Sunday – I did indeed sleep much better and even stayed in bed reading for a while after I woke so got up feeling much more rested. It was a real sunshine and showers day but I had to collect a few bits from the freezer for the following day so spotted a break in the weather and headed down to the village. I also checked the car for post (there was – the last couple of birthday bits, yay!) and picked 500g of brambles. The rest of Rum is starting to catch up, I reckon a fortnight from now and we’ll be struggling to keep up with them ripening but for now it is an hour of scratching around for them. Another four jars of jam made though. I made the dough for Davies’ cinnamon rolls for birthday breakfast, made the jam and Ady and I brought back a wheelbarrow load each of wood up from the Jeep. Some really good bits for making shelves in our planned shed / shop.
Dave and Faye came over to look at the Rangerover which had been playing up a bit so Ady went to do that with them while I wrapped up Davies’ presents and Scarlett made him a card. We had dinner and a fairly early night all round again in anticipation of an early start on Monday.
Monday – Davies ‘ birthday. For a boy who struggles to get out bed in the morning, literally, he is rarely if ever up before midday, he certainly can still manage on Christmas and birthdays. 730am start. Living here makes gift choosing even harder. I think all teens are probably quite hard to buy for, but living here with such limited space for acquiring more ‘stuff’ means we are all really sensible about what we ask for as presents. Davies had gone for a new 3ds having researched it quite a bit. He also wanted a couple of games and books, all of which are not actually released yet so has a couple of to follow items anyway. He got his 3ds and some pens and was delighted with that, along with a voucher to get some apps / games / music / whatever online.
Ady and I walked down to the shop in the morning to get some biscuits for birthday tiffin but other than that we were all home all day. I did various baking / cooking – brownies to take to the shop to share, tiffin, pizza for lunch. Dave and Faye came over for lunch and then we waved them off. Davies and I played some brain training game on DSs, he thrashed me. Not sure if that is an indication of an acceptable education or my gaming ineptitude but it was fun anyway :).
Then down to the shop for singing and brownies. Lots of folk came along to wish him Happy birthday and he had several cards and gifts from people. Davies rang my parents and then I chatted to them both for a bit while Ady cooked dinner – venison steak and chips. Thanks to having processed a beast ourselves we were fairly affluent in venison steak and all had about four each. I reckon there was about £80 worth of meat on the table! Delicious though and it was a celebration meal. Davies wanted to watch Doctor Who so we watched two episodes and then it was bedtime.
Today Ady is off ghillieing – they have gone on one of the most challenging routes, so not sure when to expect him home and fairly sure he’ll be wiped out by the day. The weather is not particularly kind either.
I was being interviewed for the radio – BBC Scotland Out of Doors show. In theory it was supposed to be about the Community Land Use Plan which has been in the news lately  but while I was chatting to one of the team as we were putting our boots on the presenter decided that was more interesting so it mostly was about our family, crofting and just a touch about Rum and future development. I fear I have become perfect media fodder… 😉
I walked by Fliss’ after that and she called out to come in for a cup of tea so I did which was nice. Then I walked round to the village with the radio presenter again who wanted to check a couple of facts and then I went along to visit Lesley and meet new baby Dougal. Lovely to see her after such a long time away from Rum – they got back late Saturday. We caught up, she shared birth story details, I reiterated that I’m around if she needs / wants anything and then came home for lunch.