I sit in a shambles. A rug strewn with curious squashy creatures; a basket full of clean nappies; garish plastic crockery on the draining board. Upstairs the music box tinkles a very familiar tune, counting a few moments of quiet before a little voice starts chattering again, cheerfully announcing that nap time is over.

I must admit that these days I find it difficult to think about – let alone write about – anything that doesn’t directly concern Rosie. But at this time of year I am usually in a frenzy of pre-season preparation, so I ought to try.

The cottages are gradually getting clean, warm, and ready for inhabitation. Generators, water systems and even boilers are running without too much grumbling. There’s no point scrubbing the cafe floor before a weekend willow weaving course and all the snippings and scuffery that it entails. But the cafe kitchen will be spick and span and full of scones before the arrival of our first waterborne visitors on the Hebridean Princess.

We think back to previous seasons, wondering how to better prepare ourselves this year. Unfortunately we can do little to prevent one of the major calamities of last spring. As I reported here, at the end of a dry May we suffered a wild fire which was probably caused by an incompletely extinguished camp fire.

The grumpy equinoxal weather as I write makes it difficult to imagine ground dry enough for wild fires this spring. But even so, I can’t miss an opportunity to urge any readers with camp-fire-making tendencies to please – wherever you are – be sure that you extinguish even the most innocuous-looking ember. Or better still, perhaps do without a fire.

Of course, ‘muir-burning’ is a feature of heathland management. Burning old woody heather and allowing tasty green shoots to emerge can benefit sheep and red grouse, as well as species of conservation interest such as skylark, black grouse, northern brown argus butterfly and juniper. However, this carefully managed burning must take place before April 15^th to minimise interference with breeding creatures: an out of control fire in late May is not good news.

The power of the highlands, by Anne McGee

We were lucky last year with just 45 hectares damaged. But charred saplings and displaced breeding birds were a miserable sight. Whilst I wouldn’t object to a nice dry spring, I hope for fewer careless fire-starters this year.

A nice dry spring would definitely be welcomed by the local coastal rowing team who are venturing out onto the water again. Almost

unbeaten in 2012, there is a new challenge this July: the World Skiff Championships are coming to nearby Ullapool. The team are recruiting ‘strong young women’ and (in what I can’t help feeling is a slight bribe) are building a second beautiful boat named Lily-Rose, after our Rosie and the next youngest member of the community.

I groan and shiver at the thought of heaving a heavy wooden boat through the waves. But what an honour it would be to participate in such a stunning spectacle! And at least I have a 10kg weight to train with day-in-day-out. Oh – is that her awake already? Time’s up…

This article first appeared as a column in the magazine Scottish Islands Explorer.