Where have we been???

It’s been quite a while since I have written my blog, primarily due to the fact that on the morning of Monday 9^th December (2013) Our wonderful Homestead, burned to the ground.

Col Na Sithe

At the height of the fire

The aftermath

Kapitein, Sampster, Wolfie and I escaped unharmed (other than a wee bit smoke inhalation) in only the clothes we stood up in and feel truly blessed to be alive.

The fire had started in the Attic, Captain Flack and his team came to the rescue and donned breathing apparatus to source the seat of the fire – which they did, however, they ran out of water (as there isn’t a Hydrant nearby) by the time they returned from filling the tender with water, the fire had spread through the fire wall and the roof was well alight.

Sampster, Wolfie and I had been evacuated to safety with our dear neighbour Anne (whom we will be eternally grateful for everything she did for us) and we watched on as the Homestead was decimated by the fire.

Captain Flack and the Colonsay fire crew did everything in their power to save the Homestead, their determination was amazing, we will never forget what they did for us, and we fully understand their frustrations, but we never doubted their ability. They are truly amazing…Thank you.

I visited the site as they dampened down and each and every one of the fire crew apologised for not being able to save the Homestead, but as we said then, and now, Kapitein, the dogs and I got out and that is the most important aspect.

We cannot stress enough, please, CHECK your smoke alarms regularly and ALWAYS have a practiced fire plan/escape route, as you can’t see anything for thick acrid smoke, but if you know where you are going, this makes your means of escape very effective. The UK Fire Service will offer advice and practical support (ie: fitting smoke alarms etc.) so do it!! If it hadn’t been for the smoke alarm, I wouldn’t be writing this now!!

 What was anticipated to be a short stay with Anne, turned out to be two and a half weeks!! And a better hostess we couldn’t have wished for – we were made to feel so welcome and we did have some laughs. I even found some tools to knit with and produced a wee 'lug muffler' to keep Anne warm whilst walking the dogs with us.

Its amazing what you can do with a wooden spoon and a poker!!

I think Anne looks lovely... Don't you...

 Sampster thoroughly enjoyed being 'de-haired' by Anne!!

Our heartfelt thanks go to those members of the community who helped us in our hour of need, bringing us much needed clothes, toiletries, dog leads/bowls, waterproofs etc. We will be eternally grateful. Also our thanks go out to our families and close friends, they have been fantastic...

We do still have one endearing thought – Gavalus Gavalar (who was on the mainland at the time) shopping for ‘undergarments’ for Kapitein and I, dashing between the Lingerie and Mens Wear departments, it must have been a sight for sore eyes!

As our ‘wardrobe’ was interesting to say the least, we contacted various businesses in and around Oban to restock items such as waterproofs, shirts etc., and low and behold, our ‘shopping’ arrived on the next flight from Oban. We will never forget all that Oban Airport, Hebridean Air and those business outlets that helped us – thank you.

Now it was the onerous task of packing up our few possessions that remained in the shed, primarily, Kapiteins tools – we know how important tools are, don’t we! And thankfully, the Firecrew and Kapitein had managed to rescue some unusual items from my workroom before the roof collapsed. Namely, the original Colonsay Gansey and my Grandmothers circa 1948 sewing machine, a couple of chairs and some books. With everything packed, McQueens from Oban sent over their trusty driver, Gary, on the Friday (before Christmas), with a couple of small containers to store our things. He duly arrived amidst rain, hail, snow and sunshine, we packed everything in double quick time and watched on as he loaded the containers back onto the wagon. Then… News came that the Saturday ferry was cancelled! And the weather wasn’t looking good for the Monday ferry either! Oh dear me… what to do…and how to get Gary home in time for Christmas.

Saturday morning came and Kapitein had a brainwave, he asked me to contact Hebridean Air Services to see if there was any chance of booking a charter flight, poor Gary needed to be with his own family for Christmas, even if this meant leaving the wagon to go on the next ferry unaccompanied.

Andy, at Hebridean Air, said no problem, but we had a tight weather window. As it turned out, there were 3 folks who wanted to get back to Colonsay and a total of 5 wanting to leave – including Gary and another stranded, wagon driver.

At 2.00pm, Sebastian arrived (a perfect landing) with the 3 folk from Oban, and then took off again 15 minutes later with the passengers wishing to leave, so everyone was where they wanted to be for Christmas. Brilliant!!

Sebastian taking everyone home for Christmas.

The ferry managed to make it into Colonsay on the Monday, McQueens and the other two wagons were on their way to back to the mainland.

So, what next!

