Of course we were scarcely twenty miles from Strathyre when we made our first pit stop. The dogs had to have a pee, and as poor old Benny was heaving and retching, I thought it high time. I have been upset in the past because Liz would not let he dogs stay at home, as Annette, a friend of hers, had so far offered to look after them every time we went on holiday, but Liz was adamant that her dogs also needed a holiday!
Anyway, we had a coffee at the roadside, and after I took a few very deep breathes of the fresh air, we were ready to drive on, but not until a little bit of drama! I don't know why Benny had such bad breath, and Liz had just about tried anything, from different tooth pastes, to all kinds of minty chews, all to no avail! But this I know, to drive for hours with that little dog standing with his paws on the back of your seat, retching like mad, and blowing gusts of the most hideous fumes in the back of your neck, was not for the faint hearted.
But more about the drama! Benny perked up very quickly after he had a run, and when another car stopped and a huge spiky hunting dog jumped out, he gave a snarl and a growl, and went for the kill. Poor old Liz gave one shrill scream, and with her slightly knock knees doing an awesome sprint, she reached the dogs just as the bigger dog tried to swallow Benny! This little Yorky, meaning Benny of course, had the heart of a lion, and the bally fighting instinct of a raging bull! It took some doing to separate the dogs, as Stouty, the other Yorky, decided to join the fun.
Seil island is very small, and you drive over the ocean to get to it. The bridge spanning this part of the ocean is about thirty meters long, and at first I did not believe that we had actually crossed the sea, but after consulting the touring guide book, I was assured that it was indeed the case.
We got to the cottage just after midday, and after unpacking our stuff, and scouting around the cottage, I made a light lunch, and as it was such a marvellous day, we sat outside for our meal. After the meal we walked down the tree lined road down to the village, where we had a coffee at the small cafe, but as there was not much going on, we decided to walk along the beach before going back.
There was a huge Bramble lane running along the road and next to our cottage, and the ripe, dark purple berries were inviting all and everyone to come and pick. So we did! I made a beautiful crumble with it the first night, and the next day a lovely cheese cake. We were having bramble pie, and ice cream and creamcake, and cheesecake to our heart's content, until somebody told us that the next week-end people from all over will be invading the island to pick the brambles! We then went a bitty slower in our harvesting, but as there was so many, we still enjoyed some dish with brambles every night!