One word? When seven would do…

I was woken way earlier than I had planned to be up this morning thanks to Bonnie barking. Scarlett had let her out and she’d chased some deer off the croft but then chose to stand shouting about it for about half an hour. Scarlett and Ady were already up – Davies and I were up soon after thanks to Bonnie. Grr!

We all breakfasted and then went out together to feed the animals and check on the geese. The kids spent plenty of time cuddling them and handling them, our plan is to do lots of that to try and minimise any aggressive goose behaviour. At the moment they are still quite downy and very cute so easy to bond with. We turned off Mrs Chicken from the huge clutch of eggs she was sat on and returned just the marked four eggs – two weeks from now we could have chicks 🙂

Back at home we looked at the weather forecast and decided to get stuff done requiring the car the croft side of the river then take it back to the other side so collected all dirty washing and the power pack and dropped the washing off at the castle for a wash, took the power pack to the boat shed at the pier to charge up and collect tomorrow, put some stuff in the post for the morning and had a chat with Ranger Ranger Mike. Then back to the castle to collect the washing and have a chat with Ross and Alison before coming home for lunch and to hang the washing out. Scarlett and Bonnie came with us, Davies stayed behind making stuff for this weeks craft fayre.

We didn’t manage lunch as Ady and I then put a depth gauge in the river (since removed again) and Sandy, Joss and Meggie came up so we had cups of tea and chats with them for an hour then a later lunch. Ady did some strimming and the kids and I did some jewellry making. Then Ady came back and he and I sat down and thrashed out plans of action for the next few months, sorted some prioritising and targets and have some researching to do to get our crofting grant application form completed. That was a job well done and overdue so I feel good about that :). I made some bread and Ady went to drop the car off to the other side of the river.

Rachel arrived, having loosely arranged to do so on facebook on Friday night, armed with cider and snacks so we had a good old catch up while Sika (shared dog between her and Marcel, Neil & Lesley) enjoyed playing with Bonnie.

Rachel left and we had a lovely roast chicken dinner – so nice to have enough space and oven capacity to make a full roast dinner once a week or so, things we missed in Willow :).

Tomorrow sees most of the current off islanders returning home – Vikki, Fliss, Jinty. Midgefest meeting and veg box night. It’s just another Rumic Monday 🙂

Yesterday we headed down to the village to help Julie pack up. We realised she was far from being ready to pack up so went to collect Davies and Scarlett for some lunch before the first ferry and leave Julie to feed her brood lunch. The kids had been tending to an off course racing pigeon that landed here a few days ago. They had called him Bob and he was very pretty as pigeons go but I’d refused to rehomed him at the croft. Claire had got in touch with his owners in NI but it was unlikely he’d be recovered really so far from home. He was very thin and it was no great surprise when he didn’t last the night. The kids were really upset though and held a service for him. We missed it (felt like a really bad mother 🙁 ) but Mike the ranger attended and sang a hymn for Bob.

We met the boat but there was very little on it for us. I have ordered various jewelly making stuff from ebay including some resin moulds and resin compound with the intention of setting midges into keyrings, pendants and earrings. I reckon I’ll make a killing 🙂 A couple of bits from that had arrived but not the actual moulds or resin.

We dashed to the croft and grabbed some food then headed back to Julie to help with the final pack up. It started to pour with rain so we got soggy doing it. Then to the pier. It was a real mass exodus yesterday with Dave & Sylvia (going away for Dave’s op and treatment, not sure when they’ll be back), Vikki (away for the weekend hill walking), Fliss and girls (going to Inverness for back to school shopping, Fliss back on Monday, girls going to Glasgow to stay with their dad for a week or so), Jinty (away til Monday, coming back with her sister) and of course Julie and co leaving. We stood and waved the boat out of sight, called into the shop for a few bits and then headed for home. The weather was not great so we left the car the other side of the river and walked home.

We debated heading back down to see the Olympics opening ceremony in the hall as we knew a few people might be watching it together but it was one of those nights where it is just so cosy to be holed up together in our static with sofas and space and power and we ended up having a lovely dinner of breakfast (sausages, bacon, eggs and potatoes cooked with garlic and onions) and a family film (Mr Poppers penguins) on dvd so stayed home and enjoyed that instead.

