2015 a Year in Review...

2015 a year in review!

Happy New Year!! We wish you a healthy, happy, safe and prosperous 2016.

A second year has passed since the devastating fire, our time we feel to reflect on what has been happening here on the croft! I think we progress more than we think we do, especially when we look at the photographs! 

January 2015 saw an inundation of water and our first New Year on the croft saw us digging drainage ditches to direct the water away from the fields. Kapitein dug nearly 40 metres, my small offering (although the ditch I was digging was much wider) achieved 2.5 metres, but every little helps so they say. With high winds and more rain forecast I suspect I could be digging some more in the next day or two.

We also celebrated Burns Night in traditional style with Haggis, neeps and tatties (turnip and potatoes) washed down with wonderful 16 year old Jura Whisky, yummy...

Our own wee waterfall

Haggis Neeps and Tatties

     






February saw completion of the foundations for my work shed and shop, Kapitein managed to lay breeze blocks all through January and early February to give a sound frame for the concrete to be poured.

Ross pouring concrete - it even snowed!    

     

Raking the concrete.

The Shed duly arrived (albeit 5 days earlier than expected) and building commenced that very day. It took just a few hours to get the main frame of the shed constructed - a bit like putting together some over-sized jigsaw. 

 Mid construction - windows in and doors to be installed and the roof of course!       When the shed was fully constructed, we changed the roof - just to make sure there wasn't any leakage! Then we sprayed the wood to protect it as far as possible from the inclement weather. It is a super place to work and we have even had one lovely visitor who came on a knitting course stated on her next visit she is going to bring her sleeping bag!! Rae, you will be more than welcome and you will be nice and snug amongst the wool too...

Initially access was via steps, but a short while later we were able to install a more 'user friendly' access which works a treat.

Easter and the shop was open for business stocked with many different hand knitted items I had made during the winter months. I was also assisted by several local hand knitters who have worked tirelessly to help me rebuild my stock levels. And this year for the first time, we produced our very own home grown and Skye woven tweed. 

This has proved hugely popular with handbags, hip flasks and waistcoats sent worldwide. All thanks to our wonderful flock of Hebridean sheep!

All stocked and ready to go and with a knitting area too.

Also during April and lambing was in full flow, the Hebrideans and Black Cheviots producing some wonderful lambs – with proud fathers watching on, we could not have wished for anything better. Albeit we did have bleary eyes! Up before the larks and still checking the girl’s way past midnight – all in a day’s work for us.We had an extra special girly this year, here she is with the hens who I am sure believe they are indeed sheep! 

May and the weather did improve! If only for a few days but a welcome break none the less.

This gave the opportunity for the 'boys' to be out and about on the bunds where there was grass in abundance. The 'Big Fella' is always up for a photograph. He is such a handsome chap.

This is 'Big Laddy' The Black Cheviot tup and 'Skyefall (our pedigree Hebridean tup) both lambs are still the best of friends and follow each other everywhere. And get into great mischief whereever they can. They became the best escapologists of all... But always happy to go back with the others, especially when encouraged with food!!

June, July and August and we were busy, busy busy in the workshop. We have had some delightful visitors here to the croft from all corners of the globe. Everyone has been delighted in being able to get up close to our sheep as ultimately everything I make comes from their fleeces. The wool, the knitted products and of course the tweed. You can’t get better provenance than this, especially when you can touch next year’s wool as it grows on the back of the sheep.We have met some wonderful people, one lady who visited with her husband and who has been following the blog. She asked if the Electricity supply was sorted! I realised then I hadn't been updating the blog! So we took the time to show her our progress. I was thrilled to meet her and hope to welcome her and many, many others back again this year too. 

In-between working in my shop, knitting, sewing and designing knitwear both Kapitein and I have been working at Dunvegan Castle. Kapitein – as a fully qualified commercial Skipper worked on the seal boats, taking visitors out to view in excess of 300 native common seals. Whilst I worked within Dunvegan Castle as a tour guide. This was a welcome break from all things sheep and I had the privilege of working within a superb team and of course I met some fantastic visitors here on Skye.

  

Late summer is the show season for most of Scotland which for us started with Dunvegan show closely followed by Portree Agricultural show. My flock of sheep received a very warm welcome and won first prizes in both shows. I am especially proud of my Hebrideans which won reserve champion at Portree. I was privileged and honoured to be awarded a plaque which is on display in my shop. I am permitted to keep the trophy for one year – until the Portree Agricultural Show in August 2016. Who knows who will win it this time, we will have to wait and see.

Here I am for the very first time in a show ring at Dunvegan show with these my two wonderful Black Cheviot Shearlings Harry Hotspur and Ralph Percy (pronounced Raaf Porcy) Ive got Harry and the wonderful gentleman in front of me is handling Ralph. I am especially grateful to everyone who helped and supported me that day. Especially to Magnus (sheep handler extraordinaire) and Kenna (official photographer) the guys in and around the show ring and the huge support from my colleagues at Dunvegan Castle, this was a very, very special day indeed - thank you to one and all.

