Another mostly indoors watching ‘stuff’ day today. I LOVE having older children with their sense of humour, ability to gauge what’s going on and act accordingly and just be interesting people to hang out with. We don’t spend as much time just being with each other as I’d like, particularly given none of us actually have much in the way of commitments outside of the croft but I know that these are the days they will remember. It is odd to think that Scarlett was just 8 when we were WWOOFing and so actually will probably not recall that much about that year when she is older, and even less of the life she had before that. How odd that it is the normal mainstream, supermarkets, traffic jams, Badgers, Rainbows, Home Ed groups, camps etc that will be the misty murky memories for her and the crazy life in a caravan on a muddy hill that she recalls when she thinks of her childhood in years to come.
We watched B Movie this morning which I like lots, it’s one of the cleverer films of that genre (maybe mot very subtle and possibly a bit do gooder for most but it speaks to me). I made some bread dough, some pizza dough, got some soup cooking and then walked down to the castle to put the sleeping bag we put in the wash last night into the tumble drier. Our duvet is moldy – unsurprisingly given the level of damp in our bedroom so we have all gone over to sleeping bags now, warmer, more damp resistant and easier to wash. Our sleeping bags which have done us really well being the ones we used while still campers and all the way round in Willow are ones which can zip together to be a double so we have washed the one that was stashed under the bed and a bit manky and will use them now. Every night in Willow I used to snuggle down and think ‘I LOVE my sleeping bag and I am thankful for a safe warm bed and my family around me’ so it actually has a bit of sentimental value too – always useful to get me through the dark winter months!
I took Bonnie with me and we got down to the castle in the dry. Billy the heroic builder is here again at the moment and has the back of the castle all cordoned off a building site. We met Billy when we came for our interview and he was here when we moved here too. He is a fixture of Rum for us and a big hero too. He is one of the loveliest people I have ever met – kind, caring and just full of love for everyone. He is a Jehovahs Witness but doesn’t even try and preach to anyone about that here either. He has a very special place in Ady and my hearts having been a huge source of support to us during some dark days last year and it was his mats which got the static up here onto the croft. It actually bought a wee tear to my eye when those mats came off the ferry on Monday. I dithered about going to find someone to ask if I could break the barrier to go in to the laundry to put my sleeping bag into the tumble drier and in the end decided I should just go and do it but I was worried Billy might come and tell me off for breaking into the site. Sure enough as I went to leave he caught me but just stopped for a chat in the rain.
Bonnie and I walked back and got caught in the rain on the way home. The others were watching the end of the Muppets In Oz which I’d left them starting so I finished off the soup and we had lunch. We watched some Cash in the Attic just for the fun of taking the piss out of the people on it, oh the luxury of tv portal app on Ady’s phone allowing us to watch crap TV just for larks 🙂 The kids washed up, Ady emptied the wee toilet and then he and I headed down with Bonnie to collect the sleeping bag. As we walked along the bottom of the croft so Claire appeared, coming to visit us. She is away tomorrow for weeks so had come for a catch up which we had while walking back down to the village. I have massive respect for Claire, she lives utterly off grid in her yurt with far less facilities than we have and in the nearly 2 years I have known her I have never once heard her do a Poor Me routine.
I nipped in to get the sleeping bag and was once again caught by Billy but he was just up for another chat rather than telling for off for ignoring safety signs 🙂 We got home again the dry and in daylight.
Tonight has been Come Dine With Me, Children in Need (I cried, therefore I sent money), Friday Night Is Pizza Night and no genny thanks to plenty of wind.
Work in the morning, bed soon.