The Long Road North

ok, so maybe gentle wasn't the word i meant

2012-02-13T00:42:00.000-08:00

and i'm sure i can hear a chorus of 'i told you so's' but dogs is hard work! i'm shattered!

we did lots of walks yesterday and i've been up early and out on a long un this morning, in a hoolie, i might add, and now I could just quite easily go back to bed! I certainly don't feel like a busy day at work.

and i'll also have to remember to come back at lunchtime to let these two out, cos its been a long time since they've spent the whole day in the house. ah crikey. come back, boy, I say, you've got dog walking duties piling up!

gentle sundays

2012-02-12T02:34:00.000-08:00

well gentle weekends in total. its quite hard to write about a weekend when you actually just get to do what you want and potter about, but hey, that's the luxury that I am enjoy right now. The boy has gone down the road, to some skate thingy, and i'm dog sitting. So we've had 3 good long walks already, to the beach and the forest and up the reef. And we've had bones, cos they get spoilt when he's not here, and I' made cupcakes yesterday so Eric had a couple of those too (and no, he wasn't supposed to).

I've done some tidying, and some cleaning and washing. I've done a tiny bit of work and also watched some telly. I cooked a very fine lasagne for my tea last night. And now I'm going to read the papers, and hopefully make some stuff.

weather hey

2012-02-08T23:53:00.000-08:00

you lot down there seem to be having some, and guess what? we're not! balmy 7 or 8 degrees up here and drizzle. And my house is warm. warm warm warm. its a joy to walk up the stairs.

Vote for us!

2012-02-07T06:28:00.000-08:00

We're in a competition to win an artist and its down to a public vote!

please click here and vote for Caithness Horizons!

thanks all

todays big achievement

2012-02-05T10:03:00.001-08:00

and it really is a big achievement! a radiator! on the wall and working (only one mind)

you may also notice that its hanging on a white wall. it is with much regret that i have to tell you that today i started painting over the brick wallpaper. iconic as it was, a white wall will be a much better thing to have in its place. sorry iconic brick wallpaper. i will miss you.

i should have taken a camera

2012-02-05T00:46:00.000-08:00

But i went for a walk with all three dogs in borgie forest. It was quite something, with snowy mountains in the background and large piles of logs everywhere. We also saw some furry critter that I couldn't identify. And no other people at all. Wonderful.

crikey that was a quick week

2012-02-04T01:20:00.000-08:00

it was all pretty full on too, but hey, look at me, i have a two day weekend!

and this morning i have three dogs. Chris & Helen et al went to Up Helly Aa in Shetland (the Viking burny festival) and so Vinny has been looked after by Neil, except that Neil went away yesterday so last night, Vinny came for a sleep over. I have taken all 3 dogs for a walk up the reef this morning. I'm not sure I would want to be walking 3 dogs on a regular basis!

Quite what I'm going to do with the rest of my weekend I'm undecided on at present.

one thing about dogs and gardening

2012-01-30T00:15:00.000-08:00

They are not much help really. Eric chases every weed you pull up, and tries to chew any garden implement you are holding. Not good when its the shears! Jack is usually a bit better, and will just lay down next to you, but yesterday when I was weeding, and so at floor/ dog level, he decided that really he just wanted a cuddle and continually tried to sit on me and lick my face.

Here he is trying to look cute.

So then i went and did this instead

2012-01-30T00:14:00.001-08:00

Well, helped with it really! as did Eric. this is the beginnings of my new shed.

when you only have one day off

2012-01-30T00:06:00.000-08:00

you try and make the most of it. My task yesterday was to clear this area, to show off the snowdrops and give some more space to the peonys and roses

unfortunately i managed to do this:

but i got this far!

the most recent decorating project

2012-01-30T00:00:00.000-08:00

just waiting for a new carpet (wed), new radiators (some time this week, fingers crossed) and new curtains (soon). when all thats in, i'll move the iron bedstead down, with a new mattress on (oh that will arrive in the next couple of days) and then have a serious ponder about the lighting. smart, huh?

things i haven't mentioned yet

2012-01-25T11:55:00.000-08:00

I lost at poker in Melvich at the weekend. it was Jen's birthday and much fun.

I have been to the docs twice already this week and am going again tomorrow. Hopefully the outcome of all that will be that I am getting better.

I'm going to a meeting about the development of cruise ships in the area tomorrow. I'm hoping it will be an interesting meeting, but I'm wondering whether cruise ships are going to be suffering a downturn in popularity at the moment.

