After the glorious weather of June, July proved to be a bit of a wet blanket. We were thankful that the water supply returned to normal levels but there was a sense of everyone walking about with knitted faces. There was a slight lull in visitors too which made the island seem much quieter than normal for this time of year.
The farm has had two late, surprise additions to the cow herd. They thought one cow was just a bit fat but a couple of days later, a new Beltie calf appeared and when a visiting photographer went to capture the new arrival, the proud father made his distaste abundantly clear. Note: No photographers were harmed in the taking of this photo. The second surprise arrived last week without prior weight issues suspicions.
We got together for a beach bonfire during one sunny weekend, enjoying good company and toasted marshmallows. There was great debate about the best method for toasting marshmallows. With the fire embers being so hot, it was difficult to get close enough so Aileen fashioned a shield out of a cardboard box which made her look like a viking preparing for battle; if she had shouted “Shield. Wall” the transformation would have been complete!
Jane continues on her mission to paint the entire island and last week, with help from a couple of others, she painted the rail and picnic table outside the shop. It is now a gorgeous, deep blue colour and has smartened the whole area up.
Canna was visited by the Ceilidh Trail musicians who set up busking outside the Cafe and played for residents and visitors. They played a variety of tunes and sang and got everyone up dancing to do a Dashing White Sergeant along the road. Thank you for coming to visit and play for us!
Congratulations to Craig and Caroline for their first wedding anniversary this month. Here they are pictured below celebrating the day by fixing the internet. Heroes.
The IoCCDT are pleased to announce that we have appointed WT Architects to take forward our project development of Coroghan Barn.
WTA will make an initial visit to Canna and will be running a Community Workshop on Thursday 10th August 5pm - 7pm to meet the architects, learn about the design process ahead and help further shape the detailed brief for the project.
The workshop will facilitate the community's thoughts on the spaces the buildings should include, what they might be like and what they can deliver for Canna and its people.
We are very excited at reaching this milestone in the development of Coroghan Barn and look forward to working with WTA in bringing this much loved building into the 21st Century.
Here on Canna we are taking part in the Highland Climate Festival which runs across the region from 1st to 30th September 2023. The theme for this year's festival is “Think Local, Be Local”. Celebrating local means celebrating sustainability, low carbon choices and the very fabric of our vibrant local communities who are carrying out community led climate action.
Organiser Vicki has planned a “Big Local Picnic - with a twist!” on Saturday 30th September. There will be a beach clean around the bay area followed by a BBQ, using local ingredients as far as possible, at the Shearing Shed. Vicki said “This is a good opportunity to set the intentions for Canna Tourism in terms of being eco-friendly and sustainable!”
All are welcome to come along so if you are planning to come to Canna for the day or are already here visiting come and join the community for this great event!
We love Canna but don’t just take our word for it - one young visitor, Mary, made use of our Bio Security packs and wrote a short story about Canna while she was here. Mary’s use of descriptive language is excellent and it is encouraging to see how inspirational Canna is for young, creative minds.
"The Isle of Canna
When the sun flows down and the moon floats up, the day is finished and the night is up. The starry night is here at last. I see the waves rippling down with boats on the shore swishing in the wind like a feather on a bird. Then the Isle of Canna stands proud on the windy night. Hills from near and far seem to be standing still but if you look closer they are singing a merry tune. The sheep graze far and wide sleeping like they’re under a magical curse. The starry night is like a blanket made of stars over my body and the sea is like a pillow made of icy velvet. I stand to hear the wind sing a sweet song then I fall down, down, down and down til I wake up and I feel like it never happened and it was just a dream, but really it is much more."
Mary Smith, aged 8
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