Framedlight

On our last morning in Kilchattan we got up early and did those things you are supposed to do when leaving a holiday home: clearing the fridge, hoovering up the dog fur and packing the van. We left the place pretty unscathed apart from a light patch on a dark red carpet in our room. It must have been dyed from a lighter colour, as, when the damp dog slept on it, she got up the next day with pink fur and the colour of the carpet where she had lain was in turn rather paler. After that we ensured she slept on her blanket and hemmed it in with chairs so there was no escape. After breakfast I took a picture of the little rabbit in the garden who had entertained us most mornings. We took Rene for the 11.00am Rothesay ferry back to the mainland where she was meeting Alan's cousin who was driving her into Glasgow for the train. There was momentary panic and a short series of phone calls as she had got stuck in the lift on the ferry and was nearly returned to Rothesay. We drove to th...

Our last full day in Bute was a bit of a wash out. However we needed some exercise, so we left Rene snug and dry in the apartment and drove south on the St Blane's road until we came to a pull in by the footpath to Dunagoil, an ancient hill fort. First we had to wait on the road for the cows to move into a new field. We got pretty wet as we walked down to the vicinity of the fort but stopped at a ridge of rock overlooking the sea where there were a couple of caves, seen here in infrared as well. The rain getting worse we headed for home where we had lunch and dried out. Further into the afternoon it cleared so we took Rene to the café at Ettrick Bay for a celebratory cup of tea and cake and had a little saunter down the beach. Finally, after supper the sun shone and I took my final shots of Kilchattan Bay

The afternoon being still wet and dull we decided to have a wander around Rothesay. Alan needed some parts anyway to fit back the fridge in the camper van. This had stopped working a few days previously, which didn't matter too much at present as we were in a holiday home, but would be a concern when we went to Mull. He had read that the way to fix a camping fridge was to take it out and place it upside down for 24hours, which would mix the chemical coolant around and it would work again. This he had done, with much panting and heaving in the limited space, but he still needed some hose. Bute Tools, one of those splendid individual hardware shops which stock everything, was the place to go. Rothesay may have had an illustrious past, but in the 50's it had ossified and faded. The main hotel was in the process of being shored up to stop it becoming a danger and the new out of town Co-Op was the only bright spark in the firmament. Infrared again seemed the way to go. The first pi...

Ascog Hall, even though the weather was wet and no sun could be seen, cried out for infrared photography. So I spent my time in the fernery with two cameras, also taking the infrared converted one outside into the garden. Eventually the heavens opened and Alan and Rene retired to the van, not before I had also explored the ruined stable block with Alan.