All shuttered up :-)

That’s it, 22:40 and I’m just in after shutting the hens in for the night for wifey, I did try earlier but they seemed to be in ‘party mode’ and did not want to go in. A bit like me really, for it was well after 21:00 when Molly, Charlie and I finally came in. Charlie being one of Molly’s pups that we’re looking after for a week or two.

Aint he cute all we have to do is keep him away from the hens and he’ll be just fine.

The day got off to a cracking start and just kept getting better

and by 8:00am it was too warm for the overalls so after cleaning out the pigs I ditched them and got on with some more bedding cutting.

Then I took a bag of seaweed to the hens who wasted no time in scratching their way through it for all the ‘jumpers’.

Next job was to go and check the hydro pipe for leaks etc on the quad but when I got to it the Honda was pouring fuel out of the carburettor over flow.

 

Removal of the carb revealed it to be full of crud

 

but, even hovering all this out and a big dollop sat on the float

failed to cure it.

So in desperation I cleaned up the valve seat with a twist drill, I know ‘rough as a bears ar5e’ , wrong angle and all that, but living on islands a hundred miles from anywhere as turned me into an ace bodger Any port in a storm they say, well it worked just fine (eventually) so off we went.

Stopping for a wee rest on the way, the ‘pit stop’ of choice being ‘Finlay’s rest’, a little overhang at the base of a cliff at the top of a steep climb out of Tarbert. Apparently some dude called Finlay, or was it Hector used to have a wee snooze here. Easy to see why as it’s very comfortable and in the lee of the prevailing winds.

 

 

It’s just in the middle of that map where those shadows are.

 

 

 

These are just a few of the fine views around Loch Arnish today but I can hardly even keep my eyes open.

So here’s a rare treat for you,

four dolphins off Raasay today, caught on camera by Fiona Gillies,

why on earth would you go anywhere else

Treated like cattle at airports with delays and security check when this is on your doorstep, I just don’t see the point

And whilst that was happening at the south end, we had a coastguard display at the north end

 

Though I was way to busy shuttering up the base of a new generator shed to pay much heed

Where to begin??

I think the last time I was on here was Saturday, and If I remember rightly it pished down for most of it then brightened up in the late afternoon to make a fine evening. The sowf of England was getting snowed on and hoping for a good day on Sunday to get some work done outside.

Well Sunday arrived and I even managed to stay in bed

or at least in my pyjamas until I caught the unmistakeable pink glow out of the kitchen window the heralds a spectacular sunrise. Not so impressive from our little valley, obscured as it is by the Sithean Mor behind the house, but I bet it was amazing at Brochel. Still I’d never know because I’d to go and feed the pigs, starting with Bracken in the barn who was ‘filling out nicely’.

 

Our most handsome pig (I’ve been doing this for too long ) always has a hard time farrowing and quite often squashes half of her litter. Not due until the 7th we brought her in to the barn early to keep an eye on her and pamper her a little. It’s not as confined as an ark (or as warm) but if she had problems then at least we had electric light and could get there from the house without getting lost in a swamp

As usual I gave her a wee pet, talked to her and then checked her for milk, of which there was none. Pigs really are most intelligent creatures and really do enjoy a wee chat and scratch

Then, after feeding everyone else I laid in wait with my shotgun for the crows which are once more becoming a problem, shooting one and leaving it on a gate post usually keeps them away for a couple of weeks

 

There was an occasional shower of rain but not enough to wear waterproofs for and it did produce some nice rainbows, though  they’re never as vivid on the page

 

With the rest of the household still in bed and no ‘little helpers’ for the weekend I took ‘Hookies road’ up to the house site and started to dig a hole in it.

 

It’s needing a gate here and I have to get it all fenced, or at least the strainer posts in so I can get the area surveyed.

Leaving the hole dug but empty on account of needing breakfast and a telegraph pole I retired to the kitchen to join the rest of the family. Gee it wasn’t half quiet with only one of the ‘three amigos’

Next it off to Torran with the Dude to give the Lister ST2 a good run, check the Studer inverter and clear out the silt from the water supply.

The Studer  http://www.studer-inno.com/ 2.3Kw inverter that supplies the house is a fine Swiss made bit of kit but it’s a total PITA to program with it’s multitude of  dual function buttons and lights. It would be hard enough if the manual was written in good English but translated from French, Italian or German it’s a friggin nightmare

We cleared the silt but water was still a little slow in coming through so we headed up to Loch an Dubhan to clear the filter.

Loch Arnish below, Loch Beag and Loch an Uachdair away in the distance and Dun Caan lost in mist.

Filter cleaned, wee dug worn out and feet soaked (guess who didn’t wear wellies) we headed back down the steep track to Torran and turned off the generator

 

After drying out the wee dug and I went down to the shore to recover a telegraph pole, that when cut in two would make a pair of fine gate posts

DJ gear for sale

With a multitude of people wanting to squeeze money out of us for having the audacity to want to build a house on land we own, and with the likelihood of having to live in a caravan whilst we do it I though I’d start getting rid of some of my ‘better crap’ on eBay.

  

My days of all night parties are long gone but it was good to get the gear out and make sure it worked before sticking it on eblag.

A pair of Pioneer CDJ 100S CD decks, a Pioneer DJM 300S mixer and the Rolls Royce of turntables, 2 x Techincs SL1210 Mk II’s http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/250989307613?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649 and http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/250989322523?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649

Most definitely the last time I will ever play this awesome tune by French maestro Laurent Garnier

 

Monday and the lights went out

By the time I’d finished wrestling with eBay the day had gone and I awoke at 3:00am to a house that was once more in darkness, no clocks or modems flashing, the power had tripped once more I was not a happy bunny and spent the rest of the day laying a new thicker armoured cable to the house

 

Having to lift the floorboards where the old one came in just to disconnect it as I laid the new one around the back. There was no way I was digging up the path

As it turned out it wasn’t actually the cable under the path but the one that it connected to

under the floor boards but at least I’ve now got a newer and heftier cable into the house.

Having spent the whole day doing that major undertaking the last thing that I needed was a farrowing sow

but when I saw this at feeding time I knew I was in for a sleepless night

Milk and a full moon, definitely a long night ahead

Sure enough by 20:25 Bracken was in labour

 

and ten minutes later the first one arrived. One of us would clear the mucus from their mouths whilst Molly licked them clean then the other would plonk the piglet onto a teat.

By 23:00 we thought it was all over at ten piglets so we left them to it and went to bed.

Tuesday

Out to check on Bracken at 5:00am we found two dead piglets and nine live ones, so she must have had another during the night

One of the dead ones was tiny and will have been the last one to be born, the other larger one probably squashed during Bracken’s labour

The rest of the beautiful day was spent cutting wood, clearing up in the house, checking my mates battery bank, and fitting a strainer post.

After that I headed south to the ferry to let my ‘back to back’ away and returned via the full moon at Brochel Castle