Happy Holidays!

Christmas has been and gone, we had a huge lunch and a quiet afternoon opening pressies and digesting.

Our parents clubbed together and sent us money to get a dishwasher, so that should be with us in the new year.

All pretty quiet here.  We're enjoying the rest, Jo is playing on his computer, I'm knitting and taking care of odd jobs.

Bike's been up on bricks again.  We got a new inner tube due to the current back one having punctured twice (yes, I did swear at it the second time).  So I spent an hour this evening taking the back wheel off, changing tube, pumping tyre, refitting wheel, cleaning and re-lubing chain, blah blah.  Bike probably hates me by now.

Madam doglet is on antibiotics.  We gave her the turkey giblets on Christmas day, there was lots of crunching, then yesterday she was really lethargic.  Didn't even do her usual insane dance when I said "dinnertime!".  Andrew from next door kindly took Madam and myself to the vet, after lots of screaming(from the dog), restraining and the vet prodding and picking, turns out she'd cracked a bit more off a broken canine and it was infected.  Gave her the first of ten tablets last night, this afternoon she was back to her sweary self.  Dinner was far too slow at being served!  She's also had her yearly vaccinations done, so that's ticked off the to-do list.

Madam's now also on very limited exercise.  She *wants* to walk, but her joints don't, she'll settle for a few rounds of tug and a wrap in her blankie though.  We did get a good walk in on a calm day, how?  I made her PJ's.






They still need a bit of work, some poppers we think, as one leg falls down and exposes her knee.  Yes, she looks silly, but she loves the freedom offered by them and that's what matters.  We even met some collies a few days ago, they were tag-teaming; one would sniff one end of Pippa while one sniffed the other.  They also weren't keen on going back when their boss called them.


Oh yes, Christmas eve, got up as usual, got dog on her leash to go out for morning relief, opened door, let dog out, looked up...



Erm.  Hmmm.  No, those cows were not meant to be there.  The white one was the leader and had discovered a gap and led a group to, quite literally, greener pastures.  I did find how they'd gotten out of the common grazing: there's a gate from that patch of land to the common grazing land, it's knackered, rusted hinges, rotting wood, the works.  Between the strong winds and the cows, it had come open and the ladies had helped themselves.  A bit of rope from our coil and me very unladylikely hopping the fence saw that sorted before any more got out.

But what of the escacows?  Well, they paid a visit to Beachcomber, got chased off, paid a visit to postie/farmer across the road, wandered down a bit.  Got followed by me and two were returned to the grazing.  But 6 more were free. 

Thing is...cows run away from humans trotting along, especially guilty cows.  So, I could get to a gate and open it, but the cows weren't going to back track to go in the field and the ones in the field weren't going to stay there when the gate was open.  I rang Alan to ask him to herd from his end, alas, the remaining ones took that time to go wandering again.  Fortunately they went to what I'm told is an old camp ground, so they were off the road and out of harm's way.

Guess what we saw in the land behind us on Christmas day?  Yep, whitey and her pals.  Their owner or some other soul got them back to the common grazing before the day was over though.  Now the cows come to check the broken gate at least once a day and if I'm visible they like to moo at me in annoyance.

That's about it for now.  Happy holidays and I hope everyone who reads this had a lovely Christmas and will have a brilliant 2013!

Home again, home again,

Collapse in a heap!

I've spent the past 2 and two half days in Glasgow and I can truly say I do not envy those who live in that busy place.

I said I was going to write a flying from Tiree post months ago and this time I have the photos I want to go with it.

We have a little plane that serves Tiree from Glasgow.  It seats 21 passengers maximum and has two three blade propellors.  Here it is coming in to land:



It really is wee, that's a Transit sized van parked there.  You have to be very careful getting on that you don't thwack your head, I usually end up almost bent double, my Dad would be able to inspect his knees judging by various tall men.  It's not a plane for the inflexible.



Just to give you an idea, this is a standard sized "jumbo jet" with a Transit van next to it:


And this is our little Otter behind the fueling lorry:




But there are bonuses.  How many planes do you travel on where you can see the pilot and all the instruments?



And, of course, you get amazing views!









Some people worry that such a small plane isn't very safe.  Au contraire, smaller planes can stay airborne at slower speeds and while, yes, there can be turbulence, it's no worse than a bus going over a bump.  Give me a little otter over a 747 any day.

