Well, the good news is that after years of careful negotiation, we are going on to the mains water supply. So those of you who have, over the years, put up with dark brown baths , pleas to save water (yes we did once have a hot summer) and peculiar tea , can breath a sigh of relief. Personally we really like our nice pure hill water, but the E.U. doesn't like the colour.

Mains pipe runs along the bottom of the garden, but nothing is easy these days and we can't just ask Scottish Water to connect us. We have to chose a provider, and he negotiates with Glasgow, who negotiate with Lochgilphead, who put it on the back of their desk and forget about it. Until one day they panicked and calculated that if you all did the washing at the same time the village would run dry! A £1700 pressure test was proposed which we refused to contemplate, so they saw how silly they were and at last sent the co-ordinates of where we were to join the pipe. It turned out to be in the middle of the burn. So Mr Gull and Adam are just digging away where they see fit, and in due course (probably another 6 months) it will all be up and running.

So I can promise you a warm winter as one reason for this was that the water kept freezing up last Christmas .

Well at last the geraniums have come out! what an awful summer - we keep waiting for it to happen and now it's nearly September. I judge a Carradale summer by the number of times I swim - record is 18. this year it's 1 (lowest ever) and I nearly died of hypothermia. The poor old flowering barrels have had an awful time, struggling away, but now at last they are looking very pretty. Met some friends from the south last week and they were appalled that my tomatoes are still green!

Still plenty of people coming to the cottages - September used to be a quiet month but not so now. Perhaps you're all trying to save a wee bit of money, I know we are. But at the moment Colin's is free towards the end of the month. September, if the weather is reasonable, is one of the lovliest months here with the rowans and heather and lovely lights.

Don't forget how flexible we are - any days booking as long as it's not less than 3, and 25% off last minute bookings.

Panic in the farmyard! Dougie's three young white ducks went missing and poor Dougie was hurtling around in a demented way on his quad. bike searching in hedge and ditch. Had Mr Fox had his wily way? Were they even now being served up on some Bearsden table?

But no - they'd gone walkabout! There they were, at least half a mile from home, happily sleeping in the verge and pottering around in the stream.

So Dougie gave them a good row.

Great night in the Village Hall on Saturday when the Drama Club presented their hilarious award winning play, (they actually reached the area finals in Kilmarnock), followed by Jane of Mad Cow Productions doing one of her excellent monologues. Place was packed, and helped by a bar and enormous raffle, a good night was had by all.

Jane's secret is to learn her lines as she walks round the Bay, so if you meet a distracted looking lady muttering, don't fetch the police.

Nonnie - ex barman of The Glen - has moved to the Ashbank and is attracting the crowds with his inimitable presentation of the Thursday Quiz. We don't do pub quizzes ourselves (too difficult - who is Andy Murray?), but we're assured it's great fun. So if you're staying in Carradale do come along to these things because you would be made very welcome .

I know I go on about the lovely vegetation around here, but it is one of the real pleasures of Carradale. At the moment all the hills are purple with rhodendron flowers - almost makes up for the green leather hills the rest of the year. And I certainly didn't expect my tropeoleum (spelling?) to survive the winter, let alone be the best it's ever been.

Quite a lot of last minuters at the moment - don't forget you get a massive 25% discount if you book within 7 days of arriving. We always enjoy unexpected visitors - our local windfarm seems to generate a lot of interesting people. The sub-station in the village has undergone major upgrading and we get everyone from ecologists studying the damage to the environment to seriously brilliant boffins who are stitching the whole thing together.

Carradale harbour is looking a bit sad these days. Once the centre of a hectic fishing fleet it used to throng with activity, and those of you who have come for years will remember how it was the place to be . Now it has a tiny fleet of small fishing boats, is messy and run down.

But don't worry! We have plans. The Harbour Group (CHUG ) is working hard to make improvements. Not easy in these days of belt tightening and closing rural schools, but we are slowly arriving at a consensus of what should be done, and how to do it. Most importantly it is to be a community project. Everyone must be involved and have their say - fishermen, local pleasure boats, visiting yachts, visitors, and the local community.

To this end we had a great meeting in the Hall last week; Mike did a presentation with loads of slides - just look at what Tarbert has done in the last 2 years - there was plenty of chat, a cup of tea, and lots of questionnaires returned - all enthusiastic.

So we'll keep you up to date with progress.