I am working 6 days again this week and am feeling very tired already.

coughing

2012-01-20T00:11:00.000-08:00

it is truly the most irritating thing in the world, isn't it. i've had a cough for the last week or two. There isn't really anything i can do about it apart from wait for it to go away. its not helping with the feeling better thing. sigh.

another thought on work stuff

2012-01-17T00:06:00.000-08:00

Something I forgot and actually is probably one of the hardest things to try to get by without, is a peer network. There isn't much support for me up here! I'm trying to keep in touch with as much as goes on in the heritage/ culture/ art world by the internet. Twitter in particular is good for this. But if anyone has any suggestions for networks i can link up with, i'd be very happy!

work stuff

2012-01-17T00:01:00.000-08:00

I don't post much about work any more, which is also a Pa related thing i think.

so. I have a trustees meeting this evening. They are approximately every two months. Times are tough for museums at the moment. Well times are tough for everyone at the moment! We struggle because we are so out of the way that funding bodies don't know about us, and find it very hard to come across us. We also have a smaller pool of people to target for cash. And we only have been trading since 2008, so don't have a long track record.

However, this year we have received funding to refurbish our Dounreay exhibition and to have some of the Robert Dick herbarium conserved. We've also got funding to deliver a number of projects next year, with an art focus. So the trustees meeting won't be all doom and gloom, but it will be a year of hard work ahead that's a given.

ive got dogs back

2012-01-16T23:57:00.000-08:00

the little one is in the garden shouting his head off at something in the dark. its probably a bird. he was very excited to see me yesterday and nearly decapitated himself trying to get his head out of the van window to lick my face. what a lucky girl i am!

ho hum

2012-01-16T04:18:00.001-08:00

well a) the insulation man turned up as the pips went on the 12 o'clock news. and b) was here for 2 mins and basically said my house is too weird to do it myself. sigh

i've very much enjoyed listening to radio 4 this morning tho!

taking up offers

2012-01-16T01:10:00.001-08:00

I'm sitting here waiting for a surveyor to come and have a look at my home insulation, to see if I might be eligble for some more.

I'm quite interested in what he is going to say about my house. It described as a 1.5 storey house as the top rooms sit in the roof as it were. So this means there isn't an attic as such and the roof surrounds the walls of the bedrooms. And actually there is more or less no insulation in the roof whatsoever. I tried to put some up but I got confused (not hard i know!). When you look at the space, the place to put the insulation is actually up against the back of the roof, but when you look at examples its always on the floor. So, I will have an expert check it out for me. I'll let you know what he says!

in order to keep up a regular blog

2012-01-15T01:19:00.000-08:00

you get this one today

i went out for a curry last night for helen's birthday. it made me feel normal. its a fairly new curry house and actually was rather nice, but there was one other thing about the evening that also made me feel normal and that was the shenanigans about paying the bill.

January is a miserable month isn't it? everyone is skint and someone people have given up drinking blah blah. However, it was a birthday celebration and there were 14 of us. the bill was quite large. So, we just divided it by 14. Mistake. Never mind hey. But it did make me remember all the other times i've been out for meals with large groups of people and exactly the same thing happens. hee hee. Anyway we got out of there with no major fights. And then I tootled home, feeling normal, and also actually feeling like I might be getting a little better. Another good thing.

And as my boy has taken the van and the dogs out west for the weekend I am all on my own in the house, and can spend the day hmm. painting? gardening? writing a business plan for my new secret project? watching pirates of the carribean? eating crisps? reckon so!

so far this week

2012-01-12T00:46:00.001-08:00

nothing of any note has happened. i've been working, its been a struggle, sigh. its still wet and windy up here. i'm rather fed up of winter this year. it certainly doesn't help contribute towards feeling better!

extra christmas ii

2012-01-09T01:22:00.000-08:00

this also arrived in the post on saturday. can't wait for the next road trip! cheers ma

extra christmas i

2012-01-09T01:19:00.001-08:00

sorry for the up-the-nose shot! this arrived in the post on saturday, from the lovely kate and david moynihan-squires (and yes, i promise to remember about the need for surnames!)

an answer to a question

2012-01-05T10:16:00.000-08:00

this is a groatie buckie

and an answer to a question not yet asked

this is what's in that kurt geiger box the groatie buckie is sitting on!

so i missed a day

2012-01-04T00:18:00.000-08:00

and today i go back to work, but i thought i'd better tell you why i missed a day. My ulcerative colitis which has, to be fair, been pretty well behaved for most of this year, decided to just slowly raise its head in nov/ dec, and was being dealt with, gently, with the usual tablets. however, the germany trip, particularly 3 flights in one day, messed it up completely and so it decided to go completely crazy.

so now I am on a course a steriods, only a short course this time mind, which is helping the colitis, definitely, but as on previous occasions when i've taken steroids, isn't helping me! So i'm a bit full on emotional, feeling generally unwell and spending a lot of time asleep on the sofa. I'm not sure how going back to work will fit into this pattern, but i'll do it, and we shall see.

hmm lots of post of wibble

2012-01-02T08:18:00.000-08:00

would that be preferable to days of silence?

that means that today's wibble includes a nice early dog walk, a trip to Homebase for paint and curtain rails, and an afternoon spent undercoating the window sills. its now getting dark and snowing and feels real wintery like, so i'm setting the fire, and heading for the tv. seems like just the right thing to do now! and i am on holiday after all

Start as i mean to go on!

