Wednesday 30 May 2012
Photographic delay
Due to me somehow injuring my arm in three places at once (nothing serious, just have to rest it), photos will be delayed. But! I am taking them. Today there are bee photos, the daft things flew in the back door, navigated the kitchen and the hall, but somehow came in to and smacked the living room window rather than the front door. Both were safely evicted.
Tuesday 29 May 2012
Lazy Tuesday
I've spent most of the day browsin t'internet, replying to people on Ravelry and generally faffing. The fantastic weather has broken to leave us with "meh" weather, cloudy skies, a breeze but not cold.
Due to our camera hating poor light and my tardiness I can't take a decent photo of today's progress, so here's an unshared photo of a tern I knit...
There's a display happening on Mull involving loads of hand knit terns being attached to the pier then going on display in Edinburgh I believe, I'll share better when I find the page with info...I know where it is, but it's not within reach. I did adjust its beak so it wasn't quite so snooty before I left it at the resource centre with a pal...
(mine does have feet, but his are tucked under)
I admit, I felt a bit sorry to be letting it go, but I have enough wool to knit another when my hands will agree to the tight guage.
Anyhoo, back to my knitting!
Due to our camera hating poor light and my tardiness I can't take a decent photo of today's progress, so here's an unshared photo of a tern I knit...
There's a display happening on Mull involving loads of hand knit terns being attached to the pier then going on display in Edinburgh I believe, I'll share better when I find the page with info...I know where it is, but it's not within reach. I did adjust its beak so it wasn't quite so snooty before I left it at the resource centre with a pal...
(mine does have feet, but his are tucked under)
I admit, I felt a bit sorry to be letting it go, but I have enough wool to knit another when my hands will agree to the tight guage.
Anyhoo, back to my knitting!
Monday 28 May 2012
Lovely day all
BBQ out on the drive, sun shining and I finally have a sunscreen that doesn't set my skin off, well done Boots on their Soltan Sensitive!Now then, for the past week or so there have been some really loud corncrakes in the area...I have a sound link hang on... http://www.avisoft.com/sounds/corncrak.wav
Noisy birdies!
The thing with these things is, they're really small, dull brown and like tall grass. It has taken me a whole pigging week to get these pathetic shots:
Yep, the whole bird is about 1 foot tall and yet they make enough noise for a flock of gulls! They also have really good eyesight and don't trust a human stood in her doorway not to come running after them. The little sparrows, on the other hand...
One more photo, a little collection of shells I have on the living room windowsil...
Sunday 27 May 2012
Sunday Night
Well, I spent Sunday sleeping, I won't bore you with a photo of the bed, so here is what I worked on overnight...
I joined a mystery Knit-A-Long (KAL for short) and am currently on clue 3 of 5. I fell behind due to various things (David the ferret was PTS the week before last) so I've been working my behind off to catch up.
I joined a mystery Knit-A-Long (KAL for short) and am currently on clue 3 of 5. I fell behind due to various things (David the ferret was PTS the week before last) so I've been working my behind off to catch up.
Once more unto the beach, dear friends
How many places in Britain can you have a mile of golden, sandy beach to yourself, with beautiful clear water lapping gently on the shoreline at a perfect temperature for a swim? Also with utterly clear blue skies, brilliant sunshine and a gentle breeze? Got a list?
Ok, now how many of those places are 1/2 a mile from your front door?
I love my life, I really do.
As you may have gathered I've spent part of the afternoon taking a dip in the sea, spent about half an hour bobbing about, then a bit of time lying on the beach reading a book, nobody in sight for most of the time, and certainly nobody close by. What do people do here when the weather is fine?
Ok, now how many of those places are 1/2 a mile from your front door?
I love my life, I really do.
As you may have gathered I've spent part of the afternoon taking a dip in the sea, spent about half an hour bobbing about, then a bit of time lying on the beach reading a book, nobody in sight for most of the time, and certainly nobody close by. What do people do here when the weather is fine?
Saturday 26 May 2012
Project 365
In an attempt to achieve regularity on a blog I have decided to try the Project 365 idea. Basically, take at least one photo each day and post it somewhere.
I'm aiming for a photo that summarises the main activity of the day...today was baking...
Who knew that having 10 eggs that needed using up would lead to a pile of cheese and onion scones, another pile of naan breads and some plain bread too.
