Hebridean Living

Our first Craft Fair...

2008-08-03T13:04:00.007+01:00

...was the most fun, ever!

The day started with glorious weather - bright blue skies, warm sunshine, lots of people in Stornoway for the Continental Market, the Fun Fair, the Carnival...and of course, the Craft Fair!

Then, in true Hebridean fashion, the heavens opened and it poured! Take a look!

The start of the carnival procession was delayed as the heavy rain made it too dangerous for the floats. Eventually, they got the go-ahead.

Inside the Town Hall, was our first ever stall at the Outer Hebrides Art and Craft Association Craft Fair.

And we were in great company. Here are my friends, Nicky (with her fabulous Hebridean Humpties) and Kim (with her beautiful photographs). What talented people and such good fun!

Lovely gaelic music was playing and I was just so happy to be there. A dream come true...

I have this inspirational piece, printed out and up on the wall in front of me...

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.

Live the life you have imagined."

Henry David Thoreau

How glad I am that I followed his advice!

We will be at the Craft Fair, in the Town Hall

in Stornoway on the following dates:

Saturday 16th August

Saturday 20th September

Saturday 18th October

Saturday 22nd November

Thursday 18th December

Monday 22nd December

Tuesday 23rd December

Wednesday 24th December

We'd love to see you...come and say hello!

Welcome to www.celtic-cross-stitch.com!

2008-08-02T00:38:00.005+01:00

This is such a wonderful moment! The website went up today. We had a touch of 'Murphy's Law' i.e. everything that could go wrong, did go wrong! But that only makes it even more exciting to finally see it up on the internet.

And...we have our first Craft Fair in Stornoway tomorrow. It's all happening!

Right now though, I'm almost ready for bed...early start tomorrow!

night night

Rescuing a Highland Cow

2008-06-22T08:10:00.007+01:00

A few minutes drive from our home is a croft where two glorious Highland Cows often reside.

A couple of days ago, the 'blonde' one was out of the croft and on the verge of the road...and I didn't have my camera! I didn't know how to get her back into the croft either, so we went on our way. When we returned from Stornoway, she was safely back in the croft.

DH came home from work last night and announced that she was out again. This time, I got some lovely pictures and DH put her back into the croft. How? He's an ex-farmer/Highland Cow Charmer. He just said "Come on girl..." and she turned around and walked in front of him to the gate and ambled back in.

Minutes later, her owner drove up, having heard that she had escaped again. We learned that her name is Morag. The darker one is her mother, Fenella.

Morag has learned how to put her substantial foot onto the fencing wire, bend it down and squeeze through. DH (who also lists fencing among his talents)had some fence staples in the boot of the car which he banged in to hopefully keep her in. The owner says she can also jump gates. Can you imagine? Now that would be sight!

Sun and Moon in the Hebrides

2008-06-22T07:29:00.007+01:00

Here we are, just the other side of Midsummer's Day. The rain is lashing on my window and the wind is howling! It's rather fitting somehow!

Last week, I took a walk down the garden with the labrador before going to bed. Here's a photo of what I saw. Notice the moonlight on the sea - so beautiful. Oh, by the way, this was at 11.15pm!

It was dark by 11.30 and then like this again by 3am.

A few nights later, we had this fabulous sunset. We are so lucky to have some breathtaking ones here. The west side of the island is famous for them. We're on the east side, so goodness knows what they had over there! The photo is untouched and has not been coloured or 'photoshopped'. Sometimes, you just can't improve on nature!

...missed him by an hour!

2008-06-13T20:57:00.009+01:00

I met my friend for coffee at the Woodlands Centre on Monday and was amazed to see the place full of sharply dressed, glossy people hammering on laptops. What was going on? My friend informed me that we had missed an important visitor to the island, who gave a Press Conference in the cafe...an hour ago. The Stornoway Gazette will fill in the gaps for you.

