Love Conquers All

G’morn, It’s beautiful too, with the air gently floating into the room, filling it with earth-sweet scents after the rain. No, I’m not waxing lyrical, just trying to describe a moment. Like one that touched me yesterday that I should not have been privy to, but through the movement of time and being somewhere, I was. It was of someone still in the depths of and coming to terms with grief. My heart reached out to such an extent that tears filled my eyes, as I know only too well what the person is going through, only far greater in its own way. I wanted so much to comfort them and say everything will ease soon – but it takes time and many a visit to Hades before the light shines through. But it will. I know, because it shines for me. I am blessed to have a husband with whom we share everything. The ups, downs, kicks in the teeth, sorrow, disappointment, hurt, being lied to, stolen from, betrayed and laughs. This is a time in our lives, especially Tom’s, when he should be out enjoying his pleasure of fishing quietly by one of his many favourite lochs. But what is he doing? Being a carer in the truest sense of the word, to me, as I become more unable to do things like I used to. I honestly couldn’t wish for more. While all this is bursting in my heart to shout to the world, here it is on virtual paper – I LOVE YOU TOM! I wish everyone could experience a joy that transcends the mundane, through thick and thin. There. I feel so much lighter having off-loaded that burden of thought. I’ll be taking a pause from chatting for a while to organise my room of creations – can only manage a little bit at a time – but will get there. Have a wonderful day J Susan x

Support needed

I know, it's a wee while since I scribbled, but been busy (ha! with my muscles?) organising (that means delegating lol) the new hobby craft room.  In the meantime ...

This is already on my Facebook page, but well worth adding here too. A petition is available to sign at

http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/comhairle-nan-eilean-siar-save-the-barra-benbecula-air-service

which I've already done. Feel free to pass the link on. We need all the support we can get. Thank you kindly.
As the days fly by, as opposed to Barra flights NOT, I get increasingly angrier over a ridiculous situation enforced on the Barra folk. I swear (yeah, I do too lol) that despite being disabled, with my last ounce of energy I will do everything I can to get those flights reinstated. Even if it means I can only lift a pebble to either fling at the council or, more constructively, help build a bridge at least from Eriskay to Barra. I keep getting memories of books read and stories told of the St Kilda folk and the heart wrenching departure they had to make from their beautiful island. It’s now a World Heritage Site. Well, the same is NOT going to happen to the Isle of Barra. Got it?! Good. My husband took film of a Benbecula-Barra flight and it’s worth watching its beauty and unique landing on the tidal renewed beach (twice a day) runway at Barra. Here’s the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1izxLA3Yoc&feature=youtu.be

Sit back and enjoy the journey, noting the little ferry seen en route (weather permitting) is the very one people will have to use to get to the nearest land on Eriskay with a causeway giving a long, but alternative chance of an arduous onward drive to Benbecula, or even further to Stornoway.  Failing that, if someone is in desperate need of hospital treatment and our oft inclement weather permits, there’s always the air ambulance. The Health Board will love footing that bill on a more frequent basis I’m sure, NOT. I wonder if there’s someone out there who could trump the council into shame even more – the operative word being trump. It would be a more entrepreneurial and philanthropic project than, say, a golf course. Just a thought ... now I need that kick start coffee. Enjoy the day all :) Susan

Cosy Up

The weather’s turned windy, cold, dull, with the occasional spot of rain.  So kick off your shoes, snuggle up in your favourite chair with a warming cuppa while enjoying the heat from the stove and watch the flames dance. Have a good and relaxing day everyone :) Susan

Heb Hop!

Who’d-a-thought it eh? hahahahaha My Emperor Hubby doing his stint of gardening lol  Have a good giggle and day, Susan :D

Own Up!

OK ... who did it?  Who snaffled the last page outa the book?  Yeah, there I was, amongst thousands of others, glued to Dragon’s progress, when the crucial last moment arrived and PINGGGGG! Off went the screen again in a LOS (Loss of Signal) from the ISS.  That’s where I ended up watching most of the berthing process occur, with SpaceX coverage alongside.  But to swipe the last few minutes or even seconds of Dragon’s docking would have miffed me bigtime, but for the fact live coverage at all is such a privilege.  Amazes me that rockets zoom into space and synchronise at high speeds with another array of spacecraft, the result of years of pre-programmed manoeuvres.  Simply fascinating and quite mind boggling.  I loved watching it all (except the LOSs) but eavesdropped on on-screen chatter via the various chat platforms, like Facebook; Twitter etc.  Some of the comments were hilarious and kept us all going.  I couldn’t participate, as ain’t a member of these forums.

