New roof for the goats (2)

So here it is! There's a gable end to finish but it looks like a roof eh?

I can proudly claim to have helped to build this - I passed the box profile sheets up to David to attach - a very important job I'll have you know.

I'm posting a picture of how it looked in September last year - real progress (but a slightly depressing reminder that it's not always hot and sunny here!). The shot looking inside features on of Jussi's magnificent doors.

Things are looking good for goats on Sunday. Meanwhile I've taken on some consultancy work which Jussi aint over-joyed about and my underpants keep falling down. Is this because the elastic is spent or because I'm losing weight?

And Jussi has been forwarding me messages from a guy in Caithness who's got some piglets for sale (saddleback x largeblack). I'm torn over this - surely it would be a mistake to take on pigs on top of goats at the same time - too much learning to cope with all a once? But then again we'd manage wouldn't we? And have some fabulous pork/ham/sausage for the winter. The jury is still out on this one - what should I do what should I do?

In and around Wick

We headed off in the van and spent most of the day running messages for friends and buying more kit for goats. Bleedin' expensive all this animal husbandry stuff ye know.

We also visited another goat keeper. I've met a few now. They are all mad.

When Ailsa got bored of being in the van she was given the camera so here is a picture of Wick, and of a small wind farm outside Thurso (with apologies for the fly-splattered windscreen).

Snaehoha

Hidden in nearly every clump of grass around the croft is some old piece of machinery. Its a joy to unbury them and wonder.

I reckon this magnificent beast - named Snaehoha by Ailsa - was a turnip shredder to open neeps and the like for feeding to animals. It has lost it's plunger - but I wouldn't have thought it would be too difficult repair and we will if ever we need to. It is a magnificent looking thing.

We are bringing together a vast amount of scrap iron as a result of unearthing these tools of crofting past. One day, I tell myself somewhat foolishly, I will build a wind sculpture out of it all. It will clang away all night and frighten off all the ghosties, whilst providing a sort of aural security blanket - once we're accustomed to the din that is.

New roof for the goats

Here is a not so particularly useful picture of David the joiner putting on a new roof for the middle of our three outbuildings. This will be finished by the weekend (despite the thunderstorm we are currently enjoying - though I doubt David is). This level of joinery is far too advanced for Jussi (and me - but then I'm not far short of useless anyway).

Jussi spent yesterday making beds for the goats out of pallets. We can get used pallets free from Allens of Gillock, and you can make anything from a good supply of old pallets. At least Jussi can. I'd hoped Ailsa would take piccies of Jussi's work - but her feet are far more interesting.

Fences

One of the people who have promised us goats visited on Sunday - they seemed happy enough with the set-up we have here, and had lots of useful suggestions about how to improve things. It looks as though we are on for the goats and on Sunday we'll make the 8+ hour round trip to Aberdeenshire to pick up 2 saanens and 4 british alpines.

Unsurprisingly the fencers haven't come up with the goods but we have 200m of electric fencing as back up. There's four wires here and as we were putting in the bottom level I was saying to Ailsa that I should really cut back the undergrowth before we lay this wire - but I didn't.

Then I decided that I needed to cut back the undergrowth (which otherwise shorts the fence) and got out the strimmer. I would say I was almost 1/4 of the way round before the strimmer caught the fence and mangled it. Then I had to dismantle the strimmer to get all the wire out of it, and splice the shredded fencing back together.

Note to self: - I really don't have to be quite so completely stupid. I knew it would happen and it did and it took an hour or so to undo the damage caused.

"What can I do?"

Oh the joys of school holidays. Ailsa was bored so I sent her out with the camera and asked her to take some record shots of how things are progressing. She took over 50 pics - 22 of them of her feet. The next four posts feature the useful piccies. Here are some thistles - we've yet to try to eat them.

Her best friend has returned from hols to discover they have chicks - so Ailsa spent all day Sunday ferrying them around (completely unnecessarily by the sounds of it), falling in mud and being attacked by what Ailsa calls gad flies (we call them clegs or horse flies). Yesterday she helped me to put up the electric fence.

"Daddy, when you lie on your back in the water like that, your nipples look like udders"

There - proof we went swimming yesterday - I couldn't make a comment like that up.

It was great fun and we spent nearly two hours in the water. The water was warm in places and freezing in others. And we finished it off with a fish supper. Fab.

