A great week of weather.

From the photographs in this post you might think that we had a great week of weather last week. And we did.  But not a week of great weather.    

It has been a May when you need to snatch the sunshine moments as they happen, because there could be a shower around the corner or behind that hill.

The wild flowers are beginning to appear now, in variety if not number, yet.

The lambs are growing well and Farmer is beginning to plan bringing the in-by sheep in next week so that he can mark the lambs.

There have been lovely moments, most days.

The ash tree is flowering in the veg garden.

The nights are beginning to be too short for Aurora watching. This is my last one of the season. (Roll on August/September!)

Walter, right hand dog, has had a bit of a hair cut.

This is one of the last calves to be born.

I had a day out on Friday, over to the mainland for an AGM.  Came home in pouring rain...

But then the sun came out just before it set.

Next day was wonderful. Sunny and windy, great for air drying the laundry.

And spotting a huge number of early purple orchids.

So many dog violets in the Haunn field, the Coronation Meadow, near the gate to the hill.

Lifeboat Day, and back to work on Monday.

Sunday was Lifeboat Day in Tobermory and we had to drop a friend of Daughter off to take part, so were there from beginning to end.

We had coffee at CafeFish as they were opening up before Lifeboat Day started. The smells coming from the kitchen were amazing, and the view from each window was delightful.

One of the raft race entries.  This one from the Council. At the other end, a sign said No Dumping.

Along the seafront a robin sings its heart out on Loch Duich.

I took a very short trip with Sealife Surveys across to Calve Island, to look at seals and on the way back we came past this waterfall and the little painted boats.

The fire brigade team won the adult race.  They then dowsed everyone else.

It was a great occasion, and hopefully raised much money for the RNLI!

Back to work today, and Farmer tackled the ragwort in the Graveyard field.  Our main silage field this year is the one directly below the house.  He wants to cut the graveyard field as well and cannot afford to leave ragwort standing, as it is poisonous in the silage. As the bracken mower is broken he has been pulling ragwort by hand to stop it going to seed. The graveyard (Kilmaluaig) is barely visible under the Rosebay willowherb and bracken.

Nice to see lots of Marsh Woundwort growing in the field.

Not the best activity for a Farmer with a bad back.

But satisfying.

The dogs enjoyed their afternoon, though Cap (left) doesn't venture far from the buggy given half the chance.

Farmer picked up a bag of sea plastic that we had collected earlier to put in the recycling.

New arrivals and projects

Spring in northern England a little more lush than western Mull.

Daughter went on a school trip to Hexham last week and we took the opportunity to deliver the Zwartble fleeces to a mill at Coldstream, en route to collect her. It was fascinating getting a look at how fleece is transformed into yarn, on a small scale. A husband and wife team working from 2 small industrial units near the English border. They will let us know next week what it will cost to do a couple of different options, and we can then decide what exactly we want to do. It is a bit like the chicken and the egg. Difficult to say until the work has been done exactly how much yarn can be produced from the bundles of fleece, and then difficult to price what a throw or a blanket would cost. Hopefully in a week or so we will know what we are doing. The millers were very helpful and explained the whole process very thoroughly.

But of course, I have forgotten what all these different machines do. Most of the wool they process usually is from Alpacas which is very very soft.

Our trip into England was brief. We spent a night at Battlesteads Hotel, another GTBS Goldstar 2011 winner, at Wark, near Hexham. A drive in the falling light over the moor, bleak and wild, to get there. And the novelty of waking up in an English village - pigeons and sparrows. All green and leafy - and lots of bunting! (This was a bit of a surprise as the Jubilee had not really reached our part of Mull and we have been so heads down in Treshnish life, the preparations had passed us by somewhat.)

Early start so we didn't have much time to enjoy what Battlesteads had to offer, but it was good to stay somewhere with a good environmental ethos. We picked up Daughter at 8am and drove to visit cousins for a late breakfast. Got lost a few times on the way. Took a walk to stretch the legs through very different scenery to our usual. It was lovely to see all the blossom and the grass so advanced compared to home.

Huge lambs compared to ours - born earlier in the year than ours.

Someone with an interest in rare breeds, keeping Soays. When I was about 14 my mother bought some Soays from a farm in Fife. She misguidedly decided that we would collect them in the car. A carpeted Citroen. I can well remember the smell and driving through Dundee with the windows down to get some fresh air. The Soays were really good at getting out of fields my father wanted to keep them in. I remember also they liked to eat cake. The interior of the car never recovered.

