Ringing up a sale at the Ullapool Bookshop

The excellent Ullapool Bookshop on Quay St www.ullapoolbookshop.co.uk has sections on : War; Biography; Calendars; Outdoors; Giftwrap; Scottish Books; Fiction; Climbing; Children's; Sport; Sea; Reference; Artists Materials; Audio Books; Religion; Internet Facilities; Cookery; Postcards; Poetry; Maps; Gardening and Greeting Cards.  The shop is run by a group of five people, of whom I met two on two successive days this week when hurricane Bertha restricted outdoor activity. They were v helpful on what to see and do with three young children, getting out the free tourist brochure and showing us on a map where the sandy beaches are and advising on midge protection - according to the bookshop, the only way to go is an all-enveloping midge net suspended from a hat on the head. I know these well, having gardened in south Lanarkshire one still, hot summer. You would think that science by now would have found a fiendishly simple way of eradicating these critters, such as seeding the hills with infertile males or finding some friendly predator - whether lizard or bird - to mop them up.

Some happy browsers in the Ullapool Bookshop