http://www.islayblog.com/ IslayBlog.com, a blog about the Isle of Islay, an island in the Inner Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland. Links, news and pictures from Islay. en-gb Copyright 2010, Armin Grewe armin@islayblog.com (Armin Grewe) Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:54:00 GMT http://www.islayblog.com/images/islayrss.gif http://www.islayblog.com/ 140 70 http://www.islayblog.com/2010entries/20100730-friday159.shtml Hi, I'm back. Apologies for the unplanned Islay blogging break yesterday. When I arrived back home after watching Toy Story 3 at the cinema with friends my computer decided to throw a major wobble. Seems to be all OK now, but last night it got too late to still write an entry. Anyway, I'm back now, have just poured myself a wee dram of Laphroaig 18yo and have picked the appropriate Friday Islay picture for it: [View this week's Friday Islay picture of Laphroiag distillery and leave your comments in the full entry] Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:54:00 GMT http://www.islayblog.com/2010entries/20100730-friday159.shtml Armin Grewe http://www.islayblog.com/2010entries/20100728-gin.shtml Does this go under Islay Whisky News or just Islay News? Well, the topic isn't really whisky, even though we are talking about an Islay distillery, so I've decided to go with just Islay news. Some people were convinced it was an April fools when Mark Reynier wrote about the Gin Genie on the, you guessed it, first of April. There's certainly more to the story: [Read more about the likely start to gin distilling at Bruichladdich and leave your comments about it in the full entry] Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:38:00 GMT http://www.islayblog.com/2010entries/20100728-gin.shtml Armin Grewe http://www.islayblog.com/2010entries/20100727-haarpano.shtml Some of you might have seen the Haar (sea fog) rolling into Machir Bay picture I posted on the Islay Pictures photoblog a few weeks ago. Well, today I'm going even bigger than that picture, quite a lot bigger. I've just uploaded my latest Islay panorama to my More 180o Quicktime VR Islay panoramas collection. Here's a far too small preview: [Find the links for my latest Islay panorama and leave your comments about it in the full entry] Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:59:00 GMT http://www.islayblog.com/2010entries/20100727-haarpano.shtml Armin Grewe http://www.islayblog.com/2010entries/20100726-machirsunset.shtml To introduce my latest Islay video let me just quote the description I wrote on YouTube: 'Sunset on Islay are beautiful at any time of the year, but certain times of the year are better in specific locations. I believe April is a good time for sunsets at Machir Bay, as the sun is visible all the way until it sinks into the sea.' I hope you'll enjoy them: [Watch my latest Islay timelapse video of two sunsets over Machir Bay and leave your comments in the full entry] Mon, 26 Jul 2010 20:21:00 GMT http://www.islayblog.com/2010entries/20100726-machirsunset.shtml Armin Grewe http://www.islayblog.com/2010entries/20100725-roundup130.shtml Time flies, it's Sunday evening again, time for the weekly Islay blogging roundup already. Did you have a nice weekend? Mine was quite nice, got quite a few things done, including a new Islay video I'm probably going to blog about tomorrow or Tuesday. Also went for a walk along the canal this afternoon, despite it being rather muggy today. Anyway, back to Islay and Jura in the blogs this week: [Read more about Islay and Jura in the blogs this week and leave your comments in the full entry] Sun, 25 Jul 2010 20:36:00 GMT http://www.islayblog.com/2010entries/20100725-roundup130.shtml Armin Grewe http://www.islayblog.com/2010entries/20100724-qrcode.shtml Apparently more and more people nowadays use mobile devices to surf the web, be it on Islay (mobile phone network permitting) or elsewhere in the world. One of the things many mobile devices, in particular mobile phones, have today are cameras. Combining these cameras with barcode scanner software they can read just these, barcodes and QR codes. Which is what that thing on the right is, the QR code for this website, IslayBlog.com. [See the QR-Code for IslayBlog.com and leave your suggestions what I should do with it in the full entry] Sat, 24 Jul 2010 21:17:00 GMT http://www.islayblog.com/2010entries/20100724-qrcode.shtml Armin Grewe http://www.islayblog.com/2010entries/20100723-friday158.shtml Hrmpf, how did it get so late again? Better hurry up with this week's Friday Islay picture. But before I get to that I'd like to point out two blog entries on Intrepid Jane's Going The Extra Mile: Running it into the ground... and more importantly Islay: The Heart Of Scotland. Jane is running to raise money for Help for Heroes and has already received some amazing help from Islay. Her 200 mile run on Islay and Jura starts on Monday and I'm quite sure she'll be using this road at least once: [View the picture of one of the roads Jane will run on and leave your comments in the full entry] Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:42:00 GMT http://www.islayblog.com/2010entries/20100723-friday158.shtml Armin Grewe http://www.islayblog.com/2010entries/20100722-mtbleague.shtml OK, OK, for alpinists the hills on Islay are nowhere near mountains (I think the Paps of Jura might just about qualify for them), nevertheless I think the title 'Mountainbiking on Islay' is quite appropriate today. A few days ago I came across a few interesting pictures from someone regular readers might remember: [More about the mountain bike pictures on Islay and Jura (Beinn Bheigier and the Paps of Jura) in the full entry] Thu, 22 Jul 2010 20:40:00 GMT http://www.islayblog.com/2010entries/20100722-mtbleague.shtml Armin Grewe http://www.islayblog.com/2010entries/20100721-beasts.shtml No, this isn't turning into an Islay video blog. But when I came across this video earlier today I just knew I had to share it this evening. Iain and his sons having fun on the beach in Machir Bay, spotting strange beasts with laser eyes: [View what Iain and his two sons are up to in Machir Bay in the full entry] Wed, 21 Jul 2010 21:22:00 GMT http://www.islayblog.com/2010entries/20100721-beasts.shtml Armin Grewe http://www.islayblog.com/2010entries/20100720-boogieboarding.shtml From Islay's woods out on to the sea around Islay. Yesterday Ethan and Briagh took us to Bridgend Woods, today we can see some boogie boarding on the west coast of Islay. Let's go surfing: [Watch two videos of a family boogie boarding at Machir Bay, Kilchoman, in the full entry] Wed, 21 Jul 2010 19:15:00 GMT http://www.islayblog.com/2010entries/20100720-boogieboarding.shtml Armin Grewe