2012-01-01T12:16:00.000-08:00

by which i mean more regular blogging. so I'd better blog today then, hadn't i?

Went to the street party again last night, it was lots of fun, so fairly gentle day today, with a long walk at John O'Groats to the stacks. Saw some seals and a first for me - I found a groatie buckie! hopefully that means lots of luck for 2012. well, its got to be a better year than last year hasn't it?

oo really mustn't forget

2011-12-30T00:48:00.000-08:00

thanks to steph for the fabulous things-not-found-in-thurso christmas present. it made me smile!

in case anyone else is wondering it including baklava, mate tea, soap from morocco and a throw/sarong type. and yes, i'm pretty sure none of those things could be found in thurso!

an observation

2011-12-30T00:46:00.000-08:00

i think you can tell, by the fact that there are only 94 posts for the whole year that 2011 hasn't been one of my more successful! candidate for the worst one ever really.

and to top it all, my colitis, which has been one of the few things to go right so far this year, took the 3 flights in a day excuse to go crazy, so i'm back on a course of steroids which never makes me happy. sigh.

well heres hoping for great things from 2012!

and the front

2011-12-30T00:42:00.001-08:00

the photos are funny cos i was trying not to get the sun room in, cos again, i haven't had those windows done.

finally! from the back

2011-12-30T00:35:00.000-08:00

the window that started it all - the spare room - now officially called 'Ma's Bedroom'

the 3 upstairs - bedroom, attic and studio

all the back. its quite hard to see the study and shower room, but they are new too. what's not new is the porch area. that's next year's project (and by next year i mean more like 2020!)

what other random detritus you can see if these pictures is exactly that. my garden isn't the tidiest place in the world at the moment. if anyone (and yes, really i'm thinking Ma) is wondering whether the little tree thing by the kennel is looking a bit distraught, it got blown up by the storms so had to be pruned and replanted .....

On the road!

2011-12-22T23:20:00.000-08:00

I've made it to Deutschland! Christmas starts here!

twice now

2011-12-14T00:02:00.000-08:00

in the bad weather my phone line as stopped working. but hey, its fixed now. hopefully i will be able to get you some outside pics of windows and that, but its quite tricky cos we're really busy at work at the moment, and the sun rises at 8.59 and sets at 3.15 so i dont really see much it!

I'm also working this saturday so it won't happen until sunday at the earliest. i was going to take some last weekend but the storm the other night resulted in lots of flotsam & jetsam, including large fish boxes and logs. so i spent the weekend dragging big plastic boxes into my garden to use as beds for the veg next year and then carrying logs from one end of the reef/ dunnet beach to the van. when i can i will also take a picture of these logs, but i'm talking proper logs here! i was relieved to get back to work on monday I can tell you. I also have gnarly hand injury that I will take pic of too! although i suppose that's an indoor thing so i could do that right now ....

way cute

2011-12-04T02:56:00.001-08:00

when it gets really bad weather eric gets into jacks bed for company

lots of excitement here

2011-12-04T02:52:00.000-08:00

half a shower room window

a dining room window

a front room window

and if it wasn't snowing and i was so lazy i'd go outside and take a picture from the front!

last weekends shenanigans

2011-12-04T02:44:00.000-08:00

it was a very high tide and strong winds, so this happened:

which lead to this:

and subsequently this:

coupla things

2011-12-02T03:05:00.000-08:00

so we had a windy day, and my telephone line came down so i had not broadband, so i couldn't post you the picture of the boat sinking. ho hum

and i can't post you the picture today cos the man is in my front room taking my windows out and the camera is under his dust sheet.

so i promise soon, a picture of a boat sinking and a house with new windows. honest i do

ma says

2011-11-22T23:31:00.001-08:00

the word is actually boondocks. I don't know about you but i prefer bondoo. it rolls of the tongue more easily.

so the rest of everything is always work. work work. and the fact that this year has passed in a blur. some of that might be a good thing. next week is the 3 birthday of the museum. shocking. and we still have to deal with crazy idiots on a daily basis. gah. sorry. i'll hush now.

My legs ache this morning

2011-11-21T00:25:00.001-08:00

I was a bit fed up with feeling unwell on Friday night, so I had the bright idea of spending the weekend in the van out in the bondoo. (no i don't really know what this word means)

On Saturday I went to Sandwood bay, which i've always wanted to do, and was ace. A gentle 9 mile round trip in all.

And then on Sunday I climbed a mountain. This one. It was hard work. I hurt.

i will make a new years resolution

2011-11-21T00:18:00.000-08:00

to post more often I promise. In the meantime I will tell you I did get a new charger and I downloaded the pictures I took from the wedding. Unfortunately most of them were vetoed by someone who didn't like wearing a suit, so here are a few general ones of the venue, and guests.

and now i'm sick

2011-11-16T10:24:00.001-08:00

I couldn't find the charger, so i've ordered a new one. so hopefully photos soon. it should cheer me up, so i've got both the cold that's going round at the moment and the vomiting sickness too. great. today has been a particularly unpleasant day. oops

eek its november

2011-11-01T01:15:00.000-07:00

sorry for lack of recent posts, i've been down south. well leeds. to the wedding of the boyf's sister. i managed to take a couple of pictures before my battery ran out, so when i can locate the camera out i'll see if i can post them up. i'm pretty sure i'll be banned from posting any pics of mark in a suit, but hey. i'll see what i can get away with!

