Weather: Wet, wet, wet with hail, wet with some sleety snow and lots of wild wind storms, although still relatively mild with some welcome brief bursts of sunshine.
The puddles on the drive way/ car track, to the house, have become
enlarged and a great plume of water envelops our vehicle when going to and from
the homestead. The water sometimes makes one of the engine warning lights come
on and reduces the efficiency of the brakes for a while, but we are still able
to drive through without drowning. The storms, of which there have been three (Brendan
Ciara and Dennis) have caused some coastal erosion and loss of land – this was highly
evident on Balashare Beach. This beach is a special haunt for many of the North
Uist residents, and Nicola and I spent much of our summer camping and swimming
there. Not only was the coast line altered, a Minke whale and a baby seal got
washed up alongside an enormous amount of plastic waste. This whale was then
cut into pieces by a scientific team, to ascertain its stomach contents. Many
pieces of the whale sadly remained on the beach looking like massive steaks.
The storms have of course, affected the whole country, and in many ways,
this area has had some of the least damage. Possibly this is partly because houses
on Uist are built with storms and flooding in mind. The landscape is already
more water than land and seems to soak up additional water with only small
visual adjustments apparent.
Some other, more humorous effects of the storms are: opening the car
door can take up to 5 minutes. A handy tip: only open one door of your car (or
house) at a time – if you want the contents to remain inside. Swans and other
large birds can sometimes be seen suspended in mid-air – flapping their majestic
wings – but not moving.
The waste and re-cycling wheelie bins are best left lying on the ground with their lids secured tightly with bungees, otherwise these will be found scattered, often with contents, along the roadside. Our post-box is weighted down with a heavy stone and this is sometimes challenging to lift in a stiff wind. There is always the abandoned microwave oven which is used as a backup for small items.
There has been a lot of hail with ice pellets that fire at your face, making trips to and from the house to the car, the car to the Co-op and back like crossing a mini firing range. The electricity has been temperamental, which has caused disruption – Internet blips; UHI College closed for a day; the local Co-op had to shut for a few hours on a couple of days; there have been no Sunday newspapers for 3 weeks! due to stormy seas; and the swimming pool closed early, which I found out, only after driving 25 miles… However, we are still here, and have been for one year as of the 15th February, which is both astonishing and unexpected and has been life changing for both of us. It has been over this year the Nicola and I have decided to permanently move to the Island. This adds a new dimension to our work here, which has become more open ended and is an ongoing venture that will in time unfold to a different plan.
We are a year into our project ‘In this Day and Age’ – it has been an epic undertaking. Making portraits of people and representing a community as diverse as this takes time. We are committed to an interactive kind of portraiture where all parties concerned can make an input to the final result, both in terms of their visual representation but also with some additional written inputs as appropriate. Nicola and I are steadily collecting a range of portraits and landscape pictures which we take, make and craft together. We enjoy the process of engagement with people and the extensive research and exploration that this involves. Some of this in progress work will be exhibited at Taigh Chearsabhagh in June. There will also be a two – day Symposium to discuss some of the issues that our work has precipitated, these are exiting times for us.
Our first portrait of the new year was of our next-door neighbour Andy. Andy is married to Effie who comes from North Uist. Effie makes fantastic cakes which we spent a half-hour or so eating, whilst drinking tea and having a catch-up blether, before the photo shoot. Andy has a beautiful 1950’s tractor which we managed to photograph him on, in between the rain and hail storms.
Trail camera
We have also visited J.P. who is the manager of the seaweed extraction plant on the island. J.P. generously gave us ‘the grand tour’ of the plant, introducing us to the people who work there, also showing us some video clips of the seaweed gathering processes that have been developed to efficiently collect this complex and valuable plant. Seaweed is being used as a bio- catalyst fertiliser and is relatively sustainable given sensible harvesting practices.
During the absence of our close neighbours, Nicola has been feeding the
sheep on the croft that surrounds the house where we are staying. They are a
mixture of black face and cheviots. She shouts out ‘trot, trot’ to them at
feeding time, and they obediently trot to her, which is touching to see. It is
said that sheep are rather stupid, but it seems that they just know what they
want to know…
The weather has also brought about some magnificent sights, with pitch
black skies lit up with spectacular fluorescent rainbows. We have had lovely romantic,
cosy fireside dinners with euphoric ASMR rain sounds and sleeping in a storm can
be quite exhilarating. The landscape has become a pale, damp yellow although
there are signs of shoots emerging.
Winter is long and dark, but the geese are gathering, for their spring migration,
and the daffodils are now in bud.
Alice has not ventured outside this winter, she prefers the safe warm
haven of the house the fire and her lovely warm basket. She is also very fond
of her toy mouse which she adores and wants to tirelessly play with. Ange will
rush out the house, reluctantly (often with his ears back) for his toilet and
the odd rat, but he too, seldom stays out for long before rushing back to the
comfort of his basket.
We will be moving from this house shortly, as it has been sold. It is a special place, beautiful, elemental and challenging and we are both grateful to have stayed here. Our project is developing successfully and we look forward to the future. This blog has been an essential part of our work to date, and we will continue to discuss important developments regarding this project in due course.
Weather: Some wet days, mostly dry and bright, the 25th of December was particularly glorious. 28th December onwards – windy, stormy, very wet and overcast.
So much has happened in such a short time. The General Election unfolded pretty much as expected. Mr. Corbyn gifted the government of the UK to Boris Johnson by allowing this election with its inappropriate timing to be all about Brexit – we now have five -long years to wait for an opportunity to vote-in a government with an agenda which is meaningfully socially progressive. Boris must have thought that Christmas had come early (for him)! Certainly there is no surprise in Scotland, what with virtually only representation from the S.N.P. – the cries for independence have understandably become ever more demanding, other agendas and policy discussions are inevitably taking a back seat. The call for ‘Indyref 2’ (ugh) becomes the only show in town..
Ordinary life, nevertheless, prevails – schools closed and the festive preparations began. The blissful lack of advertising on the island made the rampant Christmas consumerism less obvious and even gave me and Nicola space to appreciate the ‘gaudy’ Xmas jumpers worn by the co-op staff – although I have recently been informed that “Christmas jumpers add to the plastic pollution crisis”. ‘We humans’ have become an environmental disappointment!
Trail cameraTrail camera
The Hebridean Smokehouse is situated in Clachan on North Uist. The Smokehouse is a notable place to shop, whatever the season, and over the festive period (I am told) this becomes an extremely popular place to shop in and online. Their products are being sent to UK and non-UK addresses as well as to select Super Markets. Food Hampers are such a great gifts and Scottish Salmon, such as that produced at the Hebridean Smokehouse is a commodity that is scarcer than might be imagined. Most the Salmon farmed in Scotland is from Norwegian stock rather than from local strains as they are larger, and wild salmon are becoming a scarce commodity. Many people from this island work or have worked at this institution, and when in Newcastle recently, shopping at Waitrose, it was hard not to feel a certain pride in the elegant packing and presentation of their prime peat-smoked salmon and to wonder who had packed it…
Nicola and I planned to spend Christmas in Glasgow with Abigale, Nicola’s youngest daughter, and to this end, set off in our van complete with Alice (our siamese cat) in her portable transporter, Needless to say she complained so loudly that by the time we had reached Portree on Skye, she was sitting on Nicola’s lap in the front passenger seat. This pattern continued for most of the day, with Alice being intermittently returned to her travel basket when she became too difficult. She did settle down though and the journey, although long and mostly in the dark with pouring rain, was tolerable. Angelo (the other cat was left in Uist, in charge of rat control, and was checked on by our friends and neighbours Keith and Fran).
Christmas eve – shopping in some of Glasgow’s more fashionable
independent shops together with a visit to the local Morrison’s before taking
off in a taxi to the Arlington Baths Club, where Abi is a member and Nicola and
I could attend as guests. As before, it was ladies’ day in the wonderful
Turkish Suite and Nicola and Abi could make the most of this. We also attempted
swinging on the loops above the pool (with limited success) and Nicola shamed
us both into jumping off the diving board. The rest of the Christmas period was
spent quietly in the usual way, with periods of mild indulgence and relaxation,
interspersed with a sharp winter walk in nearby Queens Park.
Boxing day found me on the Megabus to Newcastle to complete the
Christmas agenda of visits including an excellent Sunday lunch at the Tanners
Arms on Stepney Bank before returning to the Western Isles via train and bus
the following week end. Nicola stayed on with her daughter and returned to Uist
on the 28th December.
December the 30th, I arrived in Uig at 2 pm and the ferry was due at 6pm. This was my only booking option, as I had not pre-booked and the other connections were full. There is a lesson in there somewhere?
In Uig the Café’s and pubs were closed. I spent 5 hours in Calmac Ferry’s Terminal waiting room, reading a crap novel that I had hastily acquired together with some nuts and a flapjack during the 15 minute lunch stop, at Fort William. During my time in the Ferry Terminal I noticed the changes to the Ferry Port Terminals planned for 2021, to accommodate the new ferries being constructed for this route. It looks as if the Lochmaddy service will run from Ullapool for a few months..
Nicola met me off the boat at 8.30pm, after a relatively calm crossing –
a mere 12-and-a-half-hour journey from Newcastle.
30th Dec. Back on the island and the winds have started to blow. The sheep are once again on the croft surrounding the house and there is a hiatus as the old year ends and we celebrate its passing in the usual fashion. The new year promises much.
Our cats are pleased that normal service has resumed.
As is inevitable with a relatively short programme and much to discuss,
many of the questions that the seminar had hoped to address remained at least
partially unanswered. These remain for another day. What was a great success,
however was the overall range and quality of the presentations on the day which
bear favourable comparison with many high level academic seminars and
conference presentations that I have attended. The University of the Highlands
and Islands is an important presence on this island and contributes much to the
development of its cultural and intellectual life of which we are all grateful
participants in.
