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

🎃   🎃   🎃   🎃   🎃   🎃   🎃   🎃

September 2020

 

Lots of watery photographs this month (just for a change !) hope you enjoy the next 3 minutes

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The blog is late this month as we have just come back from a trip to the beautiful Isle of Stronsay, one of the Orkney isles;

staying in a cottage on the beach, with no 'phone signal, no internet, no newspapers, just the sound of the sea, pure bliss !

The beach looks very bare but along the shore line there are some amazing stones of different colours and patterns and some fabulous shells

and plenty of birdlife

and lugworms

and lichens

cliffs, caves and arches

The Orkney weather was good to us, even sat outside drinking tea

Lovely people on the island too, well worth a visit especially if you like ferry travel but they do also have an airport if you prefer travelling by plane.

A BIG thank you to Andrea

 for looking after all the animals while we were away, you're a gem.

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Andrea has this month set up her own website:

birdsofprayer.co.uk

it is truly beautiful, with stunning photos, poetry and voice recordings to lift your spirits

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On the croft this month..

Our small trial of oats were ready for the harvesting,

not the neatest stooks of oats but not bad for our first attempt,

even with the help of Tilly and Wilma

Tilly ready for the day's work ahead

When Wilma decides that it's too windy to walk,

 there's no changing her mind

When you've got an itch you need to find a friend

 who's also got an itch in the same place,

you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.

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Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside,

 oh, I do like to be beside the sea

Another full moon, another high tide, another opportunity to jump !

It's great to have jumping pals !

And in between jumping, time for a wee bit of sunbathing 

on top of the pier

Miss Pig the pug learning to surf

but when it came to Wilma's turn ....

no way, she's off !

Great action from Steve, upping the game, brilliant !!

and yes, Andrea followed suit,  just didn't catch the dive.

The colours under the pier on a sunny day are beautiful

In all the seas in all the world, a sea urchin just happened to be passing by 

So, so good to see so many water babies on a Sunday morning.

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Visitors to the croft

We just love it when visitors cook for us,

a rare treat indeed

and when they join in with all the locals on a very cold, wet Sunday

and without a wetsuit ! Well done Mr G !!

and remained looking chic and colourful to boot !

Wilma just laps up all additional attention

but for Tilly, visitors mean hiding under an old duvet in the garden until they've gone

from Ecological Consciousness facebook page

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A big thank you to Stan Miller 

for taking the best ever photo of our house

and taken on a phone camera

looking across Loch Ewe towards Isle Ewe

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Books of the month

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A selection of 7 very short but poignant stories

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thank you Karen and Gary for this little gem xxx

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Websites of the month

For anyone feeling the need for a bit of a boost 

we just love these 2 websites,

 always inspiring, always kind to the soul, always spot on.

Bernadette Logue on:

www.thedailypositive.com

and

Mike Dooley on:

www.tut.com

😊   😊   😊   😊   😊   😊

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Pause for thought 

Just love this ...

Photo image from "The Living Rug Company"

see their website and Facebook page.

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I'm just off to take some more photos for the next blog, 

so we wish you all peace and loveliness until next month,

 enjoy the colours of autumn

Malcolm and June

🍂    🍂    🍂    🍂    🍂