Ady and I called down to the village hall first thing to make a couple of phonecalls which meant by the time we got back to the static we barely had time to start on one:one stuff before our first visitors arrived. Scarlett did a bit of reading to me, she is so quick at stuff once she puts her mind to it. Davies and Ady were working on the writing for a book Davies is making and has done all the illustrations for but wants to fill in the words now.
First visitors were Paul & Miriam, a (rather mismatched!) couple camping here and interested in Croft 2. They came up for a cup of tea after we bumped into Miriam the night before in the village and she’d been asking all sorts of questions about Rum, crofting and living in a static. They stayed for a couple of hours chatting and although I didn’t particularly take to her I think he would fit in well on Rum. She is in her first year at uni so would not actually be able to take up a croft tenancy any time soon anyway and I suspect they would not be successful at putting together a business plan and application but it was interesting to chat to them and they went off to have a look at the crofts and came back to say they were inspired and interested so maybe I’ll be wrong and they’ll be our neighbours one day!
They left and Rachel and Marcel arrived, having cycled past half an hour earlier and said they’d call in on the way back, so more tea / coffee and chatting and we finally got to meet Marcel who was the last person on the island we’d not met yet due to him being off-island for a while and then in the house laid up recovering from a vein operation on his leg. He’s really nice and we had some interesting chats about venison processing, hide tanning and other stuff. Him and Rachel love the kids and are really up for taking them fishing and teaching them stuff. I do think that village raising a child thing might actually happen here!
They left and we just had time to make a sandwich to take with us to meet the 2pm boat – the kids and Bonnie stayed behind to eat lunch more leisurely. Lots on the boat for us – our new gas heater (which works beautifully, the static will be snug and cosy now even on the coldest, windiest days 🙂 ), our Co Op food shop, electric fencing kit ready to be put up for our pigs and lots of post. We’re just waiting now for our bushcutter so we can get strimming and marking out the land. We have a plan for the layout of the croft we want to work on further and I’m waiting for some more paperwork to come back before we can apply for grants so stuff like buying a polytunnel will need to wait awhile but things are all moving in the right direction.
We brought the shopping home and put it all away then went down to the croft. I fed the birds some leftovers, the ducks have grown loads in a week, Ady and I walked the land a bit more planning and plotting and then we dug some stuff out of the horse box we wanted before heading back to the static to have showers and get changed.
Then down to the village hall for the Ceilidh. It was to celebrate 3 years since the handover of Kinloch village from SNH to IRCT. It was a good night, lovely to already feel so much a part of the community after just 3 weeks – we had loads of declarations, drunken and sober, from people about how well we’ve fitted in and how pleased they are we’re here :). I danced a bit but Ady was outside chatting round the bonfire so only managed to join in with the bigger group dances. The kids had a great time, ending up joining in a huge water pistol fight. We left just before 1am although could have stayed longer because I worry people may feel inhibited by the kids. It carried on until past daylight this morning though apparently!
The ceilidh was in many ways a real reflection of the current state of the community though – a few people doing most of everything, several little pockets of people in different places, lots of politics but an overall feeling of working together to create something good. We definitely need more people to make it work here – 40 is just not a big enough number with a wide enough skill set for the sort of dreams that people have. It is tremendously exciting to be part of it though, we’ve definitely found where we are meant to be :). The best way to describe it is a little like Christmas Camp I guess – the sum total is way more than it’s parts, there is a certain magic in bringing such a mix of people together and there are snapshot moments and times of utter perfection and a feeling that something amazing has happened.
We walked back up the hill and had hot chocolate and watched a bit of a dvd as the kids were way too wired to go to bed despite it being past 1am, I think we all went to bed together around 2am.
This morning was a slightly later start for the kids – I was up by about 830am and sat in the doorway of the static in the sunshine with a cup of tea, Bonnie and a book looking up every few pages to admire the view. Ady went to let the birds out and I finally lured the kids out of bed with rice pudding for breakfast! It’s definitely lunch time now and I have made loads of random purchases in Jinty’s shop to wrap up in newspaper for Ady’s birthday gifts tomorrow so I need to go back up the hill with my purchases and eat 🙂
Sounds pretty damn fine :-).
Do you have a carbon monoxide alarm?
Comment by Michelle — 12 May 2012 @ 9:58 pm
Just a grin and a sigh really. I read all your blogs with a grin on my face 😀 (and I actually read it all!) Xxx
Comment by Em — 14 May 2012 @ 7:08 pm