What cills?

The builders have started.  I was beginning to feel more confident, that our dream for Shian and Duill was finally within our grasp.

Having the extension cills for the new windows on site would be a good thing.  Although I am assured there is a lot to be getting on with in the meantime. I guess there is.

Having dug out the founds for the Shian 'sitooterie', J moved onto Duill.

Too late to go back now.

I took the dog down to Calgary and came home with the Farmer who kindly did my turn on the school run.   It was stunning. And put the world to rights in my head.

These are some of our neighbours sheep.  Farmer has been steadily working away in the fank at dosing our own ewes before putting them back to the hill. Despite his bad back, he decided to do them on his own, at his own pace, and in his own time.   He should finish them tomorrow.

I won't say anything about the forecast for the northern lights last night.  I was so excited, it sounded as if it was going to be a show of a lifetime.  Thousands of tweets and posts on Facebook from people up and down the country fired up by Stargazey programmes on the telly.  All waiting.  I was waiting.  I was very disappointed. But I thank my lucky stars that I had the experiences I had in October last year.

Errands

The wind hasn't stopped, but it has dropped.  And the rain even stopped for a time yesterday and again today.

I took Coco for a dry walk down to Calgary yesterday afternoon, I don't tire of that walk, watching the waves roll into the shore and rise vertically into the cliffs.  There was some sunshine on Ensay Hill as I walked up to the main road.

This morning we had to deliver something to Torloisk, and Farmer suggested I went with him.  Our neighbour's cows were walking up towards the top of the hill.  Slowly and in their own time.  They are beautiful brown and red cows, cross Limousin/Shorthorn I think.

Last night it rained and rained, and there were deep puddles on the road, and a lot of water lying in the fields. 

The building materials have arrived for Shian and Duill, along with the replacement windows.  It is exciting! All we need now are the builders, the digger and the plumber!  The extensions will be done first, then replacing Shian windows.  Once they are done, we will be able to see if we have time to do Duill as well before its first booking of the season.  The wall insulation we are putting in will mean we need to re-plasterboard and paint each room, so we don't want to start something we cannot finish in time! Eco-insulating the external walls will also and more importantly mean the cottages will be more efficient to keep warm. 

Tonight there was a reasonable forecast for northern lights but unfortunately it has clouded over and started raining.  I am not sure how long I can wait up for while my warm comfy bed awaits...

A downsized upgrade AKA the temporary house move

Farmer and family are living it up in the Studio, enjoying bright sunshine in the sunroom (above), its lovely views, adjustable cosy central heating, comfortable beds and the unexpected feeling of 'being away' without leaving the farm. We have internet in the Studio but not a phone.

Having lived without central heating of any sorts for nearly a year, through no fault of our highly efficient wood chip boiler, it is total luxury to be warm at the touch of a button, rather than as a result of Farmer carrying basket loads of logs into the house constantly. Alot of time during the last couple of weeks has been spent packing our things and moving furniture so that the plumber and builder could move in...(well, I think that was why we did it). Weren't we supposed to be installing a new central heating system with thermostatically controlled radiators? And at the same time, eco-insulate roof spaces and cut down heat loss through blocking up drafts round windows, floors and doors? Only... yesterday morning, the expected start date (2 weeks after the first start date), no one turned up...a sinister stillness and lack of activity within the chilled house....And no one today either! Oh well...

The same cannot be said for feeding time. Everyone turns up here! The hoggs, led by the tame 'Zwarties', mob Farmer when he goes to feed them - almost tripping him up in their eagerness to get to the line of troughs.

And the tups wait their turn in the wind turbine field.

Radical steps taken last weekend, after months of research and deliberations, to do a bit of machinery upgrading. Sometimes it has to be done in order to pre-empt aged machinery and inevitable breakdowns. First to go was the old digger, which has helped with all sorts of jobs over the last 10 years. To my inexperienced eye it looked pretty knackered, but it may just be the rust on the cab and the fading paintwork. Photographs of our digger were sent off so Farmer and Dealer could agree its value before it left the farm. Satisfactory deals were eventually done and on Saturday a younger (and much smaller) digger appeared to replace the older one.

This is the old digger being loaded up onto the lorry.

And this is the newer one. Much smaller tracks, and not so many rusty bits.

It has already been put to use, by a neighbour who is helping us out when he can - putting a new layer of fine 'dust' on the farm track.

The schools issue rumbles on. We had a visit from the Education Spokesperson yesterday, who was on a fact finding mission. Looking at every school. I hope she enjoyed the time she spent - they arrived in time to join in on the school Burns Supper, another of those special 'school in its community' events when the school was packed with family and friends of the school enjoying a traditional Burns Supper cooked by the Boathouse girls from Ulva. The children entertained us confidently with Gaelic songs and Burns poetry as well as some poetry of their own. After her visit we were none the wiser as to what she thought about the school, and we have no more idea about our chances of survival.