Almost not going to blog today but actually I probably should.
Feeling a bit rubbish about stuff today. We have borrowed lots of my Dad of late which he is fine about and keeps reassuring me he can afford and doesn’t mind etc but it’s not how I planned life would be when we moved here. We’re in the gap between winkle picking and tourist season meaning we can start to earn money easily. I have approached the magazine with some article ideas but that won’t happen til next year anyway, I’ve asked Jinty about more shifts at the shop and we’re going to see if there is any point in picking winkles this late (won’t be pre Christmas prices but if we could raise the cost of a car ourselves rather than going to Dad again it would be good).
On paper our life just about adds up – the income with get from various things covers our cost of living and gives a small amount for putting towards growing the croft – investment in more livestock, more alternative energy stuff, things to make life easier like tools, the extra stuff we can earn at certain times of the year should eventually mean we can move things forward. In practice it is very tight and means that in emergencies we end up going to Dad again.
Today was tough I think because we were helping Mike pack his van up to head off on the boat and we are all really sad about him and Casey leaving. Sad because they are our friends, sad because Mike has been here a long time and is leaving really disillusioned with Rum and the community, sad because a house coming up and a ranger post being vacant has brought out the very worst in so many people here all scrambling to get what they can and looking at what everyone else has got.
February, a month for getting the blues I fear.