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.
have caught up, i think! sorry that the fliss/sandy thing seems to have been a nightmare. great the animals doing so well. bracing for the winter x x x
I’ve played that charades version- hilarious! Especially if you play the version where you have to do the whole thing with a specified accent.
The damp thing- I’m in a Kiwi home at the mo that is wood frame, polystyrene and a plaster skim with single glazed aluminum windows (genius construction from the late 90s!). The heat source is a wood fire. The trick is to keep the air as dry as possible by not drying laundry indoors, cooking with an extractor (or at very least with lids strictly on pots), showering with windows open in the morning and extractor etc. Don’t use gas to heat or cook with if you can help it- or do your cooking earlier in the day with the window/ door open and/or extractor going. Ideally, don’t breathe either. The crying windows situation is a bloody nightmare- I spend 10 mins squeegying the windows and frames and mopping up with a towel in the morning rather than let it dry out into the house all day. And unless it’s minus temps we sleep with the windows open a crack too- but possibly not practical for a winter on Rum!
Norman sounds like a good ‘un. Is he odd?
Norman is indeed odd 🙂 We’re opening doors and windows whenever we can but horizontal rain and almost constant wind means the wiindows would be blown off their hinges if left open most of the time. The wood burner should help a lot as will cooking during the day and boiling the kettle less and fillling flasks so there is less hob top gas being used.