One word? When seven would do…

We’d planned to make the most of the lovely weather we’re forecast for today and tomorrow so I checked with Ali whether there was much rut action at Kilmory yet. Word is that it’s still a little early and next week will see more happening although the ‘big boys’ are assembling according to Martin from Kilmory this evening. Autumnwatch style action is but days away!

On that basis we decided that a trek to Kilmory will probably only happen once in the next few weeks so we’re better to wait and use our day on another adventure instead. Ages ago we talked about following Primrose Burn which is where our water comes from to see where it begins. On the OS map it shows it briefly forking into two and then just stopping. We refused to believe that and given there are several lochs in the hills above us (know as Mulloch Moor) we were sure it must come from one of those. Dad was around when we last talked about it and he said he’d like to come up with us to see it so we waited. But when they were here last the weather was poor and we suspected the walk may be a little much for him anyway so we did that today instead. We packed some of the kendal mint cake that What You Want To Do Dave and family had brought us which we’d been saving for just such an eventuality and headed off.

It was gorgeously warm and the light was amazing, the colours all still glorious and the views obviously stunning. We saw red deer (all hinds), a sea eagle and climbed high enough to see Eigg over one peak and Skye, Soay and the mainland on the other side. A perfect few hours.

The burn does indeed run out to just two trickles and though we made it up to one of the lochs it is not where our water comes from. We realised walking along the bank of the burn that the water is mostly coming from the ground around it, as though it were a giant drainage ditch. We’d anticipated being a little longer than we actually were but we were still ravenous when we got in and glad of some freshly baked bread I’d made before we left. As we were finishing lunch Casey called round for a cup of tea and chatter and then she went to take some pictures of the animals with Scarlett.

I sorted out dinner (we had a veg glut so I made roasted root gratin, double portions so we can have it again tomorrow, yum!) and then we all went down to the shop to collect veg and have a beer. Back home we watched the second half of Megamind which we’d started last night (and I had never seen) and had dinner.

Days of wood chopping, fresh air and exercise have me aching and longing for a bath but feeling good to have banked lots of lovely memories and have a good stack of firewood in preparation for the months ahead.

This morning Ady and I walked down to the freezer to stick in the fish that Ian bought up last night and all the brambles I picked yesterday. Then we had a long walk and picked a load more to make jam with. We took Bonnie and left D&S here drawing and lego-ing.

Home for lunch and then Ady went to clear the gate at the bottom corner of the croft – we have for gates altogether – one at the bottom which we mostly use as access, one at the top, two on the side (one about half way down and one at the bottom corner) and a gap in the fence in the top corner with no gate. The whole of one side is unfenced – the divide between Gav and Laura’s croft and ours. The bottom gate was all overgrown and brambled and we’ve meant to clear it for ages as we may use it for access. While he did that I chopped up the last of the wood we bought up yesterday – 20 bags in all. A job very well done as we now have a cubic metre plus of firewood all chopped, seasoned and ready to burn along with 3 sacks of kindling sticks. A good feeling 🙂

We reconvened and the kids spent some time with Poorly Duck who appears to be on the slow mend. Ady, Bonnie and I then did a circuit of the croft diverting off along the top trail towards Kilmory for a mile or so bramble picking and just enjoying the sunshine. Back to the house to get dinner on, make jam, knock up some bread dough and then have dinner.

We watched the start of Megamind which I’ve somehow never managed to see while eating dinner and for once everyone has had a fairly early night. This week is looking much calmer and less full that last week – we’re hoping for more bramble picking and the arrival of the wind turbine.

I love that people on Rum now call Kirsty McColl ‘poor dead Kirsty’. Clearly I wish she were not dead but I love that our own brand of catchphrases has now entered RumSpeak.

