seaside crofting: August 2019

Hello, welcome to our August 2019 blog posting,
enjoy the photos.

Janette and I have been swimming together every Sunday since August 2014,
so we have clocked up over 250 swims together
and we still love it !

Thank you Janette for being such a great mermaid-friend !

Our gang always tries to be colourful

and fashionable !

Steve believes that he is in the Bahamas,
maybe that's what keeps him warm !

Action Man !!
he didn't need much prompting

meanwhile Stan looks after all our four-legged friends

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Around the croft

some vibrant colours

and looking a bit wild in places

Beautiful red shiny apples almost ready for picking

Mr Cockerel sheltering in the shade of the gunnera

new little chick learning the ropes

little chick has 2 mums looking after her 24/7

cooling down

ah, that's better !

we like our weeds

Bank holiday rest day

when even eating the grass is too strenuous

a galloping horse ? not many of them around here !

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Our barn workshop looking very atmospheric !

thank you Frank Burden for the great photo

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Leah has been giving me a masterclass in felting fabric...

I'll show you the end results in next month's blog

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Did you know ....

(courtesy of Green Renaissance)

Ahh

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Idea of the month

On a day trip to Brora on the east coast of the Highlands, where it's not so windy, not so wet but a little colder and where the beaches are just as beautiful,
we came across some delightfully friendly locals.

They have a wonderful community there
and obviously enjoy making their village
bright, colourful, welcoming and fun !

Bicycles and scarecrows pop up all over the place
and just make you smile
😄

An idea for where you live ?

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Books of the month

thank you Peter and Janet for this beautiful book

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Quote of the month

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Poem of the month

My lovely Dad used to recite many poems by heart
with vigour and passion, it was one of his greatest pleasures.

Over time I have become to appreciate this skill and now understand the pleasure that it gives and one of my favourite poems committed to memory is "Desiderata".

Give it a go and start with a favourite poem but perhaps start with a short one and gradually progress.

Enjoy the challenge.

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble,
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery,
but do not let this blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture a strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune,
but do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here,
and whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann

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A thought on plastics

If we stop buying food and drinks packaged in plastic
we won't have the costs of recycling it or
have to pick it out of our oceans and rivers and roadsides.

Find another way, stop it at source.

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