And I'm obviously more of a computer idiot than i thought cos this was in the drafts and not posted, oops.

I've not found the battery charger tho, and the other camera is at work. I might need to borrow it back because I've been doing a fair bit of work around the house that you need to see really .....

its winter alright

2011-10-21T00:23:00.000-07:00

so that means its getting dark early, and the waves have picked up. this is east at dusk the other night in the rain

and shit pipe

look where my dog lives now!

2011-10-21T00:21:00.000-07:00

he actually does sit on his bed and poke his head out of the window!

Random Hebrides pics - random leftover pics!

2011-10-15T04:04:00.001-07:00

We saw the Vatasay Boys bus! and it was very nearly on Vatasay! (and it proves I can't spell Vatersay!)

A very weird buoy/ tracking thingy all the way from Nova Scotia

Lots of rainbows

Sunny cliff tops!

Lots of little huts in the landscape

Random Hebrides pics - camp sites

2011-10-15T03:47:00.000-07:00

Can you spot the van? This is Mangastadh that I can't spell

Eriskay ferry terminal - the ferry to Barra was cancelled the night we got there so we stayed the night to wait for the early one the next day

This is the wetsuits drying at Tolsta. I think we spent 3 nights here at different times. I surfed Tolsta! (and Cliff as well)

This is me doing yoga somewhere down the west coast just after Eoropie. It was next to a field that had what I think were alpaca in. I'm not sure why I didn't just take a picture of them.

End of the road nunnery camp again!

Random Hebrides pics - sites

2011-10-15T03:37:00.001-07:00

Callanish standing stones

And again with impressive sky!

Reconditioned Viking kiln, Jack wasn't too impressed with this

He much preferred the mill.

Random Hebrides pics - waves

2011-10-15T03:21:00.001-07:00

I think this is a beach called Cliff and its taken from the top of the cliff, before you say anything!

This might be Mangastadh (apologies for the spellings, I can't remember with the Gaelic or the English sometimes!)

Mark surfing the wave just the other side of the nunnery down the road that just ends

This is definitely Mangastadh with dogs

random Hebrides pics - dogs

2011-10-15T03:10:00.001-07:00

Jack Dogface and Eric, who generally seems to be known as the wee man

They enjoyed the archeological sites, particularly this reconditioned viking mill. You'll notice Eric has made a find of his own, and discovered a tennis ball. I don't know how he does it!

The dogs were very well behaved around all the sheep and cows we camped with, the only thing Eric felt the need to savage was this found boot.

Now just you try and tell me that's not the cutest dog in the world. Hmm?

Random Hebrides pics - sunsets

2011-10-15T03:01:00.001-07:00

Now, you know I'm not the best photographer in the world, but I did give it a go! just please, don't ask me to remember where these places were!

I actually can remember where this one is, its at the end of a road, and it doesn't seem to have a name, but there was a ruined nunnery there, and you were looking at an island that you couldn't get to. its half way down the west coast of lewis, and just one of the best places in the world ever. we're preparing to eat our usual (cough - well a couple of times at least!) supper of freshly caught fish (mackeral and something else)

i haven't forgotten about you

2011-10-15T01:49:00.000-07:00

i've just been in the (even more) sticks for the past fortnight. 10 islands - lets see if i can remember them all

Lewis, Harris, Bernerea, Berneray, (yes those two are different!), North Uist and South Uist, Benbecula, Barra, Vatasay and Eriskay. (not in that order)

And for all that time I stayed in this, with the boyf and the dogs.

Although after a couple of days we did feel the need to add this

moany post

2011-09-28T22:47:00.000-07:00

i've got lurgy. its no good. couldn't sleep, too hot, too cold, sore throat, oh you guys know you've all been there. its incredibly annoying tho, cos i've got a billion things to do at work today and then i'm supposed to be off to the hebrides to find my boy and my dogs, who have been there for the past week. i've made a promise to myself to get in the water, which i wont' be doing unless i feel better! anyone know any sure fire cures for cold/ flu

other things i forgot

2011-09-26T23:05:00.000-07:00

lots really. I still haven't got my blogging voice back. I took a local Business Group round the museum yesterday and talked about the particular issues we face, and also talked a bit about my career path. It's been a bit of a random one really hasn't it. I'm making a concerted effort to read all of Pa's books about business strategy and that 'stuff'. cos there is quite a lot on the go at the moment!

i forgot to mention the aussies!

2011-09-26T23:04:00.000-07:00

they are back. and its just like they've never been away. how good is that. they are staying here for a bit until they can get the old flat back in Melvich.

