May 2019 has been a mixture of sunshine and rain,
hope you enjoy the mixture of this month's photos.

Aultbea now has it's own Men's Shed Group and the first thing they need is of course a shed !

Watch this space !

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


This is the kelp that we collected one evening last month and it dried nicely ready for blitzing in the blender and we now use it sprinkled on salads, in sandwiches and soup and as an alternative to salt ; tasty and good for you.

All seaweed growing around the UK coast is edible;

edible but not necessarily tasty !

Website of the month

gallowaywildfoods.com

"eating wild food restores the vital connection between humans and nature"

This is a wonderful site for exploring in-depth information on wild food with great info on seaweed collection and preparation.

The vegan butter that I made turned out well and looked and tasted much like ordinary butter.

If you fancy giving it a try, here's the recipe :

ingredients

8 tblsp ground almonds or almond flour

2 tblsp  mildly-flavoured, unsweetened, non-dairy milk

(do not use soy or canned coconut milk)

2 tsp nutritional yeast (optional)

1 tsp salt

1tsp apple cider vinegar

4 tblsp olive oil (standard or extra virgin)

120ml REFINED coconut oil, melted + at room temperature

(do not use unrefined or virgin coconut oil)

1 pinch of tumeric (optional but gives colour)

method

• mix almonds, milk, salt, nutritional yeast and apple cider vinegar together and blend
• pour in coconut oil + olive oil and blend until smooth 
• pour into container, cover and refrigerate

(allow 2 hours to set)

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

Some of the gang this month ....

Tilly is always seeking new places to curl up and have a nap, this time she found a cosy place in Zara's feed bin ..

and under the raspberry canes in the polytunnel is also a favourite place to hide

Wilma taking it easy after her beach fun with her pals

and just when Wilma thinks she has the whole sofa to herself, along comes Malcolm

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

We have a new recruit to our Sunday morning swims,

Fiona (third from the left) and she loved every minute of it,

well done Fiona, see you again soon

swimming under the pier

and while we swim

 our dogs have a wonderful time with Stan,

thank you Stan

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

If you ever find yourself up on the northwest coast and you love birds you will enjoy a trip over to Handa Island 

a breathtaking trip and

 seeing the puffins was the highlight of our day !

thank you Peter for making the day so interesting

 with your amazing  knowledge of birds

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

Visitors to the croft

Barb, Malcolm's sister, came over from her home in Madeira and spent a week with us and was pleased to see their Mum still in good form, she even beat both of them at cards !

no wonder Mum is laughing !

~~~~~~

It was great to see Vicky and Bill who came to see us on their trip around Scotland, just as much fun as ever !

Searching for sea glass was a favourite pastime on their travels and it was amazing how much they found !

and a few days later we came across a rather appropriate poem, found on Pinterest

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

When the sun shines in the Highlands and there's no wind
you just have to make the most of it and sit quietly 
with a coffee and a good book

Books of the Month

This is one of the best books we have read in a long while !

~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you Christine for lending me this next book

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




Along the shoreline........

patterns in the sand

beautifully camouflaged oyster catcher eggs

and heart shaped lichen on the rocks

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

Quote of the Month

( courtesy of Ecological Consciousness on Facebook )



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



A bit of fun

a painting by Roy Anstey
from Facebook page Being Scottish

(thanks Caroline for finding this one)




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

Pause for thought

keep planting !




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



So  with love from the Highlands

may you all be well and happy 

Malcolm and June 
and the gang

💙💚💙💚💙

April 2019

Welcome to our April blog, a month of stunning sunsets,
hope you enjoy this month's photographs

A peaceful evening spent collecting various seaweeds 
to experiment with drying and storing and using in new recipes

sunshine shining through kelp

and Malcolm thought I wanted a new clothes line
 to dry the washing !

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





Some delicate flowers along the shore line ....

and the gorse bushes with bright yellow flowers perfume the air all around with the delicious scent of coconut

which reminds me to tell you about our friend Rupert's new venture in Kinlochewe,
excellent freshly prepared food, lovely atmosphere and delightful waitresses,
perfect !

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





A reminder to eat your greens;
 as well as being a wonderful companion plant to help your veggies grow the leaves and the flowers of nasturtiums are both edible and make for a really colourful salad.

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






Our animals on the croft have been enjoying the sunshine

and strutting about

hens have been broody 

Wilma taking it easy

Tilly has learnt to put herself to bed and
managed to cover herself up

and when she gets out of the basket....
Wilma gets in for her turn

Zara had her two friends come to stay for a week,
during which time I was totally superfluous to requirements

Zara it seems prefers to be ridden with no bridle, no bit, no reins and no saddle 
and no sense on my part; 
but she is not exactly the Ferrari of the horse world 
and it is lovely to really feel the horse,
so we do it most days now.

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





 Our walking buddies, Peter and Janet introduced us and Moira to a fantastic walk on the Coulin Estate 

truly spectacular !

and met some of the locals

thank you Peter and Janet





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






At a local loch in Mellon Charles
 there has been a rare visitor from America
 that has caused a lot of interest this month,
 a male blue-winged teal.

Although he shouldn't be here at all he seems to have made himself at home.

(photo courtesy of audubon.org)






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






Visitors to the croft




It was so lovely to see Jackie, Margo and Lorna again,
three special ladies who always make us smile
( thank you for our delicious supper )

Fiona having fun with some of our goose eggs !

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

Pause for thought

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

Junie's Idea of the Month

Plant Your Future



Instead of buying that bottle of bubbly
 to mark an occasion or to say thank you
 why not give or plant a fruit tree/bush,
the gift that will keep on giving pleasure and abundance year after year ?

Think what a difference this would make to the planet and our well-being if we all did this for births, birthdays, marriages, anniversaries, departures and 
 family celebrations !
Wow!
Good for the planet, good for us and
 no recycling required at the bottle bank.

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

Quote of the Month

"All the flowers of all our tomorrows
are in the seeds of today"

Anon

(carved above a doorway in Sibton Church, Suffolk)







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







So, from us and our gang we wish you a happy May

and remember ....

( courtesy of Tao and Zen )





Malcolm and June

💚 💛 💜 💙
💛  💚  💙
💜 💚
💙