Crops

We've had a good crop of visitors this week - Struan and Grannie Denise from Dunbar and Wick on Thursday, a neighbour last night to help with a grant application and Rowanne and family from Dunbar today. And a good smattering of trades people getting things moving on the croft for good measure. And the weather has been perfect - hot and sunny with a warm warm breeze. In fact today it is too hot to be outside just now so I'm in hiding until late afternoon when I'm hoping we'll all go off to the beach and get some of that North Sea swimming experience.

Hopefully the weather will stay tomorrow when we are expecting one of the people who have offered us goats to visit. They want to assess our set-up to make sure the goats are coming to a good home. Fingers crossed for that one - although there is still the spectre of the outbreak of goaty TB to scunner these plans.

Cleaning walls

These are the walls Jussi has been cleaning down. A nasty job indubitably.

But we have a wee problem - this end wall of the three outbuildings collapsed after the old roof was taken off in preparation for a new roof. One step forward two steps back - but remember, the man who made time made plenty of it.

Heraldry

When we are hugely successful and world renowned we will have a coat of arms made. It will feature rampant thistles, cucumber passant and invisible goats.

But lo - the cotyledonous leaves are leaving - these are real leaves man! We'll have cucumbers before the end of the world. The eagle eyed amongst you will spot that there are in fact two thriving cucumber plants in this picture. Riches!

Well done Lulu and Christian

Jussi has had a bit of a rough time over the last week - with all sorts of conflicting messages about the arrival/non arrival of goats and battling to get trades in to do much needed work in preparation for said goats. Of course trades the world over have a motto "There's no hurry - the man who made time made plenty of it" - but up here they've really taken this to heart. Things are coming together, and reasonably quickly - but it all feels so agonisingly slow if you happen to be in a hurry.

Lulu and Christian leapt forth and rushed in as Jussi's moral support. Although Jussi took care to visit the bottle bank before I got home, there is enough evidence to suggest that alcohol played a fair part in that supporting activity. As did a very creamy fish pie the cooking vessel which I somehow ended up washing up.

So thanks to you for the support, the bespoiling of the thistle party, the straw, and for not being too thirsty and leaving a fair few tinnies for my refreshment.

Someone has been reading my diary

I've been on holiday, and someone knew about this in advance and told all their friends about it so that they could party madly while I was away. Personally I think it was the thistles what did it and they recruited lots of support to binge on my garden - including buttercups, dog rose and the ever pervasive ground elder.

Sunrise 04:51, Sunset 21:54

I'm back - and boy is it hot up here. Fabtastic. I've got loads to update you with and the return of the camera will mean there'll be piccies to enhance the whole experience.

But I've just had a call from a consultancy firm asking if they can add me to a team they are pulling together for a tender. Of course I said yes - which is why, on this glorious day, I'm sat in front of my laptop rather than being outside - and why am I blogging instead of doing the little bit of preparatory work they've asked me for? Mmmmm

Delays

There have been some delays. Most importantly, the goats are delayed. I just had a call from a new goat-keeping friend to say that there's an outbreak of TB in goats so movement may be restricted for a while. So - no goats tomorrow.

The joiner was coming to put a new roof on the stable yesterday, but he got delayed because he had to finish off something else first. He offered to do it today, but he was keen to go to the Caithness Show in Thurso and I didn't have the heart to make him work instead, especially since the goats are not coming yet. He'll be here on Monday (fingers crossed).

The fencing, of course is not done yet either, but at least the materials are here and everything is ready to go as soon as the grant application is put in and approved. That's assuming I can get hold of the fencer.

Meanwhile, I've started clearing up the main stable. I've moved all the wood I (and the previous owner) had hoarded in there, taken out all the mucky stuff and started on brushing off the walls. It's starting to look good and it's a cracking Plan B if the roofing is delayed some more. And I have restored power to the croft! Simon's demolition work had left a lot of the wiring frayed, but now it's all lovely and safe again. The joiner will be pleased when (if?) he turns up. And I can use my new power-washer to clean the stables!

Neighbours

Jussi here - my first post! I couldn't leave you guys hanging like that, wondering whether the bale is still in the van etc., so here goes.

