A New.IslayBlog.com for Christmas

Islay NewsWell then, there we are, here is my Christmas present for you, a new.islayblog.com for your perusal. After 10 years of blogging ‘manually’ on www.islayblog.com I’ve decided to move on to a new blog with a real CMS. With my recovery from my heart surgery progressing well I thought it was finally time for something new here as well.

The header remains the same (well, OK, I had to tweak it slightly to fit in here), it’s still the familiar view of the Loch Indaal lighthouse with the Paps of Jura in the distance, one of my favourite views on Islay. The content of the blog will largely remain the same as well, as will the categories. I’m going to retire at least one of them though, with the Islay Pictures Photoblog going strong I’ve decided to retire the Friday Islay Picture. I’m undecided on the Islay blogging roundup, time permitting I might revive that one. In a way I’m still fond of the idea. Apart from that I’m going to blog about essentially the same as before, anything Islay (or Jura, Colonsay, Gigha and may be even Kintyre) related I come across. Videos, pictures, news, stories, fun things, events, businesses, short snippets, longer texts, links, updates and whatever else crosses my path.

I hope you will join me here on the new blog if you were a reader of the old blog and I hope to may be gain a few new readers as well. I’m keen to make it a dialog as well, the comments are open for everyone, so don’t be shy and make your voice heard (within reason of course, you’ll be in my house after all).

That’s all for now, enjoy the new blog. Oh, and if everything goes to plan I’ll have another Christmas present for you later today. Watch this blog…

Author: Armin Grewe

I blog about Islay.

31 thoughts on “A New.IslayBlog.com for Christmas”

  5. It’s the 2016 theme actually, I wasn’t too keen on the massive header with the 2017 theme. Decided to make it a clean start, the old original posts will remain at the old URL (i.e. the one with the “www” while this new life is under the “new” subdomain). A bit unusual, but I thought why not do something a bit different.