It’s been a meetingtastic week, very busy and at times fraught. On Wednesday it was the Full Board meeting and the EGM (extraordinary general meeting) for the IRCT. Ady came down with me to attend the EGM and as we were walking down we bumped into Vikki and Alan Henderson who is our current chairman and one of the panel who interviewed us to get our croft so has always shown a special interest in us. They were walking up to look at Crofts 2 and 3 as it was a nice day and they had time so we double backed and joined them to walk the north side nature trail around both crofts. It was good to show Alan what we’ve been up to and have a chat.

The EGM was very brief, the full board meeting less so with lots going on to be thrashed out. We finally finished about 345pm and then had just over an hour before the Andrew Thin event was due to start. Andrew is the current chairman of SNH and was instrumental and helpful in the handover of land to IRCT. We’d invited him here as his last term of office as SNH chairman draws to a close to show off what we’ve done, keep him on board with stuff and generally have him visit. The plan was for a couple of us directors to speak at the start of an evening event, then have Andrew speak and then handover to the floor for questions. I ended up being the speaking director and then I got nicely drunk with Lesley on the free SNH provided wine! Lesley works for SNH so was most worried she’d spoken out of turn to the point of getting sacked, then she went home and fell in the bath. I went home and fell over on the way up the muddy croft hill.I think we both needed the chance to let off some steam. I heart Lesley!

Thursday morning was an SNH and IRCT liaison meeting with was another tricky one and I chaired it. There was tough stuff to say and deal with and it was quite draining (particularly with my hangover) but apparently I did a good job. I came home for lunch and then went to do crochet with Fliss and Casey before going to Mel and Em’s at the castle for dinner and X box playing (not for me, – Davies has set his x box up in the castle on Mel’s telly on the understanding that he gets to play it and so does she so they are sort of time sharing the telly and the x box).

Yesterday I woke early but laid in bed reading for an hour or so which was lovely and much needed. Then I baked bread and made soup using some polytunnel produce. Ady was over helping Gav and Laura with some cabin building so Bonnie and I went over to tell him lunch was ready. We had lunch, went down to the ferry – we had some stuff due to arrive although the exciting package containing our wind turbine has yet to arrive and then came back and helped Gav and Laura for a bit longer. I had another meeting to go to about bunkhouse stuff so went down to the village for that and had a nice couple of hours with Lesley and Vikki working on stuff before going to meet the rest of the Goddards at Mike and Casey’s for dinner. A lovely evening ensued with plenty of charades and hilarity.

Today I started my new Saturday morning job of Mrs Post Office. Two hours of learning about special deliveries, cashing up and stuff. A regular Saturday morning job at a tenner an hour which will pay for our veg boxes each week. I actually quite liked it and think it will be good fun and a nice thing to do each Saturday. Ady and the kids came down to meet me and we picked brambles on the way home. Back for lunch then the kids stayed home to do some drawing while Ady I went back to the village to collect some firewood (Ady) and pick more brambles (me). I bumped into Fliss along the way so we picked together which was nice, I’ve missed our friendship even if I don’t want to return to how it was.

An hour or so later I’d filled my 8 Flora tubs with brambles so walked back to Ady and we brought the wood and brambles home. Ady lugged them all up the hill while I chopped up 20 sacks full of wood. I have four still to chop. Back is aching and was very midgey but the wood store is looking very full and healthy which is a really good feeling.

Ian appeared with a fish (pollock) he’d caught for us, there was a duck emergency when one of the other birds (whether chicken, goose or turkey is unclear) gave it a very nasty peck to the head at feeding time, we all heard our first stags of the season roaring and finally stopped and went in for hot showers, cold wine and dinner at about 730pm.

Grease on dvd, nice dinner and a qiick trip out onto the sporran for some star gazing just before bedtime all makes for a full and fulfulling Saturday.

The days are getting so much shorter. Sunrise is stunning over the sea at about 730am and by 730pm it is being stunning in the opposite chunk of sky. 12 hours is still a fair bit of daylight really given we’ll shrink to about half that in the coming three months but winter is closing in. Trees are changing colour, the stags are starting to roar and there is the smell of autumn in the air.