Trail camera
The weather in November has surpassed all expectations with still days
where the lochs reflect the sky and the surface of the silent water creates the
effect being surrounded by light. More recently the winds have returned,
firstly a cold wind from the east bringing frost, then a milder swirling
westerly wind bringing rain. During the colder months, we have found that the
best way to keep warm is to keep the fire going all day and night as much as is
possible, this is expensive as we use mostly smokeless fuel. It also produces
quite a lot of hot ash and emptying the ash can is a particularly hazardous
occupation when the wind is unpredictable. On more than one occasion, either
Nicola or myself have been covered in ash when confronted with the wind
whipping around the house. We are now
eagerly awaiting delivery of a wind resistant ash collecting tray from Amazon,
the handmaiden ( I know) of consumption
on the island.
The ongoing story of the rockets of Scolpaig in the North of the Island
has quietened down for now, although it has been confirmed that an updated and
improved proposal for a Spaceport in the far north of the Scottish mainland
will be submitted early in the new year. It will have all of the necessary
Political support, and seems likely to succeed. Given the history of the site,
the proposed site near Tongue in Sutherland would seem to be more appropriate
than that of Scolpaig on North Uist, although that does not necessarily make it
a good idea. Hopefully they will leave North Uist alone.
Other local developments concern the Ferry Terminal in Lochmaddy. The
small, and rather elegant building that used to be the tourist office in
Lochmaddy and currently most usefully houses Uist Film, an offshoot of Taigh
Chearshabagh (the Arts Centre) is due to be demolished to make way for the
island’s first roundabout, together with a car park – so what passes for
progress seems to have reached North Uist after all… There will be a small wake
to mark its closure.
Nicola and I were invited by artist and lecturer Rosie Blake, at the
University of the Highlands and Islands at Taigh Chearsabhagh, to take part in
the second planned Pecha Kucha evening, to be held at Taigh Chearsabhagh on the
5th of December2019. Pecha Kucha (Japanese: chit-chat), is a
storytelling format where a presenter shows 20 slides for 20 seconds of
commentary each (6 minutes and 40 seconds total). This has become a
popular method of presenting ideas briefly and succinctly.
My Pecha Kucha was entitled ‘Some Places of Interest’ and Nicola’s was
called ‘My Cabinet of Curiosities’ other contributions were from Fiona MacIsaac, Raphael Rychetsky, Rosie
Blake and Andy
Mackinnon. These presentations offer an interesting, albeit brief, insight
into the individuals concerns and the evening was an entertaining one. There
will be future sessions at the centre in the new year.
Now the trout fishing season is over my friend and fishing companion, Keith Dawson and I, plan to spend time tying up some flies. We had a morning session scheduled and despite being somewhat rusty, we managed to tie a dozen or so useful deer-hair patterns with the assistance of some you – tube videos of an irritatingly competent instructor. Next season will see us putting these to the test, convinced that the trout will not necessarily notice the difference, and favour a brilliantly tied fly over our more utilitarian constructions. I have always felt that competition between participants in such activities as fishing was unseemly, but these flies just have a look about them..
The fine still weather that we have enjoyed recently has moved on to be
replaced by yet more snarly winds, firstly from the North then the South-West.
Today the ferries are not running and indoor activities are sensible. Nicola
has been away teaching and I (adagio) have been able to catch up on the recent
run of excellent football results by looking at the highlights of the recent
games in which the mighty Magpies have crested 10th position in the
Premier league. This is not what I had predicted, but then I still have hopes
that we may get a Labour Government later this week.. Like the Atlantic Salmon, wild Tories are
scarce in these parts but at least nobody is farming them and Scotland will be
foremost in leading the resistance against the most extraordinary ship of fools
ever experienced anywhere near government, at least in my lifetime.
Our cats always know about the weather. If both cats stay on the bed,
then we’re in for a period of wet weather. When Angie (the white lion) relaxed
on the bed and looks as if he has stopped breathing, it is going to be raining
hard accompanied by strong winds. As soon as they stand up and stretch
themselves, then the rain is about to stop. When either, or both, (depending on
the degree) sits too close to the fire means that the wind is in the North, and
when Alice our young Siamese cat stands on the windowsill and gazes out of the
upstairs windows is a sure sign that it will be sunny. So reliable are these
indications that I have ceased to use the BBC and Met Office weather apps..
Weather: Some still days with good sunrises and sunsets. Glasgow: wet
The Tuesday 19th of November morning ferry was a little slow
to depart. It was a dark morning, with a stiff breeze blowing. Nicola dropped
me off at the terminal and I carried my usual luggage plus a camera bag
complete with film, camera and flash onto the boat. The usual camera that I
carry with me is a small digital model but unfortunately it is currently away
being repaired, the lens having become loose. I felt I should take some kind of
camera with me and so I was left with an elderly medium format rangefinder
camera and some 120 film. I had forgotten how heavy and inconvenient it was. I
mostly used my iphone camera and made some contributions to my Instagram account.
As I was having a Cal-Mac breakfast of smoked salmon and scrambled eggs
the dawn was breaking red and gold over the west coast of the Scottish
mainland. The boat arrived at 9. 30 which was 15 minutes behind schedule. My
bus was due to leave from Uig at 9.30, which indeed it did – much to my consternation
and that of two other potential passengers, that I watched helplessly from the
quayside. The usual practice is for the bus to wait for the connecting ferry
but the services are not well joined up. (Previously I had asked for the
connecting bus timetable at the ferry terminal to be told “we don’t know about
the buses”) Makes perfect sense…. The ‘courtesy bus’ to ferry passengers from
the Pier Head to the Ferry Terminal was waiting on the quayside and the driver
kindly offered to drive us to Portree where we could catch up with the 915 City
bus, which would be waiting there. This bus driver mentioned that the 915 City bus
driver was a newly recruited young man who “was not quite sure how things are
done around here.”
The two other passengers and I were duly delivered to Portree in time to
connect with the 915 Glasgow service. Thank you Mr. Bus Driver!
Having caught up with the 915 City bus we had our tickets checked. When one
of the other passengers (an American woman) quietly and politely remonstrated
with the driver that he must have known that we were due on the bus in Uig, as
we had previously booked and he had a list of the passengers, he must have
known we were coming. She was clearly
told “If it’s a bother you can find yourself another service” We all quickly
settled down for the remainder of the journey, feeling uncomfortably fortunate
to be on this bus at all.
After a change of driver in Fort William and many stops later, the bus
arrived, in good time in Glasgow. The intensity of the traffic always comes as
a shock after a period living on the island. I made for the Horseshoe Bar in Drury Street
in central Glasgow. This had been highly recommended to me by Prof. McIntyre of
Bernerey. I went to meet my younger son, newly en-nobled Dr. Sean Kippin. This is a lively
pub – full of great fixtures and fittings, and as Scotland were due to play
Kosovo that evening colourful traditionally dressed football fans were warming
up and gently self-medicating in time for the match – well worth a visit. Later
we visited The Pot Still in Hope
Street another excellent old fashioned pub with good beer and a wicked, but for
me possibly indigestible, line in Mutton pies and baked beans. We finished the
evening, unsurprisingly, with a spanking hot curry.
Spending a day in central Glasgow is always a pleasure and I managed to
fit in the Modern Institute, The Print Workshop, Street Level, the Centre for
Contemporary Arts and the Museum of Modern Art. All in all, a mixed bag of
works but all offering a high level of engagement with a range of contemporary
arts practice. I also called in on one of the independent guitar shops where I
wanted to try one of the locally hand-made classical instruments that I had
seen on a previous visit, together with a visit to a wonderful used clothes
emporium, both sites overlooked by a huge wall painting of Billy Connelly, why not..
I even managed to use my ancient film camera to make one or two
pictures, although the light was very poor (the dreich). One quickly forgets
some of the limitations of such equipment, not to mention the weight.. given
the capability of some digital cameras to operate under such low light
conditions.
The evening was spent at the cinema watching ‘The Irishman’ a film to
challenge the stoutest bladder in one sitting and is a worthy successor to Martin
Scorsese’s earlier ‘wiseguy’ films. I had read that the unique costume designer
Sandy Powell had made over 100 suits for Robert De Niro and I am looking
forward to seeing it again on Netflix, with Nicola, and will maybe think about
counting them.
Thursday 21st November: I had long wanted to visit the famous
Arlington Baths for a much-needed swim. Nicola had booked for me to be shown
around the facilities which include saunas and Turkish baths and a health club
full of astonishing gymnasium devices. It was women’s day in the Turkish bath
so I was unable to visit this but it does look amazing in the photographs, so
next time perhaps. I moved rather sheepishly through the gym section, thinking
that it looked a bit too much like a torture chamber, and why would I pay for
that? The changing rooms and the swimming pool (there were hand painted notices
on the ancient door announcing ‘The Pond’ ) were a different matter however,
and there is a lounge where after an intense workout one could meet other
members of the (health) club and use the bar..
I swum for an hour or so in one of the lanes marked on the bottom of the
pool. The form is to wait until another member has vacated the lane before
using it, which I did. After using the pool-side sauna (such luxury) I was
standing by the edge of the pool wondering where the shower was when the
attendant said to me “Do you mind having a shower if you intend to get back in
the pool?’ A reasonable request. I said “its OK, I’m like Prince Andrew, I
don’t sweat” He looked at me with astonishment for no more than one second,
before a smile creased his face and he said ‘the shower is through that door”.
If I were to live in Glasgow, membership of the Arlington Health Club would
become a priority and a much better investment than a season ticket at St.
James Park.
