The General's Diary: A long long way away, in a far away land, there stood a castle.......

Castle Stalker could be reached at low tide. Fortunately for the inhabitants of the castle, the tide was never very low otherwise they would have been inundated with visitors. The two of us!

It's been there since the 1300's and it seems amazing that someone still lives there - though there were no lights on when we walked past. Maybe they'd popped out for takeaway or to pick up a pizza for dinner.
It's an amazing structure sitting on its own wee island.
On the mainland opposite there was a boatshed with rail lines heading into the sea for the boat to go across to the castle.
Not the usual way to bring home the groceries.

We had been in Port Appin for just on a week and the weather hadn't been kind to us. Apparently in Scotland on average they receive 10 feet of rain each year and I think we've had it all in this one week.

One of the best things we discovered while staying in Port Appin was just how fabulous the UK health system is.

I had reason to visit the medical centre due to a small problem with my ear.
Did I have to wait.....Well I had just made myself comfortable and was flipping through a magazine full of photos of Wils & Kate when I was called in. Could I just take the magazine in with me....... Possibly not the done thing to do.

Well to spare readers the tedious details, the doctor told me to call back later that afternoon after she had done some further investigations or as you say 'ring a specialist friend'.

Chris and I returned to our little cottage for a cup of tea and a bit of lunch. While sipping on a cuppa who should arrive at the door ..... the doctor.

We invited her in and she sat down for a chat and a cup of tea.
It was good news all around, for me and for all those lucky people in the UK who benefit from such a personalised service at no extra cost to themselves.

Below - photos of the Port Appin area on the west coast of Scotland.