Published Date: 12 June 2008
By Michelle Robson

PULLING in more press than a Royal visit, billionaire Donald Trump touched down in Stornoway on Monday and offered a glimmer of hope for Lews Castle.
Arriving in his private Boeing 727 directly from Boston, Mr Trump, accompanied by his sister Judge Maryanne Trump Barry, met his island cousins and visited his late mother's home in Tong.

Mr Trump and his sister Maryanne Trump Barry disembark from the plane at Stornoway Airport.

At a press conference in the Woodlands Centre, Mr Trump said he would expect to be back on the island within the year.He also met briefly with representatives from Comhairle nan Eilean Siar who presented him with a Lewis chessmen set along with a pack of information on their plans for Lews Castle - an ambitious project in desperate need of private investment.

Openly proclaiming, 'I have a lot of money', Mr Trump said of the proposal: "I have heard they were going to be asking and I am certainly going to look at it. It is a beautiful castle. When was it built?" He added: "There is a chance I might be interested and I might also look at more charitable things." From this admission, there is some speculation that Mr Trump may be considering a donation to the Bethesda Hospice which urgently requires funds for its redevelopment. The local authority are also keeping fingers crossed that he will stay in touch over the Castle plans."

The Comhairle was pleased to welcome Donald Trump and Maryanne Trump Barry to Lewis and particularly welcomed the opportunity to discuss plans for Lews Castle, which Mr Trump described as a 'beautiful building'," said a spokesperson. "He was interested in the history of the Castle and took away information on the proposals to create a hotel and museum. The Comhairle, working with the Stornoway Trust and Lews Castle College, is actively seeking private partners for the renovation and development of the Castle and will stay in contact with the Trump organisation on this issue."

The US tycoon, who is in Scotland for a Public Local Inquiry into his golf course plans for Aberdeenshire, was also asked if he had any interest in the South Uist Estate's plans for Askernish golf course. "I have not heard about it," he admitted, "but it sounds interesting. Tom Morris? That must be one old course."

Although Mr Trump's visit to Lewis has been described as a publicity stunt to aid his East coast plans, he stressed that the visit was all about family. His first port of call on arrival was to his mother's home in Tong where his relatives still reside. He spoke personally about his strong connection to Scotland through his mother and also his sister who continues to visit regularly. He said: "I was here many, many years ago with my mother as a young child and I haven't been back since because I've been so busy working, having some fun in New York. Let's put it that way. We're building all over the world and now we are back here, we are just happy to be back here."

Ms Trump Barry, who is a Federal Judge in New York, has visited the island many times and shared her memories of visiting her grandparents and hearing Gaelic. A regular reader of the Stornoway Gazette, she showed journalists cuttings of her parents wedding notice in the a 1930s copy of the paper. She also said that her late mother would have been very proud of Donald's achievements. Mr Trump himself said that his return to the island was emotional and paid tribute to his mother.

Speaking of his visit to the family home, he said: "The house is smaller than I thought and it is hard to believe it is over 100 years old. You do reach a certain point in life when you have to look at where you came from and I have been wanting to do this for years. It is hard on the timescale but I will be back." He talked of his desire to bring his two year old son to the island in the near future and noted that he would like to return within a year. "I feel very comfortable here." he admitted "When your mother comes from a certain location, you tend to like that location. I do feel Scottish but don't ask me to define that, there was something very strong from my mother."

Mr Trump was also accompanied by George Sorial, his right hand man, who has strong Lewis connections as well.Mr Sorial told the Gazette he plans to return to Lewis later this month to enjoy a relaxing holiday with his relatives.

Guess I'll just have to catch up with him on his next visit!

A fishy tale...

2008-06-05T20:17:00.012+01:00

The very first time we ever came to Lewis, was on a trip over from the Isle of Skye where we were on holiday. It was October and the nights draw in fast at that time of year.

I was sitting in our car, in the car park pictured in this post, eating the most wonderful fish and chips. DH peered through the darkness and pouring rain and said "Oh look at that poor old guy over there going through a dustbin..." I looked too and could just make out the dark shape of someone leaning over into a bin. I was horrified and pleaded with him to go and buy this poor unfortunate some fish and chips.

When he'd dried his tears of laughter, DH confessed that the 'down and out' was a statue of a Herring Girl, leaning over her Herring Barrel. I can never look at her now without thinking of that night! Here she is - a rather beautiful statue in honour of some extremely strong women.

And here's a closer look so that you can appreciate the wonderful details of her.

Up until the 1930's, the herring industry was very strong and provided a welcome income for many grateful Hebridean families. The main UK curing stations were found in the ports of Yarmouth, Galston, Lowestoft, Lerwick, Stronsay, Wick, Peterhead, Fraserburgh, Ardglass and, of course, Stornoway.

During the months of May and June the herring girls or clann nighean an iasgaich, as they were affectionately known, would travel to find work in the busy herring yards, often going as far as Shetland. In late September they would return home for a short while before travelling to the southern ports of England for the winter fishing.

In 1913 the Fishery Officer based in Stornoway reported that in May and June of that year, 2,400 women had left for the herring ports of Shetland and the east coast of Scotland, with 1,613 of them later travelling on down to Yarmouth and Lowestoft. They were usually referred to as girls as many of them left home when they were sixteen years old.

The women worked in teams of three, two to gut and one to pack the fish into the barrels of salt. When they came off the fishing boats, the herring were unloaded into large wooden troughs called farlans.

The gutters could gut a fish with just one stroke of their knife. Most women could gut around 40 fish every minute but some were much faster! The women wrapped strips of cotton or sacking around their fingers and thumbs to protect them from their knives. The fish was then packed into barrels and the guts used as fertilizer by local farmers.

Living and working conditions were harsh. A team of girls would travel, work and live together for the entire season. The working day was long, usually out on quays exposed to the weather. I love this picture of a rather beautiful girl topping up a barrel with brine.

The women would usually begin work at 6 am and keep going until the day's catch had been processed. This sometimes meant that they did not finish work until 11 o'clock in the evening. There were breaks, for meals - with breakfast between 8am and 9pm and dinner from 1 pm to 2 pm. The working week finally finished at 6 pm on Saturday. On Mondays they would usually be given a half a day off to do their laundry and to clean the huts where they lodged.

I can't imagine what life as a Herring Girl must have been like. The conditions must have been awful - working in all weathers, gales, wind, sleet, rain; stinking of fish all the time; being covered in scales and slime; the constant danger of being badly cut by a gutting knife and the subsequent infection without benefit of antibiotics or the chance of being crushed by a fall of barrels...those girls were tough and brave - and poor, God bless them.

A day in Stornoway

2008-06-01T12:11:00.017+01:00

When I was a child, I remember hearing Stornoway mentioned on the radio (or wireless as my Mum called it...)on the Shipping forecast and thinking that it sounded so far away and mysterious. Who would have thought that we would end up living a 20 minute drive away!

Our glorious weather continues. Here are some pictures from a day out with my daughter last week. We started off having coffee at the Woodlands Centre. This is such a pretty place, with a lovely indoor and outdoor eatery and many lovely crafts on sale. It is also where local bands and singers often play. These giant Lewis Chessmen greet you as you enter the Car Park. (I'll tell you more about the Lewis Chessmen in another post).

Here's the Queen...

...and her King.

Then we headed into Stornoway to do some shopping. We must have one of the best sites for a Car Park in the UK! We often see seals in the harbour - begging for scraps from the fishing boats!

Lews Castle was looking particularly splendid in the sunshine.

And just over the road from the Car Park, here are some of our shops - all with a lovely view of the fishing harbour.

Time to go shopping!

Welcome to our Croft!

2008-05-25T16:45:00.005+01:00

Not everyone who lives in the Hebrides lives on a croft. When you buy a house with a croft, as we did, you buy the croft and the house is called a 'croft improvement'. You have to be approved by the Crofters Commission before the sale can go through. Luckily, DH is an ex-farmer so we didn't have any problems. Here he is, with some of our sheep (we have 18 breeding ewes, 2 hogs, 1 ram and 21 lambs). The island that you can see is Bayble Island.

