We managed a brief overnight trip back home to Scilly last weekend, thanks to Becky and Mark for holding the fort whilst we were away. With a house full of German ladies who are up and out early each morning and only one room changing we took the very rare opportunity to have a night off in August. A very good friend was celebrating his 40th birthday on St Marys and we were able to join the party.

New runway

We flew from Lands End airport on Saturday morning, a very smooth taxi and take off from the new tarmac runway. Hopefully the new runways will see the end of closures and delays due to waterlogging during the winter.

Arriving on St Marys we dropped our bags into Freesia guesthouse where we were lucky enough to be staying. Then we made our way down to the quay where James, aka the birthday boy, picked us up in his new boat the Falcon and took us to Tresco.

Personal taxi!                       Back to St Marys

Once on Tresco we made our way towards Borough to see my parents, it took us an hour and a half to get there (about half a mile) as we bumped into old friends along the way and caught up on all the news. A bite of lunch with mum and dad then next door to see our neice and family before heading back down to New Grimsby to meet James and our lift back to St Marys.

Outdoor art

This is one of four paintings by Anthony Garrett displayed outside on Tresco  where they were painted. These paintings are the first of a series of outdoor painting projects by Anthony Garrett, which will appear across the country over the next few years. This set were all painted in May and will stay in situ until October 2014. This is a view from outside Gallery Tresco looking down the channel towards Samson, Plumb Island was deliberately left out to give a clear view of Samsons distinctive outline.

Off to a party

Aboard the Falcon for a quick trip back to St Marys with Kathy, David, James and Thomas. Three generations of Scillonian boatmen here, as Thomas is bound to follow in dad and grandads footsteps. It was quite funny listening to Thomas, age 5, telling grandad how to drive and moor up the boat. David took this instruction all in his stride with a wry grin, he has been boating for as long as I can remember, he was one of the boatmen who used to take me up and down to school, and that was a while ago!!Then on Sunday watching Thomas take the helm of the punt and steer from the quay out between the boats to the Falcon on her moorings, what a perfect age to learn the ropes and respect the sea.