1. Newfoundland, Canada: completing the Atlantic arc
2. The haul from Coll, June 2026
3. Slovenia, this autumn
4. Bruschetta, smoked salmon, mozzarella & pine nuts
5. 2027 Chez nous brochures out
6. Bonus footage
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Hello there
I learned the secret to long life years ago - or at least, how to make it seem like time was passing slowly: experience variety - and lots of it. While we were writing Travels with my cake tins earlier this year, following a pretty similar routine each day, the weeks tore by. But when I think back to the Retreats and Chez-nous we ran in April and May, they seem so far back in the past now. Since then, I’ve done a reconnaissance trip to Newfoundland and we’ve run a Retreat on our first-equal favourite Scottish Island - Coll - as well as all the usual background noise of business and new things to learn. In our book (we’re still looking for an agent, by the way) we describe how important we think it is to get out of the “Shire” - that place where you are most comfortable and at ease in (in our case, Les Saumais and its surroundings) - to maintain perspective and prepare for what changes are coming your way. But it is also a great way to create the sensation of time having passed more slowly.
This is a long-winded way of saying that we’d like to add more destinations, more experiences, to our roster and we’d welcome your input as to where you would like to go on Retreat with us.
Keep out of the heat (N-Hemi folks) - there’s more coming our way.
Charlotte and Niall
Newfoundland, Canada:
completing the north Atlantic arc
Before last month’s recce., the last time I has been in Newfoundland was 20o3, ten years after the cod fishing moratorium came in. It landed such a heavy blow on The Rock’s economy that more than 10% of the population upped sticks and moved to mainland Canada. In fishing communities, the loss was much higher - in the order of 25%. Many headed to Fort McMurray, Alberta, to work in the tar sands industry, and a starker contrast from home is hard to imagine. Since then, the value of the snowy crab fishery has replaced, indeed exceeds, that of the previous cod one, although the benefit is more concentrated in the hands of corporations and large boat owners rather than individual fishermen, owing to the cost of licences.
This time I went to Newfoundland (generously supported by the Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation- thank you!) to create a programme for future photography holidays there. It had occurred to me that over the last 15 or 20 years, European outdoor photographers have been slowly describing an arc, westwards, over the north Atlantic. It started with interest in the Scottish islands, then explorations of the Norwegian coast, especially the Lofotens. In the wake of the eruption of the volcano under Eyjafjallajökull in 2010, interest in Iceland surged, leading to further exploration of the Faroes and even Greenland. Newfoundland is the last island on that arc of discovery - and site of the first European settlement in North America, around 1000AD. In some ways, Newfoundland remains quite European - but in others, it is undeniably New World, And that is no where more evident than in the abundance of wild, un”developed” coast and barrens.
My base for exploring the Bonavista Peninsula, three-and-a-half hours north from St John’s, was the beautifully preserved village of Trinity. Its harbour was in use by English fishermen as early as the 16th century and it was Newfoundland’s major export hub for fish, whale and seal products until the 19th century, when the focus shifted to St John’s. The highly proactive Trinity Historical Society has been the driving force behind the preservation of the village in its picture-postcard state. There are plenty of other villages more suited to lovers of Dereliction and Decay, if that’s more your thing.
Sitting out on one of these Adirondack chairs (sold in Canada as Muskoka chairs, although they don’t originate there…), the New World described itself in the natural soundscape created by American robins, northern water thrushes and, my favourite of all, the pure, considered morse code delivered by white throated sparrows. Away from the coast, the soil is shallow, the land intractable and the explorer’s way is barred by dense forests of half-starved black spruce and prostrate balsam fir. It’s little wonder that communities have rarely strayed from the edge of this wilderness.
There is a lot to see (and photograph) in Newfoundland, from North America’s most accessible northern gannet colony and Atlantic puffins, to icebergs, colourful houses, humpbacked whales (when the capelin are running) and lighthouses in fabulous locations. But what these photographs don’t communicate is the warmth and openness of the people there. I was quite taken aback by it. In Trinity, I asked my contact there if people were at all narky about photographers pointing cameras at their windows. “Na; it’s just part of livin’ here”. Perhaps it’s because I tend to dress more like a farmer than a tourist when I travel, I don’t know, but local folks fell into easy conversation everywhere I went, as if they’d known me for years. I didn’t feel so much like a foreigner as someone from just over the water.
