SID10 Spring

For two days now (today isn't sure yet) the sun has shone out of a predominantly blue sky with no accompanying wind.  Today the sun is winning the battle against the clouds but the wind is from the North, is strong and is bitterly cold. The atmospheric pressure is bumping against the stop at the top of the scale (this photos was taken before it quite got there). 

I worked outside most of the time for two days but today it's indoors things. 

This morning I made a list in six sections: outdoor jobs; indoor jobs; garden; garage; paperwork; and today. It should keep me going for 12 weeks. Hopefully by then it will be almost empty and one job after another finds its way onto the "Today" list.

The birds are now attacking the provisions on the bird feeder which is a sure sign of Spring. I have absolutely no idea why 'my' birds eat hardly anything from my feeder in the winter (but flock to a neighbour's). Well over a decade ago I fixed a bird nesting box to my garage wall about 15 feet from the ground. Unfortunately I fixed in on a North facing wall which is where the cold winds come from. It's been used occasionally (I have opened it up in the winter sometimes to have a look). However I have never actually seen a bird taking nesting material into it. This year it's definitely being used. I will definitely have to give it an overhaul when the autumn comes.

Meanwhile I heard the melodious call of a Stonechat from the top of one of my trees. I nipped inside, grabbed a camera and from 25 metres or more through the kitchen window managed to get a recored if hardly a good photo. 

On Thursday morning (the first sunny day of the week) I decided to go for my allocated daily exercise by walking the long way round by road to the pier below my house, along the shore and then up the croft back home: around 2 miles with plenty of gradient to exercise the heart and lungs. The view from the beach looking into the sun was one I could look at for ever.

Looking up from the bottom of the croft my house seemed a long haul up. Unfortunately now that the land isn't grazed it's virtually impossible to walk straight up the croft because of the huge tussocks of thick grass interspersed with deep ditches which are partly covered up now. A broken leg was not what I needed at this stage of the game. So I walked along the shoreline and up the track.

A Productive, Quiet Day

Pat and Dave were coming for dinner tonight but Dave has, very unusually,  picked up a stinker of a cold and Pat decided that he was not going to share it with CJ and me.  Thanks Pat.  That's very much appreciated although we missed your company.  The weather looked no great shakes so I decided to have another blitz on the loft.  Several years ago I had a massive clear out.  Before that it was impossible to get into the loft past the first yard or so without clambering over and moving things.  Today was a case of just fine tuning those efforts, seeing what was left and sorting through things.  It was a Good Day.

Before

After

This is only half of the loft.  There's still some way to go but getting there!

Books - 1

A few days ago I posted from my living room which showed some of the bookcases in the house.  Years ago I was waiting for a colleague.  He had just moved in a few doors away not long after we moved to Lewis.  I was looking at his bookcase.  I have no idea at all why I asked but something made me ask if he minded me looking at his books.  He replied that he didn't like people looking at his bookcases because books were a private thing and you could learn too much about a person by knowing what books were in their bookcase.  Well that may or may not be the case.  If you can tell anything about me from these two samples of my living room bookcase you are welcome to speculate. 

The Lights in The Night

One night recently I got up in the middle of the night (just around 3am actually!!) to visit the smallest room (actually it’s not my smallest room – I have two rooms which are smaller than my bathroom).  I have four small flat-screen lights (like aircraft binnacle illumination) in strategic places so that  no one has to put a light on in the night when they get up for the bathroom or whatever.  As I was wandering through the house I was struck by the number of lights that glowed out from every nook and crannie.  I counted 26 lights!  Yes 26!  It then occurred to me that the master switch switching off all electricity in the Study for the computers etc was off so the myriad of lights associated with computers and hard drives and so on would, during the day, be added to that number.  Scary.

So what were all the lights?  Digital clocks, the wi-fi, carbon monoxide detector, hi-fi, phone, TVs, DVD player and Freeview boxes and doubtless other things too.  Life’s not quite as simple as it was when this house saw it’s first occupants (which I would guess was about 1930).

What's a Doorbell?

Adrian of Adrian's Images mentioned in a comment on my Art in Metal posting that it could be used as a doorbell.  Well, yes, it could.   The concept of a doorbell seems strange to me though.  I don't live in a flat or apartment.  I don't live in a town.  In fact I don't know anyone who lives near me here or in New Zealand who has a doorbell of which I am aware.  Anyone visiting me here in Eagleton would simply walk in to the porch and perhaps knock on the inside door as they opened it.  But then again they might simply put the kettle on and then come looking for me.  If they couldn't find me they'd know I was in the bathroom or my bedroom.  So they'd make the tea or coffee and wait for me to emerge.  I like it like that.

The Door

On my blog A Hebridean In New Zealand I posted In My Eagleton Home a few days ago. It sparked a comment from Scriptor Senex about The Door. Let me explain. The Door is the door to my garage whish faces Spesh's house. The Door is, as you can see, painted a subtle shade of red (which happened to be what I had available on the day I decided to paint it). Spesh and I live on opposite sides of a valley. We are 1.5 kilometres or .6 of a mile apart iin a straight line. On a clear day with 20:20 vision and binoculars my garage door can be seen from Spesh's house. I like my red door. Spesh hates it with a passion.

I would not usually question Spesh's judgement (I'm not brave enough). But she thinks sheep are cute. 'Nuff said.

Nearly Home (This One Not That One)

When we arrived at the Pier in Tarbert the SatNav was accurate but seemed slightly confused.

The ramp lowers

The road over the moor to Lower Bayble and Eagleton

Tigh na Mara is the second house from the left in the foreground