I didn't take any photos in Glasgow, partly because I forgot I'd taken the camera and partly because I was with my Mum and enjoying a good chat most of the time.  But I had to take this one, the last bullet point is in desperate need of punctuation.  Whenever I read it I wonder how mobility issues will be happy to help.



Mum booked us both into the Breahead Travelodge, double rooms with a nice bit of empty floor and a pretty gradiented painting:



I had to giggle at this, Santa looks ever so happy to have all those lovely women pulling his sleigh, dirty old man!





Glasgow was good, mostly got results I wanted and shouldn't have to go visiting again for quite some time I hope!

We did take advantage of some of the sights.  We initially planned on the Tuesday to find the Rembrandt exhibition in a gallery on the university campus grounds.  So, we trotted up the hill, couldn't see any signs for it, trotted down, had lunch, found some directions...Trotted back up the hill, round a bit, up some stairs, round a bit more...  We were about to give up when we saw some large banners for the exhibition, one more try we agree, walk to a likely looking building...it turns out to be a church.  Oh well, Rembrandt remained unseen.

We did find some bits and bobs in the various shops though.  I got some Christmas cards and saved a small fortune in postage by writing them that evening and giving them to Mum to hand over at various family gatherings.  Mum found some flat wrapping paper (she hates the rolls) and we had a lovely lunch.

Wednesday we decided to invade Ikea.  Mum had never been to one and I had a few bits I was hoping to find.  Note to all: wooden chopping boards are surprisingly heavy and should not be purchased with the plan to stick them in your rucksack to take home, your back WILL complain.  Still, we went round, found some pressies, got lost (seeing a theme?) and had a good lunch.  Back to our hotel for a bit and then dinner at Pizza hut.  They do a main, side and all you can eat salad for £6 per person before 5pm, we got our 5 a day that evening!

Thursday morning we parted company, Mum off to get the train and me off to fly again.




It wasn't as sunny when I got home.  But Tiree is beautiful from the air regardless.

So now I'm home for the rest of the year (barring emergencies).  Just got to fill out my expenses form and send that off and then I can chill and listen to the cows.  Angus the bus driver has been teaching me about how cows and sheep behave and how they stay in their herds/flocks so it's fairly easy to separate them off when the common grazing time is over.  It really is a fascinating thing.

I shall leave you with one of our little uninvited guests that's currently residing in a tub (with air holes, water and a bit of food!) until I can take it to the Reef tomorrow.




It's a very pretty guest, shades of grey and brown and quite cooperative for the camera.  Shame it keeps a pair of lead boots in the loft!

TTW 4

So, two weeks after the event, Tiree Tech Wave 4.

As featured in The Oban Times, no less!

Well, last time there were about 7 of us, 2 from the island, 5 visitors.  This time 20 people came visiting and there were 3 from the island, a recently returned resident came to see what all the excitement was about.  The Cobbled Cow folk did a fantastic job of feeding the masses and I can't help but think Alan who works there enjoyed the challenge of feeding such hungry techies.

The MacBook invasion was amusing and at least two people said "for such independant thinkers, there seems to be a common theme" or words to the effect of.  There was also a 'sheepbook'.






This...contraption is the future touchtable:


Up on that wooden platform is a projector and an overhead projector mirror to direct it at the table.  Hanging from it is a dismantled XBox Kinect.

Alan was sorting out power for it, so this ladder spent a day being walked under:



Alan enjoyed himself up the ladder, even taking photo's from his vantage point.  I'll linky if he ever gets to posting those somewhere.



Along with all the techie stuff, including about 10 sets of Arduino development kits, there was also some fibre crafting.  Fiona, Alan's wife, brought up her snazzy (but very short!) new Japanese weaving loom and set herself up in the auction hall:


You change the sheds using those pedals, rather nice to operate if you're not 5'10".  I ended up a bit stiff after hunching.  Fiona also taught a techie how to make felt:



(Photo of finished felt stupidly forgotten!)
The lady felting decided she wanted to put some RFID tags in and will be programming those when she gets back to Wales.  So not only was felt made, it was techiefelt!

