Iona

There's something pleasantly dry about the island sense of humour. This morning I was on a mission to get the shopping in from the local supermarket, along with which our friend K had specified a particular brand of crisps for his packed lunch. As I was carefully scrutinising the shelves in a rather narrow aisle, a local man of about my own age needed to pass. I stepped back from the shelves for a moment to make way. With a playful glint in his eye, and a singsong tone of voice, he said as he passed, "I'm sorry for breaking your concentration!"

Today we took a ferry to Iona just off the southern tip of Mull. It is famous for its abbey and nunnery. It also has a particular light, the western beaches are an ivory coloured sand and the water turquoise. We had a great walk and on the way back, heard a loud rasping croak which appeared to emanate from the bogland and the flag irises. I imagined it must be frogs and searched for them. No luck. Finally I found a walker in the know who told me that the noise was from corncrakes which breed there every year. Try as I might, I couldn't spot one, though they were all around us.

I am sorry it has been such a busy week that I have had less time than usual to catch up on other folks' journals...hope to do that when we get home.