Just Doing The Basics.

 
At the start of the gorge beyond the hen houses, where the croft really begins to slope downwards to the loch side is the first mini-waterfall. We've burnt so much wood these last few weeks that we are running out. There's a few dead trees still lying about so we set too on Friday gathering them in. It was stunningly cold, where simple pleasures are the best: removing your wellies & kicking your chilblains against the stove is somehow exquisitely pleasurable.

The mini-waterfall feeds a deep pool. In the Summer it makes a wonderful bathtub when the midges are absent! It's quite lovely at the moment with its fringe of icicles.

Since the freeze came I haven't walked down to the Mother fall where there's a 20 metre drop. It will no doubt be stupendously gorgeous & frozen at the edges. But it's too dangerous a descent at the moment. We hope to have a micro-hydro system rigged up for the house from it & that can't come too soon for me!

Frrrrreezing Still.

 


We managed to get out last Tuesday & rescue a friend, take her with us over to Dingwall for shopping. Jim had to chip the ice off the track & spread some grit we had gotten dropped off at the top of the road. It took a couple of days - well a few hours over 2 days to get the car up to the roadside. It was -12 at Contin, and that was during mid day. We've left the car at the roadside, but now the roads are starting to become impassable.

Everything has frozen solid, is lethal underfoot. The water is still frozen in the caravan, so each day we get buckets of it out of the burn. The sheeps' water is freezing all the time, so we have to trail up with fresh buckets about 4 times a day. Poor sheep, but they're toughies. We were getting short of hay ( we still have some stored over at a friend's byre)Jim was going to trail along the 3 miles with a wheelbarrow & cart back a couple of bales today, but someone came with them on a quad, so that was great.

The calor gas still keeps freezing - well the regulator does. We do quite a lot of cooking & water heating on the wood burning stove. I'm so glad we put it in. The hens are spending each day under the caravan. It's not frozen under there. Old caravans have no insulation so they are getting a bit of heat going down from above. The cats are grumpy, just going out to do their business & back in. Weemon seems to spend most days & nights under the quilt on the bed, coming out for a few hours at night to sit beside the stove & lash out at Spider to get the best seat. I'm not doing much, just trying to keep warm, cooking, trailing up to the sheep & watching rubbish telly. I've shut down like a squirrel.

The forecast is not good. It snowed quite a lot last night, although we don't seem to have that much really, but it's the ice that's the worry. The fresh snow has given some grip underfoot. Previous snow has become compressed into ice. The wind has also picked up & would take the face off you it you let it.
Someone down the road had an accident with a quad & trailer - they stupidly had their kids on the back. It tipped & both kids had to be helicoptered to hospital - I hope they're okay.
It's been nice & bright most of today & looked magnificent, but not for lingering in. The sun will come back in less than two weeks hurray. It doesn't really reach us yet because of the benn, but it's coming..........