DH now has the dubious honour of being able to call himself a real crofter! I have learned a lot about sheep too - a hog is a male or female sheep that will never breed. A gimmer is a ewe that has never had a lamb.

The sheep have to be sheared, which happens around June - July. This depends on the weather as if it is good, warm weather, the sheep's fat rises to the surface of their skin and their wool stands off the skin, creating a tiny gap for the shears. The shearer, Colin from the Isle of Harris, is incredibly skilled and gives demonstrations at local shows. Here is a picture from last years shearing.

Colin shears a sheep in around two minutes, so someone has to have the next sheep ready for him. It looks like backbreaking work!

Hanging out the washing used to be such a chore - but not with a view like this! We often need 'storm' pegs though...or the clothes would finish up on the other side of the island!

Beautiful Dalbeg beach

2008-05-22T20:38:00.008+01:00

On our way to the Arnol Blackhouse we stopped off at the amazing beach at Dal Beg. We had the whole beach to ourselves - which is often the case here in the Hebrides!.

The water that you can see in the foreground leads to a small loch. The fabulous bronze colour is from the peaty soil.

...and then we went onto the beach.

I just love the huge cleft in the headland - perfect for smugglers!The brown dot at the waters edge is our Chocolate Labrador, Fudge, who couldn't wait to get into the sea! Can't say I blame him!

The water is so clear, it's just beautiful - although the current is very strong and it would be a little dangerous for swimming (if you were brave enough to venture into the cold water!).

Blackhouses and Whitehouses at Arnol

2008-05-17T20:35:00.012+01:00

DH had a day off so we headed to Arnol and the wonderful Blackhouse museum.

Originally, all of the houses on the Isle of Lewis were Blackhouses. These drystone, double-walled homes were simply called taighean, (houses). Then 150 years ago, new houses were introduced from the mainland - with single thickness walls, cemented with lime mortar. They were so different from the old-style houses that people called them taigh-geal (White House) and the name taigh-dubh (Blackhouse) was given to the older ones.

The Blackhouse at Arnol was built in around 1880 and the last family to live here only moved out in 1966! It was exactly as it would have been when they moved out and was so cosy - I wanted to move in! The walls are very thick, double skinned and the cavity packed with earth.

Inside, the peat fire was burning with a lovely pungent smell. It felt as if the family had walked out and left it just as it was.

The box beds looked really snug. There would have been a mattress stuffed with dry hay, then a few layers of tweed. Shutting the curtains would have made it warmer and quieter and shut out some of the smoke from the ever-present peat fire.

Adjoining this main living space, the Blackhouse also had an indoor byre for animals (very convenient when there's a gale blowing outside!). The Blackhouse was shared with a cow and calf, eight breeding ewes and 27 chickens!

The family that moved out in 1966 simply walked across the road to their new house (built in the 1920's), which we visited next. They didn't like it as it was damp, so they moved back into their Blackhouse and rented out the White House! The last resident of the White House moved out in 1976.

The house only had two rooms and seemed very small and cramped after the Blackhouse. The decor is as it would have been in the 1950's. It still had a box bed, which you can see, behind the armchair. You can also see the damp marks on the wallpaper!

I know which one I would rather live in! Arnol is well worth a visit if you ever come to Lewis.

Welcome to the Outer Hebrides!

2008-05-14T06:53:00.008+01:00

We've had a couple of weeks of clear blue skies, warm sunshine and blue seas. Everything is growing fast - lambs, pasture on the croft, wildflowers...it's a lovely time of year.

Here are some of our gorgeous lambs. We have 21 now and it's wonderful to watch them play. They huddle into a group and then run from one end of the croft to the other - just because they can!

And here's another baby with proud Mum - and our lovely view in the background.

I hope the good weather lasts. We had so much rain in February and March that I watched a bird have a bath in our lawn! Hanging out the washing is a joy with the view that we have but we can only do it for six days of the week. Sunday is strictly observed here as a day of rest and so there is no washing on the line, no outside work of any kind (although tending to the animals is fine) and no shops open.

It's rather nice to have one day off a week - a great excuse to read or do some crafts!