Snow at Erraid
FEBRUARY 1, 2 and 3
Snow! and enough of it – we are an island on the coast. Snow covered all the islands visible from here, which of course, included Mull; it seemed very strange to be so close to the sea and have snow too. When it stopped after 36 hours or so it took about a day or more to melt and there were little patches of ice all over the hills and gardens and up against the cottages and buildings.
The goose managed to stay out in it and in the early hours of Saturday 1, little red calfie was born to Jeanie, nice and warm in the byre filled with clean straw. We now have Morven due in a month or so. She is a red cow and all of them are pretty and friendly; there is a herd of 2 cows, 1 heifer and this little calf. They may not keep this calf as she is only (AI) half dairy and sometimes not all dairy temperament is not so quiet. Took some pics of the snow, and the calf, and maybe one day will print off one or two and send out.
The community just looked lovely. All the beaches beyond the water were covered with snow! and the camping field opposite us on Mull was covered with snow. Pretty, pretty, pretty. But it was blowy and cold and did I tell you we have composting toilets so it\’s a dress-up each time we head out into the back yard – then a quick stand in front of the fire back in the house.
It is a quiet month here on Erraid, there are few guests for various reasons. Different seasons, equinoxes, solstices, Easter programmes are advertised on their site inviting guests, pretty exciting too.
When Autumn comes
This is called \’dutch time\’ when the dutch family who own the island and the community, ie buildings etc, come here for the whole of August for their annual holiday. The residents here have to pack all their own and personal belongings and store them for a month in some of the buildings and present the place to the dutch. And I believe the dutch have an extended family here also with them. It is an \’enforced\’ holiday for all the Erraid residents who at present number 7. By August Hilary and Richard will have left (probably mid-March – they\’ve been here for about 6 years) and maybe Debbie Paul and Josh. So there may be some changes in who constitutes the community.
Work
So far because of all the rain I have done little gardening only and a little seaweeding the latter being very beneficial to the gardens. We drive the tractor and trailer to the beach, 150m, and load the luscious seaweed on, return and then spread it over the gardens or grass. Very very nutritious. It feels good, is fresh, slippery and there are huge fronds and pieces and quite heavy to lift a fork full. With the rain there hasn\’t been much weeding so I have spent time in the candle studio \’polishing\’ candles and cleaning moulds. Erraid has been making candles for over 20 years and selling them in the local shop at Fionnphort (pronounced Fin – e- fort) and at the Findhorn shop at Forres, northern coast of Scotland. I am learning a bit about the process each time I spend in the studio which is heated with a wood fire and has a great old radio which plays classical music – this is something that I really miss out on. Down in the cottages my radio doesn\’t pick up the stations that play the music, think one is BBC3, and the other is called \’Classic FM\’. This in no way compares to ABC Classic FM. The UK station rarely, that is rarely, plays music longer than 5 mins so it\’s usually just a movement of a symphony, opera, concerto – in ways it is very disconcerting and interrupts the flow. That is their policy I hear. So back to the studio – thanks that there\’s a radio which picks up the station clearly – a great drawcard for my spending time there.
Cooking
As a temporary long-term part of the community here I am on the rota to do cooking. This was a concern for me as it has been a long time since I have cooked for more than myself and it is over 7 months now!!! since I have left Sydney and therefore cooked only rarely at hostels etc. So I am going into the kitchen with others to watch and learn things such as how the AGA cooker works which runs on coal, how much to cook for how many guests there are, how to time it so the cooking is all completed about the same time etc. What a lesson.