Start Point

On Friday we went for a walk to Start Point lighthouse, which is at the Easternmost point of the island.  Designed by Robert Stevenson, this was built in 1806.  It is the only vertically striped lighthouse in Scotland, and it was the first Scottish lighthouse to have a revolving light (an original 4th Order Fresnel lens to be precise!!!).  AND, we can see the light from our house!

Island Logistics

Eventually we will have our own pigs, but until then, in our quest to shorten our food chain, we found somebody on Eday, the next island over from us, who was selling 1/2 a pig for the freezer.  So far so good, but how to get the pig from Eday to Sanday...

Fear not, the pig farmer had the answer...  On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the morning ferry from Kirwall calls at Eday before it comes to Sanday, so he put the pig on, and I went down to the ferry to meet it, and after docking, one of the ferry staff comes walking off the ferry with my box of pig...!

Tasting larger cuts of meat will have to wait until we get an oven, but I can say that the sausages are yummy!

Plum Jam

Not a huge quantity of fruit on the wild plum/damson we found in the garden, but I thought I'd better make use of it before the birds eat it all -- been a while since I last made plum jam!

On today's nature walk/fishing spot scouting expedition we saw cormorants!

And obligatory chicken photo because chickens rock...  :)

 

Bring on the power cuts...

Chicken duties aside, our days at the moment are mainly spent trying to get the house arranged and liveable.

The previous owner died, and we have "inherited" quite a lot of her things, some more useful than others.

In this case, as we have been warned to expect power cuts in the winter, this lovely candle holder has made its way to my bedside table in case of emergencies...

 

Sunrise & Sunset

This morning:

And last night:

 

Catching up -- already!

As I suddenly realise that my camera is filling up with photos that I haven't posted...  Must make this a daily habit...

The hens are settling in nicely.  I tried to shoot some video of them coming out of their house for the first time but technology is not cooperating with me these days so...  They tend to follow Danny around and get in his way which is rather funny as Danny then talks to them like they are dogs and have some level of comprehension...  :)

Speaking of coming out of their house, big thank you to John & Steve who gave us the chicken coop that they were no longer using -- despite carefully putting all the fastener bits into a container and taping it up and labelling it, we've had to go to the store and buy new fasteners as can't find the container now...!

For everybody who has inquired about Freya --- this is from Monday night -- her first mouse!  I think this is proof that she is settling in well and has thoroughly recovered from meeting the chickens...  

Our first rainbow at Sparrowhall -- you could actually see both ends touching the ground, but it was so big I couldn't find anywhere to take a photo from that got both ends in -- I would have needed a fisheye lens!

And in case anybody was wondering why it's called Sparrowhall -- they are everywhere...!

 

Chickens!

Danny bought some chickens today!

These are Dorkings, and they have five toes.

In other news, I helped a little hedgehog cross the road, and we found a plum tree (we think) in our (very overgrown) back garden!

Seals!

I know, once upon a time I used to be a professional photographer.  You'd never tell it from this, but I was just so excited to see seals!

At the moment, our lives basically consist of cleaning, tidying, organising, and trying to find things.  We are nowhere close to unpacked and it's a bit chaos and also a bit soul destroying this endless unpacking of things that I feel I only just packed the other week, so we are periodically taking beach breaks.

We've got an OS map of Sanday taped to the wall and we write notes about every beach we go to.  It's a small island, but it's got a LOT of coastline.

This morning we went up to Whitemill Bay and walked Westwards towards The Riv and suddenly I realised that we were surrounded by something like eight seals!  So we sat down and watched them and they hung out in the water and watched us.  I think it would be fun to be a seal.  They are so cute!

 

Welcome to Sparrowhall!

 

Here we are!  If you zoom in behind our heads, you will see our house.  This selfie was taken at the furthest point away from our house that is still on our land.

More to follow about our journey of self-sufficiency and trying to lead a simpler more straightforward life.

Victory!

I am pleased to report that following a letter to Mark Jewell, County Library Services Manager, and with the support of my local Councillor Edward Thomas, my AM Rhodri Glyn Thomas, and my MP Jonathan Edwards, the library in Llandeilo will now remain open on Saturdays!