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  7. Announcing the relaunch of the blog this morning I hinted there might be a second ‘Christmas present’ coming up. Having only finished editing it late in the evening on Christmas Evening I still had to upload it this morning. But it all worked out and I can proudly present my latest Islay video. It’s a bit different from the videos I’ve made previously. To start with it has music. Then it’s monochrome. And it’s quite fast paced. A bit of an experiment, I’m very curious to see what people think. Here it is:
    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55JjM5Xa4TQ?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent%5D
    In 4.5 minutes I’m taking you on a quick journey around Islay, taking in as much as possible in such a short period. Admittedly some of the selections were influenced by the availability of footage, in other areas I had to make difficult choices what to show and what to omit. Here is a list of the places you can see in chronological order:
    Port Ellen buoy
    Port Ellen lighthouse
    Port Ellen warehouse
    Port Ellen houses with passing Islay Coaches
    Port Ellen Maltings
    Port Ellen pier/marina and village
    Laphroaig approach from loch
    Laphroaig smoking pagoda
    Laphroaig stills
    Dunyvaig castle and Lagavulin
    Lagavulin distillery
    Bowmore distillery approach from sea
    Bowmore Main Street
    Round Church
    Barnacle Geese in front of Port Charlotte
    Barnacle Geese at top of Loch Indaal with Paps of Jura
    Bruichladdich approach from sea
    Bruichladdich over distillery
    Bruichladdich spirit safe (making Port Charlotte spirit)
    Past Loch Indaal lighthouse to Port Charlotte
    Port Charlotte pier from above
    Port Charlotte Main Street towards Port Charlotte Hotel
    Loch Indaal lighthouse with breaking waves
    Waves breaking over Port Charlotte pier
    Saltire flying in Portnahaven
    Rhinns of Islay lighthouse and fishing boat
    Seal in Portnahaven
    Waves breaking near Port Wemyss
    Single track road towards Kilchoman
    Approaching Kilchoman Church
    Ruin of Kilchoman church from the air
    View of Machir Bay
    Beach view in Machir Bay
    Otter in Machir Bay
    At the wreck in Machir Bay
    Above the wreck in Machir Bay
    Breaking waves in Saligo Bay
    Waves blown back by wind in Saligo Bay
    View towards Sleeping Giant / Opera House Rocks in Saligo Bay
    Saligo Bay from the air
    Barnacle Geese feeding at Gruinart
    Barnacle Geese lifting off at Gruinart
    Barnacle Geese over the Gruinart marshes
    Barnacle Geese over grazing cows
    Approach to Finlaggan from the air
    View of the house ruin at Finlaggan from the air
    MV Hebridean Isles arriving in Port Askaig
    Passing McArthur’s Head lighthouse
    I still think that’s quite impressive for 4.5 minutes, also a sign of how much Islay has to offer. It might be too fast and hectic for some, but then it might be exciting and fresh for others. I’m normally not a big fan of music for videos (certainly for my videos) and prefer more natural sounds, but here it felt appropriate so I used some. To avoid any rights issues (not to mention that the lyrics I feel often don’t really fit) I didn’t use any big hit(s) known to many but used some free music offered by Google. No lyrics, so no risk of conflict there either. The style of music will probably not be to everyone’s taste, I like the speed and energy in it.
    Now it’s over to you, I hope you enjoy and like the whirlwind tour of Islay. Let me know what you think.
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  11. When I relaunched the blog I mentioned that I was thinking about bringing the Islay blogging roundup back (but retiring the Friday Islay picture). Well then, here we go. It won’t be the regular Sunday every week as I used to do it, instead it will be whenever I find it’s suitable and I have come across enough interesting posts. And I will restart the count, which is why this is the Islay Blogging Roundup NC (for New Count) #1. Here we go:
    The Scotch Cinema has been around for quite some time and is still going strong. Recently the had not just one, but THREE Laphroaig Sightings in One Movie. Some older Laphroaig sightings are also mentioned in their related links.
    From a German music blog we learn that Amy Macdonald isn’t a whisky drinker but her father is partial to a wee dram and in particular a Bruichladdich from Islay.
    Malted (a whisky blog in its day job) has a very interesting post with old Islay pictures in Islay Photographs 1902-1960. On the same blog we also find Islay and RAF Port Ellen.
    Heiko from Switzerland documents his visit to Laphroaig with lots of pictures.
    Sometimes I find Islay references in rather unexpected places like a post Sleep inducing molecules: Propofol, for January 2017 on the Liverpool Life Sciences UTC Innovation Labs. I didn’t fully understand it, but there’s some kind of link between Propofol and the Phenols Islay whiskies are famous for.
    I’m not sure if it’s the type of book I’d read, but may be some of my German readers are interested in reading Die verhexten Zombiekarnickel and report back what they think? Apparently zombies, witches and distilleries are involved.
    For daily updates about the bird sightings on Islay you of course still have to go to the Islay Birds blog. Posts that caught my even recently were a Whitefront with a neck ring, the New Year’s day post with the annual rainfall figures and a flock of Twites. In addition to that the RSPB Blog also has a great entry about Twite on The Oa.
    I’ve stopped the Friday Islay picture, but how about you instead take a look at the Friday fold: Smaull Graywacke at Saligo Bay, Islay? Or the Friday fold: Machir Bay I and Friday fold: Machir Bay II?
    The iLaddie Whisky Nerd from the Netherlands visited Islay late last year (I helped him a bit during his preparations), he has a whole Islay Trip category on his blog.
    Marc Calhoun takes us to Cashels of the Hebrides, which includes one on Nave Island just off Ardnave on Islay.
    Alaina and Philip visited Islay mainly for the whisky distilleries, you can read about their visit in ISLAY, SCOTLAND: A TRAVELOGUE.
    Henryk visited Islay as part of a Scotland trip, you can find some great pictures in Urlaub 2016 Schottlands Nordwesten – Teil 3: Isle of Mull, Islay Scotland und Jura, Urlaub 2016 Schottlands Nordwesten – Teil 3.5: Kilchoman Distillery and Session @ Port Charlotte Hotel Islay.
    I think I’ll leave it at that, the Islay Blogging Roundup NC #1 is done. The next one will appear as and when I’ve come across enough good blog entries worth mentioning. If you have one (or know of one) you think I should mention by all means send me the link.
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