After a solid 6 hrs of viewing, I zonked and this morning is pay-up time with every bit of my body grumbling. I guess it’ll be little bursts of exercise throughout the day, whether I like it or not. But sleep beckons.  At least the stove is lit, though am thinking of renaming it the furnace. I put one too many logs on it last night, for an all-night burn, before shutting it down for sleeps.  Hmmm – would have been OK if the wind hadn’t perked up a bit, so windows had to be re-opened in an attempt to cool the place down. However, when I wakened this morning, there were still fragments of embers and the whirry gizmo was still turning.

Didn’t switch the telly on at all yesterday and methinks it might be same again today as I’m becoming reacquainted with the gentle sound of the flames.  Awww they were beautiful last night – great, long, amber streaks of light.  It was very comforting - and amusing as the three of us, me, hubby and Aurora the cat, sat watching the display, speechlessly mesmerised.

This coffee needs to be stronger as it’s not waking me up like it should. Have a good day wherever you are :) Susan

Rocket fuel-strength coffee

Yaaaaawwwwwwwwn! Oh scoos me, that escaped.

Been on automatic pilot this morning – fed the cat, lit the stove, made a cuppa, booted the puter and am all systems go – chuckling. Takes at least an hour to get going, so just as well am up in the wee small hours yet again. Should be well and truly awake by the time the Dragon is grabbed by the ISS. YES! About 9pm GMT last night NASA gave the ‘set to GO’ and I’ve got SpaceX and NASA ready on the monitor.

NASA TV begins live coverage from 8.30am GMT http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

SpaceX from 11am GMT http://www.spacex.com/webcast/

Needless to say I’ll be glued to it, probably NASA coverage, as it shows Dragon’s run up to the grappling gizmo. The science, technology and wonder of it all, will never cease to amaze me.

In the meantime, I’ll be on the Shipping site, watching the floating world of fishing boats, ferries and tankers http://www.shipais.com/currentmap.php?refresh=2&count=10&map=Hebrides I monitored the fishing boat that gave me the giggles yesterday with its destination marked as ‘Prawns!’  Hope their catch was abundant. They deserve a well earned rest.  Jings, but they work long hours! I know the work is hard too and not for the weak-hearted. I am curious about the various boundary lines, some in the middle of nowhere that seem to be distinct traffic lanes.  Also, why some boats appear to go to a pale colour on screen – does that mean they’ve slowed down a bit? Some even vanish from the monitor! Lots to learn, but will have fun doing so. Nearly had kittens watching a monstrous oil tanker plough its way through The Minch – there were a few smaller vessels nearby, which in reality were likely miles apart, but on screen appear close enough for crews to hop aboard and have a cuppa tea and swap some good ole yarns.

Had to have the windows open nearly all of yesterday and well into nightfall, until a winged bug flew in. Hmph! It took a dive between me eyes and specs! Then flew around goodness knows where. I can’t help but wonder if it got macerated in the whirry thing above the stove. Yuck! Will have to get some sort of window screens for the warmer weather (we live in hope lol)  Aurora constantly jumps on the window sill inspecting the garden for predators (neighbouring cats) with her snout poked through the slightly open window. Ragdoll cats are not blessed with a sense of danger, so letting her out is a no-no, unless on a harness. Once she dragged me across the garden chasing a stray cat – she is big and powerful. I, on t’other hand am not strong and there’s not a lot of me, so I had an involuntary run around the garden while screaming for hubby’s help haha

 
Talking of gardens, there’s a plethora of little spikes appearing rather rapidly. They’re green and ... yep ... the grass has started growing, so mowing will be on the cards soon.  Time for more coffee methinks and an eye on what’s where on the ocean and up in space. Enjoy your day, Susan :)