Lunchtime was spent at the Civic
Street Canteen in the delightful company of Abigale Neate-Wilson
the events director and Nicola’s youngest daughter. No 26, Civic Street is an
arts venue based in a converted print works and is close to the better known
‘Glue Factory’ artist’s centre on the North side of the City. The upstairs space is generous and
well-appointed and the canteen serves excellent vegetarian food. Lucky Glasgow.
It still manages to have a lively and progressive arts scene that is not ruined
by developers.
Friday the 22nd November: I was on time to catch the 10 am
bus from Buchanan Street back to Skye via Fort William and despite my concerns,
given that the bus arrives in Uig only 10 minutes before the ferry departs, the
journey went smoothly. We even had the same driver, who seemed in a much better
mood.. Nicola met me at Lochmaddy ferry
and drove us back to Minish. Nicola and I talked about the following day’s
Symposium (which we were both contributing to) at the North Uist Arts Centre, Taigh
Chearshabagh – ‘Drawing from Life, the
Artist Educator’.
Angelo and Alice were pleased to see me – at least I like to think were.
Onn (gold)
Nicola
Tuesday the 19th of November, I drove John to the ferry around 7am – it was dark, windy and raining so I did not hang around. I quickly drove back to the cottage in Minish to light a nice fire and do some drawings and photo-retouching work.
Wednesday the 20th of November, I attended the writing workshop with poet Mandy Haggith. This was a first for me and an inspiring afternoon. There were about 10 attendees, as with a lot of these events, only one man. I sometimes wonder what men do for extra interests, other than fishing of course, this is a very popular man hobby especially in the Hebrides. Perhaps bird watching is also a popular extra curricular man ‘ting’… Anyway, going off topic.
The writing/poetry workshop was very challenging and informative, there are a lot of very good writers and poets here. Pauline Prior Pitt runs a poetry club, which is thriving and even has a waiting list.
The writing/poetry workshop was based around a piece of yellow gorse (Onn in Gaelic) also sometimes called furze or whin. The group, under the guidance of Mandy Haggith, discussed this strangely mythological flowering bush.
It is believed to extend protective powers over herds
It smells like coconut combined with marzipan and tastes like almonds
It flowers can and are used to to colour and flavour whisky
It can be made into Yellow Gorse Wine.
The gorse bush is a prolific plant in the Outer Hebrides with sun-kissed apricot yellow flowers and although it has seasons where it flowers more than others, it does in fact never stop flowering all the year around. Which is fortunate as there is a saying that goes:
“When gorse is out of bloom, kissing is out of season”
Gorse also has some pagan witchy associations too; it is linked to love and fertility – but beware – if you bring it in the house it is extremely unlucky.
By the end of the workshop I was much informed and impressed by this thorny ‘wee’ Hebridean beauty – but I warn you, mind their needle like thorns!
The last hour of the workshop was set aside for writing and there were some lovely descriptions and prose written by the members of this group – I managed just one feeble line. I feel more sessions are needed if I were to show anything, it was hard enough just reading my line out to the group. They were all very encouraging of course.
Thursday 21st Nov. after some teaching on the UHI art course, I met Fiona Pearson for lunch in the Taigh Chearsabhagh cafeteria. We had a lovely soup and coffee and a very good chat about art and life and grandchildren.
John and I arrived in Uist in February this year, so this is our first Autumn here and it has been amazing for me to see the landscape changing over the seasons. In the cottage that I am staying in, the bedroom windows overlook a sea loch and I have the pleasure of watching the morning light, as I drink my tea. The distant hills go through an array of colours, as the sunlight moves over them. Orange, to gold, to yellow, then blue, grey, slate to purple. Always shifting – each colour shaping and set against another, placed to enhance, placed in contrast and never the same. Sometimes a bird gets caught in a gust of wind (often a seagull) and glides by. Netflix just doesn’t compete!
Friday 22nd November, I pick John up from the ferry in Lochmaddy at about 7.45pm – just in time to talk about the following day’s Symposium (which we were both contributing to) at the North Uist Arts Centre, Taigh Chearshabagh – ‘Drawing from Life, the Artist Educator’.
The cats are such great company when I am on my own. Alice is so affectionate and follows me around the house. Angelo still holds the title of mighty rat catcher of Minish!
Weather: Temperate, especially when compared to the weather conditions in the North East of England and Glasgow. No flooding.
Since the clocks have gone back the nature of the days have changed. The arguments given to ensuring lighter mornings makes more sense in this latitude, although the afternoons still become evenings quickly enough – dusk starts at 4pm (Creating a minor confusion around wine o’ clock). The lack of street lights in the Hebrides, means that the nights are an intense velvet black that is only broken on clear nights by a back drop of stars stretching into infinity and from the light of the moon, this can be very bright and intense when it is full. The winter nights are a shock when they come and are in such contrast with the almost 24 hour light that is experienced throughout the summer months.
There have been
some spectacular Autumn days with beautiful light and only some strong winds
mostly coming from the North East. There have also been several wind free days
and these days have a profound clear silence. Nicola and I have been very grateful
to have escaped the deluge experienced by much of the North of England. (The
one referred to by our visionary Prime Minister as ‘not a national emergency’).
The oncoming
autumn has once again changed the colour of this fascinating and remarkable landscape,
the rusty brown/gold palette has now become desaturated making pale yellows and
lime green moors to be framed against the fading distant purples and blues of
the hills. It sometimes feels like the landscape is drawing breath before embarking
properly with the winter. Sadly though, on the 6th November a high
wind meant the bonfire celebration in Lochmaddy had to be cancelled.
The Autumn has also brought a new emphasis with the local bird life. Because of the lack of blossoming vegetation, it has been easier to see the redwings and thrushes pulling out worms and the tiny wrens going about their urgent business. The snipe and curlews are in evidence and the starlings and lapwings are gathering in flocks. There are lots of swans and geese – the returning birds, and a variety of ducks and gulls. I took a cross country walk to Lochmaddy from Minish (approximately 2 miles) and it was good to see a lone seal fishing in the loch immediately next to the Arts Centre at Taigh Chearsabhagh. This was accompanied by a kestrel, hovering above the ground below. These are truly the sights to lift the spirit.
As a mark, of what
Nicola and I feel is ‘community acceptance’, our neighbour now shares the odd
local folk tale:
“A man called Angus (what else) left the
kitchen to collect a pail of water from the small shallow freshwater loch in
front of the house. When he never returned, he was searched for high and low by
his family and then by members of the local community. The ensuing rumours
described every possible and impossible reason for his sudden disappearance
including (reasonably) drowning together with (unreasonably) the sighting of
bright lights and consequent possible abduction by aliens. He was never seen
again on the islands, although one farmer mentioned seeing someone whom he
thought might be him on the boat from Lochboisdale on his way to Mallaig.
Possibly in search of a Sainsburys.. so if you are ever referred to as doing an
‘Angus’ – this is what is meant!”
There has been
much travelling to and from the garage in Benbecula (Creagorry Motors) as both
of our banger fleet have been due for MOT Testing. On a previous visit I went
to pay the bill for a recent service and as I forgot to retain the invoice I
apologised for my dis-organisation, and asked if it was a problem finding the
paperwork, I was told ‘only if your name is MacDonald..’ One of our vehicles
has so far passed and we are waiting for our second one to be repaired. It is a
pity that there is no discount loyalty scheme. We would prosper. On the
cultural front, this week the mighty Newcastle United completed their second
‘back to back’ win. Thank you V.A.R. (How does Steve Bruce do it?)
It has been necessary to perfect the art of circular fire-making. We use household coal with kindling to initiate the process, followed by smokeless fuel. If this is topped up first thing in the morning it keeps the house reasonably warm depending on the strength and direction of the wind. Much of our work is done in the house, and keeping warm has become a preoccupation. It is expensive though. One early November afternoon, escaping the house, we drove to Scolpaig (a favorite coastal walk) to ramble along the coast where the surf was huge, foaming and crashing into the bay there. It wasn’t particularly windy when we arrived although the waves were steadily building, threatening a stormy evening ahead.
With the possible and
imminent Brexit looming over us all and whilst doing the ‘weekly’ in the local
Co-op I made a note of where the items in our basket were sourced from. In no
special order, these included: Pears (Netherlands); Tomatoes (Spain); Apples
(Belgium); Lemons (Spain); Garlic (Italy); Oranges (Spain); Walnuts (Muldova?);
Olive Oil (Italy); Cheese (France); Halloumi (Greece); Olives (Spain); Wine
(Italy and France). Roll on Brexit.. To be fair the shopping basket also
contained some Venezuelan (Chocolate) ice cream and some Bolivian quinoa so
ever conscious of Brexit, we’re not worrying.
The General Election seems a long way away – even more to do with the tight- knit London media scene than previously and ever more a cause for dismay. Bring back Screaming Lord Such and the Monster Raving Loony party. At least he knows he’s bonkers. The Scottish Nationalists will almost certainly represent these Islands after the forthcoming General Elections, which is sensible, given that Labour are unlikely to attain their pre-eminence and only the SNP will unify the Scottish vote against the Tories.
Too much reliance on social media is quickly depressing, we seem to be continually either burning or drowning and everyone else it seems is to be on the trip of a lifetime.. Perhaps it is just too much information about too many different things. It is sometimes difficult to keep up.
It has been
necessary to keep Alice, our still young cat, indoors today as a vast White
Tailed Sea Eagle flapped across the loch at the rear of our house. Our other
cat, despite his visibility is safe from aerial attack due to his great size.
How the local rats do not see him coming remains a mystery to me but the
half-rats complete with highly visible internal organs continue to be deposited
at the doorstep (as a love token) with impressive regularity.
Weather: Sunshine
and showers with some very still days. Relatively warm. We seemed to have
missed the heavy rain of most of the rest of the UK.
