January 2015

The storm in the early hours of January 9th

certainly made an impact on Aultbea !

Wind speed of around 113 miles an hour were recorded

and I have never experienced a storm like it.

 The noise of the storm was such that no one

 in Aultbea slept that night for fear 

of something coming crashing through the windows.

Everything shaked, rattled, rolled or flew through the air.

 

Our lovely polytunnel did not survive, 

despite the assurance of the supplying company
(who supply tunnels further north in the Orkneys)

that it would withstand the west coast winds, 

and despite all the strengthening bars.

However, Premier Polytunnels have been an 

excellent company to deal with and 

have refunded the full cost without complaint.

Thank you, Premier Polytunnels.

 

 

 Our chickens had a fright that night,too,

when a tree was blown down on to their shed 

and turned it over.

Remarkably all 17 chickens survived

 but only laid 1 egg between them that day !

Thank you Jock and Ed 

for very kindly returning the shed to its upright position

in about 5 seconds flat ! 

 Our iron lady "Joycie" withstood the wind

and didn't move an inch.

 It has been 10 years since the last storm

 that did so much damage, so hopefully

 it will be a long time before the next one.

In the meantime we need to think about plan B,

post polytunnel!

Our Lulu now spends most of her time 

in front of the wood-burning cooker....

 along with Wilma.

One of the projects for our home 

has been to turn two bedrooms 

into a kitchen/dining/living room  and let in some light

and have a wonderful view of Loch Ewe,

here is the result,

 looking south across Loch Ewe towards Aultbea

 looking west towards the Isle of Ewe

 Nothing seems to bother the local wildlife,

even in the daylight hours.

On 23rd January the Wester Ross Burns Club

celebrated their Burns Supper at 

The Myrtle Bank Hotel in Gairloch

and we were honoured to be invited 

as guests of Bryan Islip.

Thank you Bryan and thank you Myrtle Bank Hotel

for a lovely evening.

The days are getting noticeably longer, lets hope

that February will be kinder to us.