Mark Jewell claims that, due to a "former staff member [who] resigned from her post at Llandeilo...temporary changes were to be considered to the existing advertised opening hours."  However, since they've now apparently hired somebody new, that will not happen.  Regardless of whether this is true or not, I'm just pleased that the library will remain open on Saturday mornings.  It does make me wonder though, if this was only to be a temporary change and only one that was being "considered" at that, why did the sign I saw on the door the other week not make any mention of either of those concepts and merely announce the new hours which were to have taken effect from 2nd February???  Enquiring minds want to know...

I did visit the library this morning and borrowed some books and was pleased to see that other people were there as well -- borrowing books, using the computers, reading newspapers -- although feel that an opportunity was missed to do anything to mark National Libraries Day...!

Llyfrgelloedd

Oh the irony...  So furious it makes me want to cry...

In the same week that I will be starting my MSc in Information and Library Sciences, my local library has scrapped its Saturday hours.  Following on from scrapping evening hours three and a half years ago, it's now impossible for anybody in full time employment to use the library...  And I'm about to spend three years learning how to become a librarian...

Bwrw glaw...

This is the only good thing about all the rain!!!

Cennin Pedr

It's the 3rd of January, we've only had frost one night so far this whole winter...  Took this photo this morning but these were actually out at least a week ago, I just didn't have my camera on me then...  Totally insane...

Nadolig Llawen... Not...

The weather here has been consistently horrible for weeks now...

... and now this news...

What I achieved last week

On the way to Carmarthen against a 12 mph headwind in the rain!  (You've got to watch it full screen to be able to see the speed camera, but it clocked me at 20 mph...)

FFS!

Good news, but wish I'd known this in advance as we could have saved ourselves so much work!!!

Sainsbury's Shelve Cross Hands Store

Lleuad Llawn

The view out my bedroom window at 6 this morning:

Hyfryd!

Ysgol beth???

Went to Llandeilo show on Saturday and got my first view of the new school close up -- it is so bit that I couldn't even get it all in the frame...  A bit scary IMO -- the kids will need maps to get around...  Just waiting for it to flood now!

Towy Texels

Llongyfarchiadau to Bridget for winning 4th Place with her Shearling Ram at the Royal Welsh on Monday!

Cartrefi Redwood Homes

Section 162 of the Highway Code says that before overtaking you should make sure the road is sufficiently clear ahead...

Section 163 says that you should give motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car...

Is this driver following either of these rules?

Spring onions!

Check out the size of these monsters I got in my veg box yesterday -- have included the apple for scale -- yum!  So much better than the anaemic trimmed things in the supermarket...!

Y Tywydd! Y Poeth!

What on earth are we looking at a photo of you might well ask...  This was a difficult thing to try to photograph!

When I went to do my hair this morning, I took the top off my coconut oil, and my initial thought (not a morning person!) was that somebody had poured some water into my tub of coconut oil.  Of course, this was completely illogical, and then eventually I realised that at some temperature, it must become a liquid, because it melts when I rub it in my hands...  According to Wikipedia, coconut oil melts at 76 °F -- so now we know how hot it was in my bathroom overnight!!!

Leaves

Some number of years ago now, my friend J gave me an early 1970s salad spinner.  It's worked well over the years, but it is made of plastic, and, as everybody knows, once things made of plastic break, they are only fit for the bin.  Plastic is the great un-repairable substance...

So imagine my great delight on Saturday to come across this lovely unbreakable vintage salad shaker -- I will never need to buy another one as long as I live -- I just have to hope it's not raining when I want to wash my salad...  :)

Bike for sale

Have bought a new (to me) bike -- photos to follow later -- in the meantime, the old one must go...  Nothing wrong with it, just too small for my body!  I rode it today after riding the new one for the last two weeks and it suddenly feels SO small!!!  Anybody interested?

Fleeting archaeology

In between the old plaster coming off and the new lime render going on, we get a brief glimpse which shows that my house did in fact used to be pink once upon a time...

Am very much looking forward to how much cooler it should be this summer now that it will be insulated -- this room has been quite the oven on a sunny summer day...

