After two sunny (and slightly midgey) days, tomorrow we begin the walk...
See you in a week or so!
Sunday, 6 June 2010
Championees
Dan and Katy have joined us in Fort William! We've conquered Neptune's steps once, and spent an afternoon by the beach and exploring a headland.
After two sunny (and slightly midgey) days, tomorrow we begin the walk...
See you in a week or so!
After two sunny (and slightly midgey) days, tomorrow we begin the walk...
See you in a week or so!
Friday, 4 June 2010
A Grand Day Out
Well yesterday didn’t start out too well. We had pretty awful hangovers and had to ask Rob if we could roll over our working hours to today instead, which was fine. We were invited over to the neighbours Graham and Jo along with the rest of the family for a barbecue on Wednesday evening (our second BBQ of the week!). We had a great evening meeting the neighbours, eating lots of good food, sitting outside until the midges arrived, mocking Matt for his Bon Jovi purchase (Matt: when I was 7 years old) etc. Graham was rather nifty with his wine topping up skills and for some reason when he offered us a whiskey at the end of the evening we thought it was a good idea… So as I was saying, Thursday morning was not a good one. We slept most of the morning in the caravan but it soon turned into a sauna with the beautiful sunshine streaming through. We couldn’t waste the rest of the day and continued with our plans to head out to Ardnamurchan point (the most westerly point of mainland Britain don’t you know).
The roads around here are incredibly windy and narrow so the journey was not a quick one but as we drove up to the lighthouse I spotted movement in the water and noticed a pod of dolphins. So we rushed out and sat on the rocks watching them in the sunshine (we soon forgot about our sore heads). After a bite to eat we drove round to the beach at Portuairk. The scenery around here is just stunning. Beautifully clear sea with white sandy beaches, mountains rising up behind us, the mountains of Rum and Eigg jutting out of the sea in the distance, I can heartily recommend a visit! We started exploring and walking over the rocks into different sandy bays when we came across a small stone hut nestled into the hillside above a cove. It was a pretty picturesque spot and perhaps we were staring at it for too long because the owner promptly came out and invited us in for a look round and a cup of tea on the decking!
We sat with her for quite some time chatting about all sorts of things, watching a man check his lobster pots, keeping an eye out for otters. It turns out that she lets the hut for holidays (it is a 5 min walk from the road and literally one main room with a small bathroom at the back but beautifully done up) and we are extremely tempted to return. We walked on to Sanna beach from the hut which was beautiful in the early evening light.
We got back to the house at 9ish, ate some delicious fish pie (thank you Justine) and then as we were lounging back in our luxury caravan Matt shouted “Look” pointing up at the sky. I thought it’d be some interesting bird or something but then he said “Look, that cloud looks just like Mandy (aka Andy)”. And do you know what? He was right! What a funny day.
The rest of our time here has been lovely. It’s been fascinating learning about mushrooms in a commercial setting and Rob has been great at teaching us all aspects of the job. We’ve had a very chilled out time and pretty amazing weather too.
Tomorrow we meet up with Katy and Dan and prepare for our great walk to Inverness starting on Monday.
Laura
The roads around here are incredibly windy and narrow so the journey was not a quick one but as we drove up to the lighthouse I spotted movement in the water and noticed a pod of dolphins. So we rushed out and sat on the rocks watching them in the sunshine (we soon forgot about our sore heads). After a bite to eat we drove round to the beach at Portuairk. The scenery around here is just stunning. Beautifully clear sea with white sandy beaches, mountains rising up behind us, the mountains of Rum and Eigg jutting out of the sea in the distance, I can heartily recommend a visit! We started exploring and walking over the rocks into different sandy bays when we came across a small stone hut nestled into the hillside above a cove. It was a pretty picturesque spot and perhaps we were staring at it for too long because the owner promptly came out and invited us in for a look round and a cup of tea on the decking!
We sat with her for quite some time chatting about all sorts of things, watching a man check his lobster pots, keeping an eye out for otters. It turns out that she lets the hut for holidays (it is a 5 min walk from the road and literally one main room with a small bathroom at the back but beautifully done up) and we are extremely tempted to return. We walked on to Sanna beach from the hut which was beautiful in the early evening light.
We got back to the house at 9ish, ate some delicious fish pie (thank you Justine) and then as we were lounging back in our luxury caravan Matt shouted “Look” pointing up at the sky. I thought it’d be some interesting bird or something but then he said “Look, that cloud looks just like Mandy (aka Andy)”. And do you know what? He was right! What a funny day.
