Birthday girl!

We'd arranged the holiday this week to coincide with Carole's 40th birthday, a great idea even though it presented a logistical challenge in bringing all cards and presents with us too! It did make for a leisurely breakfast while Carole opened them all and took a few calls from well wishers.

Lunch today was a real treat - we'd reserved a lunch table at Kinloch Lodge, the only Michelin-starred restaurant on Skye and had a wonderful afternoon being wined and dined. We opted for a 3 course lunch menu, but after being shown to our tables we were served with a complimentary serving of carrot and white truffle soup too.

All the courses were sensational, as you'd expect, and when we took coffee and homemade fudge back in the drawing room we were nicely full without feeling totally stuffed.

Kinloch Lodge is on the east coast of Skye, not far from the new bridge and about 50 minutes from our house at Elgol. The house looks out over the Sound of Sleat and is the home of Lord and Lady MacDonald. It was once a hunting lodge for the clan MacDonald, who's seat is nearby Armadale Castle.

After plenty of coffee we decided to explore a little more of the island so we went back towards the bridge, where instead of crossing we carried on a quarter of a mile or so to the village of Kyleakin, where the old Syke ferry used to connect from Kyle of Lochalsh on the mainland. Kyleakin is now a bearth for plenty of yachts, but it is also superbly located with a cracking view across the water, the bridge and several islands beyond.

At the turn of the 19th century, Lord MacDonald from Armadale had grandeose plans to turn Kyleakin into a new town and port, 'New Liverpool', but these days you need a good imagination to visualise what might have been. These days there are plenty of signs of development here, but that's because Kyleakin is adjusting to a quieter role now the ferry traffic has subsided.

Back at the house, we had some champagne in the fridge ready to open, and although it was still too windy to drink it on the terrace outside, we could still sip the champagne whilst watching the weather through the large windows.