I'd post a picture but they look exactly the same as they did in January! crikey hasn't this year gone fast.

and no, we didn't stick to the theme of cavemen

2011-09-20T00:13:00.001-07:00

although if anyone would like to tell us what theme we did stick to, i'd be most grateful!

any takers for tickets for next year?

and yes, we did do dancing

2011-09-20T00:10:00.000-07:00

can you all remember what happens in september?

2011-09-20T00:02:00.000-07:00

Here we are again, camped by the shores of Loch Broom, which some delightful weather

diy update

2011-09-08T09:46:00.001-07:00

the latest project

crikey its september

2011-09-08T00:19:00.001-07:00

was that the quickest summer ever? anyway its definitely Autumn now. there is a distinct cold snap in the air. so i probably should get on the task of putting some heating in my house, shouldn't i? you know, the one I started oh, 2 years ago before Andy and Drew came to visit from Oz. Can you imagine me on Grand Designs? i'd be under budget but waaaaaay over time!

oh i keep forgetting

2011-08-30T12:28:00.001-07:00

i rescued a seagull other day. i was walking the dog yesterday morning just after the crazy weather and saw some wings sticking out of the foam. I thought it was just a dead 'un, but when I was walking back i saw that they had crawled out of the foam and actually were a gull, alive but shattered. the dog wasn't really helping, so I took him back to the house, and went to see if I could do anything, but when I got back to the beach i couldn't see the bird anywhere. i was just thinking phew, he's flown away when i realised he'd (birds are always he's aren't they? i tried really hard to call him a she, but it wasn't happening) been swallowed up by the foam again. As I approached him he sqwarked really feebly and looked him me so plaintively all at the same time. I went behind him into the foam and gently shooed him forwards slowly, until he was all the way up on the rocks above the tide line. I went back in the evening and there was no sign of him, so I'm hoping I'm a bird whisperer, and that he's flown to safety!

thank you!

2011-08-30T12:25:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love it when surprises appear at work! thanks Steph!

its that time of year again

2011-08-29T12:05:00.000-07:00

random dog pic

2011-08-29T12:03:00.001-07:00

we do have some windy days up here!

2011-08-29T11:57:00.000-07:00

don't know how well you'll be able to see this, but the spray was coming up over the lawn. but probably (well in bekiland) windier than New York and we didnt' have no hurricane warning!

and then to an island

2011-08-23T12:49:00.003-07:00

in the van.

can you guess which one?

back to glasgow

2011-08-23T12:49:00.001-07:00

finished!

Ma & Steph

2011-08-23T12:48:00.000-07:00

Came for a visit and I didn't take any photos. but they seemed to have a nice time anyway and i really enjoyed seeing them even tho i had to do lots of work! and then this turned up today, thanks steph!

august catch up 1

2011-08-23T12:45:00.001-07:00

I came home from work a while back now and found this lovely box of goodies waiting for me! Sent by the wonderful Clare G from thatLondon. most tasty.

Tonight is the gala

2011-08-06T11:26:00.000-07:00

We haven't done a float this year so I'm stewarding. I'm hanging around outside work as there is band setting up who are using our stage and PA. I'm actually helping but they don't really need me, so I'm here blogging about it instead. Its a funny thing the gala. We didn't really have one in Cardiff that I remember, but up here there is a week of stuff. I've probably blogged about it before because this is the 4th one since I've been here. Doesn't that sound like at lot?

I'm not a very good tiler

2011-08-05T00:31:00.000-07:00

This is the trickiest thing I've had to do in the house I think. A mate suggested that I put underfloor heating in the little shower room, and as he's an electrician said he would install it. Now I misunderstood what he meant by that, cos I'd no idea what it involved, but he meant he would attach it to the electrics. So, over the past I can't quite remember who many months now, I've taken up the existing tiles, primed the floor, laid out the electric cable, and no I'm tiling the floor. Its so so so boring, and I've made a right pigs ear of it. but hey. I've been doing it myself, just like the initials d i y tell you to.

The pic tells you how far I've got, but I've now go to tile around the toilet so I'm thinking the next bit might take another couple of months! No no that can't be the case, Ma is here next weekend. So fingers crossed the tiles will be down by then. Although I'm pretty sure the heating bit won't be ready! sozza!

There is one other recent happening

2011-08-03T00:51:00.000-07:00

I went to Glasgow last weekend with Helen to see the British Art Show 7. And how much fun was it to go round galleries and talk about art! It was aces. And we stayed in a posh hotel and drank cocktails and city life was great. woo hoo!

(and I got another tattoo but I won't post a picture yet cos its not finished. And, yes, I know, Ma is going to kill me!)

Just some recent happenings

2011-08-03T00:46:00.001-07:00

Jack is a good guard dog when it come to food (and the boy cooks a mean prawn korma!)