Much of the week’s
activities have been planned around a major programme of retouching work that
Nicola has been working on behalf of Newcastle photographer John Faulkner. This is
relatively straightforward work for a commercial client. It is however,
painstaking and time-consuming requiring a high level of patience and skill. It
has also been a time to catch up on some academic written work and blog
writing. My own photoshop skills are relatively basic so I have found it
compelling to see the amazing difference to the image after it has been
skillfully retouched. This process is effectively a re-visioning of the
original image extending the authorship of the photograph.
The weekly yoga
session is held at Carinish hall. I am usually the only male present and am
useless. Nevertheless, apart from swimming, yoga, as taught by the excellent Sheila Park, is an hour of
relaxation combined with exercises at a level set by the individual themselves.
After the session Nicola and I went back to Sheila’s house where we made a couple
of portraits of her, one in the garden of her house accompanied by her
enthusiastic Black Labrador (difficult tonal range) and one of her in her yurt
which she had left up for another day specially to accommodate us.
We planned a
dinner date in celebration for 2 visiting artists. Rosie Roberts is a video artist from
Glasgow and Maija Annikki Savolainen is from Helsinki.
All seven guests brought food and drink and we managed to fit everyone in our
modest sized living room. We had a brilliant evening with lots of singing and
story-telling. Alice, our kitten, bouncing around the room creating mayhem
wherever she alighted. Maija perhaps thought that we are always like this, and
at least we gave them both a good send off. Most of the next day was spent
recovering, one way or another.
After the debacle of last week, witnessing my car/van parking itself in an astonished stranger’s front garden, it was time to take it in to have the handbrake examined and treat it to a service. I left the car/van overnight at Creagorry Motors in Benbecula, with the key in it to be looked at the following morning. Nobody really bothers to lock their cars, and I have often witnessed cars with their engine’s running where their drivers have gone off to do a spot of shopping.. Naturally for several reasons this is perhaps not a good idea, but I think you could leave an unlocked bicycle by the roadside here and it would rust away before anybody stole it. When this was tested on Tyneside, it was less than an hour before the bicycle disappeared – in London it takes even less time!
The car/van needed
a new caliper which would be fitted when the parts order arrives in a few days.
I felt at least partially vindicated as the previous incident had not been
completely due to my own incompetence. We also had a few issues with Nicola’s
car involving a flat battery due to an interior light staying on overnight
(which I might have helped happen). The mechanics at Creagorry Motors were more
than happy to test the battery at a moment’s notice. It was fine, thank you
guys.
Later in the week
we photographed our friend Keith Dawson. This was a good session and the
beautiful sunny day meant that we could work both inside and outside. Nicola
and I have found that it is helpful to have more than one option though, and
this approach has become more useful as the project has developed. Although
usually we try to work using available light, on this occasion we needed to add
a little light to the overall levels in Keith’s house mostly to lift the
shadows a little.
12th October Saturday evening we
visited one of our immediate neighbour’s houses Ron and Amanda. Both are a mine
of information about all local matters relating to North Uist and thereabouts.
Ron (who is from Newcastle!) has been a crofter for 40 or so years and cuts his
peat in the traditional way using the peat spade. The most common method these
days is to hire the use of a mechanical peat-cutter. This saves the initial
work although the peat still needs to be stacked, dried and bagged. It is never
easy work. We had a pleasant evening and later we walked back home guided by
the light from the (nearly) full moon.
As the next morning was sunshine and showers and a rainbow had formed across the distant hills. We walked in the garden to look at the rainbow. There was a deep whump, whump sound and a squadron of swans flew over to the house and out towards the sea. The Whooper swans are returning to the Uists for the winter, and they are a welcome sight. These swans flew in a tight arrow formation with military precision and are a glorious sight. The Red Arrows have much to catch up on..
The coming of Autumn has meant the purple heather has gone and the moorlands are now covered with russet gold bracken fern. There have been several spectacular days, beautiful creamy pink and purple sunrises and sunsets and some days have even been without any wind. On these still days the lochs are a silver mirror to the sky and the world around then seems strangely to be turned upside down.
Later in the day we drove down Committee Road where we watched 3 golden eagles flying high above the highest point of the island. It was the best view of Eagles in the wild I have experienced and they were around for long enough for us both to get a really good look. They are a spectacular sight, their command of the skies is total. At this crepuscular time of the day, a deer stood close by our car and watched us whilst we listened to the incredible roaring sound of the deer rutting in the nearby woods. On arriving home I watched a clip of Mattie Longstaff finishing off Manchester United. Bliss.
The fishing has
been disappointing this year although that maybe due to a relative lack of
experience in fishing here. This time Keith and I walked up to one of the hill
lochs still fishable at this time of the year as it contains sea trout
(allegedly). The recent rain had made for a very muddy track and we both had
wet feet on arrival despite wearing wellingtons. The fishing was slow with only
a few brown trout caught but the loch is beautifully situated in the hills and
the surface was as still as oil. A sea eagle flew the length of the loch with
its massive wings and seemingly languid flight. Shortly after, a stag appeared
at the head of the loch bellowing for a mate. By the time we had walked back to
Keith’s land Rover we were exhausted.
Scolpaig tower is the central icon around
which our concerns about the proposed development of a Spaceport on the Island
is focused. We wanted to make some early evening photographs and construct some
artworks that could be used in various campaigns of resistance to these plans.
This is not a place that is likely to attract the attention of large numbers of
protestors or the mainstream media, but it is important for us to contribute to
resisting these proposals in any way that we can. We had left it a little late,
and had no red gels to use with our lights. In true Chris
Wainwright style however, we were able to press a Maltesers packet
into service to obtain the necessary red filter on our torch.
On other outings
with Chris we had used the red plastic packaging from Mr Kiplings’ cake
products. I was dismayed to see that they were now using clear colourless
plastic, of no use to photographers (or the environment) in fact, completely
useless. At least I can find a use for the Maltesers.. Nicola and I managed to
make some images, learning a lot on the job, including that wading across to
the tower wearing normal thigh-length waders in the near dark was unwise, and
that long exposures using digital cameras is pushing them to the limits of what
they can do. Come suitable weather we will return to Scolpaig and continue to
develop our work-in –progress. Just a short distance from here we had watched
as the Eagles owned the skies without the fear of the lunacy of rockets
destroying their habitat and driving them into extinction.
Tuesday the 15th
October the Island was visited by the ‘Gallery in a Bus’ a travelling
exhibition space which was showing an exhibition by Alec Finlay. Neither Nicola
or I had previously encountered this gallery which was parked outside Taigh
Chearsabhagh for the day. They had travelled from Stornoway to Lochmaddy and
were due in Skye the next day. Jo Arksey gave us a tour of the
exhibition and told us something of the history of this project which goes back
40 years. The exhibition is excellent and well worth a visit and you will be
welcomed, should it be passing a venue near you… http://www.travellinggallery.com/
Friday the 18th
October we walked to Lochmaddy, as it was such a beautiful afternoon picking
mushrooms along the way. The air has a distinctly autumnal feel and the
dampness is condusive to the growing of all kinds of fungi. The mushrooms we
encountered were mostly different varieties of Waxcap, all of which are safe to
eat, although some taste better than others. Stopping at the Lochmaddy Hotel
offered a welcome rest and given that it was nearly dark we decided to eat at
the nearby Hamersay House Restaurant. After an excellent supper an Aldas taxi was
called on our behalf to take us home. Our driver told us he was 85 years old.
He drove us back to Minish at a stately 15mph. He also said he had been working
on North Uist since he was 14 years old. On sunny days, in Lochmaddy, he
exhibits his vintage motorcars, parking them in the main road for all to see.
One of these cars is a metallic green 1955 Vauxhall Cresta that has travelled
only 7000 miles from new. He did not want a tip for his services which were
most reasonably priced.
The sea loch close
to the house has a number of big fish in it, usually Coalfish (coley) or
Pollack. These have the local names Saithe and Laithe respectively. There may
be some sea trout as well, but I have never seen evidence of this. The loch is
fairly shallow and weedy
And I have fished
it with both flies and lures. On this visit the weed was particularly
difficult and there was a snarly wind. I
hunkered down trying to keep as low a profile as possible and tried a floating
pike plug and bang! Two beautiful fish. It has been a very variable season but
the sea fish have provided some memorable moments and some welcome fresh food.
Another drive to
Lochboisdale, this time to pick up Nicola’s daughter Abi and her partner Chris,
who are staying for a week to look after our cats. Nicola and I have a week on
the mainland…
Since Angie has
had his teeth fixed (scale and polish) his temper has improved. He was always
on the moody side in an impressive, brooding kind of way. Even with Alice
flying in his face he remains sanguine. His rat count is steady with around 2 a
day being average (one is usually headless) all beautifully presented at the
doorstep. Alice, meanwhile is becoming keen to be outside, even though when she
does manage to get out, she rushes back in like a startled rabbit. We think
that she is showing signs of being on heat. Oh joy.
Weather: Mostly
good with lots of sunshine, quite windy.
I met Alan and Mick at the
ferry terminal and they followed me on their bikes to our house.
Having parked the bikes, they were pleased to have completed the ride. Having ridden similar distances previously I can well understand that they did not want to get back on the bikes until the time to leave. The four of us had a brilliant weekend, the weather was excellent and we visited some of the local places of interest, we had quite long walks, visited cafes including the excellent Seafood café at Kallin where bacon and scallop rolls are available. On the table next to where we were sitting, a man returned the salad that accompanied his main course on the grounds that he hadn’t asked for it…) We visited the excellent Westford Inn for Sunday lunch and generally caught up with one another. We had a wonderful evening of projected music videos, taking it in turns to afflict one another with our own particular musical proclivities. The weather was good as they left early on the Tuesday morning. Alan and Mick were excited on seeing a large number of dolphins on the ferry back to Skye. Their ride back to Newcastle was damp in places but unproblematic. It was a great trip for all involved.
