Looking back over the last month has definitely brought it home to me that the pace of life up here is definitely slowing down. I think it’s to do with the clocks going back and the much shorter days. There again, we’re not getting any younger! How’s that for a nice cheery opening? Am off to singing practice where I’m the third youngest.
Whenever the weather has allowed it, putting up additional fencing along the woodland edge has been a priority. So far, neither sheep nor deer have we seen. The deer are probably lurking on the A 83 waiting to ambush a log lorry. We have, however, wondered what has happened to Dolly who in fact, turned out to be a Donny (this could explain his lack of mates). Suse mentioned his exploits to the local farmer and we just haven’t seen him since. I’m not sure if this has been due to the fencing or something more sinister. I keep wondering if he’s toughing it out in some nearby field or whether he’s an ex sheep? Meanwhile, I’ll keep feeding the birds.
Suse went to Lochgilphead at the beginning of the month to help make paper lanterns and we spectated the parade and fireworks display on the 3rd. It’s quite an undertaking for such a small settlement and very well done even if the parade does run a bit late. It’s amazing to see so many people. Where do they all come from?
A few days later, we went to the Anchor Hotel to take part in the the Bill Murdoch Memorial Ceilidh dance. Bill lived locally and was a man of many parts, architect, actor, musician. When he died last year he was mentoring John Hunt’s new ceilidh rock band Eirich whose inaugural performance was also dedicated to the Anthony Nolan Trust. The Fynesiders sang a couple of sets and although we weren’t too happy with the first (we sang too loudly), the second was better and went down very well with the locals or so we were told.
In between yet more trips to Glasgow to see her Mum, who is now in a care home near Newton Mearns until a place becomes available near here, Suse found time to taxi me to the start of a ridge walk which I study every time I dry the dishes. Although the day was dry, it has rained so much, that the hill was very wet and it’s not much of a ridge. 18km with 760m of climb in 3hrs 45mins. You can see the route here. The plan was to catch the 926 bus back to Whitehouse but I landed at Erines in between buses so Suse was in taxi mode again.
I’ve also been busy whittling various Christmas presents and in an effort to speed things up, decided to rebuild the pole lathe which I last used at Ballencrieff. The only thing that had perished was the bicycle inner tube which I use instead of a pole. Annoyingly, I can’t find the half inch gouge which is needed for the rough shaping and without it I haven’t had much success. The next refinement will be to see if I can mechanise the lathe in some way using the motor which I took out of a tumble drier. More about this later.
We’ve had some pretty low temperatures with not much sun so the logs are disappearing quite quickly but the house is cosy even without burning a fire overnight. We have decided that once we have emptied a bay in the log shed, we will re-fill it. So we spent some time cutting up the slab wood which was produced when the house cladding was milled. I remember carting it up from Tayinloan and wondering if it was worth the effort. It’s pretty wet at the moment but should dry out and really needs to be got rid of so that the border along the front of the house where it is stored can be landscaped.
Anyway, that’s it for now. Suse has been working on a Christmas letter which we’ll send out in due course. Meanwhile, Season’s Greetings to one and all or even better:
To those who bravely till the ground,And those who make the wheels go round, To those who dig the coal and shale, To those who succeed and those who fail, To weak or strong this word of cheer – We wish you all a Good New Year.
Melodies and Memories by John Black 1909 quoted in Scottish Festivals by Sheila Livingstone. Published by Birlinn 1997.