Now that I remember

I forgot to say t’other day about an interesting site I found.  In truth, I didn’t find it, hubby did.  The sea haar was impeding the arrival/departure of any flights that day when I suddenly heard some sort of aircraft.  Hubby said it was a helicopter and sure enough it sat on the apron for a wee while before silence resumed.  I wondered where it went and what it was – to which hubby said, hold on, I’ll just check. ! He said it was a Coastguard helicopter that had likely come in to medivac someone out to Stornoway.  Blimey, I thought and asked how he knew all this, and he pointed me in the direction of a great website (if yer interested that sort of thing) about ships of all types sailing about in our waters.  I put a link to it in my LINKS list, but in case you missed it, here it is again.  http://www.shipais.com/currentmap.php?map=Hebrides

This morning while browsing through my usual haunts of weather, cardy stuff and now ships, I had a right good giggle.  There’s a boat (sorry guys if it’s a huge floaty thing) called ‘Nereus Ins172’.  On hovering over the small yellow boat shape, (or any of them) details appear about the name of the vessel, whether it’s moored, underway or fishing, speed, destination and other info.  Well, this one has a destination of ‘Prawns!’ hahahaha  Awww bless, I do hope they get a good catch.

In a previous life, I peeled the lil beggars while living in SW Scotland.  Here on the island, my dear bro used to pack them when they were’t able to go out fishing lobsters owing to weather conditions.  Having travelled all over the UK and abroad, my few months of prawn peeling did not escape entry onto my CV.  It became a great ice-breaker when attending interviews and I’m happy to say did not preclude me from getting the job I was after.  If they could have smelled me after a day’s work at the prawn factory, they might have reconsidered lol  8hrs working in ice-cold water eventually turned my slim fingers into plump sausage-like things.  I really believed typing was something of the past and never be able to do so again.  Ahhh not the case – things heal and I soon began working somewhere else, fingers having returned to normal.  I didn’t half learn a new vocabulary though and was initiated into the throng of workers by a tray full of waste from the peelings being flung over me.  I did the same back to the culprit haha  She didn’t try it again, but my make up was ruined for the day.  Yep, along with the 4 woolly sweaters, 3 pairs of trousers, as many socks as would fit in my wellies, I still put on me mascara and lippy.  Those were the days ...

 
Back to today.  The stove had exhausted itself completely, I managed to gut, polish and light it afresh.  A nice wood aroma is filling the air and I’m going to sit back, sip a cuppa and watch the ships pootle about on the map.  Then it’ll be time to watch the Dragon (yeah I watched the Falcon lift-off yesterday – awesome!) being grappled by the ISS (8am GMT on NASA TV) before docking proper.  Have a good day, Susan :)
p.s. Been watching the ‘Loch Portain’ ferry en route to from Berneray to Leverburgh.  Have travelled that route fairly often; it’s beautiful. One day I asked a crew member (turned out to be the Captain) why the boat made so many zig-zags (13 of them). I was promptly and matter of factly educated out of my ignorance by being told they were ‘Alterations of Course’.  He wasn’t smiling – but I was, and thanked him.  It’s a journey through very rocky waters, and somewhere I have a book that gives the names of most of the rocks.  Fascinating reading. :)

UPDATE!

Oh fiddle-de-de! Owing to the hiccups Dragon endured yesterday, the arrival at the ISS is not expected until Sunday :/ Dunno times yet, but the SpaceX site has an interesting widget showing where Dragon is flying above now. http://www.spacex.com/webcast/

In like a lamb

Well, there’s hardly enough of a puff of wind to move a floating feather.  March has most certainly come in like a lamb and as the old saying goes, out like a lion.  The latter remains to be experienced, though I hope it tip-toes out as quietly as it has arrived.  We’re in a mist again ... a real pea-souper, though I think that has changed to cloud according to one forecast.  Last night it lifted before sundown and even showed off bands of blue sky.  Although it didn’t rain, fence wires, washing lines and metal gates were laden with heavy raindrops caused by the dense, water-filled air.  The street lights aren’t on yet, so I’ve no idea what it’s like out there at the moment.