I've no idea how visible this is but the wild flower meadow gets filled up with little birds first thing in the morning

We have a new van (yes I was lazy and photographed it out the window). Its the best thing ever but its the biggest thing I've ever driven, so my first bit of off-roading was particularly scary. I thought i was about to roll it down the dunes at Strathy. I didn't obviously! It needs fitting out, and then I'll post shots of the inside. First of all we need a trip to Aberdeen to get the heater fitted.

Im sure you'll have noticed

2011-08-03T00:37:00.000-07:00

but I've been struggling to blog lately. And I was finding it hard to explain to myself why that was. Then I had a flash of realisation yesterday, that when I used to blog I was talking to my Pa. He had stipulations about the blog that I tried to stick with, so the easiest way was to tell him the tales, and they would sort themselves out.

Now he is not here, I thought it would be easier to blog, because first off, I could blog about him, and how I felt and the stuff that up to that point I was keeping inside. However, I couldn't be talking to him if I was blogging about him could I? You'd have thought I'd just be blogging to Ma instead, wouldn't you, but the thing with that is, I tell Ma everything in a stream of consciousness stylee and really, there does need to be some sort of line drawn in the sand, doesn't there!

So at the moment, I'm refocussing. I'd really like to keep blogging. I enjoy it. But I need to get back the pattern. Hopefully I'll get there. Stick with me.

river races and wet mountains

2011-07-20T13:40:00.000-07:00

last weekend i pinged down to fort william to laugh at my friends paddling down a river on lilos, being persuaded that actually i was going to do it too next year and then not climbing ben nevis as it was well raining.

sorry i don't know what happens to the time

2011-07-20T13:36:00.001-07:00

the weekend before last i did some work in the garden

i also thought i'd better post a pic of this years tomatoes

and then i went fishing and caught a barrel of coley and stuffed my face with them, barbequed over the newly built fire pit.

And since we got back

2011-07-03T12:16:00.001-07:00

Mark has made some dog gates. there is another on the other side.

We had a little bit of excitement tho, as last night we lost all power, and at one point we thought it was because the post had gone through the cable but actually it was because there was an old joint which had eroded. so that was ok, and by 4pm I had power back. Which was a relief.

Places we stayed on the way home

2011-07-03T12:10:00.000-07:00

near Skelbo castle

Bamburgh Castle (no actually we didn't stay there, but nearby!)

Above Robin Hoods Bay

Things necessary for road trips ... except we were a dog short ...

some pics of glastonbury

2011-07-03T12:07:00.000-07:00

This is the bunkabin i live in during the festival

And this is the room of booze, or bekimart ...

Road trip tales vi

2011-07-03T12:05:00.000-07:00

Before we got to Glastonbury we stopped in Wales, and did some climbing.

the annual glastonbury post

2011-06-23T11:02:00.001-07:00

hello! yes i'm in a muddy field in zomerzet again. why, i'm not sure. but hey. tomorrow the craziness starts proper, we're just ticking along nicely at the moment. we've got most of the riders done, its just a question of waiting for stuff to arrive now. I'll try and post again tomorrow when we have some crazy things to tell you all about

a very domestic post

2011-06-14T13:46:00.001-07:00

something i think i should probably do more often! but i just cooked the most amazing vegetable gratin for tea. yum.

some general stuff that has been happening

2011-06-14T13:10:00.000-07:00

i've been working really hard. there is so much to do and i've got a new exhibition opening on friday which is taking a lot of putting together. hopefully it will be worth it tho. i'll post up some pics when we get that far.

i kinda feel I'm coping without pa. it was lovely to see ma the other day, although i did feel she didn't really have a holiday! within 20 mins of being in my house she was cleaning the fridge! oops. and i had tried to tidy everything up before she got here!

she also did a lot of gardening, and i will hopefully manage to plant the beans soon. i also have some tomatoes which need to be potted on soon. my raspberries have been nicely weeded so fingers crossed for some of them too.

and then next week its off to glastonbury! so far not in a nice comfy van, but hey, it'll be a nice jaunt about for me. i'm hoping to sort out details soon, so might be getting in touch wiht some of you southerners to see if you are about.

still being a bit lax

2011-06-09T00:13:00.000-07:00

sorry i so totally meant to blog lots over the last weekend. or i should at least post some pics. ma has gone over my house like mary poppins and clean and tidied and weeded. and made me mow the lawn lots. and she got on with the littledog!

Ma's on plane!

2011-06-02T23:54:00.000-07:00

well this is a gonna so much better than snakes!

today's schedule

2011-05-26T00:22:00.000-07:00

i'm off down the road in a minute, because me and helen are going to pick up the first of Ann Henderson sculptures. I'm very excited! We'll be picking up some more tomorrow too. Then we need to crack on with making the plinths. I'll post some more pictures when we get back

lets all complain about the weather

2011-05-25T00:36:00.001-07:00

brrrr! its well windy and cold up here. well, it certainly has been the last two days. fingers crossed this morning it looks a little more peaceful out there.

I've still not got any heating on tho, so Ma, bring your thermals!