The bale is not in the van anymore! I called our favorite neighbour, and right enough, he had a tractor with a loader sitting in his shed. Said neighbour is working, so he couldn't come and help. He asked if I had driven a tractor (no) and whether Simon is around (no!), so he got another lovely neighbour lined up to help. First thing this other neighbour arrived with the tractor and got the bale out. Sorted. I was happy. But that wasn't enough for him. The next day I was expecting a delivery of fencing materials, 1/2 lorry load's worth of materials. I had been warned that the drivers would swear a lot if they had to unload the lot by hand, so I was keen to keep the tractor. But the tractor was nearly out of diesel. So the neighbour drove the tractor all the way over to his place, put some more diesel in, and brought it all the way back. And all that before going offshore in the afternoon!

Lovely neighbours.

The fencing stuff arrived the next day and they managed to unload it fine. The tractor didn't help as much as I'd hoped and there was a bit of swearing, but nothing too bad.

Back at the croft

Jussi is working her guts out.  Today she's been to Gillock and bought a van full of stuff including roofing materials for the goat shelter - this will be fitted on Friday.  On top of the roofing material is a giant bale of straw she managed to buy near Wick.  But how to get it out?  She's thinking of tying a rope around it and driving away.   But she's trying to find a neighbour with a forklift to help her out.

Oh and she's bought feed and feed bins and all sorts of other bits..... she even found some free pallets - something she has a wee bit of an obsession about...

She might get round to blogging - I'll do my best to find ways of blogging if she's too busy - or knackered as she is now - to keep you up to date.

Art attack

Ailsa and I are in Hull and so far we've managed to go to Hornsea - decided it was too windy to row on the mere but we had fun in the sea and fantastic fish and chips ( the best ever!) and mushy peas of course.

Today we've been at the Yorkshire sculpture park.  Great fun - lots of room for Ailsa to run about - but unfortunately she walked Ted into a Sophie Ryder sculpture and he know has a very nasty looking cut on his nose (Ted is blind - Ailsa was leading him and was a bit too enthusiastic about the approaching art.

The Deep tomorrow.

Soooo busy

That I can spend a couple of hours catching up on others blogs. Here's a veg patch to die for...

And another post from the same blog - these guys are totally strapped for cash but still manage to hold to their principles. I think we might have to do some thinking about how much we compromise our ideals. Then again shopping locally would nigh on double our food bills and we still wouldn't be buying local produce, and we'd lose a lot in quality and variety.

api.home

This blog is getting quite a few referrals from "api.home". Can anyone tell me what this is?

Panic

The trip to Inverness went well - though I seem to have got a bit of Ness's revenge (a bit like Montezuma). The van now has a tow bar - what a proud moment - if only Jussi hadn't taken the Camera to Hamburg I could fill the blog with stunning tow bar piccies.

Tomorrow I go to Edinburgh, then on to Hull then Durham returning late July. And there's so much to do today. The place is a tip.

I'll not be blogging for a couple of weeks - but there's a lot happening while I'm away and I've invited Jussi to keep you up to date with the grand arrival of GOATS! Can't promise she will - she'll be busy like. And she'll be panicking like something that panics a lot and is really funny but I can't think anything just now.

I'll leave you with this little thought provoking thought from Tom Waits who's currently trying to shake the cottage down curtesy of a very loud iPod - (one of the very great joys of living no where near anyone):

When you hear sweet syncopation
And the music softly moans
T'aint no sin
to take off your skin
and dance around in your bones.

How many degrees of sad git?

I watched a prog on the box last night about Anthony Minghella (he who wrote and directed Truly Madly Deeply, The English Patient, The Talented Mr Ripley etc).

The most startling fact about him was that he went to Hull University (no really). While he was there he developed a friendship with the playwright Alan Plater. Now my mate John's mum was a close friend of Alan Platers and I often used to have quick hello's with him. This puts me two degrees of separation from Jude Law, Juliettte Binoche, Alan Rickman, Juliet Stevenson, Nicole Kidman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon and.......in fact I almost feel like I live in Hollywood, where, instead of re-heated curried mould, I could be eating like this. (Well LA is almost Hollywood innit!)

But I guess as claims to fame go it's not that good. Not as good as my mate Tagd's mum who used to share a river boat in Paris with that woman from Planet Gong.

Which reminds me that I always meant to tell you that it is really weird driving across the flow country, windows wound down with Gong blasting out.

The original meaning of weird is: "having the power to control destiny".

Integrity x 3

That soup didn't sound so nice did it? Well I wrote the recipe before I didn't cook it. I didn't cook it cos I found a jar of curry paste and so I made a curry from exactly those ingredients - I fried the spuds to accompany it - and it was wonderful. Most intoxicating. It'll be even better tonight.

I finished the work I was doing for Changeworks. