We're going on a ber----ry hunt

How lovely to have that at the back of your garden. Lovely pics

yes im very lucky ~ best bit of the house when we came here ~ i didnt like the house, but its improved since

I agree with Cinders, I'd love to live so close to Woodland.

Loved your blog and picture's, did you not find the Bear?

only ber ----ries!

Gorgeous surrounds to your home, Sticki....I can see how you'd sacrifice the state of the house in favour of the woodland....and it seems you chose well. It's a beautiful piece of land.

woods dont belong to us. but lucky to have them next to us, then allotments behind them.

Oh....I didn't realize....still it's right on your doorstep and looks so tranquil and great for a stroll.

Hee hee... great blog Pip!!

He must be in hibernation! Stickitoffee

waiting to pounce on me next time no doubt!

How nice to have this at bottom of your garden.

yes very nice ~ i appreciate it every day! it is public land but not many people go there

lovely area to live.wish we had all those trees.

yes i feel very lucky and i realise in my dreams of island life I would miss the trees. the outer hebrides dont have too many trees either do they?

they have more than we do I believe but the shetlands have less. however I plant a few trees each year

what happens? do they grow to a certain ~ smaller ~ height?

trees grow ok in some places where they are more sheltered but out in the open the wind burns and kills the tops off them so the next spring they send out shoots from lower down. it makes them stunted and bushy. they aren't to bad in my garden it gets a fair bit of protection, but my fruit trees lose there blossom before they can set fruit so they are just decoration. willows and sycamores grow well

glad you get some trees, i would miss them ~ thank you for telling me all that information ~ i find it fascinating. we have some trees here that grow in that rather bent and stunted shape when the wind is the predominant force on them ~ they make lovely photos!
do you ever see guillemots on the islands?

guillemots are quite common here. unfortunately they quite often grab your bait under water when you are fishing. It is unavoidable and though the damage done to them by the hooks tends to be minor, I hate having to take a hook out of them. they are loveley birds almost like small penguins in the water. they feed mostly on small coalfish here.

poor little things, yes i can see the likeness to penguins, they are so cute!
i have loved them ever since i saw them on simon king's shetland diaries and am now in the process of trying to write a childrens story about them! ~ so i would love to see them ~ we stayed near mallaig last year and visited skye, muck and eigg but sadly no guillemots ~ or puffins
maybe orkney or shetland next year???

if you come to the orkneys you would be sure to see the puffins on the island of westray. you can get very close to them if you look back through my pics you can see them.
when I first came here I thought the guillemots were some sort of penguin. shows I'm not a real bird expert, but I do like to see them

thanks islander ~ i shall enjoy looking