I seem to have started a lot of our blogs with references to rain but really I can’t believe how much water has fallen on Kintyre this winter, especially since the south of England is now officially in drought. At least Ba’Bag and his Dad haven’t re-appeared but really, I’ve never seen the pond so full! This might explain why we are visited most mornings by Hanibal the Heron and his missus. Not sure what they are up to but it makes for an interesting breakfast watching H. searching for prey. A bit prehistoric but different.
As threatened we did try our feet at Scottish Dancing but without labouring the point, both Suse and I decided that it wasn’t for us. The Tarbert class was very friendly but way too complicated. The beginners’ class in Ardrishaig was fine but thereafter was a bit of an ordeal. I think we were unlucky with our timing ( there was a fairly serious event that both classes were practicing for ) and a misunderstanding on our part about what we were looking for. I think we were looking for ceilidh classes which may be a bit “down market” especially for the Ardrishaig people. Still it was interesting to discover just how unco-ordinated I am!
We decided to eat out on Valentine’s Night and were so pleased to meet up with David and Julia Griffiths in Scott’s Bistro in Tarbert. Although they bought our old campervan last year, we hadn’t appreciated that Julia was such a talented artist and when we saw some of her work in Scott’s, we both knew that we’d have to investigate further. We visited her studio in Clachan and both agreed that one of her pieces – a view of Kintyre, would sit nicely with our Auntie Betty embroidery collection and we’ve admired it ever since. I suspect we’ll be back to see Julia in the summer because we both like her work so much.
Although we’ve done bits and pieces around the garden, most of this month seems to have been taken up with trips to Faskally for some orienteering and then to Balmaha to do the Conic Hill Race with Emily and Jonesy. The latter was a bit of a shock to the system but at least we caught a good enough day and it was good to spend the rest of the weekend helping Emily and Richard with their underfloor heating in Stonehouse. We’ve even managed a kayaking trip with Ali and it was good to get back on the water even if we only went to Barmore Island ( just along Loch Fyne from Tarbert)
Thursday nights, as well as being practice for the Fynesiders, are when Tim and I (Tim’s also a Fynesider) try our hands at guitar and a few harmonies per Lennon and McCartney (in your dreams I hear you say) but it’s good fun and who knows?……..
We finally took the plunge and commissioned a pv instalation using a firm from Livingston which our friends Val and Ted Finch had found acceptable. Kintyre was a bit of a stretch for them but they got things installed and operational before the next Government cut off date so we’ll just have to wait and see how the legal challenges to the tarrif changes work out but Suse is happy that her “trivial” pension (the government’s words not mine) is being put to good use. Just to demonstrate how small the world is becoming, one of the installers recognised a photo of John Hargreaves and it turned out that he was a close friend of John’s brother Lee. I think that the six degrees of separation that people talk about is probably reducing to five or fewer, especially with the advent of Facebook and Twitter. Talking of the latter, Suse tells me she has become part of the Twitter Community but ever since I heard that Steven Fry was or at least used to be part of the fraternity I’ve avoided it like the plague.
The Ruby Wedding plans are dribbling along nicely and after Easter we’ll post some more information. Cheers for now and here’s to the clocks going forward.
A