After Popmaster Ady and I headed to the village to get the key to the gas cage and collect the car which has been on charge (the battery only lasts a week before running out. We are pricing up quad bikes as our next investment currently), then to the pier to collect a gas bottle, put rubbish in the skip, collect the two loads of washed and dried washing we processed yesterday, drop the key to the gas cage back off at the trust office and back home again. The kids spent ages playing with the trolley (big green cart on wheels we bought to bring stuff up and down the hill and we all call ‘t trolleh’ in a northern voice for some unknown reason), we all found at least one stash of chicken, duck and bantam eggs so now have a minor glut – something very satisfying about happening upon a nest of six eggs, wandering down to the river to float them to check if they are fresh and then putting them in the honesty box ready for selling.

I took advantage of the slight wind to have a fire and burn all the cardboard and general rubbish which is alway satisfying, took some seeds and other stuff down to the polytunnel but didn’t venture in for long as the midges were briefly out and about.

Later Ady and I fed the animals then took the empty gas bottle back to the pier and walked home.

Emails today revealed two dinner invites for later this week – hurrah 🙂

Busy couple of days ahead with meetings galore.

Davies has been lego-ing lots and making animations on his 3ds, Scarlett briefly experimented with being a stroppy pre teen but swiftly decided it was a bad idea.

Far too long to try and catch up.

Davies had a birthday -teenager at last. Feels both utterly momentous and totally non eventful and run of the mill birthdayish.

He asked for and got mostly lego. A Rum friend commented that when they were 13 they still played with lego loads but in a furtive manner and would not have dreamed of asking for it for their birthday. They were being complimentary. I wonder who’s issue it is that I sometimes feel a bit defensive about compliments like that somehow.

It was another Rum birthday – his second. And was magical. He was gifted an electric guitar that has been renovated for him and the promise of lessons, two massive lego sets, books (suitably Davies tastic books), drawing stuff, a drive of Chainsaw Dave’s golf buggy, sweets, had two questions in the quiz that happened in the hall dedicated to him and the whole hall sang happy birthday to him at the end of the night (this after the Rum folk turning out to share his quadruple layer birthday cake and sing to him earlier in the evening). Times like that which make us all feel we are in the right place.

We had visitors – Johnathan and Jasper back to back with my parents. A very lovely visit from both. Always fab to see J&J (although we missed the rest of their family) and great to have more friends share our lives here and get a little taste of what it’s all about. Nice to see the sun come up twice during the week with Jonathan ;). Jasper fitted in well with Davies and Scarlett, particularly with Scarlett. Davies had some time out from the ‘kids’ practising for impending teenagerhood. Jasper and Scarlett took Jan’s instruction to run around outside like a wild animal pretty seriously and one day didn’t even get back home for lunch they were so busy off playing somewhere

Mum & Dad were Mum & Dad really. A bit annoying, a bit demanding, lovely to see them anyway and always conscious that their age and health is not on anyones side for them to continue managing to live our lives for a week at a time. The weather was poor for their visit this time so they spent a lot of it indoors with the kids. We have suggested that we come off and meet them somewhere on the mainland for their regular trips up but they insist on coming across to Rum. I very much appreciate the effort they make to get here – this was their sixth trip I think which averages once every three months since we moved here. They are by no means without their faults but I can’t say they don’t put the effort in to see us…

We had an amazing performance by Tim and Malcolm of the Shearwater play which was magical and wonderful. Some of us spent the morning with them on the beach doing storytelling, singing, poetry, art and more which was very good. The four of us variously spent quite a bit of time with them and they were both very complimentary about Davies and Scarlett which was lovely.

We had our Rum food festival Blasda yesterday which was ace – a bring and share meal with 25 folk coming along bringing Rum produce. We had venison in three incarnations, eggs in all sorts of guises, brambles, fruit and veg from the island. It was great.