We have had a week of administration and catching up with necessary paperwork. I have been re-reading a thesis for examination and have been sorting out such tedious necessities as preparing the accounts. Nicola has been scanning and preparing images for various purposes and has been preparing her teaching presentations for next week, when the University new term begins.
We have managed to make two
portraits this week and to discuss the planning of another. This work is slow
but is always enjoyable, we work with individuals (and some couples) to plan
how we will approach this work. It is a creative and collaborative act and we
are making steady progress. We have agreed to exhibit a ‘work in progress’
exhibition at Taigh Chearsabhag next summer.
Looking out of the upstairs
bedroom window one morning I noticed what I thought was a dead sheep on the
foreshore of the loch behind our house. On closer inspection, it turned out to
be lying on its back, but was still breathing although looking somewhat
alarmed. Nicola and I are insufficiently experienced with sheep to know if its
condition was serious, or what to do in this situation, so I walked to see Andy
our next door neighbour who works the croft next to the house. He came down and
promptly pulled it up on its hind legs. It then trotted off up the hill, mud
spattered and happy apparently none the worse for its experience. Apparently
sheep ca die if they are upended in this way and not found.Next time, we will
all know what to do.
The following week Nicola started the new teaching term at the University, and I was once again, en route to Newcastle and on the boat to Uig. After my long drive, the next morning was spent in Alan’s shed at his house in Gateshead machining valve guides and grinding in the valves to fit the cylinder heads of my R50/2 BMW. Later, Alan rode over to Kenton on his 30’s Ariel and we spent the rest of the afternoon fitting them back on the bike. Such fun. This accomplished , the bike was put in the shed, probably until next year.
Home Alone
Nicola
Weather: Changeable. Strong winds with showers and some bright spells.
Monday 8th September morning, John headed off to the main-land for an extensive (10 day) road trip to Brighton and some financial meetings in Newcastle.
This is also marked the beginning of term and my 1st Tutorial introduction to students at Taigh Chearsabhagh Centre for the University of the Islands and Highlands (UHI). A great BA Art course with some very talented students, I look forward to supporting them this academic year.
Tuesday September 10th – a significant plummet into autumnal weather, which in Uist means the winds develop a ferocious energy. My trip to the local Solas Co-op became more of an expedition. With my wind proof coat firmly fastened and Co-op bags in tow I left the house and as I turned to head towards the front garden and driveway I am hit by the hurtling whirling wind, ‘Splat’ – like a slap in my face. My Carrier bags flapped beside like parachute balloons causing me to moon-walk down the drive to the gates, that need opening before I get into the car. There is also rain, that has been given a wind-force factor making the rain drops fire like little pins into my face. The car it’s self requires a Houdini manoeuvre to get in – I have to hold on to the doors tightly (so they don’t fly off the car) and then wedge myself into the driver’s seat. Every movement I make is obstructed and exaggerated, the phrase ‘battling the elements’ feels the proper way to describe walking to and getting into the car. When secured inside the haven of my vehicle, I am almost exhausted, but also strangely ecstatic and windblown.
Much of my time, when John is away, is spent catching up on scanning and other essential time consuming digital work – I spent Wednesday and Thursday, some of Friday and Saturday doing my media ‘catch-up’ which as every ‘anorak’ will tell you can take up many hours in the day, and to anyone else this can be uneventful and obssesive. I enjoy the intensity of this kind of work, but am aware that there is not much to discuss that might be of interest to most people.
I will move straight to Friday evening – and the more important Hebrides International Film Festival 2019 . At 5.30pm a viewing of the very appropriate ‘Rockets Galore’ (A must see for all North Uist residents!) directed by Michael Relph and based on the novel by Compton Mackenzie. The story line in this movie is almost identical to the ‘real’ proposal for the Space-port on the site of Scolpaig in North Uist. (There is only one questionable moment in the movie and that was when the local priest patted a small boys bottom (this is of course a sign of the times) – a distinct intake of breath was heard from the (now) more aware audience. Still a highly amusing film, with amazing back projections and very fitting – a prediction of events to come… ‘Rockets Galore II’ is in the making and to be set in North Uist!
The weather this week has had an overall wet and blustery presence, although Sunday let up enough to tempt me into a fabulous walk along the beach. I set off to Clachan Sands Beach, the nearest beach to Minish. I feel blessed to be living in a place where I can drive for just ten minutes and then arrive at the most beautiful white sands beach with turquoise water, a max of 5 other people and array of Oyster catchers, Lap wings, Sanderlings a variety of gulls – and other birds that I am not yet able to confidently identify.
John arrived safely back on the Wednesday – I was impressed with the amount of driving he did. I am always pleased when we are back together.
Angelo maintains his title as ‘King Ratter’ whilst Alice has developed an unhealthy taste for flies – this causes havoc with her stomach and the catching of them causes havoc with anything that might be in the way of her and the targeted fly.
John
I was driving down to Ashby
de la Zouch in Leicestershire to meet up with Dave Cubby who was over from
Australia amongst other things, to meet up with some folks in Brighton. I
parked the van outside his sister Janet’s house and was drinking a cup of tea
when Janet’s partner, Ian asked me why I had parked my car in the neighbour’s
drive. Oh no, said I – looking beyond the hall out towards the road, it’s on
the street outside…
Janet and Ian live on a
private cul-de-sac in Ashby in a detached bungalow, you get the idea.
My car had managed to slip
its handbrake, trundle off down the street, mount the kerb, enter the
neighbour’s drive (which was 50 yards opposite and further along the slight
downward slope of the street). It managed all of this on its own, and on
somehow turning into the neighbour’s drive, it destroyed the recycling bin (a
very good thing, recycling) before stopping 3 inches away from a brand new,
white BMW.
The owner of the car opened
the front door in her dressing gown, no doubt curious as to what must have made
the noise. She was very understanding. No harm seems to have been done and Ian
(bless Ian!) was able to replace the recycling bin with one he had spare.
Miracles do happen. Minutes later, the man of the house returned. He was very
big, and had fitted CCTV for security purposes only recently. This incident
provided, of course, the perfect opportunity to see what had actually happened. A small crowd developed around his
smart phone and were treated to an action replay. Meanwhile I had been keepin a
low profile having re-parked my car in Janet’ s driveway after taking the
precaution of leaving it in gear in addition to very nearly pulling the handbrake
lever off.
When the fuss had subsided
Dave drove to Brighton in a newly rented Nissan. He had learned to drive in
Australia in a car with an automatic gearbox. This car had six forward gears,
any one of which Dave was likely to engage without warning..
We parked in the Travelodge
car park before unpacking and walking along to the local Indian Restaurant.
Some day.
The next morning Dave and I
were due to meet up with Mick Duckworth and Charlie Hooker. We had all been a
part of creating ‘Experimental Studies’ in the early 70’s.
The afore-mentioned course
pathway had ‘evolved’ from the Fine Art Painting and Sculpture at the
University, before becoming ‘Critical Fine Art Practice. Experimental Studies
developed an alternative Fine Art culture that was seen as Socially based and
outwith the gallery system. Its media were performance, artist’s film (later
video) photography, writing, audio, in fact pretty much anything apart from
painting and sculpture, which we considered insufficiently conceptual and
belonging to an earlier sensibility.
As we arrived at the
University we were welcomed by a John Hilliard dual screen film piece playing
in the foyer. It featured a 19 year old version of myself pointing a 16mm film
camera at Tony Finch (whatever happened to Tony Finch?) who was pointing a 16mm
film camera at me. Sue Breakell is in charge of the archiving of materials
relating to the University and Naomi Saloman is currently responsible for the
Critical Art Practice programme. We were made welcome and we were there in
order to flesh out some of the missing details from the earliest years of the
programme. Jenny Lund, the curator of the Brighton Art Galley was also present
and she had previously interviewed John Hilliard, our main tutor at the time
and the central focus around which Experimental Studies had developed. Without
John, who encountered stiff resistance at the time, it would not have happened.
Apart from his continuing brilliant career as an artist, John became the
Professor at the Slade School, continuing his commitment to educating artists.
Charlie was to join us later although as the Professor of Sculpture
(ironically) he had previously made his contributions to the archive. Amongst
other things the six of us talked about was ‘the Fabulous Shitts’ a proto punk,
anarchistic rock and roll band including all of us in various capacities.
After the meeting, we met up with Charlie and Gordon Grant for an extended lunch, drifting into the evening in the Basketmakers Arms, a Brighton landmark where most of the drinkers were in the street outside the pub in the evening sunshine. The next day we spent wandering the around the entertaining Brighton shops buying hats and Cigars (!) before were back on the M25 on the way to Ashby de la Zouch, from where I picked up my errant car and drove back to Newcastle. Sunday was time to recuperate in the Tanner’s Arms for Lunch with my daughter Laura. The next couple of days were spent attending to the domestic and financial, before finding myself back on the boat from Uig to Lochmaddy, an evening sailing after a day’s driving in the rain.
THUNDERBIRDS are GO !
Weather: Mostly
fine and sunny with relatively light winds.
This perhaps needs to be restated. In the age of Environmental Extinction Rebellion, increasing climate change awareness and the ever-increasing levels of CO2, not to mention the awareness raising pleadings of Greta Thunberg and others. The Council think that it is a good idea to completely transform the unspoilt nature of this place and create a SPACEPORT! – ostensibly so that it can provide a few new jobs for the island, all without even the advice of a proper environmental impact study! Nicola and I attended several of the ‘consultation’ meetings that have been taking place where these proposals have tried to rail-road this through by the Council, who have purchased the land in order to make this planning application. So no conflict of interest there then..
