Sunny days and dazzling nights

Yesterday was one heck of a day!  First Gromitty came down with Butch and after the dogs had a mad hour in the house while we chatted and I had breakfast we all went down to the beach.





Gromitty and I walked along, chatting and enjoying the view, while the dogs went wild!  Butch ran around like the crazy youngster that he is and after an initial running loony moment Pippa got down to some serious plodding, sniffing and marking.  She truly tried to claim the whole beach, the walk down to it and lovefibre's garden.  Where does she get all the pee?!

I had given Pippa her stronger painkiller before we left and forgotten that those plus age-induced doggy dementia means she sometimes forgets everything.  Halfway along the beach we decide to turn around, Pippa took another five minutes to notice and five more minutes to catch up.  I think that's going to have to be her last off-leash experience, too risky for an old dog who's shedding marbles to run off and then forget she has a human with her.

After our beach walk we went to see Alan (organiser of the tech wave) for a chat about a Tiree fablab and general natter.  The day was so lovely we all sat in their front garden and the dogs sniffed about and generally did doggy things while we chatted.  Eventually the breeze got through to Pippa's joints and we headed home.  The walk home was slow.  Poor Pippa, she loves to get out and about but her joints are really getting grumpy.  We took it at her pace and once home she spent the afternoon conked out in the sun recharging.

That evening was the An Iodhlann AGM, about an hour before I left I read a post on facebook that there was a pretty strong magnetic storm going on and it might be a good night to see the Northern Lights.

Got back from the AGM about 10:15, got camera and things ready, sat on the back step and watched the stars for half an hour.  Then I went around the front of the house and noticed the sky to the North was lighter than the South.  It got lighter, I spotted clouds as black outlines...

Out came the DSLR and I aimed and clicked.  I think I spent about an hour just watching and photographing.  My human eyes saw grey streaks moving and pulsing, the camera saw more.



















So much more!  It was all over by 11:25 and the ending was amazing.  Directly above the island all the "rays" met and pulsed and changed shape.  Amazing to watch.  So amazing that I forgot about the camera!  I did get one photo though,



I tried one minute exposures thinking the light was too dim for the camera to collect.  Beginner's error, the photos were washed out with overexposure instead.

To summarise Tuesday:
Up at 9:30am, busy day with loads of fresh air, in bed by midnight with loads having been seen and done.

TTFN

What is this?

There's a bright light in the sky and the concrete is dry...



The wind isn't blowing a gale and the house has been warm all day without the heating on.  Is this the apocalypse?  The generators at the power station are humming away, maybe the rest of the world has vanished?

Nope!  Spring is coming!


At Silly AM on Tuesday morning I was having a bout of insomnia brought on, as it turned out, by the electric causing the microwave to beep as it went on and off.  I started using my PC but then the power truly went off so I got the oil lamp, managed to put the chimney on without it exploding and knit by lamp light:





As long as you're not doing something overly complicated it's actually rather peaceful to knit by lamplight.  So peaceful I made a humongous mistake and had to pull back a few hundred stitches.  But Mum will be happy to know her jumper is now at the waves chart.  Sleeve stitches waiting for pick up after knitting the body.

Speaking of knitting, *mumble* years ago I took some yarn and a book from Sue with the intention of knitting the rather nice lace item in it.  It took me so long not because it was slow but because of the border.  The original has a nice frilly border to compliment the pattern in the body but it drove me batty!  I couldn't get the pattern into my head and kept making mistakes.  So I consulted the island expert in lace shawls and did a simple yet complimentary garter stitch edging.  Then I got distracted by some deadlines.  Last week I found it again and finished the knitting.  This week I soaked and blocked it:



It dried overnight and looks lovely:


Close up of the detail:


I am very happy with the end result and admit I'm also happy it's done.  One less item giving me guilty vibes for not finishing it.

I have had a physically exhausting day today.  Took full advantage of the wonderful weather and did the first line dry of the year.  Two loads of laundry washed and then dried in sun and breeze, lovely!  Even if I did have to wear boots to put it out and get it in because the back garden is water logged.

The trike got a good air drying too.  I found any new rust spots and treated them with rust cure in the morning and painted over them with car paint in the afternoon.  The patches may be black on the blue lacquer but they're weather-proof again.  Come Easter it's getting a good service; new chain, new rear tyre, new rear sprocket, more rust treatment and a darn good clean.  At either Easter or summer hols it's also getting it's first recoat of varnish.  The marine ply and varnish applied by the makers has done sterling work these past three years but it's starting to fail.  I shall order some new marine varnish (the good stuff) and give all the wood a clean, brief sand to key, and then a good varnish.  Hopefully that will see it right for another three years.