I crawled out of the goose-feather nest at ... 12.30am and am still wide awake at 5.05am.  Hmph!  I’d set the alarm to wake up at 4am to see the SpaceX CRS2 liftoff to the ISS.  Eejit ... I’d subtracted 5 hrs from the expected lift-off at 10.10 EST, instead of adding it on!  For anyone interested, live coverage will be shown on NASA TV from 1.30-4pm OUR time (GMT).  Here’s the link - http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

Look on the left hand side for NASA TV and click on it.  I do hope the weather over there remains favourable for the lift-off.  It was very interesting hearing the pre-flight briefing, during which the anomalies of weather conditions were explained.  I’m not too good at remembering it all to share it (heck, I can’t remember to add hours instead of subtracting ... duh!), so that’s all I’ll say on the matter.

And it’s Friday! (Just double-checked that it is haha)  Despite not having been able to work for years, the weekend feeling sticks with me from the many years I did work.  So, have a good one and don’t work too hard if you have to and relax if possible, Susan :)

Did you know ...

... that Haar, as in sea haar, is a Scottish word?  Hmmm, learn something every day.  We’re swathed in this sea haar today with 4 more days of the same forecast.  That means March will come in like a lamb and go out like a lion. Ewww.

Aurora has been really daring in coming into my room and waking me up! Then, when I do, she promptly goes to sleep on hubby’s chair and leaves me thinking I could have slept longer.  Brat, but cute.

 

Hubby’s had a, not altogether unexpected, back problem.  No doubt brought about by humfing another ton of logs that arrived last week.  I have recovered from trying to help with the first load, and learned not to do so much upping and downing attending to the stove.  Mind you, with these new logs, that’s not necessary, as they burn for several hours at a time, opposed to just the hour the other ones did.  Anyway, it left him in agony and he’s been spending a lot more time resting to aid recovery.  Me and my sense of humour suddenly remembered the fabulous 3 part shows of ‘Penguins – Spy in a Huddle’.  Did you see it?  It’s superb.  My favourites are the Emperor penguins and with that in mind I likened our strained walking styles to the adorable Emperor penguins ... and waddled around appropriately.  Well, it gave us a laugh, but hubby was in such pain, laughing was uncomfortable, though he heartily did so. I couldn’t get him to synchronise with me.  I could never be a nurse.

Then a little while ago he said that a cat was sitting on our car!  Armed with camera, I managed to catch a pic as it was just about to leap off.  The engine was obviously still warm as hubby had been out to get medication.  Nothing is sacred to a cat, is it?  I love them, but they are not as obedient as woofits.

Oooo the sea haar has thickened quite a bit, can hardly see houses down the road, so I’m off to gaze at the silent wonder of it.  The only things flying are birds and winged bugs.  I guess we won’t be getting any flights today.  Luckly the mail plane got in yesterday and brought my goodies at record speed from ‘Linda Ravenscroft’ http://www.lindaravenscroft.com/index.php .  Ohhhh they are lovely – I got a beautiful scarf and another perfume oil, to add to my increasing collection.  The fragrance is exquisitely haunting and we had a lot of fun trying to guess what is in it.  I need to order more, as that is one I cannot be without.  Have a good day, Susan :)

Ever been seasick?

I was up in the wee small hours again, stepped out in me goony, armed with camera on the night setting to grab a pic of the full moon. Pleased to say I got a great one. But it puzzles me how my feeble eyesight can see the man on the moon, but my camera can’t. I will give it a try with t’other camera tomorrow – if the mist hasn’t arrived – as that one has 30x zoom.

Being a good sailor, I’ve never had that problem – but am feeling rainbow sick from the sitting room being awash with a myriad of little rainbows dancing around from the (mainly) Swarovski crystals.  The sun is blazing, we’ve got a washing out on the lines, having a right old jig in the breeze.  It won’t take long for it to dry today.  Tomorrow’s supposed to be misty, so we must strike while the iron’s hot.  Took a couple of films of the dizzybows owing to camera still being on the night setting, and upon realising, changed it to auto – hence two films, so feel free to spot the difference.

 

 

Aurora has had a crazy morning trying to catch rainbows.  It was hilarious, as she got in a tid and ran into the hallway in a huff and meowed at the wall – doing her ‘Shirley Valentine’ impression haha

 

Right now the outside temp is 8c, inside 31c, solar reading of 339 watts per square meter and UV at 1.1.  I should sit out in the front garden and absorb some Vitamin D, but I’m too lazy.

 
About to close the blinds and curtains as the heat is getting too much in here, then likely make a cuppa and large chunk of chocolate cake, or toddle off to the goose-feather nest for a snoozy.  Have a grand day, Susan :)

Bits n Bobs

Hello,
I’ve had a bit of a mixy-moxy weekend. Muscle power is recovering well after my (for me) epic exertions with the new stove.  What once used to be normal activities is now a procedure for consideration on whether or not is accomplishable. I really don’t want to be sitting like a stooge while recovering from stoking the fire, sweeping and washing the hearth, then feeding logs on an, initially, frequent basis.  The new ton of wood briquettes arrived on Friday and the ash pan was emptied only yesterday! They truly are far less work and cleaner for the stove window – she says, looking at the quietly dancing flames through the crystal clear window.  My own opinion on the straw logs is that they’d be great for a pot-belly stove without a window.

During the course of Friday I was privileged to watch many species of birds take a bath.  The blackbirds think the little pool is exclusive to them, but, the sparrows soon assembled, watching their antics and splashes from the bird table.  Starlings then zoomed in and the blackbirds gave up trying to hog the bird bath.  I didn’t dare move to grab the camera but was thoroughly entertained for about an hour of the birds circling the bird bath brim, sipping water, or diving in for a thorough bathe. Ahhh it was delightful to watch.

Yesterday I glanced out to the bird table to see ... a cute little wannabe bird, sitting on the feed tray section tucked snugly under the roof.  It was the cute little black cat that has recently been frequenting the garden and pestering the birds ... grrrrr.  Aurora and I tried our best to scare her away, but she decided to come closer to the window and say hello!  She is cute, but I wish she’d leave my (ha!) birds alone.  I got some pics, and a tiny video of her – excuse the wobbling about on the latter – was trying to keep reflections of me out of it and the blazing sun in clear skies was really blinding.  Aurora came through and shortly after her appearance the little black cat skipped off the bird table.

 

 

 

A new slant on the spider inviting the fly into its parlour haha

 

Then I got bit in the butt with a memory of my dear brother, remembering how hard his hands were from the rough work of all connected with lobster fishing.  Next thing I knew I was in tears thinking that he won’t have the discomfort and sometimes pain he endured as ... there won’t be anything left – it being nearly 10 years since his passing.  Sighs.  Hubby comforted me and made the most delicious meal.  By then I was ready for the goose-feather nest, reminding myself, think of 123 ... think forward.  Slowly I regained my composure but was slightly nonplussed at the little outburst.  S’been a while since I had one of those. C’est la vie, it’s another day and I might, repeat MIGHT, get some more organising of my new craft room.  That task has been mainly hindered by lack of energy and other pesky health issues.  So today will be slow-motion work, as in, a little bit at a time.  It’s rather daunting the amount that still has to be done, but if I remember that only one potato at a time can be peeled, I’ll eventually get there.  I do so miss pottering away with my paints, card, buttons, bows and sparkly embellishments etc.

I’ve just been standing at the front door filming the moon.  It’s a slither off being full, but the quiet with only the sound of the ocean (and me yapping sometimes) was hard to resist.  Forgive the wobbles on my movies – I will get a tall tripod one of these fine days and make steadier videos to share.

 

 

Oooo I’d put the stove to sleep, but it’s time to give it a boost – though the room temp is now 25c.  Have a good day everyone, Susan :)

 

p.s. The cloud is rolling in, here's a couple of moonset shots. Sunrise in about an hour!

 

 

 

Sunblushes

 

Cold and Frosty Morn

 

 Went out again to catch the sunrise, completely forgetting it would be in a different location to a May sunrise. Duhhhh!

Anyway, I began to freeze in the chill wind as it had begun to make its presence felt.  As for the video, I haven't a clue how to erase the 'beam-me-up Scotty' effect that progressively and annoyingly appeared as the sun climbed. Hey ho, it was pretty though, especially with the bird song accompaniment. :)

 

 

COSY TOES

Having crawled out of my goose-feather nest at the insane hour of 2am, I was pleasantly greeted by a cosy sitting room – it was 24c.  I decided to resurrect the fire in the new stove with the new logs as waiting for hubby to wake, or burning the halogen fire was really not on.

 

Although we started off using straw logs, we thought we’d give the wood briquettes a go.  My goodness, what a difference!  Last night (they arrived in the afternoon) the room temp reached the giddy heights of 27c at which point I felt it was like a sauna, despite the window being open.  Sitting in the empty bath suddenly became a very distinct option.  The advantage with these new logs is that the window on the stove remains clear, so dancing flames are always visible.  They also burn down to a virtual dust, and it looks like the tiny ash pan will not need emptying for a couple of days, opposed to the straw log burn which required at least two emptyings of the ash pan every day.  There’s practically no dust with the new logs – delightful!  The wood logs are made from birch, ash and larch trees, with a dreamy aroma percolating out into the local vicinity.  Really lovely.  Mustn’t forget the savings we’ve made on leccy – at least £20 a week so far!  Have a great day, Susan :)
p.s. The gizmo on top of the stove begins to whir into action as the heat increases, dispersing the warmth throughout the room.

Cooking up a storm

Finally, hubby managed to get all the bits n bobs required to fit the new wood-burning, multifuel stove.  It’s great! Got the window air slots open and the room temperature has still managed to reach a sweltering 25c!  It’s a different kind of heat than that from a leccy guzzling storage heater or other electric fire.  This stove has a kind of surround-a-heat throughout the house. No more huddling up trying to catch some warmth from other forms of heating.  We’re burning straw logs, which fling out a tremendous amount of heat and a sweet scent of cattle feed.  It’s really nice.  We’ve learned that they break (if you want) fairly easily by hand ... extremely useful as they swell up once in the stove itself.  We still have a lot of cosmetic tidying up to do – like the remnants of special cement (the black bits on the marble fire place) and finishing off round the hole the stove nestles near.  There’s less dust with this stove than a storage heater.  Wish we’d got one of them years ago.

No ... we don’t cook on top of the stove – it’s tiny, but could probably boil a good pot of coffee if I can ever lay my hands on a stove top percolator.  We are, however, getting a storm. Yeah ... another one or three.  I just checked the shipping forecast again and notice the Sea State is going to reach Phenomenal!!! Wild as our weather is at times, ‘phenomenal’ sea states are not seen too often from the Met Office.  It means the waves will be anything over 50 feet!  Goodness knows what they’ll be over at St Kilda, or what will end up landing on our shores.  It’s mind-boggling, frightening and exciting all at the same time.  I never cease to tire of our crazy weather.  I will not be going out the door tomorrow and am pretty sure the ash from the stove won’t make it to the bucket, but rather whoosh up the chimney when the Violent Storm 11 hits.  It’s good for the ground anyway, so am not worried.

 

 

 

Am off to spend the rest of the day feeding the stove when it’s hungry and enjoying being roasty toasty :) Have a good day everyone, Susan ...

P.S. Caught Ms Aurora snoozing as usual on hubby's chair, with one paw in the air hahaha I could just hear her saying 'Hey, it's like an oven in 'ere, and while you can kick off your slippers n pad about in yer bare feet, I gotta keep these fluffy paws on'. She has since leapt over to the window, which I had to open as it is rather warm in the sitting room, and is enjoying the gentle (at the moment) breeze filtering in. This pic makes me laugh lol

 

Howzabout a Jig?

Naaa, not a dance. It’s looking like the weather is going to remain too windy for us to retrieve the logs indoors.  However, as we both seem to have colds, it’s a day for plenty jiggin’ doodle (chicken noodle) soup – a great cure-all, easy to sup and extremely tasty.  Hubby had a lemgulp (he never sips it) last night and doesn’t sound too grand this morning.  I’m a ‘golden girl’, hubby a ‘diamond boy’, so methinks the strenuous work in the wind yesterday took it out of us.

Waiting for daylight is like waiting for a kettle to boil ... sighs.  The street lights are on now, but it’s still pitch black out there, though I can hear the sea roaring.  Wonder what the waves are like and if the windows are clear enough to take photos through, instead of going outside. More likely they are sprinkled with salt, again. Sniff, sniff ... atchoooo! Oh excuse me. Fairly getting through the tissues this morning.  Just thinking ... we’ll have to go outside to see if there’s been any damage and how much refuse has made its way into our garden. It can stay there until the next storm whisks it away – the Council don’t seem to care about clearing it up.  IF we do go out, I’ll take a photo of the mess. Might take a scoot down to Stinky Bay too, where I filmed a video yesterday. I bet there’s quite a lot of tangle, seaweed and rocks or boulders on the road down to the jetty.

 
Just another hour or less to wait and see what’s what outdoors.  In the meantime ... another hot coffee :) Susan

Not gone, but easing

Staying awake last night to watch weather data coming in became an impossibility, so there was nothing for it but to toddle off to the goosefeather nest, though the airing cupboard would have been more soundproof. I lay there listening to Chopin doing a tune up on the roof tiles.  It remains to be seen at dawn if we lost any tiles.

Woke up to find Berneray is back on ‘Rapid Fire’ – that’s what various programs call the ability to give near instant weather conditions.  It’s nice to see Berneray is back.  We can have windy competitions lol

For us living on the edge of the Atlantic, it’s a luxury to sit indoors and see the figures rolling in, although I was able to guess each gust speed nearly correctly. Being brought up in a family that had two fishermen taught me well on how to ‘read’ the weather by looking at clouds, seeing what way the long grasses were blowing and the inevitable wetted finger held out in the breeze :) along with a look at tides and wave activity. Mustn’t forget the Shipping Forecast (and that beautiful haunting introductory music – Sailing By) on the radio in them days way back then.

I doubt if we’ll manage to retrieve our logs indoors until this afternoon, as the wind is still in ‘blow me away’ mode. In fact, it remains to be seen if they’re still out there! As they’re straw logs, I’m sure anyone finding one will think there’s a strange creature roaming these islands, depositing strange and very large ... ehhh ... capsules haha Oooo I could start a rumour lol

Have turned down the volume on the telly now that it’s not fighting to be heard above the storm - back to normal – bliss. I hope everyone and all the livestock faired well and remained safe in the storm. Have a good day :) Susan

Windeeeeee!

Am sitting here in all my clothes, plus the fleecy liner from my beloved Barbour jacket and ... a huge warm blanket. I wouldn’t look out of place in a wigwam lol  Despite the heater being on, and no draughty window at last, the cold is still felt. Perhaps it’s psychological as we’ve moved the huge faux polar bear rug in readiness for the woodburning stove to be finished and the workmen to return and remove these bliddy storage heaters. The one in the sitting room was seriously scorched, turning the place into a sauna, ignoring any attempt to turn the heat down. We had to switch them off at the mains.

Anyway, luckily, scooted out this morning to film fab waves. The first video is long, but sitting in the car, was shielded from the wind and rain. The second one was something else as I had to get out of the car – the road down to the pier was covered in tangle and small rocks. Took my gloves off and inadvertently the camera off my wrist! It landed with a thud on the concrete. I felt sick, but carried on catching a video. It worked fine! Whew. They can be seen on My Videos link.

Then today, of all days, the logs arrived for the stove. We donned our warmest coats and started the merry (not) task of lifting in the ton of logs. Early on, I bumped my shin on a metal bucket and promptly turned the air blue haha  I think my leg has turned blue too.

We had to stop that wonderful task as the wind was trying to whisk me away – only the clothes pole kept me on land. I’m so glad no one filmed it lol  Rendered useless with my lack of muscles, hubby sent me indoors, where I sat like a zombie thawing out and aching from the pathetic little work I did. It’s had to be tied up and secured until the weather calms down – which doesn’t look like any time soon.  There’s just been a 66mph gust and we aren’t even in the worst of it yet – that is forecast as going to be a Violent Storm 11, but I reckon it’ll go way beyond that.  Must remember to fill the flasks – just in case we get a power cut.

Am beginning to warm up again, having been snug as a bug in my goosefeather nest for a snoozy earlier. The noise of the wind in the chimney is loud, so if I put the telly on, the volume will be turned way up just to hear it above the wind.

The one thing that I’ve never really seen here before was the plethora of trash from the wheelie bins. It’s everywhere!  And what’s the betting the council won’t bother to pick it up! Some bins have gone for a run round the island as well.  Oh bring back the safer, sensible old ways we used to do it and have the bin men come in to the gardens to collect the bins instead of them being left outside on the open pavements, at the mercy of our wild weather.  I best off and get the flasks prepared. Have a good and safe evening everyone :) Susan

P.S. Eeeeeks! And a power cut to boot!

P.P.S. Mega eeeeks - am heading for the airing cupboard methinks :|
 

Tennis

Whew! Bravely watched the tennis final from Australia with Murray and Djokovic.  Am so disappointed for Andy as he played with all his might, despite injuries hampering him.  I screamed at the telly hearing one of the men in the talk box say that Djokovic was the better man, so won.  Hmph! I beg to differ.  He won against an injured player and that’s that, though I concede his playing was awesome too.  I do hope Andy’s foot heals soon as those blisters looked horrendous. Pulling a hamstring couldn’t have helped either, but he gave the game fantastic effort despite being hindered by these impediments. Andy should come to our island and do a bit of dune running in his bare feet.  That will harden up the soles of his feet and then he can sock it to the next player (grins).  Well done Andy! Off now to watch the weather as there’s a storm brewing and will give us a good rattle later on today. Have a good day y’all, Susan :)

FUN

Well, we are having a great time navigating our way through installing the new wood burning stove.  Note, I said we.  Ha!  I do the delegating bit and with any luck will receive my apprenticeship diploma in the not too distant ... lol

The chimney cleaner (a neighbour) came round and did a grand job clearing the tiny bit of soot that was still lurking in the chimney.  That has to be done before we install the Hebridean Hoola-hoop ( see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn9iEDGSr-Y ). The register thing arrived and needed cutting to the right size.  So hubby nipped down to the hardware store, returned and created zillions of sparks cutting the register to the right size.  Then it wouldn’t fit!  Air turned blue ... so I suggested folding it slightly.  Hmmm, works with card, but not with metal.  It held the curved shape.  So out to the shed again and more sparks to half the register to make it fit.  Ah ha – success!  Then the air turned blue again as the curvy bit that fits to the straight bit of tubing that fits through the register and into the flexi-chimney is the wrong shape.  Back to ordering something suitable that will hopefully arrive tomorrow.

In the meantime, we are awaiting the imminent arrival of the straw logs.  But the weather for ferries is slowing everything down.  However, the jet stream has taken a wander further north (gulp) so travel may be less disrupted, though there is plenty snow on the mainland of Bonnie Scotland.

Add to all this the fact that the one storage heater we leave on suddenly decided to overheat.  It’s been like a sauna in here for days.  So I called the housing people and they sent someone out to look at the offending heater.  Honestly, we could have cooked dinner on top of it!  The room temp hasn’t dropped below 23c today, despite windows being opened.  It transpires that the storage heater has had a mishap, ignoring the thermostat and the bricks inside are cracking.  Sitting a few inches from it, I can tell you it isn’t fun.  We had to switch the storage heaters off at the mains to make them safe.  It will be Monday, probably, before the offending article loses its heat and can be moved out of the house – along with all its electricity munching siblings.

After a snooze, I woke to find Miss Aurora asleep on HER chair.  Actually, it’s Tom’s chair, but he is relegated to the stool when she is occupying his chair.  She was snoring and it didn’t half make me giggle.  Out with the camera and took a video of her.  You can see it if you like at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5esRBQyUcAU

While hubby was preparing dinner – I know, I’m very lucky – someone turned up at the door.  I thought the logs had finally arrived.  Nope – it was the Avon lady lol  We had a chat n chuckle and I took the bag of goodies through to explore.  Two of the scooshy things didn’t work – the contents that should have been oily had emulsified.  Boy was I disappointed.  All was not lost.  I kept shaking the bottles, then hubby suggested putting them in a shallow bowl of warm water.  Yay!  It worked.  So I called the Avon lady and told her what had happened and how to fix it if anyone else comes across the same problem.

There.  That’s quite enough for one day methinks.  Have been filling shelves in my new craftroom, but it’s a slow process with all the other work going on.  S’great to see my crafty treasures again though :) Happy (Rabbie) Burns' Night and crafting everyone, Susan :)