I'm aiming for a photo that summarises the main activity of the day...today was baking...
Who knew that having 10 eggs that needed using up would lead to a pile of cheese and onion scones, another pile of naan breads and some plain bread too.
Sunday 13 May 2012
Chocolate, Curries and Cycling
An obvious combination!
On the May day weekend my parents came up to visit. I had a look at the various shops and attractions on the isle and chose a few places that would be open on Saturday for us to go visit while showing Mum the island (Dad's seen most of it from bringing us up).
Saturday afternoon they arrive, we give them a delicious home made lunch and then off we go. Alas, I misread the times for the pottery so that was closed by the time we arrived, but chocolates and charms was open. What a lovely shop! (and doesn't that sound so twee?) It had some fantastic jewellery (Mum treated herself to a pair of earrings) and some huge chocolate shells. Well, guess what I got? Sorry, it was eaten before I grabbed the camera! I can definitely say though, it is lovely choccy.
After C&C we did a bit of a tour, partly because my sense of direction is appalling when in a car and partly because hey, small island, why not? Mum was absolutely positive she just couldn't see the appeal or would want to live here, even though we had glorious sunshine.
Saturday evening we had booked a table at the farmhouse cafe for a curry night. I knew they did great banana bread, and Jo had heard they do good food, so we all went. We got there a bit early so had a short trot down the road and saw and Alan doing a jog on the way back. When we walked in we were immediately known as one of Jo's pupils was waitressing, table for 4, Bennett? Yep! The starter was a pile of poppadoms (think I spelled that right) with chutney, onion thing and minty yoghurt, followed by curried salmon (honestly, I want that recipe!), pakora and kebabs. Main was buffet curry, rice and naans, the curries were beef, chicken and lamb, all three were very moreish and all four of us had seconds. To finish off the delicious meal was a fantastic rapsberry sundae with bits of meringue in. I believe I can safely say all four stomachs were most satisfied.
Sunday was an even more leisurely spent day. My parents and I went to do some fishing, Mum sat and read and enjoyed the sun, Dad and I went rock hopping in the hopes of finding suitable spots. No fish were caught and Dad and I spent an hour just sitting watching the birds while my boots and socks dried off after I went for an accidental dip. We even glimpsed a seal! We had lunch on the shore, watched the geese and the cormorants and then headed home. Alas, Skeryvore pier isn't good for fishing, the waters are shallow and the sand is white so the fishies aren't keen to come visit. Oh, we did catch one thing...Dad caught himself!
Sunday afternoon all four of us took a drive up to the North end and tried to find the ringing stone. We didn't find the stone, but we did all have a nice walk and so did the doglet. I managed a bit of sunburn on one side, but nothing too bad.
That evening we had a relaxing chat, made pizza and then my parents headed off for a good night's sleep before their ferry on Monday back to the mainland and then the 6 hour drive back to Lancaster.
Cycling...
Dad asked "doctor bike" in Lancaster to give his Saracen mountain bike an MOT and service so to speak and to put some thick road tyres on for me. They brought it up last weekend and this Friday I braved the wind and took a ride down to the resource centre. New saddle needed!
The road down looks fairly smooth about a foot in from the sides, but when you're on an unsprung saddle and hard road tyres...it really isn't! On the plus side, Dr. Bike has done an excellent job, the gears were wonderfully smooth changing, no grinding of chain as it tried to slip and the bike offered no resistance of its own. I did have to walk it back though, 30+mph winds head on just aren't that easy to go into when you're not exactly a small person. Still, I shall buy myself a new saddle with my next pay and then hopefully manage to cycle atleast once a week and get my fitness up a bit.
Sorry this post is all text, I do have some photos, but they're still on the camera, so I'll crop them and put them up later this week. Until then, have a lovely time all!
On the May day weekend my parents came up to visit. I had a look at the various shops and attractions on the isle and chose a few places that would be open on Saturday for us to go visit while showing Mum the island (Dad's seen most of it from bringing us up).
Saturday afternoon they arrive, we give them a delicious home made lunch and then off we go. Alas, I misread the times for the pottery so that was closed by the time we arrived, but chocolates and charms was open. What a lovely shop! (and doesn't that sound so twee?) It had some fantastic jewellery (Mum treated herself to a pair of earrings) and some huge chocolate shells. Well, guess what I got? Sorry, it was eaten before I grabbed the camera! I can definitely say though, it is lovely choccy.