The trike's frame is under warranty for ten years.  I think at the rate the weather and air attack metal here we may be claiming on that.  If anyone ever manufactures something, be it material or item(s), that they claim is weather proof and corrosion proof and will last for years outdoors in all sorts of weathers, I think they should test on Tiree.  We have strong winds; salt air; sandy wind and rain; cold and hot in one day and rain that can find the tiniest of cracks.  Claim something can last five years in a climate like you might find on the Thames?  It should last two on Tiree.  The weather here makes light work of metal, rubber, silicone, paint, lacquer and more.  Could also be a nice earner for folk here; allow someone to attach a box to your house for a few years and in exchange for taking photos and checking every so often you get a rent and the manufacturer finds out quick if their kit can do what they claim.

So, yes, I have had a very busy day, in seven hours I sat down for a total of one and a half and the longest burst of that was a half hour knit.

I shall leave you with photos of a very, VERY happy dog:





I shared these with the RSPCA rescue shelter in Halifax where we got her years ago, they were very happy to see smiling dog and I like to let them know she's doing well.  She's now snoring in her bed, I expect doggy dream yips soon.  But, I have laundry to fold and put away.

TTFN and I hope the sun finds you soon if it hasn't already.

Photo spam

Know what happens when you go everywhere with your camera?  Sometimes you forget to take the photos off for a few weeks.

So what have I been up to?

Well, one morning I got the school bus to the pier for some (very) early morning fishing.  It took me to the end of pier road so I happily trotted down there and paid a visit to the war memorial.



It really was a fantastic morning:


Look at this water!


LOTI came in later that morning:


Kite surfers were enjoying the breeze:


I didn't catch a thing, but I did enjoy the views and had a nice chat with a seal.  When I got home I rinsed all my rods and tackle and put them out to dry.  This led to a strange little scene:


A little crop of spinners:


I didn't use all of these, but they'd all gotten a bit wet and best to wash off the saltwater to avoid rust.

Pippa was passed out on her bed when I got back


I tapped on the window a few times...




Daft dog!  She could NOT work out what was going on for a good couple of minutes.

That afternoon I stripped, sanded and painted the study window.  Here it is stripped and sanded, note that the wood has silvered due to being exposed for years.


Post paint:


That's both front windows done now and we've had some weather to test them too!  We had 77mph gusts last weekend and both windows kept the water out.

Last Saturday was the school gala day.  The sun was out and so were a fair chunk of Tiree's population.


Jo and I sold his homemade ice cream and sold over 65 cones worth!  There were only a few dropped scoops which Jo was happy to replace and we were both amused by children and adults wondering around licking their ice creams.

I've done a spot of spinning for a future museum display:






I'll document that better once I've taken some more snaps and done the final step (using the home-brewed lichen dyes!)

Tuesday I went fishing with our Minister and while we didn't catch anything we did have a great chat with each other and some folk waiting for the ferry.  The sunset that evening was amazing.


The tide was pretty high that evening and the Clansman is a bit taller than LOTI, this led to the long footramp looking rather steep:

Looked more like an escalator!

The sunset truly was stunning.




Amazing skies!


Yesterday evening I was out fishing again, what can I say, I love the calm and the cast.  Saw a flock (want to say shoal!) of eider ducks:




The darker ones are the females:


After three weeks of not catching a fish I caught easily twenty tiddlers!  Little pollack, little cod, little sea bass, possibly pilchard and something with a very dark green back.  I think the heaviest was maybe 6oz.  All survived and were thrown back.  There was a seal out herding them around the pier and I fully admit to throwing one catch straight to it.  It sounded a bit out of puff a few times!

In the knitting world I am working on a jumper for my Mum after a bit of a saga with getting the dye and a mystery Kaffe Fasset afghan that's proving...colourful.  I'm to knit 7 squares of each colour combination and the mystery will be how they go together.  This is clue 2:


VERY colouful.  Fortunately my recipient (who doesn't know they're getting it) is fond of colour so should like it :)

Next year I plan to knit every day's highest and lowest temperature into a blanket.  The original plan is two rows per day; one of the high and one of the low but I'm wondering about that and it may yet change.  The first pair of rows won't be until the 2nd January 2015 anyway.  It's an idea that's been around a while, mostly resulting in scarves.  I'm not a scarf wearer but I do enjoy a blanket to snuggle under.

My parents have bought me the wool to start it as a Christmas present.  In order to make sure I had it in plenty of time they sent me the money early.  Yesterday saw this huge packet arrive:


So many pretty colours:


After having a good squish and checking I like the colour range I have packed those up and put them aside ready for next year.  That's only the beginning!  While there is a very reasonable amount of wool there it won't last the year, but as I cannot predict next year's weather or temperatures I shall just be ordering more balls as an when needed.

Think that's it.

TTFN.

Sunny Weekend

At the time of writing this we are just 10 views short of 16,000 views!  Each time I update there's a surge of over 100.  Hello readers!

What's been happening?  Well, this weekend my parents came up for their annual visit and we were busy.

They arrived on the Saturday ferry and after lunch (with homemade herby rolls!) and a chat we decided to go to St. Patrick's Temple near Balephuil.  The weather was amazing so I gave the dog an extra painkiller and she came with us.