We had, through sheer luck, managed to source an available letting property, which was vacant, on the Isle of Skye. And as Christmas Day arrived – which was superb; Kapitein and I had smoked bacon sandwiches for our Christmas dinner, just what we wanted, Kapitein spoke to Cameron and Struan from Coastal Connection, as our only weather window to leave Colonsay, was Boxing Day and sure enough, they were more than happy to come over.

As it turned out, on the morning of Boxing day, the weather was wonderful. We packed our cars with our few possessions, hitched up the sheep handling system and headed to the pier – our vehicles would leave Colonsay on the next available ferry.

Anne came to see us off and off we went on a fabulous journey on the Coastal Connection RIB.Even Sampster and Wolfie enjoyed the ride, they are following in Kapiteins footsteps and becoming salty sea dogs indeed.

Leaving Colonsay

Arriving in Loch Feochan

My 3 salty sea dogs

Coastal Connection - Cameron and Struan

We arrived at Loch Feochan where Cameron and Struan’s father met us to take us onwards to Oban, what kindness, we can’t thank them enough either. We highly recommend Coastal Connection a very professional service indeed.

The following day, the ferry brought our cars over and we headed North to the Isle of Skye to our temporary accommodation - a very warm house, overlooking the sea, what more could we ask for...

So now it is onwards and upwards - working our way through endless lists of things to do, amidst replacing commissions! I managed to complete a Braveheart Waistcoat in double quick time and posted it off to the customer - they are delighted with it.

Back to the knitting needles to finish the next...

We couldn't start our new lives without offering our heartfelt thanks to all those who supported Hebridean Isles Trading Company during our time on Colonsay.
We would like to thank Pauline, owner of Colonsay Cosmetics who supplied us with the most delightful toiletries for our guests. 
Then we needed to think about quality food for our guests, that's when we sourced as much 'local' produce as was possible.
We must thank:
Forteiths -Oban
J.M. Breckenridge - Oban
Booker - Oban
Jackson's Butchers - Oban
D. Watts Fishmongers - Oban
For the best locally sourced produce in Argyll...

Knitting courses took off at an unbelievable pace, we would like to thank all of the participants and our wonderful sheep for adding to the whole 'woolly' experience, including, of course, their wonderful fleeces.

But how to get products to Colonsay?
Helmut & Michelle of Etive Taxis were just the best, they went over and above our expectations, collecting orders from the Oban businesses and taking them up to Oban Airport, we highly recommend them, they even transport people too!!

Oban Airport.
The staff at Oban Airport are the most professional, courteous and obliging group of people I have ever met. Thanks go to them for everything they have done for us. From the delightful Dixie at reception, to the 'big fella' (wor Tom) and all of the fire crew/freight handlers, without whom, all of our hard work would have been in vane. I cannot recommend this establishment highly enough. If and when Skye gets its own Airport - I hope it is as wonderful as Oban, thank you.

Hebridean Air Services.
What can I say, as a 'frustrated' Pilot (or so they say) my first few times flying with Hebridean Air Services had me perplexed! I couldn't understand why no-one was using the plane to bring in freight! That is where it all began, with the first air freight regularly coming into Colonsay...
The three pilots, Julie, Allan and Sebastian are just brilliant, our thanks go to them all, to Andy Jolly, and of course, the owner, George Cormack. It has been a privilege, flying and working with you all - I do miss seeing that lovely yellow plane flying overhead...  

Last, but by no means least, we would like to thank all of our guests, customers and stockists, we have met some lovely people and we do hope to meet customers old and new in the very near future.

So what now...
As the search for our new Homestead continues. Hebridean Isles Trading Company is beginning to 'rise from the ashes' and with new designs hot off the needles very soon, there are very exciting times ahead, I will keep you all posted - watch this space...

Ganseys. Kapitein, Danger Mouse and Gavalus Gavalar...

Goodness me!! Where to begin!!
Poor Kapitein has been a wee bit neglected of late. I have been so busy here at the Homestead, I think I saw him the other day, well, I think it was him busying away in the inner sanctum. His beard and other things are nearly down to his knees it's been so long... 
I decided to check out the sheep shearing equipment, ahead of this years annual clip,  so I dragged him out and set about the task of shearing Kapitein, with very good results apart from the nose hair which is very very difficult given the size of the comb on the shearer. Kapitein isn't like a Hebridean sheep (which fights to it's last breath) he is more compliant, though not entirely. Despite the look of terror in his eyes, a couple of elastoplasts later and the nose hair had been successfully trimmed to an acceptable length, this allows him to appear in public again without frightening any of the tourists that have now descended on the island.

