Oops, behind again.
Friday – we did some houseplot digging. Just a couple of hours and it’s slow going but we were out there doing nonetheless. I made pizza dough and the plan was to have dinner all sorted and eaten before we went. Unfortunately despite best intentions I foolishly cooked the bread first while constructing the pizzas, the bread took way longer than I planned so at 720pm three of the four pizzas were still not cooked and we were supposed to be leaving at 730pm. I managed to get everyone else’s dinner at least on the table and with them having eaten a couple of slices each before we had to leave. I had eaten one slice and took a second with me on the walk down.
We were heading to the Bunkhouse which was the venue for a talk by John Hunter OBEÂ known here on Rum as ‘The Professor’. We all went down and all four stayed for the first talk which was on archaeology of the Small Isles and a selection of stuff we already know about Rum, Eigg, Muck and Canna and some new stuff. Much of it rather contentious and as yet unproven theories but interesting nonetheless. There was then a break during which Ady and Scarlett left to head home as Scarlett was not at all keen to stay for the second talk on forensic investigations in murder cases which The Professor has been involved in countless of. Davies was just as keen to stay so having taken responsibility for TP’s ideal that no-one under 21 was present away he went with the talk. It was very gruesome, pretty graphic and not for the fainthearted as he covered details of some of the most famous murder investigations in recent years including Moors Murders, Fred & Rosemary West, various prostitutes, paedophiles and other unsavoury cases. But utterly, utterly fascinating. Davies found it as interesting as I did and although a couple of people were concerned about his presence and how he would deal with it I had no concerns about his ability to process it all and he was very articulate on how lots of it was contextual and not relevant to him or his life so while he could feel objectively sad he could not empathise and was therefore not remotely traumatised by it 😉 Go Davies!
We stayed for a glass of wine (just me, not Davies) afterwards and a chat with TP and fellow Rumachs before walking home around midnight. We just about got to the foot of the croft when it tipped down with huge hailstones so we did the last part of the walk home slightly hysterical with post murder science, hail in our faces and ducks and geese being all mental at our torchlit approach! We had the leftover pizza and cups of tea laced with whisky (again me, not Davies) and told Ady and Scarlett slightly sanitised versions of what we’d learned.
Saturday was work for Ady and I. Chainsaw Dave had been working on the wheel of the Jeep and had managed to break several drill bits and spoilt the locking nut so the tool we were expecting off the boat would now not work 🙁 Not his fault at all as Ady had asked for his help but then not told him it was no longer required and Chain had set about trying. I did post office, Ady did hostel and met the boat to collect Big Dave. BD came along to meet me at the shop for  a cup of tea and chat before Ady came along to join us. The Rangerover then developed a serious transmission fluid leak which meant both vehicles were out of action. Sigh.
Home for late lunch, showers, hair brushing and getting ready for Burns Night. I had to finish the topping for my whisky jelly and write my Toast to the Laddies poem still so it was a busy afternoon. Back to the shop by 6pm.
We had a lovely evening with delicious food, poems, whisky, friends and lots of music. I did singing with the band. It was fab. A few key people didn’t come along which was a shame. Davies and Scarlett got bored around 930pm so elected to head home on their own. They started the genny, watched some films, re-lit the fire and generally kept everything on track until Ady and I came back around 1am. Very proud of them 🙂 Apparently I told them that quite repeatedly before I went to bed! 😉
Sunday – Ady and BD spent the WHOLE day down in the village trying- and failing to sort out the Jeep. The kids and I spent the whole morning in bed catching up from two very late nights and then afternoon hanging out together. I made bread dough, apple tart, roast dinner, brought in firewood and even untethered the wind turbine. A much needed quiet day.
BD came over for dinner and we had a nice evening.
Monday – Ady and BD wanted to work on the Jeep again. I stayed with the kids til just after 10am and then went down to the village to do various things in the shop, add some advice to the car stuff and generally ensure they didn’t spend the whole day looking at the wheel. By lunchtime it was finally sorted. I had promised to come back up for lunch so did that, bringing Bonnie who had followed Ady to the village. When I got back down to the village the Jeep was fixed and fine, the Rangerover was still a work in progress. We stayed down there til dark chatting to various folk as they came by and then came home for animal feeding and getting dinner sorted. BD came over for curry and we had another really good evening.
BD is off tomorrow, I think they are planning on doing car stuff again in the morning. I might stay home and make soup!