The rest of our time here has been lovely. It’s been fascinating learning about mushrooms in a commercial setting and Rob has been great at teaching us all aspects of the job. We’ve had a very chilled out time and pretty amazing weather too.
Tomorrow we meet up with Katy and Dan and prepare for our great walk to Inverness starting on Monday.
Laura
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
Midges and Mushrooms
We’ve been having a real fun(gi) time at our latest hosts, its on the outskirts of a small village called Strontian a short drive and a small ferry ride across Loch Linnhe from Fort William. Rob and Justine are real fun guys and we’ve been given a lovely static caravan to live in, so much room.
We’ve been enjoying the chaotic family life that comes with having three sons (aged 7 to 15-ish). Angus, the youngest of the three is a fountain of dinosaur related knowledge!
We’ve got a great view of Loch Sunart and have had reasonable weather so far, even including a few really lovely sunny days. Laura decided the camera was getting too hot when we were paddling in the sea, but it soon cooled down after a quick dip. Still works though!
The only downside to coming here has been the appearance of a few bloodsuckers – we’ve had a couple of days of being eaten by midges, and Laura was lucky enough to find a little tick friend on her leg yesterday. (Dan and Katy make sure you bring some insect repellent with you…)
The work here has mainly involved helping with the shitake’s, moving the fungi blocks around and harvesting. It’s a pretty interesting way of making a living, certainly a bit different to how most smallholders fund their lives and has given us some food for thought as well as more delicious food for our rapidly expanding bellies.
Yesterday we took the family dog, Marmite, with us and walked up Beinn Resipol which is right behind where we are staying. We were very lucky to have a gorgeous sunny day and could see for miles – Mull rising out of the sea in one direction and the still snow encrusted top of Ben Nevis in the other.
The view towards Mull.
Snow topped Ben Nevis to our left.
We’ve been enjoying the chaotic family life that comes with having three sons (aged 7 to 15-ish). Angus, the youngest of the three is a fountain of dinosaur related knowledge!
We’ve got a great view of Loch Sunart and have had reasonable weather so far, even including a few really lovely sunny days. Laura decided the camera was getting too hot when we were paddling in the sea, but it soon cooled down after a quick dip. Still works though!
The only downside to coming here has been the appearance of a few bloodsuckers – we’ve had a couple of days of being eaten by midges, and Laura was lucky enough to find a little tick friend on her leg yesterday. (Dan and Katy make sure you bring some insect repellent with you…)
The work here has mainly involved helping with the shitake’s, moving the fungi blocks around and harvesting. It’s a pretty interesting way of making a living, certainly a bit different to how most smallholders fund their lives and has given us some food for thought as well as more delicious food for our rapidly expanding bellies.
Yesterday we took the family dog, Marmite, with us and walked up Beinn Resipol which is right behind where we are staying. We were very lucky to have a gorgeous sunny day and could see for miles – Mull rising out of the sea in one direction and the still snow encrusted top of Ben Nevis in the other.
The view towards Mull.
Snow topped Ben Nevis to our left.
Friday, 28 May 2010
Goodbye Sheardum
The heat wave may have ended in Scotland but it makes it no less beautiful.
We are leaving Sheardrum this morning which feels quite sad, this has been a fantastic place. The farm may be slightly chaotic but Claire and Ali have made an amazingly fun, colourful and interesting place to live in. If ever we acquire our smallholding and it’s half as characterful as this place I’ll be very happy!
Over the last few days we have had a day off and gone walking along the coast ending up in a picturesque town named Elie where we enjoyed an ice-cream on the beach. We then had a couple of days working without Ali which involved more bashing thistles, veg weeding, feeding the baby (Tiny the lamb), taking the dogs to the Sportsfield, watering the lawn etc. etc.
We’ve also been getting to know the lambs a little better!
Oh and guess what? We’ve been eating YET MORE delicious food. Including Matt’s magnificent sticking honey and almond cake last night which we ate with ice cream and custard (having already eaten a huge macaroni cheese). After eating it Claire said she felt “quite cardiac”.
Today we will travel westwards towards Acaracle for our next farming adventure. Apparently there are mushrooms.
Laura
We are leaving Sheardrum this morning which feels quite sad, this has been a fantastic place. The farm may be slightly chaotic but Claire and Ali have made an amazingly fun, colourful and interesting place to live in. If ever we acquire our smallholding and it’s half as characterful as this place I’ll be very happy!
Over the last few days we have had a day off and gone walking along the coast ending up in a picturesque town named Elie where we enjoyed an ice-cream on the beach. We then had a couple of days working without Ali which involved more bashing thistles, veg weeding, feeding the baby (Tiny the lamb), taking the dogs to the Sportsfield, watering the lawn etc. etc.
