November 2020

 

Welcome to our November 2020 blog posting, enjoy with a cuppa and a biscuit.

Around the croft

The new chicks are out and about with mother hen

and paying attention to their first lesson in foraging

just too cute !

November has given us some beautiful sunny days, warm enough for morning coffee outside under the sun umbrella

 so warm even Tilly cat came for a walk along the shore

but we did have some horrendous rain too

coming at us horizontally ! Time to take shelter

I had my first go at felting in 3D and made a "cat cave" for Tilly, which she took to instantly !

It can of course be occupied in a variety of poses ....

!!!

My lovely felting friend also showed me how to use a drum carder,

to turn fleece straight from the sheep's back

into a wonderful "batt" of aligned fibres ready to spin or felt

a great day ! Thank you.

If anyone has a drum carder that they no longer use or want I'm looking to buy one secondhand.

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It's always great to spend time chilling out with Zara pony

or while she's eating luscious grass along the shore

chilling out is what Zara does best

Local rush hour, don't plan on going anywhere fast around here

and then they make their way along the shore back home

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Another beautiful swim, with Emma sporting her birthday suit, or rather her birthday present wetsuit and loving being under the pier with Paula for the first time.

Lots of cosy after-swim cuddles for Wilma

Rosy cheeks and whiskers

tired and  ready to go home

                           thank you for this one Paula

this colourful photo taken by Paula Gordon, 

thank you

Not all our November swims have been so calm, but still beautiful and fun.

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Quote of the month

                               

     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pause for thought

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Book of the month

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beautiful cd and accompanying book

                           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Christmas Day you will find me at 11am at the Boom Beach, Mellon Charles swimming in the loch,

 whatever the weather is doing,   please feel free to join me.

You don't have to swim ! 

Just come along for a socially-distanced Christmas morning chat, bring along a flask and a mince pie to enjoy.

Everyone welcome

🌊  🌊  🌊  🌊  🌊  🌊  🌊

Wishing you a peaceful, heart-warming, love-filled December,

be kind to yourselves, take it easy.

🎄  🎄  🎄  🎄  🎄  🎄  🎄  🎄

June and Malcolm and the gang

💖  💚  💖  💚  💖  💚  💖

 

October 2020

Welcome to this month's blog, enjoy with a cuppa in a cosy corner.

Rosehips and blackberries, the colours of autumn on the croft.

Around the croft

Zara opening wide for her yearly dental checkup and MOT.

and then very snoozy for about 30 minutes afterwards, ready for eating again

then it was her friends' turn, Snoopy and AJ,

followed by their 30 minute wind down

Thank you Heather, from Conanvet, for another professional job.

🐴🐴🐴🐴🐴🐴

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Our lovely brown hen has been sitting on 9 eggs for the past three weeks, this little one was the first to appear

and now two more have shown up

ahhh, so cute !

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Our friend Andrea took some of our rosehips and blackberries and rosemary and steeped them in apple cider vinegar for two weeks to make a delicious flavoured vinegar.

Lovely, thank you Andrea

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The croft is looking rather grey at the moment with October coming to an end 

the plants are beginning to die back for a well earned break

and the leaves are almost gone

🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂

but here and there colour is still holding it's own, with the Michaelmas daisies

the indestructible nasturtiums

 

beautiful

and lots of delights to look out for in hidden corners

And on grey days when I'm not out with my camera or swimming in the loch it's a good time to do a bit of peg-looming with some raw fleeces ...

my hands are now super soft from the lanolin !

🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑

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Around and about ...

driving through Aultbea I noticed a huge number of starlings sitting on the wires, have often seen them there before but never so many.

They looked like the clef and notes on a music stave

made my day !

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Book of the month

🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮

🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮

Pause for thought

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Quote of the month

( from Ecological Facebook page)

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Triodos Bank

We have just opened a current bank account with Triodos, an ethical bank, who only invest in sustainable projects around the world, unlike the major banks who continue to invest in fossil fuels, arms manufacture and non-sustainable projects.

Triodos current accounts can be opened in single or joint names and costs only a fixed £3 per month in fees. 

For further information see their website.

If you decide to open a current account with them,

 quote the code below and you will earn yourself £60

 and Triodos will donate £25 to charity on my behalf.

Just go to :

https//join.triodos.co.uk/raf/friend?code=W4XFH5V2

Happy banking !

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So, from Tilly

Wilma

and the gang

we wish you a warm and peaceful November, 

take care, take it easy

 and welcome the coming winter

☕  ☕  ☕  ☕  ☕

June & Malcolm

🎃   🎃   🎃   🎃   🎃   🎃   🎃   🎃