Today has been very productive. We cleared out the goose house ready for new arrivals, built a new duck house and cleared out the wheelie bin they had been using ready to store feed in, Ady strimmed, I made pizza dough, spent time with Tom and Barbara Pig, walked down to the village and picked 3 punnets of wild raspberries (well we picked lots more, but have come home with 3 still uneaten!). I made signs forr the croft gates (forgot we have four gates and only made three, will remedy that tomorrow!), Ady strimmed, I made pizza dough and then we went to meet the boat.

Margo and Jerry were on the boat so we collected them 🙂 nipped to the shop for a few bits, got our post off Norman and came home to release the geese. They were both quite scared and pretty docile. They wanted to go in with the ducks and we may let them tomorrow but for tonight after some bonding and cuddling we shut them up in their new house with some water and bedding which doubles as food and left them to it.

Ady and the kids buried Bob and then Ady put the signs up while I sorted dinner and we watched the Olympics opening ceremony on iplayer. I lasted all of about a minute before I was wiping away tears, I am such a sap!

We have Sandy calling up tomorrow with his daughters to visit all the animals and I want to have a fiddle with the jewellry making stuff that has arrived but other than that we’re planning a Proper Sunday with roast dinner and very little else on the agenda.

Honestly, I finally get my act together and no one has anything to say about it!?!

I slept in this morning, very lovely and after a late night last night and the dregs of my cold still hanging about it felt much needed. I was most amused last night that after all my feeling left out of my online friend loop on the night I got back online properly the people I spent most time hanging out with were fellow islanders! I was bantering with Vikki, Fliss and Kate on facebook and email.

Ady had already been productive and had brought my clock in from the horsebox. We’d debated it and decided the static walls are not strong enough to hang it from but every time he went in the horsebox he looked at it and fretted about it getting broken before we’d ever put it up here so in the end he decided it was better up and at risk than down and at risk. It does feel properly like home with my clock up 🙂

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The kids breakfasted and then we sent Maisie home (as in the trailer tent). We listened to Popmaster (am not at all keen on the new themetune…), I filled out some forms to register with the dentist and then did some knitting and finished off a little purse for the craft shop while the kids watched a wildlife documentary on iplayer.

At midday we headed down to the pier, collected the battery that was on charge (we have 3 now, the pigs battery (which this was), the static battery which runs the lighting and water pump and the solar battery which powers things with plugs. We buy an electric meter card and can use the boat shed to charge stuff up – a full charge on a battery costs about 25p, electricity is only 7p a unit here) and then met with the other Goddards ready for the Sheerwater.

The sea was a like a boating lake today, you could see for miles, flat as a mirror and very beautiful. Lots of porpoises were out, lots of shearwaters but not a lot else really. It was lovely as ever though and a fitting end to their visit here. We dropped off Maisie’s bedding at the trailer tent and then Ady and I headed croftwards while the kids stayed on to hang out in the village. Back at the croft I rang my Dad. It was a really bad line so I didn’t get all of what he was saying but he had various bits of bad news to impart (nothing personal for me, just news of friends of his) – I promised to ring back at the weekend for a proper chat. I do miss him 🙁

I rewaxed my waxed jacket which I’ve been meaning to do pretty much since we arrived here. I wore it loads WWOOFing last year and noticed after we arrived here that in patches it was not really waterproof any more so ordered the spray to re-do it which duly arrived and was put in a cupboard. I wet it in the river and then hung it on the washing line to spray and rub in the stuff. I collected it on the way back up this evening, nice and dry 🙂

I then left Ady putting final touches to the goose pen. We have a goose and gander arriving on Saturday’s boat and although they will be totally free range after a while we need to pen them until they know where home is. We have a donated chicken house for their shelter so have just put a bit of fencing around it for now to put them into when they arrive. I walked down to the village with the intention of catching up with various people and buying food for this evening. I ended up having a beer with kate instead but that’s fine :).

Ady appeared with the car as I reached the crossroads walking to the beach to meet Julie so I got a lift with him. I helped Julie and Lorna find Lorna’s shoes which had been abandoned on the beach and then we started cooking dinner over the fire. Julie was lured to the dark side to have a beer so her and I abandoned the midges, Ady and the kids and walked to the shop to buy one. We waved at Fliss sitting in her conservatory on the way and on the way back asked her if she wanted to join us and she did! 🙂 So glad we asked.