Tech wave was Thursday through Monday and seemed to be thorougly enjoyed.  Nights weren't spent with us all crammed in Alan and Fiona's living room, instead Thursday night was somewhere, I don't know because I went for an early bed.  Friday night was curry.  I believe the tech wavers defeated the curry house but they argue that the left over rice and naan meant they won.  I say it would have gone if we hadn't all devoured the curry that goes with.

Saturday night was hosted by Lancaster house, Sunday was Cardiff house (all those from Lancaster stayed in one house, Cardiff stayed in another house.  Sunday was curried fish, mushrooms, rice, chicken and some tomato on toast with a lovely dressing of some sort.  It started with three groups spread through the various rooms but eventually we all gathered in the living room where The Box Game was played.

I hadn't played that game since University.  You take a box, in this case a cereal box, and place it on the floor, each person has three attempts to pick up the box with their teeth/lips while only touching the floor with their feet, no other body part may touch the floor.  Cardiff won, but only just, Tiree got to the final round (piece of flat card on the floor) but our competitors either couldn't reach (me) or couldn't get it to come off the floor (returned student)  Alan did very well and got down to about 8" of box, not bad for someone who's never tried that before.  The winner from Cardiff showed us all up though, she just stood up, flexed, stood with card.  Only one male managed the final round, also from Cardiff; 'hairy Steve', who also gave a presentation on design on Saturday.


All in all, a most enjoyable weekend was had.  The weather mostly cooperated and only rained 1.5 days of the available 4.5.

Sorry for the delay in posting, it's taken me this long to get my thoughts in order.  I'll post a crafty post soonish, then next week will be about flying, I'm off to Glasgow again and this time I'm taking the camera!

A slight delay

There will be a short delay on the weekendly blogging, this weekend is Tiree Tech Wave 4 (TTW4) where yours truly is surrounded by 20 academics from Cardiff, Lancaster and other areas. 

There's also a guest appearance by Fiona, Alan's wife, who's doing felt making and some weaving on her new Japanese loom.

So, yes, update around Tuesday, once I get photos sorted and brain recovered.

And breathe

It's been one heck of a week for yours truly.  I've flown over 200 miles, sat on buses, in waiting rooms and walked a fair bit too.

Monday was get everything together, have I got paperwork? Toiletries? ARGH!  It was also the day I started putting mouse traps in the loft.  I don't mind mice in the loft too much, they can't get to the kitchen or our food, but these ones seem to have little lead shoes so they just have to go.

Tuesday saw evictee number 1.  A rather plump little specimen that was most peturbed by having not only been caught but then stuck in a fabric bag and dumped out in the open away from its lovely warm loft.

Tuesday was also a day for flying.  I flew over to Glasgow for some tests.  That is about the only real problem of living on Tiree; if you need any medical tests you have to go to Glasgow.  It's not that bad really, you can get a bit of shopping done at Breahead or go into the city centre.  I'll take the camera next month, I want to show you just what it's like going on the tiny Twin Otter plane (Max 21 passengers, pilot and co-pilot).

Anyhoo, Wednesday I woke up in my Travelodge bedroom, had a breakfast (won't bother again, it's a bit...meh.) and trotted to the airport.  Now, you'd think a hotel near an airport would be pedestrian friendly, you'd be wrong.  To walk between the two you have to cross a turnoff from a roundabout and a sliplane onto the motorway.  Fortunately there is a bridge under the motorway so you don't have to try and cross that too!  It's almost as bad as the stupidly placed pedestrian entrance at Todmorden Health Centre.  Some of us like to walk and save the money.

Back to wednesday.  I got home, unpacked, collapsed on my chair, apologised to the dog for, in her words, " 'bandoning her forEVER " and was happily recovering when a car pulled up to the house, Jo comes in the living room, "I forgot I had an email".  Eileen had come to collect me for SWRI crafting and had emailed Jo to tell him as much.  My knitting was grabbed and I zoomed out the door.  It was a lovely afternoon, meant to be 2 hours, somehow stretched to 2.5 hours.  Eileen is teaching Hardanger and after sitting there for a good hour thinking "I do not need another craft, I do not need another craft" well, I decided that I'd just learn this one too, so I now have a bit of fabric with Kloster blocks neatly (at least, I hope!) done, ready for the next step (cutting the fabric, eep!).

Thursday I spent a few hours out and doing then rested at home.

Friday saw another small rodent.