There have, of course, been
many objections, but the Council attempts to marginalize a large number of
these with the insinuation that as many of the objectors are not ‘indigenous’
folk they somehow are not valid. The logic of this argument is extremely unpleasant and finds its echo in
Populist Politics around the World. Like the Amazonian forest and the Polar Ice
Cap the environment is of concern to us all, and cannot be the subject of the
whims of speculators and careless guardians such as the Island Council. Their
tactics are to keep this a local issue. In a small place, such as this,
everybody knows somebody or is related to somebody, who works with
somebody.. – voices are seldom raised
however keenly the issues are felt…The site at Scolpaig is an exceptionally
beautiful one. It is teeming with rare wildlife and plants, overflown by
eagles, has special archaeological
interest, and is loved by everyone who has ever visited it. It will be
ruined, never to be replaced and we and all of the world will all be the poorer
for it.
Still with the febrile
environment of the ‘consultation‘ meeting foremost in our minds, we returned to
the Community Centre in Carinish for our weekly yoga session. This is something
in which Nicola is consummate but I am as flexible as Nigel Farage..
It was a beautiful late
summer’s day, so after the yoga session, we decided to take our snorkeling
equipment and spend some time on the beach at Clachan where we swum in the
clear water as the tide gradually uncovered the white sands. During our Hans
and Lottie impersonations I was pluckily attacked by a crab – no doubt I was
viewed as an alien invader by the creature which had dug into the sand with
only its claws protruding and defending its territory from a monster 1000 times
its own size. Later, over the weekend we photographed Rosie and Raphael before
walking along the Machair foraging for mushrooms and other fungi. Raphael
spotted the biggest field mushroom that I have ever seen.
We had a week of writing
reports, feedback to students, cutting the grass (this takes at least 3 hours)
the odd unsuccessful fishing trip, visiting the vets, the usual shopping trips,
walks along our foreshore and preparation for our forthcoming trip to Harris
and Lewis at the weekend. We have booked an Airbnb in Harris and are looking
forward to the weekend. It is ostensibly to celebrate my 40th
birthday but is really to have a much-needed break. Keith has agreed to feed
Angelo our big white cat and Rosie and Raphael have agreed to look after Alice
our kitten. The evening before catching the ferry from Bernerey to Leverburgh
we dropped Alice, our kitten off with Rosie and Rafa and stood with them as we
watched an otter swimming in the bay close to their house in the western part
of the island.
It was sunny and warm the
next morning as we took the ferry on the way to Harris. There were porpoises in
the bay close to the island and we had an excellent journey keenly anticipating
the week ahead. We stopped at a very charming round café at Greabhal on the way
to our accommodation at Asaig. It was most welcome, and in addition to
excellent coffee and cakes they had the most beautiful ‘Sussex Rose’ handwash
in the lavatory, available to purchase in the café at only £20.. Because it was
nearly my birthday we shared a piece home-made caramel shortbread-truly
special!
Our accommodation was in a
rather charmless caravan, flesh pink on the inside with that gilded chintzy
finish to the fixtures and fixings beloved by caravan designers. It was
however, clean and warm with all of the necessary accessories, such as a
charming table lamp decorated with attractive fungi. We noticed that a short
way along the road there was a cattle grid. This meant that every time a
vehicle crossed the grid there was a whomp! The noise varied according to the
weight and type of vehicle. I imagine that one would be able to guess the type of
vehicle grossing the grid, but luckily we were only to be there for two
nights..
We visited the capital of the
Islands, Stornoway stopping off at a couple of charity shops on the way to the
centre. It is a pleasant enough town and is a considerable contrast in scale to
the other settlements on the islands. After some essential purchases including
lipstick and fishing line we had an excellent lunch at the Harbour Café, a
pleasant sea food brasserie in the modern style. Having lunched, we visited An
Lanntair, the Arts Centre situated opposite the ferry landing station. This was
busy with people in the large café area and generally milling around the ground
floor galleries where there was an exhibition of a catholic selection of work
by Tom Hickman.
We had coffee in the café (mostly milk) before
driving down to Callanish, the site of the Bronze Age circle comparable to the
Ring of Brodgar on Orkney or Stonehenge in England. During a previous visit to
Callanish, there were people everywhere on the site. This included a woman in
what was intended as a red druid’s outfit miming to a ‘celtic’ soft rock song
whilst being filmed. Every so often 6 other, similarly clad young women would
drift into the picture wafting in the ethereal breeze of the ages in time to the
music. I don’t know how successful the song was but at the time, it certainly
made the visit a memorable one. On this occasion we mostly had the place to
ourselves, the atmosphere being slightly compromised by one of the nearby
residents drilling something.. The site is a spectacular one with amazing views
across the hills and the sea loch and we were pleased to have experienced it on
a fine day.
The following day saw us
walking towards the Eagle hide in the Mountains of Harris. As we approached the
small car park we saw a pair of Golden Eagles being harassed by another bird,
probably a raven. These are spectacular birds in a wonderful landscape and we
were looking forwards to viewing them from the privileged situation of the
hide. As we walked up the valley the weather deteriorated and the rain started.
When it rains it rains hard. We were quickly soaked through, and it was a great
relief to eventually struggle on to the hide where we could shelter from the
rain. Needless to say, we saw no more eagles that day. By this time, the
visibility was poor and we were grateful to return to the car. Apart from a
further stop off at the rotund café at Greabhal on our way back to Leverburgh,
that was our (birthday) weekend. Two hours later we were picking up Alice, our
kitten from where she had been thoroughly indulged for the weekend by Rosie and
Rafael.
In cat-world – Angie has had his teeth examined, as his gums are causing him some discomfort. He has been booked in for a scale and polish in a couple of weeks time..
He whacked 5 Rats in one day!
His record to date. Alice managed to bring in a caterpillar as she is only a
trainee. She has eventually found her purr again as her nose was somewhat out
of joint after her weekend trip away from home. She has a tummy upset which
caused not a little embarrassment whilst she was away, and we will have to keep
an eye on her.
Weather: Very showery and mostly quite windy. Warm at nights when the wind is quiet and some midge filled intervals in the early mornings.
Following my late-night
arrival back in Minish, it seems like there was scarcely a moment before being
due at Lochmaddy Hall for the R.N.L.I. (Lifeboats) fundraising event. To this
end Nicola and I duly appeared with our Photo – Booth setup, although our
positioning in the hall was not ideal. The day contained all of the usual
events and sideshows and passed successfully with a significant sum being
raised for the Association. We had agreed to photograph the procession of the
inevitable pipe band marching from the pier to the hall, but the inclement weather
made this impossible. Instead the band played in the hall. Bagpipes of the
Scottish variety (as opposed to the Northumbrian or Galician pipe) are designed
to stir the blood on the field of battle and when played indoors are,
unsurprisingly, extremely loud..
Nicola and I had a very pleasant
evening and dinner with artist Fiona Pearson and her family. A
well spiced curry made by Fiona and Nicola’s homemade chocolate mouse.
Much of the week there-after
was spent in indifferent weather, catching up with the various writing and
reading tasks, together with producing materials for on-line and other
publications. There was time for a visit to the swimming pool and to see the
photographic exhibition about Vatersay by Paul Glazier on in the museum
in Lionaclete.
Nicola agreed to look after
our neighbour’s dog, cat and fish – for three days whilst they were away- this
meant dog walks twice daily, a cat count (the cat lived outside) and a
sprinkling of fish food in the fish tank. The black and white collie – called Geordie was a delight to walk, but a dog is
definitely more demanding as a pet than a couple of cats.
The area around our neighbours
house is quite boggy, it has been used for peat cutting and provides rough
grazing for sheep. This boggy land has many interesting plants – such as the carnivorous
sundew and increasingly, as the seasons are shifting towards Autumn – some very
interesting and quite rare fungi. Nicola spotted and picked some puff balls
that we later had with our lunch – a delicious mushroom tasting of omelettes.
Since being on the Island, Nicola has persuaded me to attend a yoga class with her and I would like to say that I really enjoy this gentle and restorative yoga class despite being flexibly challenged and the only man who attends.
The rain, meanwhile does not
seem to have abated for days, although the forecast suggests that there will be
a sunny warm period at the weekend.
The Saturday, was better than forecast – it was an excellent day, warm and sunny with light winds. As the weather was so good, we decided to take a walk at Scolpaig (as I have previously mentioned, proposals are in place to convert this special place into a rocket launch centre, so it was with a hint of sadness that we walked around the loch onto the grassland fringing the rocky shoreline here.) We encountered a number of Geologists and Entomologists with nets – they were collecting various types of algae from the fresh water loch around the tower and studying the different bee species. We were shown a nest of the Great Yellow Bumble Bee. It was lovely and informed walk – you just never know who you will meet out here. A hot haze filled the air this day and going indoors didn’t seem a like a good option on what could be the last of this summer’s days.
We chose to spend the evening
at Balashare beach, our favourite camping and swimming spot. We got back to the
house and packed the car with a substantial quantity of the household bedding
and cooking equipment. We took our newly acquired snorkeling gear, together
with usual body boards and inevitable wet suits and set off to Balashare. On
arrival at the beach, the weather made a dramatic change (dark clouds suddenly
started to ominously roll in) but we were committed. We pitched the tent (our
special anti-wind South-Uist model) and settled in against the prevailing wind (a
lively westerly). When our camp was secure, we went through the ritual of changing
into our wet suit gear, now with the addition of fluorescent blue (for me) and fluorescent
pink (for Nicola) flippers. Much hilarity was had. The surf was quite lively,
and it was quite an experience trying to walk into the sea with full snorkelling
equipment fitted. What became increasingly obvious, was that this was not the
right place for this activity – it was impossible to see much of anything in
the sandy turbulence of the water. I ended up being up-ended, and quickly went
back to using the more familiar body board. We had a most joyful frolic, jumping
on and surfing the waves.
