Stahl who played "Inverdarroch" in "Take The High Road". We had a wonderful lunch and catch-up with John and his partner Jane at their Uig home.

Both occasions presented wonderful blip opportunities. But I decided to go with this - the view from the extension built on to his Uig croft house by another old friend, Malky Maclean, who used to be the driving force behind Gaelic arts, and is now chairman of Unesco Scotland. We called unexpectedly, and seeing his car parked in the drive, walked around the house knocking on windows after he failed to respond to our knocking on the door - only to find him sitting up in bed reading. It was 12 midday! He leapt out of bed and welcomed us in to spend the next hour catching up.

The view from panoramic windows was breathtaking - taking in Uig Lodge (where we filmed frequently for Machair) and the mountains beyond, the amazing Uig beach (which features in The Chessmen), and Baile na Cille the alleged birthplace of the Brahan Seer (the Scottish Nostradamus).

It's just magic to be back on the islands!