And there is more… Whilst Kapiten and I were working we had the Bernisdale Boys back. DJ arrived with the even bigger digger and set too building the much needed sea defences down on the shore.

 One balmy summer evening, I was taking in the remaining view just before sunset when a sheep came to the garden gate. I had to let him in!!

How could I resist!! He has become so popular, a very special artist, Linda Foster has painted a wonderful portrait of the Big Fella, she has really captured the likeness and her style of painting is just wonderful. The print is available on our website on the page listed 'Big Fella'. Watch this space for more 'Big Fella' merchandise this coming spring.

Autumn & Winter DJ also dug out the foundations for our Agricultural Shed – a must have before the winter set in. Progress has been ongoing and as I write, the last stages are underway with the preparation for the concrete flooring which should be poured on this Thursday. Fingers crossed. x

The very beginning of the shed build we were once again helped by a fantastic band of folk. Stephen (my son-in-law) aka the Mechanic (little miss no no gladly kept everyone going with teas and coffees!!) General 'Dogs Body', I am sure you will get to know more of him as time goes on! Brian, Salty - not quite a 'sea dog' as he's in training, John the very, very professional Bernisdale Boy, Andrew, Gerry and of course Kapitein. I am immensely proud of all of them and hey voila we have a shed!

If you ever see any of the above team and especially John - the Bernisdale Boy, just don't mention the roller shutter door! If you do, ask him where the digger was!!

John went out on a high, as he has since changed jobs (no I don't think that it was the building of the shed that 'finished him'!!) He has moved on to pastures new and we wish him every success with his new endeavours. He has been with us since the start here on the croft and without him, we know we would not be as far forward with our plans as we are, a truly great guy - 'Kettle's always on John'!! 

But he has left us in very capable hands and in the photo is Ali from Sconsor with the sub base going down in preparation for the shuttering (its all technical stuff - or so they tell me).

Just in time for the last day on the Seal boats Kapitein’s kilt arrived all the way from Edinburgh. A hand-sewn kilt made by GordonNicolson Kiltmakers especially for Trevor from our own Tattersall tweed. He is also wearing his traditionally hand knitted, (and designed and knitted by me) in our Hebridean yarn, Colonsay Gansey and matching Hebridean Kilt socks. I think he looks fantastic…

Watch this space for further collaborative work with Gordon in the future here on the croft!

The kilt is just amazing to see - we have sufficient material to make just 2 more so if you're interested, do get in touch with us or pop along to the croft to see the orginial for your self.

We celebrated our second Christmas here in the caravan. We had the obligatory storm just prior to Christmas Eve, including snow – it didn’t stay, but on the day it was calm and we even saw the sunshine too. 

It’s that time of the year where we wait to see a wee bit of the 'white stuff' and we found some on our journey travelling to Fort William over the hill at Glengarry saw more than a light covering of snow – truly lovely…

I have hardly touched on the immense 'goings on' down on the croft. But for more catch-ups we had a dedicated Facebook page where you can find out news, offers, courses and this is where we upload our video's too.

And last, but by no means least, we would just like to say a huge thank you to all of you who have supported our endeavours, either by working with us, just visiting, shopping with us, participating in courses and the ' In Stitches' ladies who just make life worth living, it has been truly amazing to meet everyone.  

Happy knitting and 'woolly crafting' wherever you are. Until next time...

Home - at last...

What a journey! In real time, it has taken 6 months to find and secure a croft site for our new Homestead, it seems like years…But our long awaited ‘good times’ are finally here. Yipee!!

On the morning of December 27^th 2013, we left the final reminder of our time on Colonsay, our footprints in the sand.

We arrived at our temporary Homestead with a view to settling somewhere ‘out West’.

           

          

The variation of scenes from our temporary homestead are just amazing – including the myriad of wildlife – otters, herons, eagles, you name it and it is here…

So what now! We have settled on the wonderful Isle of Skye, but, we haven’t rested on our laurels while we’ve been here. There was such a huge amount to do even just to regain our identities – Kapitein thought I could be Demi Moore! I’m sure she would have been delighted with that! Especially when I don’t look like her… I thought he could be George Clooney!! Well, one does live in hope… 

All of the paperwork during the aftermath of the fire, takes time and effort, including the reporting of, several times a day, the same story of how everything was lost in the fire. But, we have come out the other side, and are raring to go…

So what about Skye! There is a shop here called the Co-op!! It is such a novelty to us, it’s like being in a huge sweetie shop! Kapitein’s eyes light up every time he sees the large selection of Pizza’s – we’ll have to keep an eye on his waistline me thinks. He is notorious when he nips to the shops, he always comes back with armfuls of goodies, not that I am complaining. There is everything you could wish for and more, nearly on our doorstep, well, far fewer miles than 2.20 hours on a ferry and an overnight stay in Oban. But, I do miss seeing the wonderful yellow plane flying overhead on Colonsay, especially when it was bringing freight for us.

