November 2018

November has given us some beautiful clear sunny days
and glowing sunsets

a gentle breeze across Loch Ewe

On the croft we never seem short of company
 no matter what we're doing

This is the response we frequently get from Wilma when we suggest a walk on a rainy day and there is no way that she is going to move !

Local traffic jams are a real pleasure,
everything stops for sheep.

Even Zara enjoyed the parade alongside the croft

Some local friends decided to take me on a walk that they thought I might like along the Gruinyard River,

they were right, it was a beautiful walk
but if I'd known that we would be walking for 11 miles
I might have made an excuse !

The next walk they took me on was just as amazing, this time to Slaggan Beach and was only 6 miles this time

and we didn't meet another soul on the whole walk.

On our Sunday morning swims swimming under the pier
is a pleasure of mine and feels like being in a cathedral,
especially with the sun glinting through.

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Film of the Month

shown by 3 Lochs Cinema in Aultbea Hall

 

a lovely film, the whole audience was made up of adults

and we all had a feel-good evening

complete with ice cream tubs and pop corn !

Thank you Stan and Lorna for a great night out
 on our doorsteps.

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Book of the Month  1

Thank you Barb for this pressie, 

it's right up my "new" street !

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Book of the Month 2

thanks for lending me this one Gill,

a lot of our friends will enjoy this one.

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Book of the Month 3




This next book has sat on our bookshelves for over 10 years!
and I finally decided it would be a good idea to read it.

You might think it a good idea to read
 before the festive season
 or you may decide to leave it until after the new year
or of course not at all !!

But it has worked, I now no longer drink alcohol 
and I feel great !

And now that I have just told the world, I think I'll have to stick to it !!


Warning: this book could change your life 

Some of my friends have also read this book recently and are doing the same, Aultbea could soon become teetotal !

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Website of the Month



www.greenrenaissance.co



This is a delightful and informative website, well worth having a look every now and again.





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A bit of fun 

thanks to Callum Brown and posted to Facebook via 
Scottish Crofting Federation





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christian aid .org 

According to figures published by Christian Aid

 over the festive period last year

the UK alone threw away a staggering

2 million turkeys 

12 million carrots

10 million parsnips

11 million roast potatoes

9 million boats of gravy

6 million jars of cranberry

4 million xmas puddings
and

70 million mince pies

 !!!!!!!!

Let's not do that again.

On behalf of all those who don't have enough to eat

please think about what you buy on your shopping trips between now and Christmas 

and indeed throughout the year.

Perhaps also give yourself a further challenge

by NOT buy anything, food or presents, 

that are wrapped in plastic or overly packaged 
or any plastic tat

only to be tossed in landfill.

Treat it as a fun exercise and see how you get on !

If you really get stuck and for those people who have everything, Bamwoo now have plenty of stock again

and for every toothbrush sold they plant a tree !! 

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 Quote of the month

 "When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully,

everyone is blessed"

Maya Angelou 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔

 So counting down the days to Christmas

⭐

1

2 💜  3

4  💛 5 💚  6

7  💗 8 💙  9  💜 10

11 💛  12  💚 13 💗  14  💙 15

16   💜 17   💛 18  💚  19   💗 20 

21 💙    22 💜    23   💛  24   💚  25 

xxxxxx

xxxxx

xxxx

🐪🌲🐪🌲🐪🌲🐪🌲🐪🌲🐪🌲🐪🌲🐪🌲🐪🌲🐪

 we wish you healthy, peaceful and happy days

Malcolm and June and the Gang

xxxxxxxx 



🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔

October 2018

It's amazing just how many people you can find
 on a wild, wet and blustery Sunday morning that actually want to get cold and buffeted about in the sea !

But we love it !!

The snow is back on the mountains
 but does this stop us from swimming ? of course not !

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For our annual week away this year we decided to go to the Isle of Coll in the Inner Hebrides, just north of Tiree

and sample the delights of their wild beaches.

