Well the weather has deteriorated, we've had lots of rain and gale force winds. We've started digging ditches to help with the drainage and redirecting the water for the pond we're creating in the croft.
The boat is still not seaworthy so we've been walking out to go shopping and then walking back in again. That's over 20,000 steps so that means I don't have to do any walking at all the following day!!
The highlight is that we treat ourselves to lunch in Ullapool, there's a place that does the most amazing home-made soups which we share a bowl of chips with. I still find the walk hard but it's got much easier than when we first did it. I've been buying considerably less food though as if you know you've got to carry it miles on your back it puts you off. Its amazing how heavy it can be, I try to just buy light things although the organic spelt flour has been half price so we've now got a car full of it as I'm bringing it back a bag at a time.
We've started digging up our potatoes to use so at least we haven't had to carry those in. I've been very grateful of the food order that we've got stored for winter as that has saved me having to carry tinned stuff in.
We've finally got round to replacing the cowls on the chimneys of the house in the hope that it would stop water pouring down the walls, it hasn't! We're going to try replacing some of the render to see if that helps. If not it'll probably mean taking the roof off.
Another bit of exciting news, I've made some new curtains for the byre. The wrap-over skirts (skirtains as I call them) have seen better days. Needlework isn't really my forte so I used the minimalistic approach and just cut a piece of material in half. But I'm pleased with the results.
We're hoping to get moving with the cabin and have managed to source some wood locally so it's now sitting waiting for us to make some progress (I'm already plumping up cushions in my head). So onward and upward.
I do still feel so grateful to be here, we saw a red squirrel last time we walked out and the last couple of days have seen the most wondrous sunrise and sunsets. It's not all about the appreciation of nature though, as I awoke this morning I could feel a lump behind my left knee, it felt like a piece of gorse was sticking out of it. I called Rich to have a look and unfortunately it had legs and was a tic, I managed to not go too hysterical and after a lengthy procedure with a tic remover card and a pair of tweezers he got it out intact which is important. When Rich had one in his leg a couple of months back I spent the best part of an hour trying to pull it out and still managed to leave its head behind! I thought fleas and headlice were bad but tics are much worse! Horrible experience, I'm going to wear my wellies with my trousers tucked in whenever I go on the grass from now on.
The boat is still not seaworthy so we've been walking out to go shopping and then walking back in again. That's over 20,000 steps so that means I don't have to do any walking at all the following day!!
The highlight is that we treat ourselves to lunch in Ullapool, there's a place that does the most amazing home-made soups which we share a bowl of chips with. I still find the walk hard but it's got much easier than when we first did it. I've been buying considerably less food though as if you know you've got to carry it miles on your back it puts you off. Its amazing how heavy it can be, I try to just buy light things although the organic spelt flour has been half price so we've now got a car full of it as I'm bringing it back a bag at a time.
We've started digging up our potatoes to use so at least we haven't had to carry those in. I've been very grateful of the food order that we've got stored for winter as that has saved me having to carry tinned stuff in.
We've finally got round to replacing the cowls on the chimneys of the house in the hope that it would stop water pouring down the walls, it hasn't! We're going to try replacing some of the render to see if that helps. If not it'll probably mean taking the roof off.
Another bit of exciting news, I've made some new curtains for the byre. The wrap-over skirts (skirtains as I call them) have seen better days. Needlework isn't really my forte so I used the minimalistic approach and just cut a piece of material in half. But I'm pleased with the results.
We're hoping to get moving with the cabin and have managed to source some wood locally so it's now sitting waiting for us to make some progress (I'm already plumping up cushions in my head). So onward and upward.
I do still feel so grateful to be here, we saw a red squirrel last time we walked out and the last couple of days have seen the most wondrous sunrise and sunsets. It's not all about the appreciation of nature though, as I awoke this morning I could feel a lump behind my left knee, it felt like a piece of gorse was sticking out of it. I called Rich to have a look and unfortunately it had legs and was a tic, I managed to not go too hysterical and after a lengthy procedure with a tic remover card and a pair of tweezers he got it out intact which is important. When Rich had one in his leg a couple of months back I spent the best part of an hour trying to pull it out and still managed to leave its head behind! I thought fleas and headlice were bad but tics are much worse! Horrible experience, I'm going to wear my wellies with my trousers tucked in whenever I go on the grass from now on.
Wonderful and so good to hear your news. Thank you for sharing. Remember to tuck your trousers into your wellies Júlđvìģ ���� Beautiful photos xxx
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