Busy week

It's Thursday but it feels like the weekend already.  Jo's been mowing down the long grass, I've been watering some newly planted branches hoping they root and lots more!

I bought myself a flute:


Here it is with the wooden Feis flute I'm borrowing:


Unsurprisingly it's a tad more complicated to play fingerwise but a lot easier to get sound from.  Interesting balance and makes me think I want to keep up with both as I enjoy the simplicity and deep sound of the wooden flute but love the range of the metal.

It's currently persisting it down but we've had a mostly okay weather week that saw some gulls visiting.

One kittywake:


It was hanging around with two very grumpy and much bigger herringulls:


Jo and I had an evening walk down to and along the beach:




It was a pretty low tide so we saw this rock with green "hair":


Yesterday was insane and hysterical and fantastic!  We'd made arrangements with Peter and Nicola to have a crafty afternoon and share knowledge and skills.  We started with Jo showing Nicola how to make bread.  Peter took during photos, this is the result:


Then it was my tutoring turn, I showed Nicola how to dye yarn and we dyed many mini skeins that I can add to my hexipuff collection with.  I'd also bought two "sock blanks" (rectangles of sock yarn that you dye then reknit into socks).  Nicola dyed one in a very hippie theme and I did mine sea-style.

While those were cooling outside and the bread was on its second rise Nicola showed me how to make candles!


Mine during a cooling phase:


I've left them with Nicola because they sink as they cool and need another layer to level off.

This is their draining rack before dinner:


And their garden:


Goodness knows what people driving past thought of this sight:


I just love the colour combinations that were done:








After a delicious dinner, a game of Fluxx (a card game where the rules are constantly changing), some delicious Magnum ice creams and Ben swearing he's not been fed:


We went for a short drive and a trot along Gott bay.  Nicola and Peter were on the lookout for their "seaweed" shot for the Tiree Photographic challenge.  After playing with some weed and making the scariest possible face with shell, weed and wood I've ever seen they settled on a much more "acceptable" shot:


The actual photo is even sillier.

I have spent the day learning how to play A,B,C,G on the new flute and doing some tunes.  It's a lot harder to support this one because so many more fingers are required for keys but I am determined to get the hang of it!  At my current rate of an hour a day, 5 days a week, it'll be about 40 years until I hit the magical 10000 hours of becoming pro.  So, be a nice 70th birthday present to myself ;)

The mini skeins are all dry and twisted now:


They're in my "hexipuff bin" of sock yarn oddments waiting to be knit up.  I've also got a box of polystyrene balls and a tube of baubles for crafty things to sell at Christmas.  It's all go with a nice rest every so often here!

Simon has set the new challenge for the Photographic as "harvest".  I may well enter a shot of the mini skeins artfully arranged, as they are a harvest in a way.  Will have to see.  Anyway, I have ideas to try.

TTFN.