On the 17th of March 2008 I posted article nr 500 and today, a little over a year later, I'm proud to announce post nr 1000! Back in March 2008 I thought it would take me two more years to reach 1000 posts but I managed it in thirteen months, much to my own surprise. It's an average of 1.28 posts per day in the last year compared to 0,73 in the year before, which is almost double! In this last year the number of visitors doubled as well. March this year saw more than 15,000 distinct visitors and almost a million hits, well done everyone! Below is the top ten most read stories and ironically the best read story on this blog is the one that has the worst memories for me. Soldiers Rock, the place where I seriously hurt my back two years ago. At least I took some nice pictures before it happened :-)

And I have been wondering..... how can I thank all you loyal readers from Islay and other places all over the world for visiting the blog, submitting comments, posting in the forum and giving me such lovely feedback, because without you there wouldn't be a blog at all. I came up with the following idea which is a bit similar to the last time. brian palmer created two images containing 10 differences and everyone can join and try to find these ten differences. All the correct answers will be collected and Manuela, my wife, will then draw one name from the bowl of winners. He or she can win a bottle of Octomore Single Malt Whisky (nr 2710 of 6000), which is one of the peatiest malts in the world, distilled and bottled by Bruichladdich Distillery. Either you like to enjoy this exclusive whisky yourself or you keep it as a collectors item. Isn't there a but??? Yes there is. Since it's not everyday that you can win a bottle of Octomore for free I have only one request. Whoever wins this limited edition whisky has to donate 25 pounds to the Islay Pipe Band, who are desperately in need for funds to visit all the tournaments this year.

Mark Unsworth from Islay Studios just sent me an email and he donates another great prize for the competition, a framed image of 10x8. The winner can select any image off Marks website and he will take care of the rest. This prize represents a value of around £50 and is all the more reason to join the competition! Continue to the prize competition

Continue to the wee prize competition

Now for the images. Below you can find two images with a picture of our friend Jeremy Hastings and his son Michael aka Spartacus! The picture is taken at Debbies Minimarket in Bruichladdich on the new sofa. It's your task to spot the ten differences. If you think you have found them you can send me an email. The winner will be announced on the blog around the end of April. Thanks everyone for joining the WEE competition with a BIG prize. Good luck! :-)

Tag: octomore prize whisky competition