After C&C we did a bit of a tour, partly because my sense of direction is appalling when in a car and partly because hey, small island, why not? Mum was absolutely positive she just couldn't see the appeal or would want to live here, even though we had glorious sunshine.
Saturday evening we had booked a table at the farmhouse cafe for a curry night. I knew they did great banana bread, and Jo had heard they do good food, so we all went. We got there a bit early so had a short trot down the road and saw and Alan doing a jog on the way back. When we walked in we were immediately known as one of Jo's pupils was waitressing, table for 4, Bennett? Yep! The starter was a pile of poppadoms (think I spelled that right) with chutney, onion thing and minty yoghurt, followed by curried salmon (honestly, I want that recipe!), pakora and kebabs. Main was buffet curry, rice and naans, the curries were beef, chicken and lamb, all three were very moreish and all four of us had seconds. To finish off the delicious meal was a fantastic rapsberry sundae with bits of meringue in. I believe I can safely say all four stomachs were most satisfied.
Sunday was an even more leisurely spent day. My parents and I went to do some fishing, Mum sat and read and enjoyed the sun, Dad and I went rock hopping in the hopes of finding suitable spots. No fish were caught and Dad and I spent an hour just sitting watching the birds while my boots and socks dried off after I went for an accidental dip. We even glimpsed a seal! We had lunch on the shore, watched the geese and the cormorants and then headed home. Alas, Skeryvore pier isn't good for fishing, the waters are shallow and the sand is white so the fishies aren't keen to come visit. Oh, we did catch one thing...Dad caught himself!
Sunday afternoon all four of us took a drive up to the North end and tried to find the ringing stone. We didn't find the stone, but we did all have a nice walk and so did the doglet. I managed a bit of sunburn on one side, but nothing too bad.
That evening we had a relaxing chat, made pizza and then my parents headed off for a good night's sleep before their ferry on Monday back to the mainland and then the 6 hour drive back to Lancaster.
Cycling...
Dad asked "doctor bike" in Lancaster to give his Saracen mountain bike an MOT and service so to speak and to put some thick road tyres on for me. They brought it up last weekend and this Friday I braved the wind and took a ride down to the resource centre. New saddle needed!
The road down looks fairly smooth about a foot in from the sides, but when you're on an unsprung saddle and hard road tyres...it really isn't! On the plus side, Dr. Bike has done an excellent job, the gears were wonderfully smooth changing, no grinding of chain as it tried to slip and the bike offered no resistance of its own. I did have to walk it back though, 30+mph winds head on just aren't that easy to go into when you're not exactly a small person. Still, I shall buy myself a new saddle with my next pay and then hopefully manage to cycle atleast once a week and get my fitness up a bit.
Sorry this post is all text, I do have some photos, but they're still on the camera, so I'll crop them and put them up later this week. Until then, have a lovely time all!
You know it's windy on Tiree when...
... the wind sock at the airport seems to have blown away.
... you have to take the cover off the bike to avoid capsizing
... you try to change down a gear and discover you're already in first because of the headwind
... you have to work hard to keep your arm still long enough to get the key in the garage door
... it takes an hour and a half to go 4.5 miles
... the ferry gives up and goes home because the sea's too rough
... locking the bike doesn't actually stop it moving
... opening the front door is only safe if you're wearing a cycle helmet
... the compost bin goes missing even though it was weighted with a huge lump of concrete and two roof tiles. (added by Jacqui)
The wind was above 40mph today, gusting above 60mph. It was a little bit of a hairy day to be on the south side of the island, with the wind coming up from the south-west.
... you have to take the cover off the bike to avoid capsizing
... you try to change down a gear and discover you're already in first because of the headwind
... you have to work hard to keep your arm still long enough to get the key in the garage door
... it takes an hour and a half to go 4.5 miles
... the ferry gives up and goes home because the sea's too rough
... locking the bike doesn't actually stop it moving
... opening the front door is only safe if you're wearing a cycle helmet
... the compost bin goes missing even though it was weighted with a huge lump of concrete and two roof tiles. (added by Jacqui)
The wind was above 40mph today, gusting above 60mph. It was a little bit of a hairy day to be on the south side of the island, with the wind coming up from the south-west.
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