Sealing wax (lyrical)

Saw my first and second seals yesterday (Thursday). The first one was disporting itself on a rock as I ate breakfast here:I suspect it was sent there by the tourist office, to look picturesque. It's that thing in the middle that looks slightly like a seal-shaped rock, sitting on a rock-shaped rock.

Yes, I know. But it was a long way away. I zoomed my camera and myself to get a better shot, but it slipped away.

Later I went for a surf here. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a big, grey blob disappear below the surface. A few minutes later, it reappeared. Another seal! I've never surfed with a seal before. I've never surfed with any wildlife, except Welshmen and discarded tampon strips in the Bristol Channel. It looked me up and down, decided I was as attractive as a discarded tampon strip (or a Welshman) and disappeared again.

After a rather disappointing session yesterday (1.5 hours in the water, 1.5 seconds standing on my board), I managed to reacquaint the soles of my feet with the top of my board. I'm hoping they'll become good friends, but for the moment they're maintaing a rather distant froideur.

Finally caught the mid-day ferry from Tiree to Barra, which is mountainous, windy and utterly beautiful. Photos later. The library has free internet access, but not wifi, so having downloaded various emails to my laptop and replied to them there, I can't send them. Apologies if you sent me a message. Also haven't worked out which phone company works here (my Spanish phone picks up Orange (or Naranja, I suppose) but I don't have an Orange SIM. So if it's urgent, text my Spanish mobile.

The library is part of the school. Break time has just finished, so there was a startling school bell, followed by a line of school kids aged 10 to 16 filing past. They're much better behaved than the school kids in South London.