Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Muirburn
04/20/2005
MESSAGE FROM THE OLD HOUSE. A CANCELLATION MEANS THAT THE OLD HOUSE IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR ANY WEEK BETWEEN 30TH JULY TO 20TH AUGUST.
After another good night’s sleep, I am greeted by bright sunlight rising over the ridge on Ben MacDonald to the North of MacDonald’s Nose blazing onto the Great Bed of Trollaigh at 7.45 am. This is a milestone of the spring and very welcome. The downside is that we only have eight more weeks until the longest day! Fabulous spring weather stays with us all day, with clear blue skies, high pressure and unheard of 16 degrees heat. A brisk easterly breeze keeps us on our toes. I feel in a much better humour today and have a chance to hear a lot of balanced media cover on the new Pope. A lot of comment on whether or not the liturgy is, or is not the actual word of God and how this can be interpreted in view of the ghastly problems in the third world. Can we honestly believe that that AIDS in Africa is a result of immorality and therefore a mortal sin? What about needle stick injuries etc? I have to spend most of the day tied to the desk however; I do manage an hour or two outside indulging in one of my favourite spring jobs, Muirburn. For those of you unfamiliar with this ancient art, it is all to do with setting fire to dead, white grass to allow new grass to sprout. I have met and seen some masters of this craft over the years, and I do fancy that I am a bit of a dab hand at it myself. It is all to do with careful control of flame in variable wind. Today is no exception as I follow the example of many Trollaighs by setting flames along a long windward slope. As the flames leap higher dearest Dottie interferes, claiming that some of her garden is at risk. Lachie and I have everything well under control until the wind rises and changes direction. I can just make out the sirens of the Fire Fighters above our frantic efforts to divert the inferno from the formal front garden; fortunately, the hoses are turn on full blast just in the nick of time. As I remove my smouldering tweeds, I am treated to some quite unnecessary abuse from both Dottie and Mhairi about my incompetence. However, it was such fun, and the dogs loved it. Cheers! Yours Aye, Archie, The Baron Trollaigh.
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Sun, Teeth and Boats.
04/19/2005
MESSAGE FROM THE OLD HOUSE. A CANCELLATION MEANS THAT THE OLD HOUSE IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR ANY WEEK BETWEEN 30TH JULY TO 20TH AUGUST.
Thank god for the great bed of Trollaigh, after two nights of deep sleep I am vaguely returned to normal, and once more feel spring coursing through my veins. This is reflected in the weather, which, despite a small depression, gives us a fine dry day, with plenty of blue sky. In the morning, we can see fresh snow on the tops before it melts away. John phones from Glen Orchy with an invitation to Oban where, after visits to the dentist and confusing banks, we manage to slip off to Balvicar and the boat for yet more final tweaking before the safety inspection. All this in glorious sunshine. On the way back to town, John diverts to tempt me with a good little three ton excavator and I buy it for dearest Dottie’s garden project, more toys for boys, will I get into trouble? Surely not. After a wonderful short trudge with the pack into the long glen, I settle with last week’s Oban Times, which I have missed because of my trip to Edinburgh. Amongst all the normal parochial guff I almost explode to see that all the hoods and crooks who form the Health Co-operative, which has removed all our out of hours primary healthcare, have formed themselves into a “re-design” group to review the afore mentioned destruction. Not only will they now get more dosh, but also I note with amazement that several of their wives and lovers are now in on the group gravy train. Am I alone in thinking that all this money should be spent on frontline services? It is a disgrace that we are prepared to allow such wankers to receive payments when all they do is absolve themselves of any decision-making responsibility. One can only assume that these bastards hope that they will have creamed off some serious cash before the whole of Argyll Health Service will come crashing down, regrettably the collateral damage will be within the “re-designed” acceptable morbidity range. People are going to die because of their inaction and incompetence. It is coming up for a general election, so lets name the guilty, dishonest, self-interested criminals who manipulate our health services for their own profit. Yours aye, Archie, The Baron Trollaigh.