55. A quiet reflection

 Happy New year, I'm writing this on the 1st day of 2022. It's hard to believe that at the end of the month it will be 5 years since we first came to view Ali Shornets and it's still nowhere near being done. But we have done a lot of other things and it'll be interesting to see if we can really start to make things happen this year. I'm writing this in front of the blazing log burner, outside is very dark and there's a gale blowing. Such a contrast from yesterday, no wind at all. We went across the Loch to fetch 2 tonne of firewood. We  caught the high tide at 5 pm, it was just starting to get dark as we came back. We had the lovely experience of seeing 2 dolphins, they swam past the boat and one jumped out the water. It felt very moving and magical.

I realised it's a couple of months since I last wrote. I mentioned my sister and husband were staying with us, they are now buying a croft close to ours and moved in about a month ago. We have gone in together and bought an electric vehicle for use on Scoraig. The quad is getting to the end of its life and has never really been strong enough for all that's required of it. Hector (our new vehicle) has 4 wheel drive which means a trailer full of wood is no problem and it pulls the boat up with ease. The only problem is recharging it, we're going to have to look at getting more solar panels/more batteries as can only charge it at the moment in high winds or bright sunshine. It took the electricity off constantly whilst recharging which is a bit of a pain.

Christmas was lovely, Richards daughters and one boyfriend came to stay and my sister and husband joined us for Christmas dinner. 7 in the cabin was a challenge but ended up fine when we brought the table and chairs up out the house. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. We even managed to find space for a pole pine we'd cut down to use as a Christmas tree. It's been amazing and hasn't dropped at all even when I've had to squeeze round it to get to the cupboard it's blocking. The long awaited for shower which was imminent in my last blog still hasn't transpired. As often happens, the job is never quite as easy as you think it's going to be. But we are nearly there, the shower tray and door is in place and work has commenced on the tiling. We won't be able to afford to use it very often with the price of gas having gone up so much but it'll be very appreciated when we can. 

The polytunnel is all cleared out and fresh seaweed put on the beds. I planted some sweet peas to get an early start but they've been completely eaten, I suspect by mice. When I can face it I'll sow some more but will try to keep them in the cabin for longer. I've sorted all our seeds out into envelopes in order of months. We really want to grow as much as we can this year. 

I think overall that 2021 was a good year for us here. I feel more at home here than ever and can't imagine living anywhere else. I feel renewed energy and enthusiasm and am looking forward to getting on with things. 

Happy New year to you all and I hope you're keeping safe in these strange times.