July 2020

Welcome to our July 2020 blog,
 hope you enjoy the next three minutes

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Around the croft..

Wilma after a hard morning on the beach

Tilly blending in with the long grass

It's been lovely to have AJ and Snoopy on the croft
 to eat some of our grass and a real treat for Zara. 

The yellow-podded mange tout keeps on producing

plenty of strawberries and  greenhouse-grown peaches 

the trial oats are doing well, we've just got to decide how to process them

in spite of the wild winds and salty air
 roses grow remarkably well

as do fuchsia bushes that the birds love to hide in

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Colours on the seashore

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Who would have thought it? 
Growing and roasting coffee in the Highlands !

It's strong and delicious and available from 
Farm and Garden Store in Gairloch





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Poem of the month

My Friend The Sea

Each day I like to touch the sea.
He comes, he goes, but he's always there for me.

He speaks to me.
"I wash the stones, I make the sand", he says
"I feed the fish, I edge the land", he says
"I run with the moon, come play with me."

"I'm blue-green-grey, frothy white and turquoise,
stand by me and feel the noise.
My healing powers are far from sight,
replaced with plastic my fish are dying.
Listen and you will hear me crying."

"I always will be here,
but you, my friend, you will disappear" he says
"Come, just play with me, 
be wild and free with me"
he says.


June Purvis 

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Book of the month



A truly lovely book, full of wisdom

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Website of the month

westerrosssings.weebly.com


♬  ♫  ♬  ♫  ♬  ♫  ♬  ♫


Wester Ross Sings is a song-learning website for people who live in Wester Ross and beyond, set up by our friend
 Dorje Khandro Dawid, 
a singing enthusiast who lives in Poolewe.

The idea is to learn a set of communal songs 
and when we can get together, to share the joy of singing them together.

As Dorje says "good songs are a tool for life".


Thank you Dorje for setting this up and
 for helping me overcome my fear of singing !



♬  ♫  ♬  ♫  ♬  ♫  ♬




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Film of the month








I love the short Green Renaissance films and this is no exception, for nine and a half minutes of calm and beauty have a look at :
greenrenaissance/videos/328503838550881


"Slowing Down"


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Quote of the month


This one is for Andries, hope you enjoyed your retreat 
in the mountains

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Pause for thought

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posted on Ecological Consciousness Facebook page 2.7.20




🕤   🕜   🕝   🕞   🕟   🕠   🕡 




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and remember ....

( from Tao and Zen Facebook page )

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Wishing you peace and calm in changing times,
keep on singing

June and Malcolm and the gang


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A peaceful evening on my favorite beach

Around the croft

It's been lovely to watch the birds this month

and to watch the parents feeding their young

and around 10pm we've been watching a barn owl hunting and returning to a distant derelict cottage (just by the right hand dormer window) to feed their young.

We get our fair share of rain up here and it always delights me to see how it sits on various plants,
 sitting like Christmas baubles on fennel

and how it collects on Alchemilla Mollis leaves.

Strawberries are rampaging across the croft so there will be enough for us, the birds, the chickens and the geese !

This next photo is for Maureen, do you remember that honeysuckle cutting you gave us when you left Naast ?  Well, it's loving it by our back door.

Sea campion

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Happiness is ......

a hug with my big brown pony

or a big wet lick from Wilma

or just looking out to sea

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Poem of the month

If We All Were Blind

If we all were blind and could not see

There would be no difference between you and me.

We could not tell the colour of another's skin.

Everyone a brother, a sister or next of kin.

Walking more slowly,

Our outstretched hands feeling for a gentle touch,

Listening for the music within our souls

That we have missed so much.

If we all were blind we'd share our hearts' song,

We'd sing together and know that we belong.

We'd share the warmth of the same sun

And the pull of the moon,

Being of Nature we'd play the same tune.

If we all were blind, then we would see,

There is no difference between you and me.

June Purvis

💜

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Book of the month

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Quote of the month

(photo courtesy of 

The Art of Learning on Creative Systems Thinking Facebook page)

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Pause for thought and tea

"Drink your tea slowly and reverently,

as if it is the axis on which the earth revolves -

slowly, evenly without rushing towards the future.

Live the actual moment,

only this moment is life."

Thich Nhat Hanh

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Take care everyone,
 look for beauty in all the things around you.

Wishing you a peaceful July,
 from Malcolm and June and the gang


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May 2020

Summer time and the living is easy 

Zara likes to take things easy and likes to take advantage of the warm weather for a little sunbathing when she can ...

then it's time for a look around and contemplate whether it's worth getting up or not ...

have a bit of a yawn ...

and stretch a leg before the next strenuous exercise of eating !

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Meanwhile Tilly is finding more ways to self-isolate

Mr Cockerel always likes to make himself heard

and believes that Zara is willing to share her feed 

with the flock

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When everything is dominated with lockdown and coronavirus I am aware that I am very blessed to be able to step outside and immerse myself in the coconut-scent of gorse

sit amongst bluebells

go into the polytunnel to count the growing blueberries

watch the asparagus grow

think of strawberry teas

smell pots of golden marjoram

pick nasturtium leaves and flowers for a colourful salad

and go into the greenhouse house to count the peaches 

on the spreading peach tree

mmm, not so long to go

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Book of the month

Appropriate somehow ....

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Poem of the month

Not I Alone

Do I have the key to set the animals free ?
Will my tears help the crops to grow ?
Will my smile bring peace and softness to the world ?
Will my hands heal the unwell ?
Will my arms comfort all the children ?
Will my heart fill the earth with love ?
Will my eyes see only beauty ?
Will my ears hear only the sound of creation ?
Will I breathe out when nature is breathing in ?
Will my feet lead the journey of just being ?
No, not I alone.
But with you, we can, we will.
Let's do.



June

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Pause for thought

" Nature never hurries, yet everything is accomplished"

Lao Tsu

( courtesy of Tao & Zen Facebook page )



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Quote of the month


It's very important that we re-learn the art of resting and relaxation.  Not only does it help prevent the onset of many illnesses that develop through chronic tension and worrying; it allows us to clear our minds, focus and find creative solutions to problems".

Thich Nhat Hanh

(courtesy of Ecological Consciousness Facebook page)


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Wishing you all a new, brighter future.

(courtesy of Tao & Zen Facebook page)


Sending you long distance hugs from
Malcolm and June


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