Islay Blog Post nr 500 - A Prize Competition

Today a somewhat different post due to the fact that this is the 500th post on the weblog since I started in April 2006, 23 months ago. That makes an average of 0,73 posts per day since the start and it still amazes me how much there is to write about a relatively small island. The best viewed post up till today is Soldiers Rock with 3,654 views since June 2007. Some other interesting facts: So far 176 users signed up, the blog received 905,809 hits and the forum has almost reached thousand posts.

If I continue posting with the same average of 0,73 posts per day, post nr 1000 will be somewhere in February or March 2010. By that time the new Islay Hotel in Port Ellen will be opened as well as the new Port Charlotte Distillery, Islay House will be sold, the reconstruction at Port Askaig is ready (am I too optimistic here?), Islay will finally have a good pier at Bruichladdich where fully loaded oil tankers can berth (even more optimism), tourism will have further increased despite the absence of RET, new businesses have started up, serious plans are presented about yet another new distillery on Islay (am I dreaming?), sea levels will have risen with 5 cm, the geese will still return each winter, brian will continue his cycling trips with his pals over the island, Debbie will still serve a great cup of coffee and despite the 9% tax rise the distilleries will perform even better than this year. All the more reason to keep on blogging about this fantastic island and its people!

Today however no news from Islay but two pictures, one of them carefully photoshopped by brian palmer and for you the task to spot the eleven differences between these two pictures. The original picture was taken in front of Debbies Mini Market at Bruichladdich. You can send your results to me by email and my wife Manuela will select an official winner (blindfolded) from the correct answers.

So what's to win? The winner of this wee competition will receive a beautiful handmade Islay Seal whisky jug (picture top right) courtesy of Arra Fletcher from the Persabus Pottery. All the more reason to spot the eleven differences and join the competition. Here we go: