Wood and Steel

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J > I’m replacing the fences (and gates) on the west side. The work starts with the gate into the Steading, then then a short length of fence. (These aren’t shown in these photos.) You’ll see here that I’ve installed one of the new square wooden posts for the gate into Carrick, and some of the wooden posts along the new alignment.  The last post (and two before it) have to be galvanized steel, because bedrock is very close to the surface.  The old fence was installed (not by me!) incorrectly – too far from the field access track.

 

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Indications

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Denise >

Here we have the classic first indications of spring, even in the midst of winter.

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Time’s Up?

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Over the course of nearly twenty years here, in Uist, we’ve been very fortunate to have forged for ourselves, from scratch, a way of living and working that has (mostly) suited us very well.  In doing so we’ve had to learn how to do a lot of things we’d never done before (some we’d always wanted to, but most we knew nothing about).  We’ve learned to be self-sufficient, to stand on our own two feet ; and we’ve also learned to truly appreciate and value the time and talents of our neighbours. We’ve become more confident in our own capabilities, but also more conscious of limitations – whether our own or those inherent to human life – to all life. There are only so many hours in the day, days in the year, years to a life ; and we have but one of those.

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Gooseberry Goodness Again

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J > This is in the ‘Dyeshed’ – which is also used for preparing garden produce for the kitchen or preserving it for the pantry (where we keep our winter stores).  Preserving includes a variety of methods : dehydrating/dessicating and salting ; jams and jellies ; chutneys and pickles ; and – as you can see here – wines.

In the white bucket we have a gallon of gooseberry juice, filtered off from the skin and the seeds, with just one kilo of sugar added dissolved into the juice, a teaspoon of yeast nutrient, and a sachet of Gervin GV9 yeast – perfect for the job, and here you can see it already beginning to froth up. (Carbon dioxide is a by-product of fermenting sugars.)

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Shadow of the Wall

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Here’s the front of the house at An Gàrradh Mòr, with the last light of a winter’s day casting the west wall of the garden onto the house in sillhouette. If you look carefully, you’ll see the big sitting room window (to the right of the bench) framed by the two piers (or pillasters?) on either side of the west gate. When you live and work in a place for many years, you get to observe little details like this.

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A Flurry of Posts?

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J > No, not a new collective noun for hyperactive blogging !  The sudden rush of posts in the past couple of days, some of them back-dated, is not due to a sudden burst of creativity or energy (or, at least, not entirely).  It’s just me finishing off a pile of part-complete posts stretching back to last autumn, when I was – to be frank – somewhat depressed by the loss of what psychiatrists term ‘agency’ – the perception that your affairs are under your own control. I know, we’re so fortunate here in Uist, as far as Covid-19 restrictions and safety are concerned, but …

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Stock Take of the Spuds

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J & D > This is one of our regular stock-takes of our winter store of spuds – with three varieties of main-crop potatoes. We do this every 3-4 weeks, normally. We take the opportunity to check the potatoes in every box for any rot or starting to sprout (both are high risk if the weather is mild and very wet – typical of south-westerly winds).  This time, there was not a single spud that had to be thrown out.  Typically, any problems are before Christmas : in the new year, it’s rare to lose any of our stores, and the spuds will probably last us until early summer.

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North meets Med

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Denise >

Bread – the staple of the northern European diet ; with olives – the qunitessence of the Mediterranean diet.

An Garradh Mor : Sour-dough bread with olives

An Garradh Mor : Sour-dough bread with olives

Nicely sums up our lives – J and I.

And very very yummy!

Brrr!

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J > It’s eight or nine years ago that Denise and I were struggling to find the money to pay for these top specification triple-glazed windows from Norway.  But thank heavens we did.  I think back winter nights as a child, scratching with my finger through the powdery frost on the inside of my bedroom window, so that the moon would cast patterns on the opposite wall.

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