After an hour or so, wet and
windblown, we headed back to camp and prepared our portable barbecue,
surrounding it with wind-breaking stones. We had an excellent supper (in the
rustic style). We spent a comfortable(ish) night in our tent despite the noisy lashing
of the wind, threatening to blow us away. Early the next morning, we hastily
packed up (before the inevitable rain) and returned to the house. We had our
morning coffee and an extra nap. The wind in the tent had kept us awake. This
camping trip seemed to mark the inescapable change in the seasons, it has been
a good summer but the weather has not been consistent and the change has been
quite sudden.
Some good news at last from ‘the
team’! After a poor start to the season (as usual) they beat Spurs at White
Hart Lane giving all Magpies a sigh of relief and Steve Bruce cause to relax
for a moment… My apologies to my dear friend and Spurs supporter D.C. but it’s
about time…
Now that the weather has an
autumnal feel, we have been ‘mushroom hunting’. Being amateurs of course, there
has been much recourse to on-line checking of which fungal varieties are
suitable for eating. To date we have found Field Mushrooms, Wood Mushrooms,
Puffballs, Scarlet Wax-caps and Crimson Wax-caps together with several smaller,
non-descript varieties that we are still trying to identify.
A single fishing trip to a hill loch has again produced zero fish for myself, although Keith kindly let me have one of the small brown trout that gave themselves up to him. This little fish would feed the cats well!
The seals have deserted the
rocky outcrops in the bay overlooked by the house at Minish. This morning, five
sheep unexpectedly wandered into the garden and enjoyed eating the long, fresh
grass before running off to their more familiar pastures. They are such strange
creatures. Apparently, a ram has been introduced to the field which explains
their new-found friskiness.
Nicola met with the course
team at the University of the Highlands and Islands to agree the forthcoming
term teaching arrangements on the fine art course. We met with Andy McKinnon
from Taigh Chearsabagh (TC) to discuss
our ‘work in progress’ exhibition in the downstairs gallery at the centre. We
have agreed that this work would be shown next June/July/August 2020. Meanwhile
Norman (the Manager from T.C.) handed me a substantial electrical transformer
from the darkroom in the hope that I might be able to fix it and make the
darkroom useable. We’ll see…
In true Hebridean style, the
weather has had a momentary change, enabling another trip to the loch where the
wind had dropped, and the sky becoming crimson as the evening progressed . I
managed to connect with a good fish but sadly we parted company, the fish
jumping and twisting, flashing gold in the evening sunshine never to be seen
again. By this time, I was resigned to coming away fishless again… until
spotting a rise as I was preparing to pack up. I cast to the rise and
eventually landed my first sea trout this year. Nicola and I ate this beautiful
tasty delight with relish and gratitude – almost biblical, a special moment was
had. (“May the Lord open”)
Our next day was spent in
preparation for the visit of two of my oldest friends, both of whom were on the
Fine Art course at Brighton with me back in the temporal mists. They are due to
arrive on their motorcycles on the evening boat from Uig and will be in need of
refreshment. Alan is riding his Moto Guzzi V7 Sport (an original, elegant lime
green one from the early seventies) whilst Mick (who is a motorcycle
journalist) is on a 390 KTM, one of the better-looking single cylinder bikes
from this Austrian manufacturer. I cannot help thinking that the majority of these
bikes look as if they have already crashed, such are the vicissitudes of
contemporary design fashion. Possibly this is just my prejudice, but modern
motorcycles do seem to me to be aesthetically challenged.
Angelo and Alice have been
content in their feline routines. Alice is a dear sweet soul and deeply
affectionate, she loves to sit by the back door and survey the world, whilst
keeping a wary eye on the sheep. Angelo continues to drop headless rats on our
doorstep, tokens of esteem – for which we are most grateful.
My ferry left Lochmaddy at 7.30am on Saturday 10 August. It was very blowy and there had been some concern that it would not run. The journey was however, fairly smooth although I couldn’t quite manage the keenly anticipated Cal-Mac breakfast that I had planned. The drive to Newcastle was uneventful and I arrived as expected in the early evening. The garden had excelled itself, the recent rain having sent the grass and hedges into overdrive spilling onto the pathway.. Sunday, having earlier cut the grass, found me in the familiar surroundings of the Tanner’s Arms with the Sunday Times and The Observer whilst partaking in an excellent Sunday lunch accompanied by a pint of Landlord and able to plan the rest of my week.
Monday found me at the
Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art at the National Glass Centre in
Sunderland to look at John Askew’s exhibition of Photographs made in the far
eastern Russian town of Perm. His colourful and astutely observed images give a
sensitive insight to the particular community in which John has located
himself. I am always delighted by this Gallery which overlooks the Docks on the
Quayside at Sunderland. The views across the river from the café are
exceptional. Having taken in this exhibition, I travelled on to Newcastle to
visit Locus+. The Locus + archive has been recently relocated to Newcastle
University for safe keeping and it is good to hear that the organization has
such a positive view of the future. Locus+
has achieved so much for the Visual Arts with its innovative approach to
creating new ways of working and its commitment to the artists that it has
worked with over the years. Many organisations have borrowed heavily from Locus+ over the years including
Artangel in London and the Baltic in Newcastle. This has not always been
readily understood, and it is to be hoped that Quality and Innovation once
again become a central focus of Arts funding as these are becoming qualities
that are in short supply within arts programming.
I met up with Mike Golding
for coffee at the Pink Lane coffee shop (the coffee here is in my experience,
the best in Newcastle) Mike is now writing with the nom de plume of A.M.
Stirling and I am looking forward to reading his soon- to- be published and
what promises to be a stirring new novel.
In my small studio in
Newcastle, I have been photographing many of the Artists that Locus+ have worked with over the
years. I arranged to photograph Peter
Stark later in the week. Peter, previously the Chief Executive of Northern
Arts is very much a long – term friend of Locus and an important part of their
ongoing narrative. John Bewley and Jonty Tarbuck (of Locus+) and I reflected on
the fact that some of the artists that we had worked with had not been included
in the portrait series, for various reasons and that we should try to catch up
with them and other omissions whilst this was still possible.
Tuesday had been promised as
the best day weather wise of the week and so it proved. It was warm and
sunny. It was to be the first outing of
the year for my old BMW 90s. John (Park) called for me (riding his BSA Gold
Star) and we rode out to Shotley Bridge
then via Edmundbyers across to Stanhope on the wonderful Weardale road that
meanders across the moors for 20 miles or so. The heather is in full bloom at
this time in August and the hills are purple and fragrant. We passed through
the lead-mining villages of Nenthead and Killhope onto Alston before climbing
to Hartside Summit and descending the tight bends to the Village Bakery in
Melmerby. After an excellent lunch taken in the garden, we returned to Alston
before riding to Middleton in Teesdale, thence back to Tyneside. The weather
held and we had a memorable day out. Having wiped the bike down and thanked it
I returned it to its shed hoping that there will be another opportunity before
the summer ends. I spent the evening with my daughter Laura in Gosforth’s top
Italian restaurant Adriano’s eating pizza and drinking Italian beer.
The following day, having
wrestled with the garden and sorted out some other domestic chores (including
shopping for items unobtainable in Uist)
Thursday I was able to spend
some time in the studio photographing Peter Stark and subsequently processing
these films in addition to the few black and white films that I had brought
with me. When it is appropriate, I enjoy working with film and used my 60’s
Rolleiflex to make Peter’s portrait. It makes a pleasant change from the digital
cameras that I have been mostly using. The Rolleiflex never fails to be a
conversation piece, the camera is one of a pair made in the 1960’s and are as
good as ever. In the evening I re-acquainted myself with the Gosforth Chippy’s
regular fayre and then packed up the van ready for the drive to Skye the next
day.
Friday morning was wet and
windy and I set off on the drive up to Glasgow. I had arranged to meet my son
Sean and his partner Mia in a Greek restaurant for lunch. The motorway driving
was horrific and visibility was terrible. I stopped off at the Costa on the M74
just north of Carlisle where I had the usual cappuccino. For some reason the
coffee here is always particularly bad and as I have been served by different
‘baristas’ over the years I can only put it down to the water..
Arriving in Glasgow, I met Mia and Sean in ‘Halloumi’, a pleasant restaurant. Mia is a sweetheart from Vermont and they are intending to get married next year in New York. After our very pleasant meeting and lunch, I made a mental note to start saving.
The drive onto Uig in Sky was
leisurely and took up most of the rest of the day. The late ferry leaves around
10 30 on a Friday evening but it was running a little late. It was a good
journey though. On arrival back in Uist at 1. 30am Nicola and I briefly
exchanged our various experiences before going to bed. Phew, what a journey!
The big news is that the ‘consultations’
with the public over the proposed development of the Rocket Range at Scolpaig
had taken place. I was disappointed to have missed these but Nicola had
attended and was very much concerned and brought me up to date with her
experience of the meeting. This is a most deeply disturbing proposal that will
change the character and nature of this place irreversibly. It is supported by
the Council and the Highlands and Islands Enterprise Board and it is intended
that no thorough environmental impact studies at this stage are necessary – as this is just a ‘test’ activity. Please.
The cats are very pleased to
see me and Angie presented me with a full half-rat at the doorstep. Luckily I
will never know what had happened to the other half. Alice, boundless in her
energy, now has two people once again, to attend to her every requirement. I
had brought back a couple of those mice on an elastic leash and within the
half-hour the stuffing had started to show on one of them. Cats look so
aesthetic and refined, but they are seriously unpleasant to rodents..