So a lovely last night looking at Mallaig and the yacht lights in the harbour twinkling as it got dark, eating sausages and just loving where we live :). Julie and I shared lots of ‘I love yous’ and then we headed for home, dropping Fliss off on the way. Rain was forecast so we parked the other side of the culvert and river and walked home in the dark. I grabbed my dry jacket off the washing line on the way and within about a minute of us closing the door behind us the rain has started and the wind is blowing again. So lucky to have had a last night like that just before the weather changed.

Tomorrow sees loads of people heading off island along with Julie – Fliss is away for the weekend, as is Vikki, Sean and Ali go for 2 weeks and I heard a whisper that Jinty is off again for a weekend. I’m glad we have upcoming visits aplenty from other friends lined up to keep us going.

The solar set up arrived today 🙂 It’s proving very good so far. I am sitting hooked up to wireless broadband while my phone charges and we listen to music. I won’t repeat myself about how it all works as I intend blogging about it on the WW blog but it’s bloody excellent.

It might even mean I manage blogging daily after the others have gone to bed like I used to. 😯

But until that day here is a quick catch up of the last few days:

Monday

Reason for lack of bloggage is still power / internet related. We do now have internet and wireless at the static but both require electricity so only happen when genny turned on which we don’t do every day. We have just ordered a big solar panel, battery and invertor though which we think (fingers crossed) will be sufficient to keep everything charged / plugged in most of the time though so things should improve.

What have we been up to then?

Erm, Monday was midgefest meeting and Rum Venison Processing meeting. Not even sure I’ve blogged properly about either of those. Midgefest can be found at but in a nutshell is an ironic minifest, village fete stylee to try and build our profile as somewhere to visit both inspite of the midge and for more than just Kinloch castle, red deer and the Bulloch family. More about my crusade on all that some other time but I’m enjoying playing a leading role in this and hoping it becomes something bigger next year.

Venison Processing is exciting 🙂 Lesley got a grant for £10k earlier this year to set up a venison processing community interest company. The idea being we buy dead beasts from the red deer cull and then turn them into processed venison meat and products for sale. The company can theoretically support a couple of directors and employees (all part time), plough some profit back into business development and donate any leftover monies to the IRCT. I am to be a director, Ady is to be an employee. The grant money will cover staff training in butchery, machinery and equipment, start up costs of buying beasts, packaging etc and see us through our first year of trading. More on all that as it actually happens but it is perfect for us – free training, a chance to use the skills, possibly some cash and the chance to be in on something from the beginning that could be a really useful place to sell our own produce through at a later stage. Very pleased at all that 🙂

Tuesday – we walked to Kilmory. It’s a 10 mile round trip and in retrospect was a bit ambitious really although Julie and I have walked with our older four for many, many miles over the years Lorna is not as up for such things and the addition of the two dogs, the cleggs and midges and the hard going track, not to mention the destination being the beach which meant instead of resting and recovering from the walk Lorna (and Jack actually) ran around and got more worn out before the long walk home again. Despite all that it was a good walk, the weather was mostly kind and the beauty of Kilmory beach never loses it’s appeal. We’d seen Martyn the day before and said we were planning a trip so he’d said to knock on the door and if he was home he’d show us round but he was not about.

We all felt pretty wiped out when we got home but Ian & Kate came round for the evening and we had a really nice couple of hours with them. It’s far healthier to be getting together at people’s houses rather than hanging out round the shop picking up all the island gossip. I like the evenings spent with a couple or a few people rather than whoever turns up for a beer.

