Boat, doggie and photography

We have had a great day today. My cousin Abigail and her partner Graham came to visit with their gorgeous 2-year-old Patterdale terrier, Archie. The weather was absolutely glorious so we all went for a boat trip on the Shearwater, out to the Summer Isles and beyond. Archie was a wee trooper, he had never been on a boat trip before but he took to it really well and sat on Abigail’s knee happily looking out over the sea. Abigail and Graham are keen photographers and took lots of photos of the mountains, islands and seabirds, and of the two pods of dolphins that we saw on our journey. The dolphins were full of the joys and paused in their feeding to ride on the bow wave of the boat, and jump in and out of the water. It was so warm that I didn’t need the waterproof jacket that I had brought with me. 

We had lunch at the cottage and then took Archie for a walk. Tom saw Archie approaching from his favourite rug in the porch, and wisely took himself upstairs out of his way, although he came back downstairs not once but twice, staring at Archie from around the corner, as if to confirm to himself that we really had brought a dog into the cottage! Flora was napping on our bed so she wasn’t quite so aware of what was going on. The cats were very sensible, although disapproving, as I could tell from their reproachful stares when I closed the door to keep them in our bedroom, and had a quiet afternoon upstairs together. 

After dinner Graham, Abigail and I went to the lighthouse to take some photos of the sunset. They gave me lots of tips and ideas about using my camera and I felt that I really got my photography mojo back. I take so many photos with my phone camera these days that I have been neglecting my camera, but you can do so much more with the settings of a proper camera. I was very pleased with my sunset shots. James made us a cup of tea when we arrived back at the cottage and then Abigail, Graham and Archie set off back to where they are staying in Kinlochewe. We opened the bedroom door and Tom and Flora came downstairs rather hesitantly and checked that there was definitely no dog remaining in the house!