We parked by the water works and set out.  Upon getting within sight of the beach we saw a mad soul in the sea!  Alright, this is about the best time to be going in as it's had chance to warm, but when I paddled as the tide was coming in over the wet sand it was still Cold.



We trotted along the positively bustling beach and then round the coast to the temple.  The last little scrabble was not to Mum's liking and I struggled a bit, but I got up there and, it seems, failed to take any decent photos!  The only good one was this one of one of the rocks with a cross carved in each face.



After that we came back down the hill and I took some photos of this "mermaid".



It was actually a sheep skeleton but with the weed at the tail end, you could be forgiven for thinking mermaid first.



The skull was quite impressive.


We spotted a seal watching us from further out, s/he was quite keen to be photographed and I got the impression it was going "get my best side".




There were also giant gulls (Dad thought it was something bigger, he's not seen such HUGE gulls!) and some cormorants.





There was a shoal of fish in the bay and the birds went mad fishing for them:


It seems the golfball is undergoing some work, not sure what though.


Madam doglet was positively pooped out by the end of the walk and was actually quiet for most of the journey home.  She usually howls and wowls at the fact that she isn't moving (relative to the car) but she was just too tired.  Plus it was over an hour past doggy dinner time!


That evening we enjoyed a delicious meal out at Ceabhar and again passed our compliments to the chef!  We all slept well that night on happily filled tums and well exercised limbs.

Sunday dawned glorious again and my parents and I went to the ferry pier to fish.



Mum sat in a folding chair with a book and enjoyed the scenery while Dad and I got on with catching dinner.  Dad caught four mackerel and I caught one.  We decided it was down to the spinner, mine was bright yellow on one side while dad had one with a bit of blue which was apparently The Colour for mackerel.  On the way back we saw two big, dark fish but weren't sure what they were, possibly sea bass.

We saw loads of sprats around the pier and their movements gave us clue to the mackerel location.
 


On the way back across the pier a shoal of baby flatfish were disturbed:

 
While we were loading the car a cat came to see if we had anything for it:




The car journey home was a bit draughty as I hadn't brought the lid for the bucket and, well, fish...


Once home Dad showed me how to gut and behead the fish (outside!) and then they were washed in the sink and put in the fridge to wait for dinner time.  I did discover that feeding a dog the head and guts of fish is actually not such a good thing, the mess was not fun.  Next time I'll do it on the pier and chuck them out for the gulls and other fish.

Our swallow fledglings were all on the washing line when we got home.  Mum and dad were swooping in to feed them while they rocked and swayed on the thin line:











After a nice lunch and waiting on the washing machine we went to find the ringing stone.  Jo's parents had found it and I had the coordinates in my GPS, plus Jo had found a guide online.  The journey to the stone took 2 hours, the journey back took 45minutes.  That tells you how well the guide was written!  Don't trust something that uses drainage ditches as landmarks, crofters change these according to what works best and quite often use multiple ditches!

I did appreciate this well built stile, though:


It had "bricks" built up either side for those with shorter legs.  Mum was most grateful as the fence was rather tall.

We walked about 2miles with all our meandering but we did find it!








On the way from Vaul you pass this thing:


No idea what it is.  The inside is lined with fibreglass and the outside is some sort of hard foam, not rock as it looks.

The weather was gorgeous and we were glad we'd packed drinks.  It also meant that the boggy parts weren't too wet and the worst was when I sank to my ankles on the way back.  Pippa again came with us and was quite useful at finding the boggy bits that didn't look boggy.  She was a boggy doggy!


We'd parked in the wrong place to start with so the menfolk went ahead of us on the way back to get the car and rendezvous.  Little did we know though that the right place was just further up the road from where we'd parked.  Cue Mum and I standing at (fortunately) a friend's gate having a chat while the men drove around going "oops".  They did find us and Pippa wasn't nearly as worn out.  Two minutes into the drive home the wowling began.

Before we went on our hike, we did pop into An Talla to see the finished tapestry in all its glory!


Three years in the making, A Tiree Day is done.  The border has the gaelic "Tiree anthem" written as waves.  It looks amazing and will hopefully be going to the mainland for a bit to be part of a tapestry walk.

That evening it was barbeque time!  We set up down the side of the house and had an excellent meal.  The mackerel cooked brilliantly and were DELISH!  Meaty and satisfying.  We honestly may look into a smoker.  I'm on fishing duty this week, weather and mood withstanding.  Jo says to fill the bucket as we can freeze them.  I said I'll bring home what I can catch.


This morning we went to An Iodhlann for a good look round and for me to chat to our lovely archivist about digitising some VHS.  It wasn't strictly speaking, open but as I was a volunteer and could show them around it was allowed.  After that we came back to ours for some apple crumble and then my parents headed off to catch the ferry.  Right now they're on the motorway headed home.

I am chilling at home in the knowledge that all I have to do tomorrow is look after the dog's needs and change the bed.  Bliss!

TTFN.