My sister had just moved from Inverness to Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis. So it was exciting to be able to visit her in her new home and explore this island.

 
View from my sister’s kitchen and her new style of porridge.

Exploring Stornoway. Note: the references to the Macleod shops are butchers famous for their black pudding!

A very sketchable church in town – Martins Memorial Church.

And then it was time to visit the most famous location on the island – Callanish Stones. This is a copy of an aerial photo on a postcard.

And here are the stones!

And then I had to visit the nice Callanish cafe and sketch my tea and the view.

What a great first day on the island!

My big two day adventure south to Harris (the bottom part of the island)

At the bottom of Harris – Leverburgh. Guess where I was going next….

A fancy eating establishment. Nice fish and chips and more tea!

Watching the ferry heading south. One day I would like to do some island hopping.

So I had a lot of trouble finding accommodation, but the Tourist Info place rang up an ’emergency’ B&B host on Scalpay.  I was also able to go to a prayer meeting and have my first experience of Gaelic psalm singing (I know the minister of this church!) and then supper and family worship with my lovely hosts.

I bought a cute tweed teddy from my host who prepared a lovely breakfast for me. The Monkey Cat is one of my sisters creations and I sketched it later in the day.

Scalpay is one of the craziest places I have been! So much up and down!

I pulled off the road opposite a petrol station just outside Tarbert to sketch this iconic view of the Harris Hills.

My host had recommended that I go to Reinigeadal – the most remote town in the UK.

Back to Stornoway and back to a cafe (for free wifi!) and a sketch of the grand town hall.

A map of my travels and notes from prayer meeting in a church in Stornoway. More gaelic psalm singing!

A nice relaxing day in Stornoway. A visit to the castle.

and the nearby cafe! Of course! And a sketch of the big ferry headed to Ullapool. A big part of life on the island.

Then it was time for a small afternoon outing to an impressive Broch… Dun Carloway.

Black Pudding for breakfast! And then exploring the west side of Lewis. A lovely tweed teacosy and visiting the lovely Morven Gallery – more tea and cake!

And then a fancy dinner at Digby Chick.

Floor plan of my sister’s house and a view from the window.

Last few sketches from Stornoway (sad to leave!) … and then on the ferry I sketched the same man in a tweed jacket doing crosswords. (Refer to my plane sketch at the end of the Edinburgh article)

I talked to him and his wife, and then showed them my sketchbook. He knew exactly where I was when I sketched my Harris Hills sketch. He owns the other petrol station in Tarbert.

View of the mainland!