If you’re not keen on the heat, Newfoundland’s a great place to head in summer. It’s cooled by the Labrador current which brings cold water and icebergs and, most likely brought Leif Erikson down from Greenland. When it meets warmer water from the south, The Rock’s notorious fogs develop. It has been an especially cool start to the summer this year, even by their standards, so much so that locals referred to it as “Junuary”. For the record, the forecasts below are for Thursday 28th May - Thursday 4th June, 2026. Given that St John’s latitude is only 1 degree further north than Saint-Seine’s, the massive influence of the North Atlantic Drift (resulting from the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation - AMOC) is evident (albeit augmented by other factors). Heaven help us all if the AMOC is interrupted by glacial meltwater from Greenland.
We will be running a holiday in Newfoundland for Light and Land between 12th and 20th June 2027, focusing on the Bonavista and Avalon Peninsulas. Hop over to their site for all the gen.
The tour starts and finishes in St Johns where there is no shortage of colour to keep us busy during our time there. And of course, we’ll visit the most easterly point in North America, Cape Spear lighthouse (next stop, Brittany). Let’s keep our fingers crossed for some of that famous Newfoundland fog this time.
The haul from Coll, June 2026
Coll is just 29 km from end to end and 7 km at its widest. But nowhere else in Scotland is there such a variety of such lovely beaches in so small a space - certainly enough to keep us occupied during a 6 day-long Retreat.
While there was no shortage of wild flowers on the machair - that species-rich grassland sweetened by lime-rich shell-sand blown inshore by prevailing westerlies - this incongruous bogey-load of Phacelia must have seemed like a massive 24-7 Pizza Express to the local insects. We arrive at the prime time for pyramidal and early marsh orchids, but too early for Coll’s botanical royalty, Irish lady’s tresses (S. romanzoffiana). This white orchid is found only in north America - except for a few colonies in the west of Scotland and Ireland. Amongst these, the Coll’s is the most significant.
Altogether less regal are Coll’s Cheviot sheep. They are “shabby sheep”, with fleeces hanging off, no doubt reflecting the low value of all but the finest Merino wool these days.
Hedgehogs, fond consumers as they are of bird’s eggs, are not always popular the Hebrides where internationally-important populations of breeding waders, such as redshank and oystercatcher, are unwise enough to nest on the ground. This is at a time when the population of hedgehogs on the mainland has been squashed to oblivion, declining from an already low baseline in 2000, by 75%. We met this fellow out and about on the machair in the late afternoon, no doubt pondering this existential quandary.
I would love to have inserted a photo of a corncrake, Coll’s totemic bird, in this MENUette, but the only one we saw dashed from the roadside into dense vegetation before anyone could photograph it. The pair of hen harriers on the moor and the red-throated divers on a lochan we saw each day kept their distance, too. But even just seeing them made the place feel that little bit wilder.
Since most of Coll’s beaches face west, evenings were a better time to be out than early morning (a bit of a relief given that the sun rolled out of bed at 04:30). Hough beach in particular (above) was very accommodating at any time of day, from either end and even Team Lobster (Charlotte and Iona, this Retreat) were able to escape the kitchen for a wee while to relax there.
While Coll has only one settlement, Arinagour, it’s a colourful one. Inevitably, perhaps, I was drawn to. . . the recycling skips, there to make, I think, an attractive chocolate bar of details.
Fishing harbours, with their artificial colours and tangle of shapes, are natural venues to create kaleidoscopes (here using in-camera Darker blending Mode - thanks, David and Jan!) In between chatting to other visitors, who also appreciated the friendliness of the local people and sense of “remove” from the mainland, we took full advantage of the chaos of the Middle Pier to shoot elements to make Chocolate Bars and Kaleidoscopes to make, well, I’m not quite sure yet.
Depending on other commitments, we are considering running another Retreat based on Coll in late August/ early September 2027. If this interests you, just drop us a line and you’ll be first in line for more info.
