There comes a day every spring on Rum when I fall back in love with life here. It’s late coming this year, nearly midsummers day but it’s arrived at last.
Winter seemed to last forever this year, coming hand in hand with the crashing realisation that we would not be spending the winter ahead in a newly built cob house after all it hit me rather hard. Instead of being galvanised into action and coming out fighting and ready to prove everyone wrong I simply stopped really. I felt disillusioned and helpless and flat.  That we had only just come out of the film crew visiting and being so full of everything we had achieved almost made it worse rather than better.
The loss of the polytunnel and the never ending winter meant there was no chance of getting any seeds sown and it all started to feel rather pointless. Instead of  finding ways to make things worked I just didn’t bother. So all credit to Ady for finding ways to kickstart things for me again. He made a polytunnel and coaxed me back outside to the croft again and suddenly life is productive again, the sun is shining and we are making things happen. The joy has returned 🙂
This week we have dug over and weeded most of the raised beds, planted up most of the seedlings that I had had to sow after the packets of seeds got wet and ruined being left out in the rain after the film crew were here, netted the beds and made the whole area look like an allotment again rather than the graveyard of one. There is still work to do but another week or so of that level of productivity and it will all be done leaving us motivated and ready to crack on with the next challenge. Today Ady got a door on the polytunnel and moved the hose which had been to the old polytunnel to the walled garden / new polytunnel area. The kids painted the sporran so that all looks bright and waterproofed.
This morning I worked on weeding, making willow arches and netting the beds and transplanting seedlings. We broke for lunch and then the filmmaker guy came up with his friend to record us talking. Ady and I spoke first and then I hung around while he recorded Davies and Scarlett. He brought us up wine, beer and cake which was very kind and stayed for a couple of hours chatting. Then I did a few more hours in the walled garden and Ady came and did some too while the kids went down to the village to check for post. Â Ady came up to get dinner started and I carried on, only coming in when the kids came to tell me it was 730pm and time to come in. I had a shower, we had dinner and watched Doctor Who. Scarlett’s ducklings managed their first night out alone just fine, all the other baby birds are doing well. Working outside on the croft all day meant we collected all the eggs rather than the crows getting them and I think we put about 24 eggs in the fridge for sale today, must be some kind of record 🙂