It was kind enough to pose in the trap before I stuck said trap in the bag and we went for a trot to the beach.  Some higher power was at work that day though.  Mouse got away, pegged across the beach as fast as it could bound, but a different mouse died that day.  You see, we had taken the dog for the walk too, why not? Lovely day, dogs like walks, go for it.  On the way back Madam suddenly shows a great interest in some grass on the verge, she starts rooting in the thick grass and seems to corner something, there's a little 'clomp' as made by a gummy doggy mouth closing on something and Madam's head come up with a long thin tail and one rear foot sticking out.  One less mouse on Tiree.  She seemed to approve of the snack, especially as it required no chewing before swallowing.  It also seems to have been digested, Madam and her iron stomach.

Friday afternoon was Community Crafters, a happy two hours spent chatting, making some cards, knitting mini stockings and generally interacting.  I realised I had promised to bring some crafting cotton down for Mary and Margaret to knit into washcloths/dishcloths and forgotten again.  So Friday evening I skeined some balls I had and spent a happy hour with the dyes:




I wasn't sure on what colours I had planned so I made a cup up of each and played.


Dyeing plant fibres is a slightly different technique to animal.  Instead of steaming the fibres to set the dye, you leave it cold for 16+ hours.  I'm not sure why, probably something to do with cell walls or proteins or something.  So I wrapped them all (dye won't absorb and set if the fabric dries), grabbed one of the scrap towels and took advantage of the back toilet as floor space for dyeing.

The skeins are now washed and hanging to dry, you'll have to wait until next week for photos of them completed.  I hope M&M like the idea of knitting colourful cloths, if not I can always make use of the yarn.

That's about it really.  I will do a proper post on visiting Glasgow, but I want photos so it will have to wait for my next visit.

Until next time, be of good cheer.

Quiet week

It's been quiet this week, mainly personal things have happened, I'll spare you those.

The bike was up and running again by Thursday.  The new sprocket arrived and I managed to just talk in an angry tone at the gear system rather than swear at it.  Turns out the gear cassette that I had enthusiastically taken apart thinking it was necessary to remove the sprocket could have stayed put.

It also turns out that while the small gear that locks the cassette in place *looks* symmetrical, it is most definitely not.  Said gear locks onto the axle in two positions, it took me ten attempts to get the right orientation.  *sigh*

Anyway, getting the new sprocket on was relatively easy, the circlip was cause for strong tones, thank goodness one neighbour was away and the other at work, or I may have been visited by men in white coats for all the talking to myself I did.  So, sprocket in place, gears finally reassembled, wheel on twice (once was due to me forgetting the brake disc).  A few test cycles around the drive allowed me to retension the gear cable and woohoo, it lives!  I sprayed the whole gear and chain assembly liberally with lube before test riding.

Jo has since cycled to school and back and to church and back successfully.  There's been some iffiness, but nothing that wasn't there before.  Maybe a job for Will of Tiree Fitness or our bike enthusiastic neighbour one day.

Oh, remember that broken sprocket?

Turns out it was doubly broken.  Look at the photo, see that top bump that points into the centre hole?  Now look to the left of it, see that could-be-a-crack dark dent?  Yep, it's actually a crack.  Joseph, or possibly myself, BROKE the sprocket!  oops.

I've been yarny again this week.  I managed to find a decently priced sock black on Etsy and dyed it two nights ago:

The yarn at the top and bottom is waste yarn, you pull that off, then knit from one end of the rectangle to the other, hopefully this will make banded socks.  We shall see.

I finished the celtic spiral ones this morning.




They fit!  If anything, they're actually a bit big in places, but washing may take that out.


I've also started knitting stuff for a craft stall Fiona and Jane are having at the November sale on the island.  I hope to help, but I may be off on the mainland.  These are mini socks:


Three little stockings and an elf sock, that reminds me, need to make a hanging loop for the elf sock.

I'm also crafting something for a Minecraft themed swap, but photos of that won't be up until mid-November in case my swap partner is stalking me ;)

The weather is looking promising today, I have laundry on and it's only 8:45 in the morning.

I hope the weather is good with all.  Until next week, TTFN.

October already?

Have we really been here for eight whole months?

The last two weeks have been a bit, off.  I've been fighting a whopping infection and tired from it, so please excuse the lack of posts.