Wednesday – Craft Fayre day – I really enjoy Wednesdays although it is often a mad morning trying to bake stuff to be ready on time as I do a cake for the teashop on Wednesdays too and unless I am properly organised I fail to get that sorted the night before. I was on good form this week though and managed cheese scones, chocolate and banana muffins and the cake for the teashop. Ady dropped me off and went to meet the ferry as we were expecting various things to come. I really enjoy the couple of hours sitting chatting to Fliss and tourists and this was no exception. I’d identified Fliss as a friend before I arrived here and despite various set backs and other stuff I still forsee her being my best on island buddy long term. She and I have stacks in common, both personality and interest wise and I feel happy to be repaying some of the huge kindness and support her and Sandy showed us in our early weeks here now that she is in a place where she needs some back. It feels odd to blog about stuff she tells me, sort of like gossiping as no one here knows her and just now I am probably closer to the people I see day in day out here on island than those keeping up with my very sporadic blogging… Suffice to say we’re bonding and I look forward to good times and fun ahead along with the being there for each other when days are dark.

Wednesday evening we went to Claire’s yurt for a long overdue (as in she’s been inviting us there since we arrived!) evening. James, who is currently Mr Claire cooked a chilli and we sat outside and ate. It was really nice to get a good poke around inside the yurt – I’d not want to live in one with the kids but I do find them a lovely space, really romantic and pleasing and I’d happily have lived in one alone or with Ady. We ended fairly early and all went to the shop for a drink. My parents rang so I chatted to them for a bit and then wandered home.

Thursday is Sheerwater Day. I’d planned to get various things done in the morning but Vikki came up for a coffee which threw me off my stride so I didn’t get it all sorted and we came within a whisper of missing the Sheerwater altogether. The kids ran down the pier – I claimed I cannot run but I suspect if it were not us, known for going every single week and with Julie & co already aboard waiting for us we’d have missed it. No dolphins this week but it was gannet tastic 🙂 I have gotten really proficient at spotting stuff and can now identify kittiwakes, gannets, great skua, puffins, shearwaters, guilemots, shags fairly well at a distance using knowledge about flight patterns etc. Abby who was sitting with me and had only been once before was deeply impressed 🙂 I told her I might be a ranger when I grow up! My proudest moment was being the first to spot a whale though – I caught the dorsal fin and watching the movement was able to shout ‘whale! It’s a whale!’ to which the skipper came down and asked me where and I excitedly bumbled my way through a direction and we sped off. Not the best spotting ever as it kept eluding us but we are spoilt by such amazing experiences every week and had this been our first whale spot we’d have been ecstatic with the closeness of it :).

I started to feel a bit rough on the way back and as Julie and co brought a cold over with them that has been steadily spreading round the island I was anticipating it coming and I have it first. We stuck a wash on at the castle and went to Julie’s for a cup of tea while it was on, then the kids said Fliss and Sandy had asked us to pop round so we saw them for a cup of tea too before heading home in a rush to ring the CoOp to pay for food shopping coming the next day, hang out the washing, bake bread and make dinner ready for Vikki coming round. I was feeling pretty rough by then and standing in the really hot kitchen pumelling bread dough as it was midgey and all the doors and windows were closed had me very bad tempered. Ady was lovely and sent me off for a shower though after which I felt a little better. We had a nice evening with Vikki although as ever it ended later than planned and I could have done with an early night really having over committed myself for Friday.

Friday – started way too early for a woman coming down with a cold and battling the end of a very busy week. I got up at 7am to catch up with all the pre me venison processing stuff that I’d been emailed but failed to read before. Then we were down at the village for just after 9am to accompany Mike on an Eagle Walk as he wanted some pictures of children on the walk and had asked if we’d go along and let him take them of Davies and Scarlett for various publicity. Fliss had come along too with Joss. Mike got loads of posed shots of us all being Littlewoods catalogue-y and pointing into the middle distance and looking through binoculars 🙂 The others carried on with their walk and did indeed spot eagles but Fliss and I needed to be back at SNH HQ for a meeting at 11 so we had to rush back down the hill. All this pre lunch exercise did me in and as I’d wheezed up the hill in the first place chatting to some tourists about Home Education I was a fast pass to a slump really.

Fortunately the meeting went well. Sandy came and rescued us with the car as we’d never have made it for 11am and we were given cups of tea at the meeting. It was with Sarah who is the SNH manager off island but specifically for Rum and George who is her boss and even higher up. They both read the blog so were referring to various things I’d mentioned on there which always feels odd. They were supportive of our venison plans and very fair with their imposed conditions and requests so it all looks like it will go smoothly ahead 🙂

I went to the village hoping to draw some cash out from the post office for later but it was already closed. Claire donated a cup of tea to me and I sat and chatted to Julie and Ali who were in the hall and I resuced Bonnie who had been shut in the car while we went on the eagle walk. Julie wanted some eggs so she came to walk up to the croft with me and we met the others coming back down. The kids came with us to get lunch and Ady followed with the car.

