Go Raasay Go!

As yet another mainly miserable day draws to a close on this little paradise that is Raasay, I’m pondering more on what I’ve not done than what I have 😦 The weather just seems to be getting worse and worse, well I’ll rephrase that, there seems to be this good weather about 2 days away but it never seems to get any closer, a bit like the pot of gold at the end of the many rainbows that I’ve seen recently! I’m religiously checking both UKWind and ThR every 3 or 4 hours and this dry spell on the horizon never seems to get any closer. Normally this would not be an issue but I’ve been trying to paint the ‘Old girl’ for days now and I’m just not getting anywhere. I was hoping to get the second coat of colour on the front end and re fit all 4 doors but it just didn’t happen due to the rain that should not have been. Still at least I got the new cupboard fitted in the porch without getting grumpy because I could have been working on my Land Rover. OK, I know I’m really sad, but it’s a fact that after getting married, moving house and getting divorced then trying to get a 23 year old Land Rover through it’s MOT is the 4th most stressful thing a guy can go through 🙂

So after pottering about in my workshop cutting out bits of chequerplate and painting them,

and putting a few more coats of paint on the rear door hinges we headed south.

Raasay 8, Carbost 3!

We headed south for the Raasay v Carbost primary school footie match that was kicking off at 13:00

Of course we arrived late and were much puzzled by the ‘YASAAR’ cheerleaders, however as the match progressed things became much clearer.

Now I have to confess at having no interest whatsoever in football but I did thouroughly enjoy this 90 min epic match.

As did Bobby!

Gabriel puts the first of his two goals in the back of the net for Raasay.

Raasay’s coach discusses tactics with his squad at half time.

Ryan goes in for the kill

But this time Carbost saves, though he did manage to put 4 past the goalie 🙂 making the final score 8, 3 to Raasay. Ryan was top scorer with 4, followed by Gabriel with 2 and 1 each for Rosie, Robin and Joseph which actually makes 9 😦 so I’ve obviously got something wrong, still it was a good afternoons entertainment.

And I’m really sorry if it’s light and inaccurate on info but I’m posting this in the back of a taxi halfway between Barrhead and Girvan which is 200 miles and 24 hours after the event! (aint technology marvelous?) I did try doing it last night but got distracted by the ‘pig sitter’ a bottle of wine and a vain attempt at trying to buy tickets for  http://www.rockness.co.uk/ I tried for several hours on various sites before giving up, by which time I was too tired to finish this effort. However I did manage to do it this morning on my mothers computer before the 5 hour journey to Glasgow and now I’m heading to see a band called Attic at the Catholic Hall in Girvan!

The eccentric ‘Dr No’

It’s all Barry’s fault, the reason that I’m writing this at 5:30am and not last night that is. After what can only be described as a truly miserable three quarters of a day it finally brightened up enough for me to get some outside work done on the ‘Old girl’ . Though I started the day in the barn by giving my 4 doors yet another coat of  ‘Toplac’ with a 4″ sponge roller and I have to say the look the ‘dogs danglies’ and when they’re on the truck you’ll be hard pressed to say they were done with a roller and not sprayed. My only regret being that I did not do the doors in ‘Perfection 709’ that most durable ‘two pack’ by International. Despite the at times torrential rain I soldiered on with some of the bodywork that was less weather dependent, like the hole in my N/S/R, 1/4, panel, which is ‘Landrover speak’ for this bit 🙂

Whoops!

The hole having been self inflicted last year when I reversed into a passing place for an oncoming car but forgot I was towing a trailer! Which is not as daft as it sounds because the trailer is so small you cannot see it behind the old girl, what is completely daft and inexcusable is the fact that it’s the third time I’ve done it in 7 years! I was going to fit a new panel, like I did on the other side a few years ago after the first trailer ‘jacknife incident’ as I’d picked one up on ebay for £30 or so including delivery. I’d even bought one two weeks ago from

http://www.landroverspares.co.uk/category.html?id=139 Buckley brothers of Darwen, or so I’d thought. At £69 it was by far the cheapest I could find but when I phoned them yesterday to inquire when it would be here I was told “it’s on ‘back order’ ” which is ‘motor trade speak’ for you’ll be lucky to see it this year!. Had they told me this on the 12th of May when I ordered it I might have been able to source one elsewhere but not this late in the day so I did what I do best and improvised 🙂 Being a bit of a magpie I’d spotted some nice shiny ‘off cuts’ of 5mm aluminium ‘5 bar chequerplate’ behind a great big guillotine at http://www.ardmaleishboatbuilding.co.uk/ when I was down there with the Loch Striven in December, a quick word with the owner had transferred their ownership to me and they’d been lying in my workshop ever since waiting to be used. After making up a cardboard template I cut it to shape with the 4″ grinder and a special 1mm aluminium cutting disc, after which I pressure washed it and ‘etched primed’ it ready for its many coats of paint.

It'll look better when it's finished!

Even more painting!

In between fitting a new speedometer cable and engine mounting I assisted wifey in painting the porch and assembling a new wall unit to keep the bathroom towels in. Having spent a couple of weeks completely refurbishing our bathroom we were reluctant to clutter it up with cupboards or shelves so had decided to keep them in the porch instead. Or should I say wifey decided and I just agreed to keep the peace 🙂 of course this meant that we had to decorate the porch first, anyway you get the picture.

cockadoodle doo

All of which we did to the accompaniment of our cockerel who had firmly planted himself on the coal shed roof and was telling everyone what a fine voice he had!

‘Dr Green of  Sussex and the island of Raasay’

It was on the return from the afternoon school run that I received a parcel in the post, a book no less with the above title. I did of course know that Barry Turner,  a regular reader of the blog and visitor to Raasay was writing a book about the eccentric Dr Green. The strange ‘doctor’  who had a  stranglehold on Raasay for 18 years but was expecting more of a booklet and not a 250 page hard back copy to drop through the door. Dr Green being the last of a long list of brutal and or eccentric owners of Raasay House who had subjugated the islanders and development of Raasay for almost 200 years.

just what it says on the tin!

Having at one time devoured books on a daily basis, I have shamefully not read one in years but I could not put this down, hence my lack of posting ( or red wine ) last night! The book is laid out chronologically starting with Green’s first purchase in 1961 and I only got as far as 1968 last night so can’t really review the book yet but I did find it fascinating and meticulously researched. The mysterious ‘doctor’ with no discernible income or qualifications for that matter became known as ‘Dr No’  because of his steadfast refusal to allow any kind of development on Raasay despite only stepping on the island once (or maybe twice) in 18 years and never having spent a night there. He left a trail of  debt and court cases in his wake and the new ferry terminal that the Island could have had 30 years ago at a cost of £500, 000 (allowing for inflation) is finally being built at a cost of £12, 000, 000. It is available directly from Barry at a very reasonable price http://www.inkandstuff.co.uk/product_info.php/cPath/3324/products_id/74814 and I can’t wait to get back into it tonight.

Anyway it’s 7:00am now and I must go 🙂