Last week saw me sock knitting, pretty much as usual right now.  I'd heard about the "fleegle heel" a no-fuss heel with no picking up stitches and no holes at the join from the gusset, in other words: knitter's dream!  Of course, I had to try it and had this gorgeous yarn to try it with.  8 days of on-again, off-again knitting and we have:



Warm, comfy socks!



The yarn striped beautifully and cooperated very nicely for the heels.



With those finished I wanted new socks, but this time I decided to try fair-isle colouring, last time I did that I made these:

Gorgeous socks, but...I did the top pattern bands too tight and within two washes they're now ever so slightly felted and won't go over my big feet.  So, with trepidation and lots of trying on as I went, I tried some celtic spirals;





It worked!  The top does require a little pull to get over my foot, but not so much I'm worried it won't fit after washing.  I do hope the yarn "fluffs" a bit though, otherwise these are going to be summer socks.


I tell a lie, this weekend has been interesting, the bike broke!

Jo went to a colleague's leaving do on Friday evening and came home with the cool box that he'd taken shopping in his hands.  It struck me as strange, but I assumed he'd parked the bike and was carrying the box from the garage.  Oh no, the bike had broken down, he'd been very kindly given a lift.

NB: It wasn't Friday, Jo informs me it was in fact Saturday, sorry.

I was informed that evening that they (work colleague whose house he had fortunately broken down near, colleague's partner and himself) had had a fiddle and found that, while the chain was attached, the back wheel refused to engage.

Sunday he brought it home and Sunday evening we had a fiddle ourselves.  Jo had contacted the people he bought the bike from and they had emailed him instructions on servicing the gear drum and removing the back wheel.  I did read some of it, then, well...I do so much better tinkering.

Jo held my torch for me and picked the back end up when I wanted to remove the wheel.  Took the wheel off, found the chain gear was loose, seemed to relock gear, put wheel back on three times - I kept mis-aligning bits - everything seemed fine, wheel engaged, until Jo tried to pedal.  *clunk* no go.

So I agreed I would take it apart again today and see if it was just a case of grit stopping things slotting properly into place.  Poor bike...

First it gets brick chocks put at both front wheels so it can't roll...



Then it gets more bricks (with cushioning to protect the paintwork!) stuck under the main beam, then I very unceremoniously removed it's back wheel.




Just to give you an idea of the complexity of this, the manufacturers recommend that, should you get a flat on the back tyre, it's best to try and repair the tyre in situ.  This bowl of bits (yes, I know where they all go!) shows why:



Next was the dismantling of the gear hub itself, Shimano do a very good job of making a logical assembly, i.e. you can work out how it comes apart.  So, off comes bit after bit, carefully laid in order so I can put them back in the right order.

There may have been the odd rude word as I hit the next obstacle, but eventually I got the chain cog off.  I cleaned it and that's when I noticed, my rag was catching.  Surely such good quality kit as Shimano (this gear kit alone costs around £200 without a wheel) wouldn't leave burrs?  No, but the cog half jumping out of it's slot and trying to do the job would.




See those nice, round, bumps in the centre of the gear?  Lovely, smooth, rounded, perfectly formed?




Yeah, not so much!  Two had been shaved to half thickness, the third had been shaved and was trying to shatter off.

I suspect it's when either, or both of us, has tried to pedal that little bit too hard and the weakest point is here.  This cog is held on with a circlip (a cut circle of spring-steel that acts like a washer but opens instead of needing to slide on), the cog pushed, the circlip jumped, the cog jumped.  Who knows when it happened, because this damage took time to build.

On the very positive side, because I found the fault we don't have to send the whole rear wheel back to Lancashire to be repaired.  I contacted the people we bought the bike from and he's sending me a new cog and circlip.  Good service!

Until then, the poor bike is up on bricks and looking very sorry for itself and I need to purchase some grease/gunk suitable for greasing bike gears ready for the replacement.  If you don't grease/oil your gears on Tiree, they rust!

Until next time, be of good cheer.

A guest comes to stay

Last week we had a little Nora come visit for a few days.  Jo organised a bike rental for her from Tiree Fitness and I trotted down to collect her from the airport.

The weather was sunny, but a cool wind so I took Pippa down for a walk too.  We weren't there long before the familiar little Twin Otter landed and our Nora descended the steps.