Down to meet the ferry which had loads of stuff on it for us. We helped unload the shop delivery too and met Elsa who arrived on the ferry. We’ve been really looking forward to the evening of her coming so despite still feeling pretty shite I got the kids fed and we headed down. Bless them Davies and Scarlett had lent us some of their cash to pay (which I wrote them IOUs for and have now repaid having been to the post office the next morning). Ady and I thought we’d be home fairly earlyish as it was supposed to start at 730pm so we planned to have dinner afterwards.

In the end it started late to allow for the castle staff on duty to come after work and Elsa spent the delay time sitting outside the shop drinking with all of us and chatting. She is really lovely – I’d happily pay to see her twice a week every week! I hope she comes back. It was a fantastic night – she plays the fiddle, penny whistle, guitar and button box. Given my least favourite noises are the violin and recorder I was prepared to tolerate rather than enjoy but her playing made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up it was so beautiful and moving. Her songs come with an anecdote before she plays, interwoven with all sorts of tales about her and her life and her husband who accompanies her. They spent the winter living in the Canary Islands and the summer touring in a 25 year old camper van playing at village halls. A life we could well identify with 😉 Elsa’s 11 year old son was with them and really hit it off with Clan Goddard (we currently rule the island there are so many of us with Julie and co here too) for the 24 hours they were here.

Scarlett was desperate to dance and so Claire got up with her and Maisie and they danced at the back of the hall but soon got more confident and moved to the front dragging me up with them (not that reluctantly you’ll be surprised to read!), then the blokes got up, then we all got up and the evening ended with a ceildh. It was magical, amazing and everything for me that is wonderful about Rum. I was so glad Julie got to taste a bit of what it can be like here.

We called it a night just before midnight I think and I was utterly done in by the time we got home, going to bed without any dinner or any voice but on a high from such a great night regardless.

Saturday – after a bad night I slept in and Ady went to meet the early ferry and have a coffee with Fliss & Sandy. He arranged to go back later in the afternoon with me too and came home. I’d got up, decided I still felt crap and gone back to bed again before he came home. Ady made bacon sandwiches and then he and I went down to the village to catch the post office. Scarlett came with us and we met Maisie so she stayed down with her. The walk down and back wore me out and I was hoping for a quiet afternoon but Vikki arrived, followed by Julie so that never happened. Ady tells me that it’s my own fault for making myself popular 😉 😆 He went down to Fliss and Sandy’s himself and apologised for my absence while I drank tea with Julie and Vikki. It felt a bit like being back in Sussex – Vikki and Julie get on well and as two of my closest friends that is nice. I do miss Julie lots and having her here even if we’ve not spent every waking moment together has been so lovely, it will be a real wrench when she leaves at the end of the week 🙁

They went, Ady came home and cooked a roast dinner. Comfort food for people with colds and sleep deficits. The kids watched a film, I caught up on flickring photos and did some isle of rum website stuff (I am helping maintain the website now). Then it was bedtime all round. Scarlett had bought me a lemon in Jinty’s shop so she’d made me a honey and lemon drink earlier in the day. I love how me being ill brings out her caring maternal side 🙂

Sunday, blimey today, up to date!
A quieter day although the crazy wind here has stopped it being quite as relaxing as hoped. Ady and I were awake just after 4am with the wind checking for damage and issues. We seem to have fared pretty well considering the battering we’re taking but it is a timely reminder that we need to be prepared for the winter and potential serious winds that will bring. The static is holding up well but we have secured the gas bottles more, lost some stuff in the horsebox thanks to the canvas blowing looose and rain getting in. The pig ark blew over the electric fence so has been put back and secured more and the galvanised sheets in the chicken and ducks areas have blown all around the place. Our ramshackle chicken house has stood up just fine though 🙂

Ian called round just after 10am to check we were okay and stayed for a couple of cups of tea. We had lunch and then Ady and I headed down to the village while the kids stayed here playing. We dropped a bag of food at Fliss and Sandy’s making use of freezer space they had offered us and stayed for tea and cake and chats, then popped in to check how Julie was faring with the weather. She’d been up at the same unholy hour we had repegging her awning and moving the car infront of it as a windbreak but was fine. Then to Vikki’s to deliver eggs and stay for a quick cup of tea too.

