June 2019

Welcome to this month's blog, hope you find something interesting or amusing amongst this month's photographs.

What a line up for our Sunday morning swim,
a great way to spend time with friends and fellow nutcases.

It was Tom's first time, so we were gentle with him and once the water got passed his vitals he was ok !

Well done Tom !

At this time of year a colony of terns return to the Highlands to nest on the pier and unfortunately some of the young fall off the pier before they know how to fly;

This little fella was one of them,

 just about floating on the surface, cold and exhausted, 

so we carried him ashore

 and found a holiday maker with warm hands to

  keep him warm for a while until we could take him home.

After a couple of hours in the green house he perked up and wanted to get his feet wet again.

Evidently it's not a good idea to put these young ones back on the top of the pier as it encourages other young birds to go to the edge too and fall off;
so he's now in the safe hands of the RSPB who advised feeding him dog food !? and sugared water until he could be collected.
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Did you know ?

"Since 1966 we have lost more than 40 million birds
in the UK"
!!!!!!

to find out more visit:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/campaigning/let-nature-sing/



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This is such a lovely time of year to watch the birds and watch as they lovingly feed their young,
 this one was being fed just outside the kitchen window.

Our young cockerel strutting his stuff as usual

Little Wilma jumping through the buttercups

and now she is relaxed and ready to be groomed

Zara has learnt how to take things easy on the croft,

without a care in the world

Tilly on the other hand loves exploring and pretending that she's much too high up to be able to get down

but then decides there are places to go

and after walking the tiles ....

crashes out under the cloches,

there goes another row of spinach !

There's something rather lovely about being in a polytunnel when it's raining and listening to the patter of rain drops 

and the buzz of bees on lavender

the nasturtiums seem to like it in the polytunnel too

 and seem to be taking over but not to worry, 

the flowers and the leaves are edible,

 just can't eat them fast enough.

The yellow-podded mangetout are doing well and hanging like Christmas decorations

the peach tree is coming on a treat in the greenhouse,

this is now in it's 4th year

the croft is looking lush and colourful

with the geese doing their best to keep the grass down

and we just mow paths through the wildlife sanctuary

This is the first year that we have come across wild orchids on the croft

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Visitors to the croft


So good to see Vinnie and George just passing through from Dumfries and Galloway,

thank you Janette and Lorna of Croft Fresh Cafe
for providing our lovely lunch.

Croft Fresh Cafe pops up every Thursday, 11am 'til 2pm
at the Church of Scotland in Aultbea with delicious homemade cakes, soups and toasties,
yummy !


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Sheep fleece rug

Taking a sheep fleece, felting the underside and combing out the topside to create a glorious rug / throw has become one of my latest passions !


There is water, soap and a lot of rolling involved to get the fleece from this...

to this ......

(top side)

(underneath)

but it's very therapeutic and it means that the ewe lives on and will produce a new fleece each summer, 

unlike a sheep-skin rug where the ewe can only give of her skin once! 


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In my slow transition to a vegan diet I wondered how I would cope without cheddar cheese, a daily component of my diet for many decades, but I needn't have worried ....

with tasty homegrown salad, colourful edible flowers, sundried tomatoes and olive oil instead of butter and a sprinkling of ground seaweed,
job done, delicious !


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I wanted to give a friend a birthday cake but not being a baker I tried an all-fruit cake which just survived the journey to the party !

Thank you Anji for a fabulous evening !

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Malcolm's idea of the month


Malcolm is drip-feeding me the idea that we should become
CARLESS !!!!!  shock, horror !

The idea is becoming appealing though and in preparation for such an event we used the Westerbus to Dingwall,
 75 miles away, using our old folks free bus pass that I've had for 4 years and never used.

Well smart !

You get a better view than in a car, great comfy seats, you can fall asleep, meet some locals, no need to worry about parking and for us at least it's free.

Over the last year our car has cost

£3,075 to run


mmm... taxis and bus travel are looking more appealing already.



Is your car worth it ?



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How about this for some real fun ?

This is something we have been looking at, it combines pedal power, solar panels and batteries,
it's a 2 seater with room for Wilma or shopping in the back,
what more could I ask for ?

just so want one !!!

https://www.electrive.com/2018/07/02/solar-electric-tricycle-mo-ready-for-production-in-spain/

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I always did like cycling with a friend,

 makes me feel more stable !

photo taken back in 1968 at Bracklesham Bay Holiday Camp 

with my pal June,

hi June H, remember this ?

These bikes really should be more mainstream !

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Dandelions


little rays of sunshine amongst the stones

Who was it that made people believe that dandelions are just stubborn weeds and should be eliminated at all costs by spraying them, burning them or trampling on them ! ?

Dandelions have beautiful sunshine-yellow flowers 
fit to sit alongside plants in any garden centre and
 have many wonderful attributes,
especially as an early source of food for bees.

Take time out to look at dandelions more closely 
and appreciate their beauty;

learn to love your "weeds" and see their true worth
and put that weedkiller back on the garden centre shelf

and 

if you're worried about what others might think
 put up a little sign...

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Update on the Aultbea Men's shed

The shed is built and now it's kitting out time,

 in between cups of tea and jaffa cakes

Well done fellas !
We're expecting great things from you,
no pressure.


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Books of the month

thank you PDQ for this very appropriate book !

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thank you Barb for leaving this one behind,
a great read xx

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thank you Barb for this lovely present xx

You can't beat a good book in a quiet corner.




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Summer Solstice

Can there be a more beautiful way to celebrate

 the longest day of the year,

to welcome the summer solstice than being by a calm loch

with old and new friends around a fire

 with homemade breads, soups and flapjacks

music and song ?

Thank you John 
for the wonderful guitar playing and singing,
it made the evening extra special



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Idea of the month

from an idea on Facebook page for:

"Your Natural Learner "- Leah McDermott

go on a walk and gather some natural items 

and make an image to photograph and make a calendar for the following year,

watch how the images change.




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Pause for thought

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Quote of the month

Mitakuye Oyasin


"A basic principle of the indigenous world view is that
all things in the universe are connected. 
We believe that we are a part of everything and 
that everything in the natural world is alive - conscious - even the stones, the Earth, the stars"

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So from all creatures great and small on the croft

and from Malcolm and June

💙💚💙💚💙