Week 5

The weather this week has been just awful. We have had gale force winds, hail, etc. Between all this we usually take the dog for a walk somewhere nearby, or if it is particularly bad, drive to the woods about 5 mins drive away. One walk takes us up the road to a memorial to the Drs Macleod.

I say that in the plural as both husband and wife were Doctors here and then also their son. Life must have been very different then as there were no causeways joining the islands so travel was a lot harder than it is today.
Dr Alexander Macleod practised medicine here in North Uist between 1932 - 2000. In the early days transport was by horseback, gig or by boat. He introduced, in 1933, the Air Ambulance service to take seriously ill patients off the island to Glasgow Hospital.
His wife Julia, also a GP, covered for her husband when he was on call in remote areas or was off the islands for meetings. She set up and ran the Red Cross Branch here from 1939 sending parcels to Uist troops overseas and in prisoners of war camps.
Dr John, their eldest son, took over the practice in 1974 when his father retired.

Looking back to Clachan an Luib

This is an example of the sky when bad weather is approaching.

On a good day it can look like the above photo.
Later this week whilst out walking the dog we were invited into a lovely old croft cottage to have a cup of tea and chat about how life was here back in the late 60's. Really interesting and nice to meet some more local Clachan residents.

Week 4

The beginning of this week had Mark back at the Dr's with his ear, as it still had not cleared up. The Dr rang back in the afternoon to say he had arranged for Mark to be seen by the ENT Specialist in Inverness as soon as he could get over there. A discussion was held with work and it was decided we would drive over for an appointment on Friday.
Driving over involves a ferry trip from Lochmaddy to Uig on Skye, and then driving on to Inverness from there, after crossing the bridge onto the mainland at Kyle of Lochalsh.

Sunrise at Lochmaddy from Ferry

We left early so were able to photograph sunrise at Lochmaddy. The ferry crossing took 1 3/4 hrs and was very calm.
We took a leisurely drive to Inverness through Scottish Highland countryside on the A890 Loch Carron side (West ) side of the Highlands stopping off at a rather interesting Hotel at Loch Gowan for lunch.

Bridge to Skye from Kyle of Lochalsh

 Inverness ( Inver meaning mouth of and Ness the river Ness which flows out of Loch Ness) is actually on the East Coast of Scotland. It looks out onto the Moray Firth.

 We stayed in an apartment just along the river from Inverness Castle. The bridge near by was lit up at night.

Mark attended his appointment and the next day we decided to head back to the bottom of Loch Ness to Fort Augustus, where we were staying the night, via Aviemore and the Cairngorm ski field etc.

Above is a selection of photo's of Aviemore, the Cairngorm ski field and one of me at the Loch Carron lookout. There wasn't a lot of snow at the ski field but enough to be cold and for people to do a bit of skiing and snow boarding at the top. We travelled up to the top by funicular.

After an overnight stay at Fort Augustus we took the ferry back to Lochmaddy from Uig.

Ferry sailing that day was nice and calm but the next day we were hit here in North Uist with gale force winds.

Week 3

This week started with us waking up on Monday to what looked like snow but on closer inspection we decided was like small hail. Either way it was cold and stayed around in the shadows for most of the day.

The cat was only too happy to come inside after leaving footprints in the snow.

I guess we have had reasonably mild weather here so far compared to some parts of the UK who have had quite large dumps of snow.
Mid week David and I went on a long walk up on the Moor/heather land above the Barpa Langass Cairn. This looks like an large heap of stones but is in fact a Neolithic chambered cairn and is 24m in diameter and 4.5m high. We got great panoramic views across the moors and lochs of this part of North Uist. Its was quite wet under foot and there was still some hail/snow on the ground which the dog was not too keen on. We started walking in fine weather but turned around 2/3 of the way up the hill as the wind got up and it got cold. We must go up again on a fine day and take Mark with us and hopefully get right to the top next time.
We drove up to the radar station on another hill in North Uist this week too and were treated to another panoramic view of the surrounding countryside. There are not that many hills about this area but the if you find one the views are spectacular from the top.
By mid week we found out that Mark had the weekend off so got busy organising a trip to Harris and Lewis. Harris is the bottom of the next island up from here and Lewis is the top half of that island. To get there this involves taking the ferry from our island grouping at the top at Berneray and going across the Sounds of Harris to Leverburgh on the bottom of Harris. The trip takes an hour, but the ferry seems to weave in and out of small rocky outcrops, so not a straight route.
We were keen to visit an outlet for Harris tweed so found one at Tarbert. We had an interesting talk to a young guy there all about Harris tweed and how it is woven and sold. Harris tweed weavers are self employed and work from home. The tweed is hand woven in the Outer Hebrides, finished in the Outer Hebrides, and made from wool dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides.This is what gives each item of genuine Harris tweed the right to display the famous Orb logo. Marketing of the cloth is done by the Harris Tweed Authority and by the main mills. It is also protected by an act of parliament The 1993 Harris Tweed Act which states that the tweed "must be hand woven by islanders at their homes in the Outer Hebrides and made from pure virgin wool dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides". It is sold all around the world hence why we had heard of it. The traditional width of the cloth is 30 inches, but many weavers are now using new double width looms. There is a wide variety of colours and designs.
 We then ventured into the retail shop and were amazed at just how many things you can make from Harris tweed. We bought some things to take home with us. Actually when we were in Stornoway I was surprised to see in a florist shop window that someone had made flowers out of Harris tweed too. So I guess they are only limited by their imagination on what can be made from the cloth besides the traditional jackets, hats, waist coats etc.