Back home we discovered the fridge had blown out (the vent is on the south facing side of the static) and the mince (only remaining meat) probably needed using today rather than waiting til tomorrow so a hasty rethink of dinner options along with the realisation that we didn’t have all the ingredients for lasagne anyway meant we had burgers and potatoes instead. It was delicious and meant Ady cooked instead of me. I am feeling much better today but still welcommed the chance not to cook after all.

Which brings me to the end really – kids off to bed, me catching up online a little, wind still howling around outside. The car is on the other side of the ford because the river is running high, too high to drive across. I need to be up early enough to cook and cool a cake to deliver before midday and wind dropping allowing the ferry may well bring more exciting stuff like our solar panel and invertor set up.

When people who rarely ever blog are trumping me with regular updates I really need to pull my finger out!

It’s lovely having Julie & co here. We have the kids, well mostly Maisie here every night while the others dip in and out. It’s almost like they live here really, joining in as and when and having their own space to retreat to aswell.

It’s a funny time here just now, fully into tourist central with the feeling of being slightly invaded by incommers. Makes us realise how much it feels like home to us now. There is the added oddness of having Sandy fall rather spectacularly off the wagon and spiral into full on drunkenness with some very bad behaviour. Ady and I have found this really testing to witness for lots of reasons, not least the complete transformance of him from someone we thought we knew into someone we have no idea of the measure of. It’s been really hard watching Fliss try and deal with it, their three daughters be around it and seeing the really quite offensive reactions of fellow islanders sit back with a mix of scorn, amusement and pretending not to notice. I have been very vocal in certain company about just what a community is and should be. Fliss said today that everyone had commented when we arrived at just how different the vibe was here with people turning out to offer support and help and be friends, I have been staggered at how little of that has existed for Fliss and Sandy this week.

Sandy has stopped drinking again for now and our relationship with Fliss has certainly had a very speedy fast forward into more intimate and close. I don’t yet know quite what to make of what happens next but I know that Ady and I are taking the stance of friends in need being friends indeed, showing our support for what in my opinion is an illness rather than a lifestyle choice or something to be judged or ridiculed for and I am hoping that in the same way we have been key in rallying support for Dave & Sylvia and their cancer we can help lead a movement towards seeing Sandy’s problems as our problems and seeing what we as a community can do to help them.

In other news we had a croft warming barbecue yesterday and for once Rum didn’t help us out with glorious weather but rained and was windy all day to the point we expected no one to come when it was still pouring down at 3pm and we’d set a start time of 4pm. In the event the sun did put in an appearance and we had a fairly good turn out of people climbing the hill laden with sausages and beers to celebrate finally getting onto the croft with us. We finished at about 2am I think sitting round a campfire singing. All very reminiscent of the best days camping with friends over the years in a field but then wobbling up the front steps into our own home and remember it’s not just a field, it’s our field 🙂 Looking foward to hosting a Rum fest for friends sometime soon

Think that brings me about up to date. We’re about to order a compost loo and we have plans for both water to the static and a solar power scheme which will certainly meet our energy needs at this time of year. We have our first WWOOFers booked in for later in the year and next week two lots of people are coming to look at Croft 2 so we are hopeful of having neighbhours in the not too distant future.

I really miss blogging, I miss the actual act of typing out my day, of sharing what I’m thinking and have been doing and I really hate not having it all recorded as I know those days now blur and slip away from me merging into all the others. But I will try and get back to it as soon as it is feasible to do so and life is too short to be filling my head with regrets of things I’ve not done, so I’m shrugging off these unrecorded bits and writing them off as time spent on stuff which was more important at the time.

Parents Visit.

