The Haven

A dull start to the day but with better weather promised we drove down to the island of Seil, just half an hour away. A lot quieter than usual, though there were quite a few people there when we arrived. It's somewhere I've known for so long that it's hard to imagine arriving in the village of Ellenabeich (the island of birch trees) for the first time and seeing all the old slate workings, the dark grey slate spoil spread over the beaches, the beautiful harbour with the small passenger ferry over to the nearby island of Easdale, the steep cliffs behind the village, the scattered isles of the Garvellachs on the shining horizon and the dark shape of the Isle of Mull in the background. 

We were bound for the lovely garden of An Cala (The Haven) behind its protecting wall. We knew that the owner wasn't in today as we'd spotted her with a group outside the Tigh an Truish pub, next to the Bridge Over the Atlantic as we passed! This pub name translates as 'The House of the Trousers', so named as back in the aftermath of the 1745 rebellion and the banning of the kilt, the islanders would swap their kilts for trousers before crossing over to the mainland!

Enough of the history lesson! The garden was beautiful, tho' past its floral best - we were the only visitors in today. I've added a couple of extras - firstly of the house, once a distillery and secondly, a couple of wire mesh lambs, part of an increasing flock of sheep on the grass under the beautiful waterfall.

Limerick of the Day:

A young Scottish lassie named Eilidh
Got stewed with a handsome Israeli.
Her mem’ries were vivid,
Though her father was livid -
“That’s the last time you go to a ceilidh!”