Away with the Troubles!
Are you finding the travails of modern life a bit much? Has the trek to work palled, or the working from home become a chore? I’ve included a lovely picture of the sea at sunset, that always makes me calmer and it is the view from our house. But many people need to get further away than just a sunset. For those of a sturdy independent cast of mind there is an opportunity to become that solitary creature a lighthouse keeper, master or mistress of the rocks. My favourite fictional lighthouse keeper was the wonderful Fulton Mackay in Fraggle Rock the Muppet inspired kids’ show way back in the day. A retained keeper is being sought for two lighthouses on the north-west coast of Scotland. The lighthouses are at Cape Wrath, that cheerily named tip of the country at the most northerly tip of the mainland, and Stoer Head which is not far away from Wrath. You kind of get the impression don’t you that this part of Scotland is a bit bleak and windy, well you wouldn’t be entirely wrong there.
The great Scottish novelist Robert Louis Stevenson came from the family that designed the lighthouses and he is said to have holidayed near them and been moved by their grandeur when he was writing the classics Treasure Island and Kidnapped. There is a catch though, to be successful for the job you’ll have to be based in the Sutherland area. The Northern Lighthouse Board has advertised for a keeper to carry out routine inspections and maintenance of the two lighthouses, even though both are automated but not failsafe at the moment. To get the job you’ll have to be mobile, active and physically fit. One current keeper, a retired teacher, has 10 retained lighthouses to look after and he is very happy with his lot.
If you are unhappy with the world at the moment and the never ending stream of price increases that dog daily life then here at James Pirie we can offer a little respite. Rather than price increases we have price reductions and some pretty hearty ones at that. These elegant and substantial tumblers below are on offer to save you sixty per cent in a heartbeat. The lovely Royal Scot Crystal Highland Old Fashioned Tumblers are a straight sided tumbler and a joy to hold and an absolute pleasure to drink from. The Double Old Fashioned is the ideal glass for any vintage cocktail, ah make mine a Negroni please! Perfect for a large whisky with or without ice, or a splash of water.