Stuff that's been going on

2011-05-22T12:30:00.000-07:00

I've been working.

I've been walking the dogs along various beaches, making them swim lots, and also I've been climbing cliffs a little.

I've had the kiln plugged in (yay!)

I've started work on the bathroom.

I'm working out how best to heat my house in future.

I have to say a very very very big thank you to Hilary!

Apologies

2011-05-16T13:38:00.000-07:00

I'm not blogging much at the moment. Sorry. I'm not sure why. Just plodding along. Been working constantly since I got back from the 'Dam. Planning the next trip away. Which at the moment looks like Glastonbury at the end of June. I'll try and get back into the habit tho, I promise!

More weekends away

2011-05-10T04:15:00.001-07:00

Amsterdam this time. It was ace. A proper city with lots of art galleries, and boat trips, and coffee, and all sorts. I even went to the Botanical Gardens! Ma would be so proud. Also, bonus weather, so I've caught the sun, and this all made gentle boat trips around the canals just lovely.

Got back yesterday to a very effusive welcome home from the dogs, and now I'm at work. Hmm. There's always a down side, isn't there?

The smallest tent in the world

2011-04-26T00:38:00.001-07:00

Its ok tho, we only got two people in it, not two dogs as well.

Two dogs

2011-04-26T00:34:00.001-07:00

Erm. two dogs. They get on great, look. Also I get on great with Jack's owner, and have done since January. So, now you know.

westside story

2011-04-26T00:25:00.000-07:00

So, life goes on. And in weather like this, when one is not working at the weekends, it goes on out west.

On Friday after work I packed up a bundle of stuff and two dogs and jumped in a car. We went out to Sango Bay.

Activities for the weekend including surfing, walking, climbing, eating and drinking. Although sometimes the choice of route wasn't entirely of the most sensible! Most exciting tho ...

Although a lot more of it did look like this:

Notable by their absence - other people!

moving forwards

2011-04-26T00:20:00.000-07:00

i'm finding it quite difficult to blog. i think its that life goes on thing, which at the moment seems so wrong. surely life needs to stop and think for a bit?

work is keeping me busy. we're at a time in the year when we are reviewing everything and planning and so forth. and again, another little odd moment. i always asked pa his opinion on stuff like this. and now I can't. i get the feeling there are going to be quite a very moments like that from now on.

New Stuff

2011-04-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

So having finally managed to post that blog, I should tell you that the O'Neill surf competition starts tomorrow, the Coldwater Classic, and we've put together a week long festival of events for the good folks of Thurso to get them more entwined with the competition.

We started last Saturday with 3 bands and a theatre performance and art exhibition in the precinct and continue this week, with film showings and podcasting workshops, kids craft events, more bands, and finish next Saturday with a beach day. I'll be playing beach volleyball (yes, in my shortest shorts) and swimming, and participating in all sorts of other beach games. Brrr. Why do we do these things?

Saturday night finishes with a gig by Sketch, which is a great mix of contemporary dance music and traditional Scottish stuff, guaranteed to get me dancing! Although after the excursions of the whole week I'll probably be so tired I'll be asleep by 8pm!

Pa Pope

2011-04-11T11:53:00.000-07:00

the hardest post I've ever written

2011-03-23T02:53:00.000-07:00

Many of you will already know that my Pa hadn't been very well for some time, but he really really really didn't want me to mention anything on the blog. So I didn't.

The sad news is he died on 20 March. Yes the day after his birthday.

The happy news is you can get from Thurso to Cardiff in 9 hours on no notice whatsover, so I was with him when he died. As was my brother, which proves that you can get from Sticksville Deutschland to Cardiff in 12 hours.

My sister was there too, but she had the easiest trip. So Pa had all three kids and my Ma with him. And it was one of the most moving and intense experiences of my life. And I think back on it a lot at the moment, as it is the one thing that has felt real since then.

The funeral was a very strong celebration of his life, with a humanist celebrant and my brother and aunt giving brilliant personal recollections. I'm pretty sure Pa's antennae picked everything up!

Also there were lots of people at the funeral and all saying lovely things, which was really supportive and helpful. As well as incredibly sad and heart-breaking.

I wouldn't be me without my Pa, obvious statement I know, but he was a major influence on me, and just the most unique, intelligent and amazing person. Although my Ma is pretty darn cool as well! I'm really lucky to have both of them as my folks. Pa would only want positive thoughts about him, and although its hard not to feel so sad about it, its best not to dwell, ay.

