I came to live in Eagleton 31 years ago although I've lived on the Isle of Lewis for half a century. When I came I bought a house 7 miles outside Stornoway and the commute to my job in Stornoway was very quick because the road was good and there was no traffic.
Just over 30 years ago I moved to my current house on the Eye Peninsula just above The Minch (the sea between the Island chain and the mainland of the Scottish Highlands). The main part of the house was built in 1927 with various alterations made since then enlarging and modernising it. I have been exceptionally happy living here and I hope that I will be able to continue living here until the end comes (which, of course, it inevitably will!).
When I came, the 'garden' (the house stands in just over ¼ acre) was virtually non-existent. The front was like a building site and the back grass area was dominated by four huge pampas grasses. The latter had to be removed with a mechanical digger. The front took years of hard labour with a wheelbarrow, removing rubble and replacing it with lorry loads of topsoil which had to be barrowed manually onto the garden.
Given that in the early days there was no labour allowed on the Sabbath and I worked full-time, my days were very long. Fortunately in those days I was also very fit. (I'm still fit, thank heaven, but my body has been in use for 80 years and isn't quite as amenable or capable as it used to be).
The garden is pretty much as I want it now but when I was thinking of some alterations a week or two ago I had a sudden realisation that my proposals would take quite a few years to be at their best. So I decided on a more 'immediate' approach to alterations from now on so that I can, hopefully, enjoy them.
I'll show you some current photos in another post.