We’ve also been getting to know the lambs a little better!
Oh and guess what? We’ve been eating YET MORE delicious food. Including Matt’s magnificent sticking honey and almond cake last night which we ate with ice cream and custard (having already eaten a huge macaroni cheese). After eating it Claire said she felt “quite cardiac”.
Today we will travel westwards towards Acaracle for our next farming adventure. Apparently there are mushrooms.
Laura
Monday, 24 May 2010
The New Levellers
The ratio of good WWOOF hosts to bad has improved – three to one now!
Our new hosts, Claire and Ali farm near Dunfermline, on a smallholding called Sheardrum. It’s a mile from the nearest road up a long, windy, and bumpy track and they’ve been here for about 11 years slowly converting derelict barns into habitable spaces – there’s still renovation work to do but its getting there and looking good. They farm a small number of Shetland sheep and a few Highland cattle – one of which gave birth on our first day here. There are lots of lambs gambolling about the place and four dogs of varying sizes and shapes: Sky – large and very hairy; Norman – stick obsessed; Mac – old doggy breath; Jake – number one top dog. All of the dogs have perfected the art of lying exactly in the place they are least needed at just the most awkward moment, very helpful! We’ve laughed a lot and also learnt a lot about sheep farming and good practice, and also about the flora of the area. There always seems to be interesting people dropping by for a cup of tea and a slice of cake, and we have been eating rather too well as usual. The quality and deliciousness of the food is definitely a good indicator of how good WWOOF hosts are.
We may also have solved the riddle of Tiny’s disappearance from Smiling Tree Farm, as he appears to have travelled to Sheardrum!
Our first three sun drenched sweaty days here have been spent preparing for the laying of a new lawn. We helped to build the brick edging which descends at a small but steady gradient away from the house, and which took us almost two days work to complete.
Then on Saturday we had a very long day levelling the ground (Laura earning the soubriquet ‘Level headed Laura’ due to her amazing eye for levels and skill with a rake) then laying the turf, finally finishing at around 9pm. A long day, but a very satisfying one. I (Matt) also helped Ali fetch the turf which involved driving a very heavily laden Landrover and trailer quite a long way – but the Police car that overtook us declined the opportunity of stopping our very slow progress, so we must have been legal… (just)!
A well deserved rest day on Sunday, and most of the day was spent taking it very easy, enjoying the sun. Then we became more adventurous; exploring the Black Devon River to an impressive and apparently little known waterfall, then gorge walking our way back to the farm. Now we have now been joined by a couple of German WWOOFers, Benni and Tania, we all worked today bashing thistles and mending rickety fences.
Question: Is the weather always this good in Scotland?
Our new hosts, Claire and Ali farm near Dunfermline, on a smallholding called Sheardrum. It’s a mile from the nearest road up a long, windy, and bumpy track and they’ve been here for about 11 years slowly converting derelict barns into habitable spaces – there’s still renovation work to do but its getting there and looking good. They farm a small number of Shetland sheep and a few Highland cattle – one of which gave birth on our first day here. There are lots of lambs gambolling about the place and four dogs of varying sizes and shapes: Sky – large and very hairy; Norman – stick obsessed; Mac – old doggy breath; Jake – number one top dog. All of the dogs have perfected the art of lying exactly in the place they are least needed at just the most awkward moment, very helpful! We’ve laughed a lot and also learnt a lot about sheep farming and good practice, and also about the flora of the area. There always seems to be interesting people dropping by for a cup of tea and a slice of cake, and we have been eating rather too well as usual. The quality and deliciousness of the food is definitely a good indicator of how good WWOOF hosts are.
We may also have solved the riddle of Tiny’s disappearance from Smiling Tree Farm, as he appears to have travelled to Sheardrum!
Our first three sun drenched sweaty days here have been spent preparing for the laying of a new lawn. We helped to build the brick edging which descends at a small but steady gradient away from the house, and which took us almost two days work to complete.
Then on Saturday we had a very long day levelling the ground (Laura earning the soubriquet ‘Level headed Laura’ due to her amazing eye for levels and skill with a rake) then laying the turf, finally finishing at around 9pm. A long day, but a very satisfying one. I (Matt) also helped Ali fetch the turf which involved driving a very heavily laden Landrover and trailer quite a long way – but the Police car that overtook us declined the opportunity of stopping our very slow progress, so we must have been legal… (just)!
