Finding the path

Literally! 

Such a busy time since we arrived back. I know it looks like we spend all our time at the beach, or the stones, or knitting by the fire, but we have been working and even completing some things!  Plans still being hatched and new ideas keep flowing. Friends are being made, and help is willingly offered.  It seems there is no time to blog all the goings on, and, anyway, they are so quickly superseded by other things.

I need to gather all my thoughts and write up a proper progress report type of post.

Which I will do - soon...

...yes, very soon now...

This moment...

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savour and remember. 

I am joining in again with Soulemama this week. Hope you all have a blessed weekend.

Yarn Along (1)

I am joining in with this fun blog party at Small Things this week for the first time.  Reading and knitting are two of my favourite things.
So here goes.
Knitting: I cast on this sweet wee cardigan the other day - intended for my second grandchild,due in a few weeks time.  The pattern is Easy Baby Cardigan from More Last Minute Knitted Gifts, by Joelle Hoverson. The yarn is a gorgeous glowing golden superwash merino by Artesano.  The cardigan is meant to be a 4-6 hour project, but that kind of timescale is beyond me at the moment.  Still, a snatched row here and there, and it should be ready in time.
Reading:  Two books.  The first is one I have just started.  Song of the Rolling Earth, by John Lister-Kay, the naturalist and conservationist. It is a personal account - almost a meditation on the landscape, environment and wildlife of the Highlands and Islands. It is beautifully written, and just the thing to wind down with last thing at night.
The second book is the one that I am reading to my 4 year old son just now - On the Banks of Plum Creek, by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  We are so enjoying these tales of Ma, Pa, Mary, Laura and baby Carrie, and their adventures, as they try to make a living.  We have already raced through the first two books in the series, then skipped ahead to The Long Winter, during our own snowbound hiatus.  It certainly puts our easy lives into perspective anyway.
I have enjoyed sharing this today - join in with Ginny and yarn along too.

And....exhale!

It always amazes me how quickly we fall into a more relaxed rhythm within a couple of days - hours, even, of being here.  The hurly burly of the last two months seems years away now.  We have just picked up the threads where we left off.

Maddie Mor and Maddie Beag were absolutely fine - they have grown quite a bit over the last few weeks.  They did not appear to have noticed either our departure or our return, much to the dismay of James, at whose insistence we had carted a bale of lowland hay in the back of the truck, as a present for the sheep.  Ah well.

 

The heavy frosts have taken their toll on the back wall of the barn. This will need some swift attention, as we don't want to lose this valuable building.  We are planning to re-roof it later in the year, but a repair job will be carried out this week, by the man in the yellow wellies.

Quite a lot of crofty things being planned for this week, so it was good to head off to our favourite beach for a few deep breaths of good clean air.

And, it was great to get our toes in the ocean again.  Very refreshing!

and breathe...

Latha math - a good day

A local band - well, the singer is anyway.  We saw them on the BBC Alba Hogmanay show and just loved them.  This is their new single which is now available as a download.  (See here).
We have been dancing around to it all evening. Wonderful!
Latha math air an eilean
(A great day on the Island)

The Journey

Leaving Lothian on a frosty morning, we are soon passing the Wallace Monument in Stirling,  and on to Perth, to the A9, where, for me, the journey really begins.  Sharing the back seat with a boy and his otter, knitting on my knee, and a long road ahead.
The Ruthven barracks flash by, as we head past the Cairngorms, forestry plantations hiding our view, until - Inverness at last!  Over the Kessock bridge, we see the boats resting in the marina, sleeping until warmer, kinder weather tempts their owners back to the water.
Turning our faces West now, we look out for the beehives at the roadside in Contin, and before we know it, the An Teallach ridge* is in front of us.  The ferry arrives early, and  soon we are heading out over The Minch, towards Stornoway.

And as we arrive at the croft, that glorious moon rises over the house to welcome us home again. 

* I think it is An Teallach, but my mountain spotting abilities are very poor.

Wagons roll

Starting to pack up the wagon for our journey to the North West.  Most of the room has been taken up with the dog crate and a bale of hay (don't ask).  Still there is plenty room for my spinning wheel, sewing machine, fabric and wool stash, boxes and baskets of notions and another few loads of books.  John will have to get going on those bookshelves this trip. Most of our clothes will be squeezed in, once the dog is settled down, and bags of food, and pots and pans will fit in any spaces. 

Cupboards, shelves and drawers are slowly emptying each time we make this journey.  There is now a  definite scent of permanence about this move. 

The hens will be moving up in early March - one of our tasks this time is to fix up a home for them.  Here they are enjoying a communal dust bath in the greenhouse.  They do like their little luxuries, those girls. I hope croft life suits them, I miss them a lot. 

Tonight I watched the full moon rise over the garage roof, and had the delicious thought that tomorrow night, I will see it sail through the big skies of Lewis.  Let that wagon roll. xx

Walking in monotone

The last couple of days have been so much warmer. The snow has all but disappeared, but so also has that dazzling blue and white light.  Instead a soft, grey mistiness is draped around us. No panoramic views on our walk today, but a more subdued and veiled landscape lies in front of us. We look down, we peer closer, and we see things that are often lost in the big picture.

Nature's shapes and textures are revealed if we but lower our gaze; if we just look carefully.  Ripples on a puddle; a stand of silver birks shining out in the shadows; the silhouetted seed pods of the broom - still rattling in the wind, and the shape of grass frozen under frosted ice.

 Water is like smooth grey silk today, it looks colder somehow.  And the horizon is within touching distance.

We can also appreciate the geometry of the railway engineering work - straight, square, regular - the work of  Man, but with a poised elegance nevertheless

But we find branches and stones to play with.  We try to break ice on the puddles.

We have our very first picnic of the year.

 

And we know that colour will return to the world.

This moment...

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savour and remember. 

I am joining in again with Soulemama this week. Hope you all have a blessed weekend.

Trainspotting - with added Vitamin D

A sparkling morning beckoned us outside, and the big skies of the West were calling.  We headed back up to  the re-opened cycle track which runs alongside the new Bathgate-Airdrie railway line. This time, we hoped to see some trains.

And we did! The Edinburgh train -

and the Glasgow train!

Both drivers tooted their horns and waved as they passed - completely making a little boy's day.

We enjoyed some wonderful, wide open views.This is one of my favourites along this route. Just visible in the centre of this picture is Dalziel and Scullion's art installation The Horn - one of a series of pieces of motorway art that border the M8.

We watched a crow taking his morning bath.  He certainly did some serious splashing around in the freshly thawed water.

But we mostly enjoyed being out in this big blue day - and a much needed dose of vitamin D.

Almost home, we stopped to watch the workmen and machines trying to finish off the road at the entrance to the new station.  For several years we have been waiting for and watching the construction of this rail link and station.  Its completion means that local people will be 25 minutes away from the centre of either Edinburgh or Glasgow. Now it is almost here and we are leaving for a land that has never been touched by trains or railroads. I think we'll cope, somehow.