We have visited many parts of Skye and beyond.

It was the depths of winter when we arrived with lots of snow – brilliant if you own a snowdog like Wolfie!

The Faerie Pools at Glenbrittle

Applecross with Skye in the distance – it was very, very cold that day.

Neist Point – where waterfalls traverse ‘uphill’ on windy days

I have also been very busy designing new products, the inspiration here on Skye is fantastic. The Cuillin mountain range is just amazing, and at the time of posting this blog, there is still a wee patch of snow!! And it’s the summer!! I will post up more details on my latest designs soon…

Isle of Skye is our new island home, and we have been so lucky. We have purchased an owner occupied croft where we are at the ‘edge’ too. It has shore frontage, with not one, but three slipways! Perfect for Kapitein. And a huge acreage too, perfect for our ‘boys’ (the canine and sheep variety) so it’s all go from now on.

We received the keys – well, to the wooden gate, on Friday 23^rd May 2014, with plans, plans and more plans in our heads. So where do you begin when you own a bare-land croft?

Plant a tree, this is a native Alder – we thought we needed to put down our roots as soon as possible.

Surveying the land, we noticed there is an inordinate amount of Bog Myrtle on the croft – I see beer production, just for our own consumption, will be a must… Anyway, we were put in touch with a young chap, Magnus, an absolute dab hand with a chain saw. He cleared a path through the Bog Myrtle so that Malcolm the fencer could get a paddock fenced off, ready for the Tups arrival from Colonsay.

Malcolm & Magnus fencers extraordinaire

Next was to get a hard-standing so we could access the site with vehicles. John from K.Lee Plant came and started scraping away the top soil in readiness for a temporary hard standing. Brilliant work!! More about John and Willie aka the Bernisdale boys in a later post…

        

With all of this work there is a huge amount of preparation now already completed. But one of our most wonderful moments ( and there has been several) was the day the containers arrived from storage – it was nice to see Gary from MaQueen’s storage in Oban, the last time we saw him was the day he left Colonsay via Hebridean Air Services (as the ferry had been cancelled) arriving home, just in time for Christmas. He told us he had a super flight.

He offloaded the containers which had housed our few possessions rescued from the shed, including all of last year’s wool clip, this is so important, especially when starting anew. Plus Kapitein has some tools again, and we all know that every guy needs a shed with tools! 

Everything arrived safely and in good order, what a relief...

Next on the list of things to acquire was, we needed to get equipment for working the land – it has been neglected for a number of years, but the ground is good. First and foremost on this list was a tractor! And after an epic journey-it took just over a week to get here from the mainland, the tractor, affectionately known as Wouter de Boskabouter, arrived.

Wouter De Boskabouter with our miniature Macleod’s Table in the background – built by a Macleod of course!

And Kapitein! Well, he is in his element with all things tractor. What is it about ‘Boys and their toys’? He is often seen ‘flailing’ about in the field!! Well, that’s what he calls it!!

Next thing we found was that many years ago, there had been caravans on this croft and that there was already a track down to the trees. We spoke with John again from K.Lee Plant and what a surprise, he arrived with his ‘even bigger’ digger and set too on reinstating the track.

This is very exciting to us, the old road, becoming the new! And a bonus for us is we have a wee quarry which contains ‘rotten rock’ which is rock that is perfect for the road. John got very excited when he saw this… He’s nearly as bad as Kapitein! Especially when both could be found ‘inspecting’ rock!! John is an extremely professional person and what he can’t do with his diggers isn’t worth knowing about. We are so very, very grateful for all of his hard work and sound advice.

We also unearthed an old, working, septic tank and water connection – which had serviced the old caravan, neatly hidden under the undergrowth. There was also the old hard-standing where the caravan had stood. I will tell you all about the excavations with Wouter de Boskabouter in my next blog.

The flora and fauna on our site is exquisite, we have so many Hebridean Orchids, amongst other wild flowers here, and they are truly beautiful…

We have also taken time out from working to see even more of our new island home. We headed off south to see the Glenelg ferry, it was a glorious day to see the ferry with new livery.

The Isle of Skye has everything, even two way traffic! Something very new to us having previously lived on such a small island with only single road – and passing places. But once off the beaten track, there are still many miles of single track roads here, with passing places that you never know what you may have to pull in for!!

I am now off back up to the croft to do some more work, I will keep you posted on our progress…

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.

Kapitein is a happy little bunny…

The rain has stopped, the wind has dropped and the sun has started shining. You would think that spring had arrived, and so Kapitein’s thoughts naturally turned to all things……… boaty! L

Well, what else would you expect from an old salty dog?

