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…

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...

What a difference a day makes...

What a difference a day makes...

Yesterday was one of those fun packed days... Let’s see just how much we can do in 24 hours. 

Kapitein was up early as usual and busy in the inner sanctum. The weather was good so he said that if I was a good girl he would take me on the high seas to do a spot of fishing and give me a chance to test the new boat rod he got for my birthday - just what every girl wants...

Sandwiches prepared and off down to the harbour, via Mike's Megastore  to get some provisions for the weekend and get petrol too, which on this wee island is just under £1.70 a litre.

A few nautical adjustments here and there and we set off. The conditions were good, bright sunshine and a wee bit of a wind. Kapitein was at the helm and with me as his first mate, perched in the bow and awestruck as usual with the view of the Paps on Jura in the distance, we set a course for a good fishing mark just off Oransay and cruised south at a steady 20 knots.

Two minutes after arriving at Kapitein’s secret mark Kapitein landed a Saithe, then another, then another and yet another... I dropped my line into the water, nipping my knees around the pole, just in case it slipped my grasp and hey ho, I caught a 2lb Saithe too. The Mackerel eluded us on this trip but the joys of being at sea are fantastic. The seaways were very busy today, including the boat from Clearance House with a convoy of smaller boats in tow - a veritable flotilla. The thought did pass my mind that they may have GG on board and be setting a course for Nova Scotia or thereabouts but a quick check of the boat’s load line revealed no excess ballast on board. So that was a relief.
Time was pressing on and I had an appointment to keep with Eskie at the Village Hall. A high speed return to the Capital and Kapitein dropped me at the slip. I made it just in time.

Eskie was sitting with GG and the ‘Lovely Ladies’ enjoying a cuppa and some homemade cakes. Stalls with produce, second hand books and novelty gifts were set out.

We were rather distracted by an ingenious product, a definite purchase for us. See below modelled by Eskie. GG was also pictured wearing one but unfortunately the picture won't upload - you lucky readers!Technology knows no bounds here on Colonsay, surely a must for everyone. Not quite user friendly but can be used to make any mobile device hands-free, even a Laptop I suspect...

Kapitein joined us a wee while later as others came and sat with us. The conversation led to a discussion about our new island air freight service. There is great interest in this facility; medical provisions can be flown in and out. And what a bonus, inbound Chinese and Indian food for all of us with a hankering for all things normal, the same as our friends on the mainland.

Back to the homestead, with aching sides from all the frivolities. We took Sampster and Wolfie out for a walk and then it was back to the knitting up the new design of Wrist Warmers. (I must watch out for Freudian slips with this). This is the first of many products in readiness for selling. If I must say, they are rather perfect, yet they don’t quite resemble Willy Warmers just yet, something I must work on to satiate the needs of Kapitein.

As the evening progressed Kapitein decided we should attend the Ceilidh in aid of the CCDC – the community development company.

And what a night that was... Lots of dancing and even Kapitein was up strutting his stuff in the Orkadian Strip the Willow. GG is a true mover and shaker in the St. Bernard’s Waltz and Danger Mouse, the lonely shepherd, was really shaking his booty in the Dashing White Sergeant with Kapitein and I.  The music was absolutely wonderful as usual, with songs from Caitlin, Seamus and many others, including a great tune and song by a man from Sweden holidaying here.

Strange but true, Diogenes kept going in and out of the hall, apparently needing lots of fresh air!! I wonder what exactly he was doing whilst alone in the dark. I do hope he wasn’t true to the name...

Duck Man didn’t waver under pressure for a dance, but he will keep till another night when I WILL have a dance with him...

Kapitein was attracting attention tonight. His rugged good looks were under scrutiny from a rather well rounded woman but to her dismay he didn’t take the bait... After all, he already has a First Mate and there's only room for one to stoke his boiler...

Today, Sunday, was a day for getting up late (after going to bed very, very late). It was a peaceful day, including a lovely walk along The Strand with Sampster and Wolfie. Then back for a late lunch, a few domestics and packing in preparation for my journey to the mainland and into the unknown.

As already reported, I will be saying goodbye to a very dear friend ttomorrow and the day after that the Doctors have recalled me for an anomaly in my precious boobs, of which, I have to say, the Kapitein is rather fond. They say I have to make myself available for a full week, just in case. That week in the unknown is standing before me as I now make my way down to the ferry to depart these beautiful shores.

Kapitein has undertaken a thorough investigation and has been unable to ascertain any anomalies, however, if the worst does come to the worst, he said he would leave the island - the first time in over a year - and visit me and the doctors because he reckons he has some very good re-design ideas. He's such a wonderful Kapitein.

Shall keep you posted...