One of the lanes we walked. Lovely to see the cow parsley which wasn't out when we left Treshnish, but was when we got back - flowering in our garden.

Alston. Where better for an ice cream stop.

The Crown at Alston Town Hall. It has a pretty cobbled in places town centre, with an Award winning pie shop.

After a brief stop in Alston, we headed across to Gilston and stayed at Willowford Farm, which was right on Hadrian's Wall. Neither Farmer nor myself had ever seen the wall before, but we had a lovely stroll along this bit, in the field next to our B&B. (GTBS Gold Award and well worth a stay). We had simple but stylish rooms in a converted Byre, with welcoming homemade shortbread and even homemade (on the farm) natural soaps in the bathroom. We had supper here and enjoyed organic lamb from the farm, and it was delicious! It was a really good example of how you can get it right - comfortable welcoming accommodation with a low carbon footprint, and a genuineness that you don't come across that often. It was lovely and quiet, and very restful.

Thence to Dumfries and Galloway for a bit of Spring Fling. We went to a concert - One Day in June - at Dalswinton Church. We visited Trevor Leat's studio, Anthea Sommers's studio, and this which was the star of the show for me. When I first saw it my feeling was of slight disappointment, that it would have been great to have happened upon it, without knowing it was there. But it was great anyway, and looked fantastic.

As many of you will know we lost Tig two months ago, and Farmer was adamant that we shouldn't get another dog for a good while, especially as we have Cap and Jan. But it became more and more obvious that whilst they are both lovely dogs with friendly kind natures, they are Farmer's dogs, and they have questionable domestic habits. So the arrival of Coco, a small labradoodle, is nothing to do with Farmer, and he is going to have nothing to do with her. (So that is why I couldn't resist posting this photograph of Farmer on the ferry yesterday with Coco on his knee, all tucked up in her dog bed with her special red blanket). We collected her on Monday, and she is running the household already.

And bang on the Jubilee - a Treshnish golden sunset. As I type Farmer is hard at sheep work and I will let you know what has been happening in our real world (here on the farm) soon.

Celebrating the spring

It is difficult to be indoors when the weather is this good. So please excuse the light on words blog this week!

On the farm, Jamie has been helping with the field work, and cleaning out the cattle shed. This saves Farmer's back, which does not like the tractor at all. Next week, the in-bye ewes and lambs will come in for marking. Planning dates for shearing hoggs and eild ewes. (those who did not have lambs). We expect the eild numbers to be higher this year, as although the ewes were in good condition in January, the winter has been hard on them.

Leaves are just beginning to show on the sycamores round the farmhouse. Sometimes at this time of year we can have strong winds, but the forecast for the next week or so is pretty good and calm, and so we are hoping the blossom on the apple trees is safe.

Burns are running dry.

Wild flowers are moving from 'spring' into summer, with bog cotton, common orchid, early purple orchid, birds foot trefoil, milkwort, lousewort, butterwort, flag iris and water avens. We are still enjoying huge clumps of king cup though!

In the garden the comfrey is attracting lots of bees.

On a walk to the Sitheans the other night, we disturbed a snipe - and found this where it had lifted up from. Don't know if this was plundered or whether the young had fledged. (hopefully the latter). I have been hearing lots of snipe drumming near our house.

Bluebells still strong.

Silvery sun.

A broody hen in my flowerpot.

We found the remains of a curlew on the hill. Feathers everywhere. I know it is Nature doing its thing, but it had been attacked by something bigger than itself and it was sad to think we had lost one of 'our' curlews. I so love seeing them and hearing them. I was surprised by the length of its beak.

Time to get the rotovator out.

Farmer and I took off to Lochaline yesterday to meet some friends for a delicious lunch at the Whitehouse. Sensibly they have a special 2 course lunch deal! Prince Edward was also visiting Lochaline and this was his reception committee.

Away with the camo look, and welcome to the beacon look. A replacement 'buggy'. Will be easier to spot Farmer now!

The cockerel.

Lots of water avens at the side of the burn by the house.

I can hear Farmer calling the cows. Someone had left a gate open so they were in the Haunn cottages gardens this morning.

And these 3 are getting more difficult for one person to feed on their own. Need 3 hands.

Speedwell.

Common orchid.

The Park dyke.