“A Woman’s Prayer”
Weather: Showery with some sunny spells and some quite windy days.
NICOLA
Saturday the 10th August – (already). 7am, a blustery, wet morning – I stick my head out of the roof Velux window in the top main bedroom at Minish, to wave John off. He is going to the main land for a week to do some work things and to see his daughter Laura and son Sean. I have a week to myself and with this thought the very fitting poem by Pauline Prior-Pitt A WOMAN’S PRAYER came to mind. Pauline is a poet who lives in North Uist, and after she made a point of introducing herself to me, a little while ago, I have become aware of her work. She is a very acclaimed and gifted poet and artist. I am particularly enjoying some of her very humorous feminist poetry.
I have much to achieve
this week, so after a short deliberation (messing with Alice, the cat) my
essential wake-up cup of coffee is required. Today is computer day – these are
very intensely focussed days for me, which I enjoy.
Sunday: began with an early start, more computer work and then a lovely walk by Scolpaig Tower – bliss, beautiful, meadows of flowers everywhere, so precious. The distant hills are blushed with purple from the blossoming heather. The weather was autumnal, otherwise I would have gone swimming. Thoughts of the looming ‘Spaceport’ proposal disappoint me – why here?
Monday: shopping, computer work, print preparation and yoga.
Tuesday: Taigh Chearsabhagh a couple of meetings and then a session in
the print studio.
Wednesday: North Uist Conservation group meeting – Spaceport 1 Consortium. Having just arrived to this place it might be questioned as to my right to an opinion, but for me my opinion comes as a human who lives on this planet. I want to know what the long-term affects of – PHASE 1 of SPACEPORT 1 – has on the environment. Who does it affect? And what is PHASE 2 and PHASE 3? Will this also affect the animals, the birds, the insects, the fish – haven’t humans destroyed enough of them?
The Spaceport 1 Consortium
was presented by the four organisations:
Comhairle
nan Eilean Siar – project lead.
Highlands
and Islands Enterprise – promoting and
supporting economic development.
QinetiQ –
providing the range and technical expertise.
Commercial
Space Technologies – providing the core Space and Market expertise.
In this meeting, we were informed by the ‘panel’ that this Spaceport was intending to launch rockets – a mere 6 rockets a year. In 10 years that is 60 rockets – the fallout from these launches will be dumped into the sea. The rockets will be used to observe climate change. Will it as well observe the amount of damage that this Spaceport will also have on our precious world and do these people even care? How will this observation benefit and reverse the effects of climate change? The answer to all such questions was: As this is a test site only some environmental survey work needs to be carried out and nothing can be clearly determined (including the damage) until after the test has been completed. It states in the Spaceport Community Newsletter that the Spaceport’s footprint will be relatively small, relative to what I wonder? It was also confirmed that this testing is to be used for some military purposes, but these too were not clearly defined. There was an argument put forward (from some of the community members) that the jobs that this ‘Spaceport’ would provide will be welcomed by the locals – it was also confirmed (by the panel) that there were likely to only be 6 -13 permanent jobs available in the long term. So, for a few measly ‘promised’ jobs how much will be sacrificed? Scolpaig is home to a vast number of creatures- animals, birds, insects, marine life. This is one of our few remaining beautiful places.
I care about this
place, Scolpaig and my opinion counts because it is part of our very fragile
planet, I may not be a local but I too live on the Earth. People need jobs but
there will be no jobs if we are all dead. Wake up world we need to think beyond
ourselves – think of the consequences, think of the future. And yes, I am proud
to be an EXTINCTION REBELLION WARRIOR!
Everyone came out of
this meeting very charged. I went to yoga in the evening and felt sad.
Thursday – A beautiful
poetry reading evening at Taigh
Chearsabhagh art centre By Niall Campbell
and Pauline Prior-Pitt.
Friday – yoga,
housework and Hurray John returns – I’ve had some restorative ‘on my own time’
but now look forward to ‘our time’ and place together.
Saturday 01.30am I
hear John drive down the track. We have tea and share experiences before
retiring for the remainder of the night.
Weather: The air is warm and we have also been affected by the record temperatures ‘enjoyed’ by those in the South of England. At one stage it was 22C – uncomfortably hot in these parts.. Towards the end of the week the weather once again, had noticeably shifted and the strong winds returned, frequently accompanied by heavy rain.
This week began with a visit to the one and only ‘Benbecula Thrift Shop’ (a charity shop) to collect some furry jackets and wedding hats (for the Lochmaddy week, Photo-booth event on the 31st July). We then drove to Scolpaig Tower in the North-East of Uist, where Nicola and I walked the few hundred yards along the loch past a deserted farmstead to the bay. The day was warm and bright with the Machair grasslands shimmering purple and yellow and the white lilies on the water opening their petals to enjoy the maximum effect of the sun’s rays. This bay is sheltered by a small enclave and a rocky outcrop where the clear turquoise blue sea pours into the many crevasses in the rock face. Here is where the intended rocket site will be situated, a proposal which is almost beyond belief, and hopefully can be resisted. There are people swimming in the bay. They are quietly snorkeling whilst swimming over the lush seaweed in order to see the marine life beneath. The sea and sky reflect in a spectrum of blues and the white sand shows in patches and pathways beneath the surface of the water. Nicola and I resolved to return later in the week to picnic and to swim in this beautiful place.
Keith had booked a boat to
fish in Loch Fada, one of the largest freshwater lochs on the island. We rowed
along one arm of the loch making the usual drifts across and casting our flies.
The boat that we were using was not the usual club boat but a larger, heavier
one which we were obliged to use, as a visitor had mistakenly taken the wrong
boat. Once or twice we managed to gently ground the boat in the shallow water
due to our unfamiliarity with the topography of the loch. The weather was promising
and there was a nice ripple on the surface. Trout came there none – and to add
insult to injury, my rather expensive fly line somehow parted in the middle,
necessitating onboard repairs before being able to continue fishing. It was
very quiet and no fish were moving. Later when we encountered the visitor who
had used our boat we asked how they had fared. We have caught just 6 fish said
he… “Excellent, well done” we said, not meaning it.
July 31st, Lochmaddy week. As a part of the programme of events we agreed to set up the ‘Photo-booth’. Nicola has some experience in this area whereas my previous involvement had been only to obtain a passport photo. Having acquired the necessary dressing up items earlier in the week, from the charity shop – we set up our ‘Photo-booth’, just outside the Lochmaddy community hall – it was such a beautiful day. Business was slow as the event was not particularly well attended, although we did have some fun with people posing – using our dressing up outfits. This also proved to be an excellent way to engage with the community and to let people know what we are doing. Nicola and I were asked to run the ‘Photo-booth’ again at the RNLI day in a couple of weeks. Hopefully on this occasion we will also improve our booth as a result of this experience, so watch this space.
The weather continued to be dry and warm and we revisited ‘our’ bay at Scolpaig, this time with our wet suits. We took a walk to the nearby sea caves and searched for wild flowers before relaxing for an extended picnic and lunch. Thus fortified we swam in the bay until it was time to pack up and make the walk past the loch back to our van. There are still new flowers to be seen everyday and an encouraging amount and variety of butterflies. Purple is becoming the predominant flower colour – Bell heather, a variety of thistles, highland heather and numerous others that we are attempting to identify. If I squint (or take my glasses off) a purple haze shimmers over the greenness.
Nicola and I have been planning another Photographic Landscape Workshop ‘Explorations in Landscape 2’ to run at Minish. Whilst we are based here, it is an excellent place from which to run our events. It has a sizeable room which converts admirably into a lecture theatre and practical photoshop tuition space. Our posters advertising tis occasion arrived in the post midweek , late as ever, and we spent a day or so distributing them around the island.
The Lochmaddy hill run took place on the Friday and we were invited to photograph it. For some reason there were few participants this year but those that took part did so in good humour departing on the boat to the starting point, then running over the hilltop to return to Lochmaddy along the main road, finishing at the Hotel. There was a bouncy castle for the kids and something of a P.A. system pumping out pop music across the sea loch. Hamburgers, including Venison burgers were on sale and one of the drinks being served to the waiting onlookers was ‘Malibu and and red and blue Slushy’ Wow! All participants in the main event received a bottle of water and a mars bar. We photographed the finishers before retiring to the Westford Arms, North Uist’s only pub. Despite the seeming monopoly, this is an excellent place and they too, were holding a barbecue event in their beer garden. The weather had been so good recently that everywhere on the island outdoor activities and events were being pursued – whenever possible.
We printed some of the portraits that we had made, and Nicola has been planning future photoshop workshops – to be delivered this autumn. We have looked at a number of alternative venues for these subsequent workshops although it is too early to be clear of our requirements. Nicola’s small car has had a problem with a leaky exhaust so I have spent some time hanging out at the excellent Cregorry Motors on Benbecula, whilst the suspect part was initially identified, then replaced. I am due to take the ferry to Uig tomorrow and because of the sudden ‘turn’ in the weather there is some doubt as to whether it will run. The ferries are all fully booked at this time so if there are cancellations due to the weather, it will cause serious problems.
Our cats, Angelo and Alice seem to have settled down to a new relationship. Angie continues to be the long suffering and ever – tolerant boss cat who spends much of his time outdoors chasing rats (on one day he caught four, one of which he presented to little Alice who proudly presented it to us in the bedroom. They might have left its head on.. For her part, Alice is compelled by some territorial instinct, to encroach upon any space occupied by Angie. It is a strange relationship that only occasionally explodes into feline fisticuffs. Mostly Angie, when he is indoors, sleeps in the upper hallway and Alice has taken to sitting on Nicola’s lap whilst she is working on the computer. She is, naturally, keeping a sharp eye on the mouse..
