Dramatic skyline this morning as we rounded 'The Doon' and headed along the edge of the Shiskine Golf course and a welcoming coffee at the club house.

Ice crystals shimmer on the beach in winter sunlight

Surely one of the most beautiful golf locations in the UK?

Having been off Arran for a week working, our first morning back has to start with a walk on the beach at Blackwaterfoot. The sun was barely up over hills, and the clear sky tempted us briefly.

A cauldron of winter ingredients were urgently gathered, put in order and emptied in dramatic form as we headed to 'The Doon'. Icy rain, hail, some snow. Sheltering amongst our favourite rocks, we watched as the sky's dark foreboding curtain danced across the sea from Kintyre.

Moments later, calm. As is often the case here, the anger passes, the sun restores itself and blue magically completes the scene.

How bright on the blue
Is a kite when it's new!

With a dive and a dip
It snaps its tail
Then soars like a ship
With only a sail

As over tides
Of wind it rides,

Climbs to the crest
Of a gust and pulls,
Then seems to rest
As wind falls.

When string goes slack
You wind it back

And run until
A new breeze blows
And its wings fill
And up it goes!

How bright on the blue
Is a kite when it's new!

But a raggeder thing
You never will see
When it flaps on a string
In the top of a tree.

Maybe not the yellow shiny clinkety, clinkety stuff, but Arran can enrich the soul and deliver countless wealth in visual spectacle, day after day, all year round.

One of our first memories of Arran, from a visit in the autumn of 1998, is of jaw dropping panoramic rainbows which seemed to be everywhere and anywhere you turned. The late season's weather rarely remains constant, certainly in our corner of the island, and dramatic sky and seascapes are sure to be a part of your stay here on Arran.

Walk on Blackwaterfoot beach and each time something will be different.

The light.

Intense and low; above Kintyre, amongst Kintyre, long shadow, no shadow?

The sea.

In, out, crashing, loud, alive and joyful, or still as stillness itself?

The sand.

Rippled, smooth, wet, dry; foot-printed, bird-printed, hoof-printed; sand-castled and dappled with coloured seaweed . . or . . not?

The sky.

Azure blue, burnt orange; rain-bowed and clouded, dark as night, fresh as day?

You cannot be bored on the beach.

GH.

Earlier today there was talk on Twitter of the International Space Station (ISS) passing over the UK. I asked @VirtualAstro if there was a likely sighting up here on the Isle of Arran and the answer was a definite yes! Information showed the craft would pass by in the south west just after 8 o'clock.

Having never witnessed the ISS before and not knowing what to expect, I grabbed camera and tripod shortly before 8pm. Pointing roughly in the right direction with the edge of our barn in the frame, I did a couple of test shots and decided on the camera setting you can see below.

It would have been nice to have caught the trace of the light as it started over the buildings, but not knowing what I was looking for meant the realisation took me by surprise. I hit the camera shutter and held it down for what must have been at least a minute and then again for a further minute. This double shot meant a 'merge' in Photoshop and a slight gap in the continuation of the bright line.

Great to see and to capture.

Camera Setting of DSLR:

Speed: ISO 400
Aperture: f8
Shutter:  open on 'bulb' (b)
Focus:  on infinity

GH.