Kapitein has also resumed scraping 'barnacles' off his bottom - it is amazing what he is inspired to do when the sun shines! He needed industrial machinery this time as tentative scratching at his bottom had little effect.  He did change his appearance somewhat whilst he worked, sporting a nice shade of royal blue on his bonce! - this was just in case anyone recognised him, as it isn't every day you see folk scraping their bottom with a sander now is it!! Then to my amazement, he started polishing his sides, buffing so furiously his arms ached, I've never seen someone buff with such vigour. I tempted him in for some sustenance - after his complexion became a deep red, then had the onerous task of encouraging him to remove his hair dye, it took more than a little gentle persuasion, I can tell you as I think he quite liked it. But with the offer of tripping the light fantastic at the Ceilidh later in the evening, thank goodness, he gave in. Kapitein did do some dancing at the Ceilidh.
The Ceilidh raised in excess of £400.00 for the Marie Curie Cancer Care fund. Well done to Hollie for organising things.    

I have been off island to catch up with all things 'mainland'  but, latterly  when I go off, the ferry seems to be cancelled when I am due to return- the occasional high winds of over 50 knots does hamper berthing here on Colonsay. (No! I'm not the jinx - honest!) However, my last trip, I had to make alternative arrangements to get back home - namely flying back on the Saturday morning Scholar flight. I did bring with me a very special person. She informed me she was a nervous flyer, and with winds of over 30 knots, I was a little apprehensive to say the least as to how she would cope with the wee bumps you can experience whilst flying. However, all of her fears - and mine, were allayed as Hebridean Air Services pilot, Alan - the veteran boy racer of the flying world, brought us safely to Colonsay unfettered. A fantastic flying experience, especially as we flew over Balnahard and Kiloran Bay, before a flawless landing. It never ceases to amaze me how our wonderful pilots, Julie, Sebastian and Alan make one feel so safe. Its well worth coming to Colonsay, just to fly here.

Anyway, I digress.
Pretty Miranda came to knit the Colonsay Gansey. And knit she did... She also is just as enthralled with our wonderful wee island as we are, including meeting the sheep (who did the honours of allowing her up close and personal on several occasions) The Big Fella, was extremely taken with Pretty Miranda, I think we could have spent hours preening and stroking the sheep. But, we had knitting to do. 
Pretty Miranda was also introduced to 'May's Sugary Wonders and Gavalus Gavalar's fine coffee - with a wee spot of lunch too. The Pantry is a wonderful place where everyone makes visitors to our island feel SO welcome.
It was a pleasure teaching Pretty Miranda - we mused over tales of 'Call the Midwife' amongst all things 5 needles and motifs. And we munched our way through a veritable profusion of goodies.
Her journey home, to Cumbria was better than expected, as she travelled through tunnels of snow to arrive home safe and well...  We look forward to seeing completed, her traditionally knitted Colonsay Gansey in the near future (no pressure there then!) 

Kapitein and I have been in regular contact with Danger Mouse the Lonely Shepherd, who is currently on a major mission in Kintyre, tending to sheep, cows and all things agricultural. With the recent snow storms, he reported that the drifts were in excess of 60ft! He was without power for 5 days and informed us he was heating his remaining tin of beans on the dying embers of his last log, washed down with the last dregs of his home brew.
As the snow fell, the following morning, Danger Mouse opened his back door to find a huge drift! Not a good sign, and with 420 sheep out on the hill this was a worrying time.
The last we heard, only 71 sheep had been found alive and with lambing due to start, this will have a major impact for the foreseeable future. 
Like everyone else in Kintyre, Arran and the surrounding area, the snow brought havoc to their daily lives. Local stores and even Tesco had run out of food! 
So we do hope that Danger Mouse will be ok. We will keep you posted...


The Pantry had a very, very special, high speed delivery this week.
Gavalus Gavalar has been inspired, and started the 'Fresh Fish Wednesday'. With delightful hand cut chips. But oh dear, there was a misshap!
The fresh fish was delivered to the courier, but someone, somewhere, forgot to put it on the boat! With 36 hungry mouths to feed, what was to do! Well, the courier decided to charter a rib from Coastal Connection and the fresh fish was duly delivered to the Pantry and Gavalus Gavalar was able to deliver his much sought after fresh fish on time. Now that's what I call service. 
Gavalus Gavalar has also 'refined' his menu.  Kapitein and I decided to have a take-away. I was offered battered local Langoustine rather than scampi. I couldn't stop salivating, before, during and after this wonderful meal - topped off with hand cut chips and wonderful home made coleslaw... Mmnn, delicious. Well done Gavalus, this is a 'must have' for all those discerning diners currently here on Colonsay.