Handlebars...

Went down to Cardiff on Saturday to get mudguards put on my bike -- despite what the website said, they were NOT easy to fit one's self!  Now I just need it to rain - which it might to towards the end of the week...

And I also discovered that I can't raise my existing handlebars any higher, so the guy in the shop suggested a buy a new bike...  :(  Or I could just get upright handlebars?  Thoughts?

Defiance Bike Ride

I've been riding to work for nearly a year now -- through rain, sleet, hail (painful!), frost, wind, and occasionally sunshine -- but have never done a longer ride.  Few weeks ago I did 30 miles as part of the Defiance Cycle Ride and am pleased to report that my legs didn't ache afterwards at all -- a year ago that would have been unthinkable!  So a big thank you again to all the residents of Amsterdam who inspired me to get on my bike...!

Am going down to Cyclopaedia tomorrow to get some work done on my bike so my ride into work on Monday should be better than ever...

Controlling the Mind

"People say: 'One can't help one's thoughts.' But one can.  The control of the thinking machine is perfectly possible.  And since nothing whatever happens to us outside our own brain; since nothing hurts us or gives us pleasure except within the brain the supreme importance of being able to control what goes on in that mysterious brain is patent.  This idea is one of the oldest platitudes, but is it is a platitude whose profound truth and urgency most people live and die without realising.  People complain of the lack of power to concentrate, not witting that they may acquire the power, if they choose.

"And without the power to concentrate -- that is to say, without the power to dictate to the brain its task and to ensure obedience -- true life is impossible.  Mind control is the first element of a full existence.

"Hence, it seems to me, the first business of the day should be to put the mind through its paces.  You look after your body, inside and out; you run grave danger in hacking hairs off your skin; you employ a whole army of individuals, from the milkman to the pig-killer, to enable you to bribe your stomach into decent behaviour.  Why not devote a little attention to the far more delicate machinery of the mind, especially as you will require no extraneous aid?  It is for this portion of the art and craft of living that I have reserved the time from the moment of quitting your door to the moment of arriving at your office.

"'What? I am to cultivate my mind in the street, on the platform, in the train, and in the crowded street again?'  Precisely.  Nothing simpler!  No tools required!  Not even a book.  Nevertheless, the affair is not easy.

"When you leave your house, concentrate your mind on a subject (no matter what, to begin with).  You will not have gone ten yards before your mind has skipped away under your very eyes and is larking round the corner with another subject.

"Bring it back by the scruff of the neck.  Ere you have reached the station you will have brought it back about forty times.  Do not despair.  Continue.  Keep it up.  You will succeed.  You cannot by any chance fail if you persevere."

Bennett, A. (1959). Controlling the Mind. In How to live on 24 hours a day (pp. 54-56). Kingswood, Surrey: World's Work.

Be happy, it's Adar!

I made these with wholemeal flour this year instead of white, and there is so much fat in them that they are still ridiculously indulgent, but you end up eating them four at a time rather than six at a time, so...  :)

This is something that I salvaged from the photography department at Tisch School of the Arts when I took Dave there in August 2013 to see where I'd grown up -- and I was horrified to see it in a skip -- so Dave had this lovely wooden box made for it for me for Valentine's Day, and then he fitted it out with a bulb this morning....  Happy!

And thank god it's not the '70s any more!  :)

Bar Mitts

Just realised that I never reported back about the bar mitts -- so for all those of you waiting with baited breath (which is probably nobody...) they are brilliant.  I wear them with just a pair of thin Merino wool glove liners underneath, and they have kept my hands from feeling pain through -4C starts...  My old motorcycle gloves have now gone to the charity shop...!

AND, failed to take a picture of this, but I dried my sheets on the line outside today, which must mean, despite there being ice on the line when I first put them out this morning, that spring is on the way!  Yippee!

Sunset

The view out the bathroom window as I was sorting the laundry earlier:

More winter salads

Haven't quite got where I want to be with it totally yet, but my mayonnaise is improving...

And I then used it to make this version of a heartier celeriac remoulade with hard boiled eggs...