And i could stretch this blog out for ever saying wonderful things about Pa and about how much i miss him, but I won't. I'll just find a photo and leave it at that for now, and just every now and then refer back to what Pa would have done. And just once more say my Pa was wonderful and I miss him so much.

what seems to almost be a weekly update

2011-03-19T01:04:00.001-07:00

sorry that this has got a little boring. i will overwhelm you with pictures soon i promise.

just another full on busy week at work, and i'm off in a minute to work too. lovely. and tomorrow i will be making a marquee. and yesterday the dj started to turn up with his stuff. i'm so so scared for next week! but you'll be pleased to know i've told the neighbours. and i think the band, if they manage to play, will be on around 4pm so that should be just dandy.

and one other very important thing - happy birthday pa! much love

the next thing in the calendar

2011-03-15T00:58:00.000-07:00

ok, so i'm home, i'm back at work, and im planning for a landmark birthday.

in my absence my small party has become a large party, apparently there will be a band, i really had better tell the neighbours, and I spend the weekend making a marquee! oh deary me. more pictures as the thing gets put together methinks.

Right, now i'm off to the ness, to sort out my outfit!

so belated tales of tenerife

2011-03-15T00:34:00.001-07:00

On the first night we got there we read the map wrong and it took us a long time to find our apartment. but we did, and giggled lots whilst we were about it. and both of us agreed it was definitely warm enough to sleep on a park bench!

monday and tuesday were spent doing very little, getting used to the temperature, laying the first base of tan, and unwinding from stress. and sleeping. lots.

on Wednesday we got on a ferry and went off to the island of La Gomera. After exploring the archaeology museum and finding out that ancient Gomerans used to use whistling as their form of communication we then headed right over the island to Ville Gran Rey, which it transpires is where every German in the Canary Islands goes on holiday. Also there were so very peculiar hippy enclaves. All in all, it was a very bizarre place. We had a very pleasant fish supper here tho.

Thursday we got on a little ferry and travelled around the island back to the main town of San Sebastian. As is frequently my wont I managed to find the tattoo shop, completely by accident! Don't worry. I didn't have time to get any new ink. We then round a mojito bar, and supped a cocktail or tea and an interesting coffee concoction with something alcoholic in in that neither me or Vic could identify. We then got the big ferry back home, and back to our little apartment.

Friday we got a bus to the capital city of Tenerife, Santa Cruz. We headed straight off to the museum to find out more about whistling Gomerans, and see the scary mummies. And, boy, are they scary! We spent a good couple of hours here, and then headed out to find somewhere for a late lunch. Santa Cruz seemed very busy and we kept seeing little pockets of people in fancy dress. We found a very smart looking bar/ restaurant, that a group of doctors were drinking in, so we settled there. The a clown came out of the house opposite. As we broached the first bottle of Canarian white wine, we realised that almost every man in the street had a clown face, or overly large shoes on, and then we looked closely at the house opposite. Home of the Nifu-Nifa it said. and across the way - home of the los diablos do something or other. And then we thought carefully, as we knew that the following Tuesday was mardi gras, and then we realised, yay, carnival starts today! Unfortunately the parade didn't start til 7 and our bus home was 7.15 so we missed that, but we certainly enjoyed getting into the party atmosphere!

On Saturday we hired a car and Vic drove us up to the top of the volcano. It snowed. I had bare feet. We didn't think it would be a good idea to do any hiking. We did a bit of car exploring. Tenerife, if you can avoid the Brits abroad bits, is actually really interesting and pretty amazing to look at. We tried to go right out to the left hand corner but a sign said the road was closed. lots of other people seemed to not be too concerned, but we decided to walk it for a bit, and we had a picnic surrounded by little lizards, gazing out to sea, with volcanic cliffs as our backdrop. There was also a pretty sick left breaking beneath us, which I'm sure wiht a bit of ingenuity or a small boat, you'd be able to surf, no problems! We came back via a very windy route, and stopped in a little village, and found Casa Riquelme, which as far as I could tell, was Riquelme's house, and he sold us a beer and a fruit juice and let us sit in his garden, and bask in the sun and the view. Saturday night was going to be our big night out, but we'd had such a day of it, that we just went down to the local pizzeria, and then home to lots of games of Shithead! what better way to spend an evening, hey.

Sunday was the last day, so we sat on the balcony in few little, and tried our damnest to come home looking like lobsters. I nearly succeeded. We then headed off to the airport and got a reminder of what Tenerife is also like, as we watched a boy get off the plane from Bristol absolutely incapacitated and unable to stand. And that was before he'd even reached the island. Bleargh.

So all in all, a very relaxing holiday, and I would recommend tenerife as a place to stay. Try Santa Cruz, tho, or somewhere up in the mountains. And thanks, Vic, for such a relaxing holiday!

Apologies

2011-03-11T00:30:00.001-08:00

so it appears I can get my photos to facebook, but not from facebook to here. but i'm sure I've done it before so i'll keep trying

and just so you are aware, it is still absolutely chucking it down with snow up here and any vestige of a tan I had has absolutely disappeared. arses.

a thing i can post a picture off

2011-03-08T11:47:00.001-08:00

so whilst i was away this happened to my house

the gap which i'd created by taking a fireplace out got turned into a doorway

this is the kitchen at the moment. i'm planning to swop the cooker and chopping block i think. it all still needs finishing off and painting, but even the hole in the floor is covered up!

and this is the dining room. again, it needs painting but its looking good i think!