Thin Shadows, Bright Sun and the Car Park...

It's the time of year for long thin shadows. The sun rises lower and lower each day and as it does so it highlights the dust and fluff on the floor, and shows off the dirty windows. The road in to Inverness is relatively free of vehicle traffic but the sun is blinding and sunglasses are a necessity to avoid driving off the road. Niels is waiting for a cataract operation. He has been advised not to drive. I'm his driver and lately have spent a number of evenings parked in various car parks while he goes for band practice. You don't need good sight for playing the drums apparently....and I can add that you don't need good light for drawing badly in dimly lit car parks either!

Making Light Work...

In spite of the red sky in the morning warning, the day stayed dry though breezy. We did the morning keep fit trot along the lane - I think we'd seize up if we didn't!  Later Al came round with the best ever toy to keep us happy and amused for the afternoon. A Truck barrow borrowed from a friend. A motorised wheel barrow on caterpillar tracks. It loves carrying logs up the hill more than we do especially since the hill seems to get steeper every day. Work done and time for a beer....or two. 

Inverewe Garden

Inverewe Garden is always worth a visit. Even on a chilly November afternoon with the sun low in the sky there is still something to see. Garden life hanging on by a thread, (except for the cabbages which are huge), keeps the winter at bay for just a little longer! I was tempted to pick a nice lettuce for tea but thought I shouldn't.

Log Order!

This Autumn with the help of family we were able to drag a lot more wood up from further down in the garden.There is plenty of wood on the land from felled or fallen trees not to mention the trees that are still growing. The hard part is getting  the wood up near the house where it can be sawn and chopped into manageable logs.The wood is well seasoned. Once sawn and split the logs are stacked outside the house under the eaves. Then as we need logs, we take them indoors to dry out some more in a basket by the door. Next the logs are stacked around the fire and in a storage area in the wood burner. Lastly they go in a basket ready to go on the fire. That way the wood is very dry and burns very cleanly leaving very little soot or smoke. While we are taking wood from the basket by the fire we fill up the basket by the door again and repeat the whole process! It sounds complicated doesn't it! It's simply brilliant though having our own wood supply and I'm pretty certain we have enough for our life time!
Ps... I took the photo of the log saw horse behind the Lavatera in July. The Lavatera  has long since finished flowering!

Dripping

It's been a very soggy wishy washy wet overcast sort of day. Tomorrow will be cold and sunny - we shall see

It's a perfect morning for kicking about on the shore

A little boat,tethered to an old weathered tree covered in sea weed, waits for the tide to turn 

And, yes, I agree it is a bit on the gloomy side but staying indoors because of the weather I would never see this wealth of colour at my feet sparkling and glinting in the drizzle. 

Water and trees tumble over the edge. It's all so higgledy piggledy. I love it. Chaos reigns here! 

Autumn leaves and sea weed combine to form a deep spongy carpet

slippery rock faces, splashing and dripping water

An abundance of light and colour tucked away in the chaotic undergrowth

I wanted to take this piece of wood home with me, but it was too heavy and very very wet and soggy.