Time to service his gear outside in the brilliant sunshine but straight away there was a problem.

After the long winter and despite keeping things well under cover, Kapitein informed me that he’d managed to get it up but couldn’t get it down again. I was intrigued to say the least and slightly disappointed (don’t tell him) when he took me outside to have a look see. It was in fact all about his prized Honda BF75 engine. He’s got an auxiliary of course and that’s in fine working order but, oh dear, the big boy refused to play. He tried this and that, but it refused to do as it was told (I’m not surprised of course – that tends to be the way with anything associated with ‘Le Kapitein’ – that is apart from his working cocker spaniel Samster who is the epitome of good behaviour (most of the time)).

It turned out that it was his tilt and trim that was causing the problem. I knew of course that his trim was a bit wonky but I never suspected there was an issue with his tilt. But in this case it all concerned the engine and not Kapitein himself. So it was out with the tools, disconnect the main ram, top up with transmission fluid and push the dampers up and down several times, reconnect and bingo!! It worked. Engine lowered, up it went again, and down, so now it was time to give it a run and a full service. The run went perfectly - with what looked like earmuffs and a water hose attached to them, and then – oh boy, it wouldn’t go up again. Disheartened, Kapitein asked for my help in pressing his up and down buttons as he pushed and pulled with all of his might. And so the process started again….

Today Kapitein managed to get it all sorted and he’s a happy little bunny once more. I have to admit though, I did enjoy helping, and pushing his up and down buttons – it all looked like a very easy thing to operate to me. It did however cross my mind ………….!!

Well, let’s not go there.

Kapitein’s next task, he has advised, is to scrape the barnacles off his bottom and give it a coat of antifouling to stop anything growing on it this year. He’s asked if I would like to help with that tricky task as well, but somehow it doesn’t seem quite as appealing !

Back to knitting methinks :)

Latest news...
The Fish Farm results are in 67 for and 43 against, see the lively debate on Friends of Colonsay Facebook page.

Glorious weekend...

What a wonderful weekend off!
Yes, Kapitein finally came out of the inner sanctum and we have had some well deserved time off.
Friday evening was lovely and still,  so we decided to head to Balnahard to have a BBQ supper. Kapitein set out the chairs and lit the BBQ when to our surprise we were joined by several million uninvited guests - Midgies! 
Avon Skin-so-Soft worked for a few moments, but to no avail. Kapitein found the best plan of action was to sit over the smoking BBQ as our sausages and meat cooked to keep the little darlings away! It worked! 
We watched as the Friday evening ferry - LOTI - sailed in and out of Scalasaig Harbour and mused about the 'holidays' beginning and ending with this wonderful journey for folk arriving to and departing from our wonderful island - thankful that we don't need to make these journeys. 

LOTI coming into Scalasaig

LOTI leaving Scalasaig

View towards something called the mainland!

We endured our uninvited 'guests' for a couple of hours but even Sampster and Wolfie were tired of the wee blighters trying to nest in their eyeballs!
Reports on Saturday morning were that the whole island was awash with Midgies, even the Old Waiting Room, at Scalasaig was engulfed with plumes of hungry Midgies.

Saturday was a 'domestics' day, catching up on jobs around the house.

Sunday morning, we were up early, packed some nice things to eat and off we headed to Oransay. What a glorious day. Light winds (and no midgies)  
We crossed the Strand and headed for the East side of Oransay through Poll Gorm towards Rubha Bàn. I think the pictures speak for themselves.

We continued towards Port Dhūn a' Gharaidh as a visiting Yacht arrived.

We were very aware of the tides so we headed off inland beside the Mesolithic Shell Mound to rejoin the track at Eilean Fhionnalaidh.
By this time Sampster and Wolfie were beginning to get a bit tired! A wee rest was in order to eat our snacks and enjoy the views, on second glance, Sampster had fallen asleep!!! Ah bless him...

We arrived back at the car, after a thoroughly enjoyable few hours.

On our way back to the Homestead on the Colonsay ring road, we passed Colonsay International Airport. There appeared to be some activity, unusual for a Sunday. We found out later that the Coast Guard were on exercise. The Coast Guard helicopter was picking up personnel, circling around the Homestead then winching them back down to the Airstrip. What a treat that would have been. I did later suggest if they ever needed a 'victim' (casualty) I would be happy to oblige! Not wanting to tempt fate though, I don't want a real injury!!

If you would like to sample our island delights, come and see us sometime! Especially as our Bed & Breakfast is open all the year round! During the winter months, the Calmac ferry timetable changes, but with the introduction of Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) it is reported that there will be a 35% reduction in fares from October. But, you mustn't forget, you can always make a flying visit with Hebridean Air Services, a must for any discerning traveller.
Hope to see you very soon...