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Cash for worms

April 7: we heard our first cuckoo and blackcap – earlier than usual. At the last meeting of the local wildlife group, Action West Loch, I learned that we’d been successful (nothing to do with me) applying for several thousand pounds worth of funding. It’s for a project here in West Loch Tarbert to monitorContinue reading “Cash for worms”

Ospreys rebuilding at speed

Osprey: Wednesday 2 March – Tuesday a week ago in the morning and evening we saw an osprey on the tree where, until the ravages of storm Eowyn, there had been a nest. The previous night I’d asked a group of friends who live along the loch whether anyone had seen the ospreys yet; noContinue reading “Ospreys rebuilding at speed”

Netherlands, Nether Auchans

Yellow spring flowers greeted our return to the west coast of Scotland: coltsfoot, daffodils, primroses, lesser celandine, as well as an email from HMRC to say I’ve submitted my application form but not the schedule of invoices – despite an hour long phone call a month ago with the opposite conclusion; groundhog day; deja vu.Continue reading “Netherlands, Nether Auchans”

Wolves and mouflon

I feel as though today (Wed 5 March) is the first complete day’s work I’ve done for a while, not broken by phonecalls and admin. Yesterday I had the long bottom shelf in position, propped on random pieces of wood, and by this evening I had it cut and trimmed to fit, notched to accommodateContinue reading “Wolves and mouflon”

February, gone.

Contractors Stuart and John came to talk with our neighbour and us, about providing batteries and a suitable inverter to make best use of the power we generate. We export a little over half as much as we import and as well as storage we want the flexibility to add a generator, wind turbine, electricContinue reading “February, gone.”

Imbolc and beyond

To you and me that’s halfway to equinox. We were driving through Ardrishaig, returning from a beach walk, houses on the right, sea on the left, Tash on the phone to her mum. It was still light. When I glanced past her to the calm sea, a short moving line marked the surface twenty yardsContinue reading “Imbolc and beyond”

Storms and lobster tails

The middle of January , two weeks ago: a morning of low clinging cloud gave way to afternoon sunshine. Tash took her cough for its first swim of the year and I walked down the track to fix the postbox. It’s been prone to dangle by one screw, not a satisfactory arrangement. From opposite sidesContinue reading “Storms and lobster tails”

Happy New Year!

Well it’s great still to be here! I write this brief blog fifteen days after the train journey home, during which I realised I’d not avoided whatever virus it was Tash had over Christmas (and still had); I was going down, down, down… I realise this entry jumps around a bit, but I need toContinue reading “Happy New Year!”

Mink and more plastic

I spent eighteen days away: in Bristol to rehearse and play two gigs a week apart, with a week in London between. Now I’m back and the photo above, from a walk on the nineteenth of November, seems an age ago. Immersing oneself in one’s emotional and artistic past is peculiar and moving and IContinue reading “Mink and more plastic”

Going south for action painting

HOUSE: Another Saturday, another roll of seagrass matting. Although it was slightly larger we managed to wrestle the second piece of matting upstairs on our own, having overcome some mental inertia to empty our bedroom of furniture… …make floor space in the living room then unroll and trim the seagrass. T omake fitting at theContinue reading “Going south for action painting”