Week 2

This week has been wet, misty, windy, and pretty cold.  Guess we have been given a taste of what the weather can throw at you here so we have been thankful of a nice warm peat fire in the house.
You get pretty good at layering your clothing here - lighter in the house then pile on the layers for going outside depending on how cold and windy it is. A hat and gloves are a must too.
Walks are often described by us, on our return, as "bracing" if it has been particularly windy.
We have been back for a 2nd Gaelic lesson this week and learnt to count 1-10 and also learnt the days of the week which all seem to start with a "d" . Very confusing and also quite a challenge to pronounce. I'm beginning to recognise a few words though and work out what they mean.
We came across a gift shop in Lochmaddy recently and ventured in for a look. It was a little "Aladdins cave " in that it had a bit of everything in it. Shops here in this part of the Hebrides aren't always that well marked as such. I guess the locals all know where they are and what's in them but a little confusing to people like us. So it pays to ask and you usually are told where to find the appropriate place for what you want.
It was Mark's birthday this week so I managed to bake him a small cake to celebrate and find him some Scottish beer and cider to go with it!

Gaelic Lessons

We, David & I, finally got around to phoning about the Gaelic lessons and duely turned up to Lochmaddy at 2pm for beginners Gaelic Conversation. By 2.30pm the lady in the store at the Museum building where the lessons are held decided to ring some one about the lessons. It turns out there was a bit of a mix up with times and also they didn't know we were going to turn up that day.
I think the Isles may be a little like the East Coast at home and run on there own time to a certain degree!
 Anyway a guy came and we were introduced  as wife & Dad of  the local vet's replacement,( that being Mark),  here for 4 months. Actually Mark says people are having trouble with his accent and think his name is Mac. He tells me he has given up trying to correct them and is happy to answer to Mac for the time being!! At least my name being an Irish name is a little easier to understand and say with my Kiwi accent.
They were quite intrigued to hear we have done a swap with practices/houses/animals etc.
Anyway back to the lessons. After a query about how many other languages we spoke besides English, in my case, only French, we were off and into the language. We started with what in french is the verb "To be", and in Gaelic translated to "I am, he is, she is, we are, they are" etc.
 Ok I thought, I can cope with this if I dredge some of the old grammer rules out of my brain that apply to french and modify them a bit. Then we asked "are there any silent letters?" Yes there are. Also a lot of letters are missing from the language eg j, k, q, v, w x, y, z to name a few that I can remember.
We went on to learn a few adjectives too so by the end of the lesson could say "I am cold". A useful expression to learn as today it is indeed cold and wet and windy.
David has decided his limited Welsh language is not helping him at all with Gaelic. Gaelic is pronounced to my ear as sounding like "garlic" so I'd better at least get that right. It is going to be challenge for us to learn this language but by the end of our lessons we might at least be able to pronounce some of the place names better. We have some web sites to check out too so better do our "homework" before we go back next week. I might have got over my cold by then and they might understand my accent a little better too.
There seem to be lots of accents around over here, with very English sounding, Scottish sounding, and we even met an Irish guy yesterday too. Word is getting around about who we are and what we are doing here too. We went in a shop today and Mark was asked " you're the vet doing the swap with our vet aren't you? We've heard about you"!
It is not unusual to hear Gaelic spoken in a shop especially with some of the older generation. The children we are told are taught Gaelic at school but it is not total immersion.
So... we are looking forward to next week's lesson with some trepidation but may have to do a bit of "swotting up" before then so we can keep up. Perhaps I can record the lesson and it might help my terrible pronounciation!!
Will keep you updated with our progress.

Week 1

Today is the beginning of the 1st of 16 weeks we will be here.
I went out to hang up some washing this morning and the wind was very cold however the sun has shone today and warmed us up. I think the weather will feature a lot in these posts.
Took the road north west today, from our base here in Clachan, which goes in a circle back through Lochmaddy in the east.
Lochmaddy was bustling today as the ferry from Uig was in.
Spoke to a lovely lady at the Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum & Arts Centre and we think we might go to beginners Gaelic lessons. Might be a bit of a challenge but fun too. We might then be able to pronounce some of the place names here.

Day 2

We woke this morning to cool but fine weather and no wind. We think perhaps we are being lulled into a false sense of security regarding the weather. We meet some local people this evening and they told us about just how strong the wind can get. Park towards the west they said,  and watch out for your car doors in really windy weather or you will loose them. Sounds like the wind chill factor will be an issue to consider when venturing out on a bad day.
Went out in the work vehicle with Mark to the grocery store and decided these Islands are bigger than I thought they would be. Driving is different with some stretches of road that are single lane and some that are two lanes. There are passing bays on the single stretches that you can dive into at the appropriate place when you meet another vehicle coming the other way. It pays to scan ahead for approaching cars. I managed to whip up a coconut cake for this evenings visitors which actually tasted pretty good. Still getting over jet lag so struggling to stay awake  much past 9pm.