Mum and Dad arrived on Friday 29th June and stayed until Friday 6th July. They had a fairly action packed journey up but got here okay. After teary hugs and kisses at the pier and a first meeting with Bonnie Ady drove all their stuff up to the croft while the rest of us walked up there. It was fantastic to see them, I’ve missed Dad loads and to be able to share Rum with people for the first time was just brilliant. To walk them along the roads, introduce them to the people here and show them the track we got the static along and then bring them to our croft was so good.

They stayed with us in the static – Davies and Scarlett shared Scarlett’s room, Ady and I had Davies’ room and Mum and Dad had our bedroom. It worked okay although the kids definitely enjoy having their own space now, however small so it was a big ask to have them share again. Ady and I both slept badly in the very narrow twin beds in Davies’ room (we normally take one of them out to give him more space in there anyway) but it was fine. The toilets were a challenge for Mum and indeed for Ady emptying them. Dad got his head round trying to make sure he used the loos in the village where possible but Mum never did. We seemed to spend a lot of time cooking dinners and washing up but in the main it was just good to have them here. Dad totally got it, against all my worst fears that he would not understand what we are doing at all. Mum fell in love with the beauty of Rum but struggled with the active side of our lifestyle with all the walking everywhere and carrying heavy things about.

Overall it was a successful visit really. I think although it would never be something they’d want to do they can see how happy and settled we are here, already part of the community with lots of friends and making a real start on building a life and home and business here on the croft. They watched me baking cakes for the teashop, making stuff to sell at the weekly market days, swapping eggs for salad and selling more eggs to the shop and I think this is the closest they have been to proud of me really. They can finally see me throwing my all into something which I suspect they have never felt I’ve done before. I would argue with that but it’s irrelevant really so I’ll just be pleased they are happy :).

We tried to take them out walking to explore the island but an ill fated trip to Kilmory ended with Mum spraining her ankle so the only real trip we did was on Thursday on the Sheerwater. It was Mum’s birthday on that day and we’d arranged a private castle tour for her and Dad in the morning which the kids went along for too and then on to the Sheerwater. After several weeks running of great cetacean sightings we were all fingers crossed that this would be a good week and it was the best yet. We saw a fairly big pod of dolphins close up and then had an amazing encounter with a minke whale for about 20 minutes. So special 🙂

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They left on Friday which was rather tearful all round. Made easier for Davies and Scarlett by the knowledge that Julie, Jack, Maisie and Lorna were arriving the following Monday!

I’m not sure when they’ll next get up here. They did the drive home all in one go, arriving back in Sussex at 5am which I think is pretty crazy but is up to them. We’ve talked on the phone since and I think it is easier for us all to talk now they know where we are but possibly slightly harder for them too knowing just how very far away it is.

Life up on the croft is brilliant. We have loads to sort out – compost loo is top of our list to get dealt with, closely followed by water, polytunnel and then energy. The list of research keeps growing. I got a book today on Earthships and we watched Garbage Warrior at the weekend so are inspired anew in that direction I think. But we’re still exploring the croft and getting to know the land really. We had 40 fruit bushes arrive last week so have our first crops planted in – nothing else is worth doing until we have the polytunnel otherwise it’ll just be deer fodder really. We have a goose and gander arriving at the end of the month though so our livestock continues to grow and thrive. All the hens are now laying, the ducks are settled if not laying yet, Dave the cockerel is really doing well and Tom and Barbara the pigs are lovely 🙂

Julie and co arrived on Monday. Maisie is sleeping up at the static with us, Jack and Lorna are down with Julie in their trailer tent and Julie’s Mum is in her own small tent next to them down at the campsite. We simply cannot accommodate them all in the static and they need showers / loos really so they are better down there with their own space. It’s lovely having them here, the kids are just having a ball. Julie is struggling with a cold and this is only night 3 for them anyway but they are here for another two full weeks so she is slowly settling in and getting her head round everything.

Other highlights: we hosted a birthday Barbecue for Vikki at the croft last night which was fab. We’re planning a croft warming barbecue at the weekend if the weather stays kind. I sold out of cheese scones today again at the market day and am enjoying that little regular earner each Wednesday. I am involved in a sort of Village Fete in August we’re calling Midgefest which we are having weekly meetings about and is also taking up time coordinating. Life is busy but very good 🙂