This morning I had some home alone time. Ady is helping Sandy with some work finishing their B&B extension. They have offered to pay him but he feels odd about it given the amount of favours they have done for us and has told them he would rather just carry on bartering for favours. I am keeping out of it as either option is fine with me and I’d rather Ady be happy than anything else. He is enjoying Sandy’s company, liking having something to do outside of the croft and feeling useful so I think it is win: win whatever happens :). It’s good to feel we are giving something back and it’s further deepening our friendship with Fliss and Sandy too.
Davies and Scarlett went down to Mike’s for J Ranger stuff – Ady took them so by 9am I was home all on my own. I had a long job list though so with Bonnie sat at my feet I worked through that making phonecalls, returning emails, researching various things. I registered Ady and I as self employed and did some work on the Rum Venison processing company. It was soon time to head down to collect Davies and Scarlett so Bonnie and I walked down to the village in the sunshine – the world was a happy and shiny place 🙂 I do so love living here.
I put Bonnie in the car which was in the village square and went in for a cup of tea and chat with Mike. The kids had been doing stuff on biomes, colouring maps, watching some clips on youtube about different biomes and learning about chaffinches. Mike is really passionate and excited about the j ranger project and is talking about creating a big collage in the village hall. It has had precisely the desired effect of renewing his passion for rangering on Rum and getting the kids some excellent educational input. They both adore Mike anyway so 3 hours in his company once a week with a slant towards learning stuff is perfect. We might be going out ringing sheerwater chicks with him tomorrow night although the thought of the trek up Hallival in the dark to do it is rather daunting…
We left Mike and walked round to Fliss & Sandy’s to meet Ady. We ended up staying for another hour drinking tea and being offered but declining to share their lunch. A nice chat with them about various things and a half planned trip Christmas shopping in Inverness for Fliss and I and maybe some of the kids.
Back to the croft for a very late lunch via bringing in my finally dry (and very rinsed and wind blown therefore incredibly soft and fresh smelling) laundry. As we started eating Vikki arrived with some questionnaires. One for all of us about our opinions on the proposed bunkhouse project and one for Davies and Scarlett about what it’s like being a young person on Rum. She stayed for a couple of cups of tea thanks to several more rain showers before heading off.
Ady and I moved the barbecue and dismantled the whole ‘camping area’ as that is over for this year now. Ady then fed the animals while I did a few more online bits and pieces. Ady cooked dinner and the kids watched a film then it was bedtime.
I’ve spent far too much time staring at my screen today and not nearly enough time outside but it has been productive and I’ve got stuff done. The weather has really turned cold now and the static feels very chilled. We have insulation to line the floor with and the wood to put a skirt around the base which will help lots. I also want to put some heavier duty curtains up along with some curtains over the two doors and something between the kitchen / lounge and the hallway. We’ve also realised we seem to have a summer lightweight duvet on our bed too so we need to invest in a heavier one. Winter is coming!