I think in brief that brings us up to date. Which is the best I can hope for really. 🙂

Ady spent most of today on the phone trying to sort out an upgrade on his mobile. We rather stupidly had not changed our address on our contract phones and had been on the road back in 2011 when last we upgraded so just went into the nearest shop at the time. Hence Ady did his in Bangor, Wales and I did mine in Inverness. We had intended to not bother upgrading and keeping contract phones but the kids both want smart phones for camera / game / stuff so it makes sense to upgrade ours and give them our cast offs.

It took pretty much all day to sort out changing address, negotiating a good deal and trying to sort out
to our non mainland address. Ady still needs to ring back in the morning to finalise. I am yet to start the exercise….

I meanwhile spent the day making and baking. I did bread rolls and soup for lunch, packed up some dried herbs, baked bread, made yoghurt, made dinner for tonight and extra for the freezer, garlic flatbread to go with dinner and another to take as snacks on the Sheerwater tomorrow. And then made five jars of bramble and chilli jam later after we’d been brambling.

We had an empty jerry can of petrol to go off on the second boat so Ady and I walked down to do that at 3ish. We actually wanted to walk as there was a brief respite in the rain and I get all itchy and a bit stir crazy if I don’t walk each day. I’d fed the animals this morning and watered the polytunnel but that didn’t feel anywhere near enough fresh air and exercise. Gav pulled up alongside us to offer a lift for the jerry can (he had a full car of people) and then Neil pulled up to offer a lift so we took him up on it. He gave us a lift back to the village too and then we walked home by the nature trail and collected five tubs of brambles, The season has well and truly begun!

It started tipping down with rain just as we reached the croft so Ady went to feed the animals while I finished picking and then we stripped off and left wet clothes outside. The joys of remote living mean naked outdoorness is not really an issue! This may change when Gav and Laura finally move onto Croft 2 of course…

The weather is supposed to improve tomorrow, I really hope it does. It doesn’t feel like the winter should be setting in just yet…

Monday morning I had a meeting down in the village with Ali. In theory it was to talk about infrastructure but various things kicking off on the directors agenda meant we got side tracked into dealing with some other stuff aswell including calling in to see Mike and Casey in an official directors capacity. We did that and then had further furtive chats about stuff before parting so I could join Ady and go to meet the boat.
I then went to join Casey and Fliss for Crafternoon rescheduled to Monday from last Friday for some knitting, crochet and chat. We had a nice couple of hours and then Casey and I went back to hers for another cup of tea before going to the shop at 5pm to collect veg and meet Ady again.

We stopped for a beer and went to have a chat with some reps from SNH who were over to discuss a proposed MPA (marine protected area) designation for the Small Isles area. That was interesting and as Ady and I were in there on our own for a while they asked us where we were from originally (with our far from Scottish accents we get asked possibly more than anyone else on Rum when we say carstle and glarss and barsking shark :)) and chatted about crofting and travelling and home ed for a bit.

Back home for dinner, a foiled attempt at watching X Factor online (internet too slow) and a relatively early night.

Today was another meeting for me in the morning and then a post meeting cup of tea at Ali’s before coming home for lunch. As we were going out for the evening and the weather was pants we moved our evening to the afternoon and put the genny on to charge stuff up. I caught up with various online bits and then we went down to the castle for dinner with Mel and Emily (known as Em and M). We had a really lovely evening with them and then did our first real torchlit full walk home from the village this season admiring the amazing stars out tonight.

It’s mad windy which makes sleeping a challenge but I think it is forecast to die down after tomorrow. Which would be nice…

Friday was a rainy day. Inbetween showers I chopped some more firewood and Ady strimmed around the pig fence. We’re currently researching micro hydro vs wind turbine so Ady did some more research and learning on that.

I’ve been making friendship bracelets as I made a few to put in the craft shop and they sold out. I have a Klutz book with some cool designs so I have been playing with those and have another batch to put in the craft shop. It doesn’t really fit with the ethic of friendship bracelets to have them being sold to strangers I know but cash is cash and I guess the purchasers consider themselves friends of Rum 😉

After we fed the animals Ady and I took advantage of another break in the rain to nip down to the shop to collect some stuff that had come on the boat including some of Davies’ birthday presents and a cool box. Now the weather has changed we can keep more chilled food up here at the static and a cool box with ice packs doubles that space.

Mike and Casey came up for dinner and we had pizzas. Last time we went to them we played charades and this time Casey introduced us to a more complicated version. You write down ten words, phrases, songs etc and hand them to the other team. They have a timer set to a minute and the first round is explaining the clue without saying the actual word – there used to be a version of it on Richard and Judy – you get through as many as you can in the minute and then it’s the other teams go to do the same.

Once you have gotten through all ten you move on to traditional charades for the same clues, bearing in mind you do know them because you have already guessed them and possibly been explaining them yourself once already. Again with a timer of a minute. Once all done that way the final round is using just one word to describe the clue.

We had very topical clues for us here which included things like zombies, fellow islanders, pizza. It was a really riotous hour or so, lots of fun 🙂

They left around 2am.

Saturday – In the morning I did some more wood store stuff – carried up a couple of pallets to stack wood on and create dividers, more sacks of wood and more wood splitting. Ady made another galvanised sheet storage pen. The kids had Art Club with Coryla at 2pm so we all went down, dropped them off with her and then Ady and I went bramble picking. We got five tubs – still a bit early really so not easy picking yet. We had a really nice hour or so wandering about, foraging and chatting. It’s always good to be away from everything just chewing over ideas and thoughts. Collected the kids and an ice cream each from the freezer and then came home for a cup of tea.

I was determined to finish the wood we’d collected so far so we got up the final few bags and I chopped and stacked it all – my back ached loads by the end of it but that is 12 feed bags of logs all split and ready with two sacks of kindling sticks chopped up. We need to do the same again at least four more times to be ready for the winter, particularly as we have already started lighting the log burner with small fires to take the chill off in the evening, determined to foil the damp this year before it sets in. It’s a good start though and feels like we are meeting the coming winter head on.

I didn’t finish that til nearly 7pm, then came in and made dinner (tacos and fajitas) and turned the brambles into four jars of jam. One of those nights I could have done with a soak in a bath.

Sunday – another rained almost all day day again today. Ady went off to meet the boat at 11am as we had diesel cans going off to get refilled. I stayed in bed reading and Scarlett joined me for a while. When Ady got home he and Davies made a lego animation on the 3DS together while Scarlett and I looked at Playmobil catalogues together.

We had a window in the weather so headed off to the village for community teashop which was Mike and Casey this week. Casey makes amazing cinnamon rolls so we had those and sat and chatted with Gav & Laura who were there with Gav’s aunt and uncle who are over for their second visit, Mel and Em, Abby, Fliss and Mike & Casey. It was a quiet week for them I think with poor weather and not many tourists around this week.

Back home again just missing the weather. I read some paperwork in preparation for a meeting tomorrow about infrastructure. Then it was time to wait for another window in the weather to head down to the village again for dinner at Norman’s. Norman is quite an enigma and can be hard work but offered to have us for dinner and a dvd way back last year and it never happened. He made us dinner to take away last week (lasagne) as a surprise and insisted on having us for dinner tonight. He made pizza and chips for the kids and a three course indian meal for Ady and I which was delicious. He is a chef and his cooking is amazing. We watched 2012 on his big screen surround sound tv which we’d not seen and was an excellent choice of film to watch like that. A slightly odd evening but good food.

We came home just about as it was getting dark at 9pm. This evening we have mostly been researching quad bikes with trailers and alternate versions thereof as transport will be a pressing problem before too long – the Pajero is very much dying.