Glittering shells

James and the other five from the club went for a walk in the hills near Luskentyre today. I was determined to spend some time on a beach because I love the sea in all its many moods and I find beach walking very relaxing. David decided to come with me and it was great to have his company. Luskentyre was our beach of choice, and it was pleasingly familiar; I suppose we have walked there a few times over the years. It is a stunning beach with pale sand and turquoise shallow waters. We noticed that just below the tide line there was a glittering band of tiny oval shells; on closer inspection they were amazing colours ranging from white through lilac to purple, with a few bright pink ones. Very pretty. We had fun looking at the different tracks on the sand - human, dog and bird. David spotted a prawn which must have been thrown up by a wave and he found a crab leg. We could see across to Taransay and we could see the blue hills of north Harris. We walked happily for about an hour and a half looking at things and taking photos, I do love a beach especially such a beautiful one.
By this time we felt peckish and drove back to Tarbert where we had a delicious bar lunch in the Hebridean Hotel. I had smoked haddock risotto with a poached egg on top and David had a burger and chips which he declared to be very good. We then went for coffee (and an ice cream sundae for David) in the First Fruits Tearoom. I like Tarbert; it's wee but it has a nice atmosphere and a lively feel probably because of the ferry passengers arriving and departing. We then went for a drive round the Golden Road to Rodel which is about the southernmost point in Harris, then on to Leverburgh and back to Tarbert via Scarista Mhor. Scarista Mhor is one of my favourite places in the world because we stayed there in a cottage as part of a wonderful holiday in the Western Isles in 1999. It was so great; the boys were very young and as well as exploring the island we walked across the machair to the lovely sandy beach every day. I remember doing embroidery as the boys all built sandcastles and collected shells and rocks and built dams across the wee river. So I felt quite nostalgic as we passed the cottages and I was reminiscing with David about our adventures there - he said that he does recognise it even though he was only three when we went there.
When we got back to the cottage the others had just arrived and we relaxed and I read my book before we went back to Tarbert for our tea!