A well deserved rest day on Sunday, and most of the day was spent taking it very easy, enjoying the sun. Then we became more adventurous; exploring the Black Devon River to an impressive and apparently little known waterfall, then gorge walking our way back to the farm. Now we have now been joined by a couple of German WWOOFers, Benni and Tania, we all worked today bashing thistles and mending rickety fences.
Question: Is the weather always this good in Scotland?
Sunday, 23 May 2010
Wednesday, 19 May 2010
Soooo Delicious
Another week has gone by, no WWOOFing for a while but we will be starting at our next farm later today. It’s a farm near Dunfermline and will be our first farm in Scotland. Fingers crossed that it’s a good one!
After collecting Olivia from Oxford last Thursday having just arrived home form Argentina, we ate a fine cooked breakfast and left Bampton feeling like we were finally starting our proper journey north towards Scotland. We stopped to visit my Gran for a lovely lunch with my Mum and then continued to the Peak District for a long weekend with Owen, Liz and Anwen in their new home.
Three good days of satisfying hard labour followed, helping to transform their back garden - wrestling with stubborn bushes, shifting tons of gravel and green waste to the tip and building a raised bed for vegetable growing. The garden had pretty much doubled in size by the end of the weekend and we’re looking forward to seeing the end product after the new lawn is laid! We also found time to help them clear their front yard of years of accumulated junk and ‘fine’ woodwork inherited from the previous owners...
Of course we ate very well too, delicious meals and cakes, not to mention freshly baked scones for breakfast – we could get used to that. But most of all it was really great to see the Williams family looking so well and enjoying life in their new home!
On Monday we travelled further north to visit Laura’s aunt and uncle near Beverley, enjoying a walk in the sun on the Westwood followed by a relaxing afternoon, and in the evening we ate yet more delicious food – we were hoping to get fit this year but seem to be spending a lot of time eating rather too well!
Yesterday we did something I’ve wanted to do for ages and explored some of the Northumberland coastline. It really is beautiful up here and it seems rather overlooked, if you saw ‘Coast’ on BBC 2 on Monday night then I can assure you it really is that stunning, everyone should visit! We sat on the beach and ate a delicious smoked kipper bought from the smoke house at Craster then walked along the coast to Dunstanburgh Castle. Later we walked along the huge white sandy beach and through the dunes near Bamburgh Castle enjoying the sunshine and watching the crazy Geordies going for a swim wearing only a pair of Speedos - crazy. We stayed the night with Amanda and Peter, family friend’s of Laura’s and yes, we ate even more delicious food.
Today after Breakfast in the garden we drove over the sea and explored Lindisfarne then ate delicious fish and chips on the beach at Eyemouth. Now we have arrived in Scotland… (Matt)
After collecting Olivia from Oxford last Thursday having just arrived home form Argentina, we ate a fine cooked breakfast and left Bampton feeling like we were finally starting our proper journey north towards Scotland. We stopped to visit my Gran for a lovely lunch with my Mum and then continued to the Peak District for a long weekend with Owen, Liz and Anwen in their new home.
Three good days of satisfying hard labour followed, helping to transform their back garden - wrestling with stubborn bushes, shifting tons of gravel and green waste to the tip and building a raised bed for vegetable growing. The garden had pretty much doubled in size by the end of the weekend and we’re looking forward to seeing the end product after the new lawn is laid! We also found time to help them clear their front yard of years of accumulated junk and ‘fine’ woodwork inherited from the previous owners...
Of course we ate very well too, delicious meals and cakes, not to mention freshly baked scones for breakfast – we could get used to that. But most of all it was really great to see the Williams family looking so well and enjoying life in their new home!
On Monday we travelled further north to visit Laura’s aunt and uncle near Beverley, enjoying a walk in the sun on the Westwood followed by a relaxing afternoon, and in the evening we ate yet more delicious food – we were hoping to get fit this year but seem to be spending a lot of time eating rather too well!
Yesterday we did something I’ve wanted to do for ages and explored some of the Northumberland coastline. It really is beautiful up here and it seems rather overlooked, if you saw ‘Coast’ on BBC 2 on Monday night then I can assure you it really is that stunning, everyone should visit! We sat on the beach and ate a delicious smoked kipper bought from the smoke house at Craster then walked along the coast to Dunstanburgh Castle. Later we walked along the huge white sandy beach and through the dunes near Bamburgh Castle enjoying the sunshine and watching the crazy Geordies going for a swim wearing only a pair of Speedos - crazy. We stayed the night with Amanda and Peter, family friend’s of Laura’s and yes, we ate even more delicious food.
Today after Breakfast in the garden we drove over the sea and explored Lindisfarne then ate delicious fish and chips on the beach at Eyemouth. Now we have arrived in Scotland… (Matt)
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