After a good greeting from the dog and a giggle at the rollers that make up Tiree airport's luggage "carousel" we were off.  Madam doglet had plans though, as we were walking out of the car park Madam crossed infront of me and stopped, turns out I can still somersault if needed, I can also keep hold of the dog's leash while doing so.  One scraped knee, two bruised heels of hands and a bruised elbow later we were again on the move.

As the weather was dry Nora dropped her bags, had a quick lunch and went off adventuring, inadvertently cycling approximately 9 miles.  She did have a sit and watch the sea for a bit too.

That evening we had a bit of a giggle when Jo got home.  You see, I'm about 5'10", Jo's about 5'7", Nora is bang on 5'.  We had her put on my coat and hat...


On the plus side, if she ever needs a coat that will keep her whole body dry we know what to get!


We cleared off the futon in the spare room, this meant moving my giant stuffed dogs, the larger of which could be Nora's dance partner...



A good few days were had by all.  I helped with some knitting lessons? Issues?  Technicalities possibly, we also got Nora happily knitting on double-pointed needles and able to count rows.  The first part of that was especially amazing considering I initially started her going the wrong way (oops).

The brave, brave soul decided to also go for a swim, not a paddle, a swim, in the sea.  She did indeed manage, even though a big dark cloud came by, and even brought some of the beach back in her ears.

I have some videos from the weekend, but they're rather big files so will have to wait for our internet to stabilise, it's being a bit moody at the moment.

Nora mentioned that a friend had a daughter who's birthday was coming up and she wanted to knit something for the kidlet but wasn't sure.  She'd brought the yarn with her so I did a pattern search and knit this little item for the kidlet this weekend:



It'll be going in the post this week.


I've had quite the good knitting week.  I finished this pair of rainbow socks:

These were my "waiting time killer" knitting and actually, about 75% of the knitting time was in the doctor's waiting room.  Well, can't say I wasn't being productive.

I've also started this brightly coloured pair:


The yarn is a sport weight from America, it's giving a lovely fabric and I love how the colours are striping for me.

Tuesday saw a meeting of the SWRI (Scottish Women's Rural Institute) where members were encouraged to bring friends to try and get new members.  Our neighbour's mother is a knitter of beautiful shetland lace and lured me there with mention of teaching me the secrets.  It was an amusing evening with some insight into how it all works and items of people's craftwork to admire.  I was seriously considering joining and then I got post on Thursday, someone had anonymously paid my membership!  So I am now a member of the SWRI on Tiree and look forward to joining in.  I even have an idea of what to contribute to the community project for the show next year.  There are also quite a few classes where I could make something...oh the possibilities!

Anyway, sorry for the disjointedness of this post, I seem to be failing at English today.

Until next week, adieu.

Fur, silk and acrylic

This week was a bit of a mixed bag weather wise.  Madam went from hiding under her blankie;



To cooking gently



Fortunately it meant I got to do some laundry, including washing this log cabin baby blanket:



I did briefly consider making it bigger, but that last side removed that temptation.  It was going to go to the crafters' baby pile but...well, I'm being a little selfish and keeping it for our future kid(s). 

The weather went very "dreich" (I'm sure I spelled that wrong!) as the Scots say, lots of mist and low cloud lead to no plane for two days.  The weather also meant the Thursday ferry skipped going to Barra so it left late and fortunately was able to bring over that day's post.

Saturday was good though, thank goodness!  Madam had run out of painkillers the day before so we were dearly hoping the new ones would arrive, they did and she swore at Joseph for being too slow at feeding her.  How grateful she is! (note sarcasm)


See the black lump on the bottom left of that blanket photo?  It turned into this in the wee small hours of Friday:


Close up of one panel:



Blowing in the wind:


On me.  (I have a 2m armspan, this thing is wide)


After taking the above photos I went to check on the ferrets.  Fred was doing his favourite trick:  Front end in the food bowl while stuffing his face:



That's an 8" wide food dish he has his feet in.  Apologies for his scruffy look, he's 6yo and moulting ready for Winter, that's his summer fluff looking all ratty.  Ferrets can live up to 12yo, but Fred is very inbred so his chances are iffy, not that he cares.

My little Sister-in-law is visiting this week and has forewarned me she is bringing knitting to be helped with.  Must make sure the futon can be extended without hitting umpteen things first.

Anyhoo, life continues along with happiness.  TTFN.