For a small island of 5 miles by 3 miles, population of about 220 they have an incredible community hall,
 welcoming and extremely well designed

with an impressive carved reception counter

and the current art exhibition 
was a colourful felted project 
made by the local school children

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Unfortunately we cut short our holiday as it was virtually impossible to sleep on the 4' bed with a decades-old, sagging mattress ...

supported by a rusty 56lb weight !!

so we came back to the mainland and as we toured around, slowly making our way back, we came across some delightful places that were new to us and some old favourites .....

Portsoy, an intriguing village with it's 17th century harbour

where they have an annual boat and folk music festival 
in May

Lossiemouth with it's long sandy beaches

a fantastic alpaca farm near Elgin

thank you Carole, John and Bill 
for making us so welcome,
good luck with your new weaving courses and 
alpaca -inspired jewellery.

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Gill is one of our Sunday morning swimmers and has seriously impressed us all by completing the
 10k River Dart swim !!

Well done Gill !!

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Visitors to the croft this month

Malcolm's sister, Barb, came to visit us this month 
from her home in Madeira
and was pleased to see their Mum looking happy and well

A very enjoyable afternoon was spent at the GALE Centre
in Gairloch
with a lovely lady, Margaret, teaching us to use a spinning wheel and also a drop-spindle, a forerunner of the wheel,

all I need now is some time and some patience.

Something that she showed us that made me smile 
was how to make a pair of cosy slippers;
just knit a square, use your foot for the sizing,
fold in half, 
sew up the sides of the square, for the front and back,
sew along the top and leave space to get your foot in !
add a pompom for good measure.

Keep warm and cosy.

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On a similar thread, on a walk through Dingwall,
we came across some "yarn bombing",
 which is the art of covering street items in yarn
(check out yarn bombing on-line
if you haven't come across it before)
 

Malcolm found a bright colourful bench to sit on

The yarn bombing was just a very small part of 
Dingwall's October Arts Festival (it's 4th year)
with lots of great stuff going on

Keep a date in the diary for next year.







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Film of the Month


shown in Aultbea Hall

Looks like we all had a fun night !

A new visitor to Aultbea at the film showing asked why
some of us (4 in this photo) regularly swam in the sea even in the winter,
we replied " it's good for our mental health " !!!


You might not agree.






Malcolm as you have never seen him before and Gill,
seen earlier having swam the River dart
 

No one really minds what you wear in the Highlands

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Book of the Month

thank you Janet for recommending this one

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Poem of the Month

this poem was read by Chris Evans on his breakfast show  recently and it struck a chord with me.

 The Dash

 by Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral 

of a friend.

He referred to the dates on the tombstone

from the beginning ... to the end.

He noted that first came the date of birth

and spoke of the following date with tears,

but he said what mattered most of all 

was the dash between those years.

For that dash

 represents all the time that they spent alive on earth.

And now only those who loved them know what that

little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own, the cars...

the house... the cash.

What matters is how we live and

how we spend our

dash.

So think about this long and hard.

Are there things you'd like to change?

For you never know how much time is left

 that can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough to consider 

what's true and real

and always try to understand the way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger and show appreciation more

and love the people in our lives

like we've never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect and

more often wear a smile,

remembering that this special dash

might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy is being read,

with your life's actions to rehash...

would you be proud of the things they say

about how you spent YOUR dash ?

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Amazing Idea of the Month




have a look at this website for an amazing solution to the world's waste plastic




www.preciousplastic.com




check out the video, it's only two and a half minutes







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Out on the croft







The geese are doing well marching around the croft

but the chickens are going down in numbers,
we have lost 7 hens and 1 cockerel,
possibly to a pine marten, otter or fox but there are no trace of them.

Tilly has been very patient with her collar after being spayed this month

and took it nice and easy in the sunshine while she got back to her usual lively self

but is now ready to play fight with Wilma again

So from Malcolm and Wilma

and from me and Zara
(thank you Fee for this lovely photo)

we wish you happy November days

💜💛💜💛💜