Slovenia this autumn
10 - 17th November 2027.
Do you fancy joining Charlotte and me in the Triglav National Park in Slovenia for a Retreat we are running on behalf of the famous Santa Fe Workshop On Location programme? A place has come up and we’ve been asked to tell you about it - just in case you have a gap in your schedule. The good news is that Charlotte will be cooking! What more do you need to know - other than we’ll be at the best sites at the best times. Here is the link to Santa Fé’s site - and some pictures to whet your appetite.
Bruschetta, smoked salmon, mozzarella & pine nuts
Once you have made this scrumptious topping for crusty bread, I am sure it will become a regular on your recipe list. The flavours are really fresh, it is very colourful and appetising and the recipe can be used as a starter for sharing on a big wooden board or for pre-dinner drinks. It’s lovely with a glass of bubbles.
Ingredients
One French baguette or ciabatta loaf
One mozzarella boulle
Smoked salmon, 4 slices
Large ripe tomatoes, three or four depending on the size
Pine nuts, 100g,
Garlic cloves, 2 or 3 unpeeled
Olive oil, for drizzling and for the mixture Balsamic vinegar, to drizzle
Sea salt
Black pepper
Fresh basil leaves
How-to
Preheat the oven to 180 ̊C (160 ̊C fan) [350 ̊F/ 325 ̊F] Gas 4 and have a large baking sheet at the ready on a baking tray.
Slice the baguette into 2cm slices at an angle. Lay them out on the tray and put it in the preheated oven. Leave in for about 8 minutes and then carefully turn them all over to toast on the other side. You can use a grill but just be careful they don’t get over-done.
Take the toast out of the oven and then rub the unpeeled cloves of garlic over each of the slices while they are still warm. Drizzle each with a little olive oil and set them aside.
Next, make the topping. Boil a kettle of water then, in a glass bowl, pour the boiled water over the tomatoes. Leave them until the skin starts to split, then drain off the water. Skin the tomatoes, cut them into quarters and scoop out the seeds and juice. Chop the tomatoes into small pieces and leave them in a large bowl.
Now take the drained mozzarella boulle, cut it into small pieces and add them to the bowl of tomatoes. Chop the smoked salmon and basil leaves in a similar way and add them into the mix along with a good glug of olive oil. You can now grind in some black pepper and sea salt to season. Mix the contents of the bowl thoroughly then put it in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
Meanwhile, toast some pine nuts in a heavy bottomed pan but keep a close eye on them; they burn very easily.
When you are ready to serve, pile a tablespoonful of the mixture on top of the prepared slices of baguette. Drizzle a little balsamic glaze over each one then finish off with a sprinkling of pine nuts.
-from Travels with my Cake Tins
Charlotte x
Our winter 2026 and
2027 Chez-nous brochures - so far
What happened to the Spring 2027 brochure? Well, as it happens, our weeks are already booked out. Nevertheless, cancellations can happen so if you would like to register an interest in visiting us in the spring, please do so here.
Please click on a picture to see the brochure.
Do have a look at our 2027 Chez-nous brochures If you want to progress your photography - and be treated like kings and queens - there really is nothing else like it. Let’s have a Zoom call to see what we can do for you.
Bonus footage: Spoons
I’m a great believer in letting creativity flow into all corners of our lives. If I could share ideas - insightful or idiotic, serious or funny -only through photography, it would be like stumbling through life loosely tied at the ankles.
This one is an eye-roller - or at least, Charlotte rolled her eyes when she saw how I’d folded the napkin at our breakfast table on the ferry, in the hope of raising a smile on the face of whoever cleared it that morning.
Perhaps part of the fun of exercises like this is in imaging the reaction rather than witnessing it. On another occasion, I was waiting in the car for Charlotte to come out of the supermarket, when two young swagsters swung their car into the parking space for disabled drivers before slouching off towards another store. I found a piece of card and dashed out “Just exactly what is the nature of your disability other than being unable to read? Can you even read THIS?” and tucked it under the driver’s-side windscreen wiper. That’s a reaction, perhaps, I would have liked to see.
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Many thanks,
Our best wishes, Charlotte and Niall
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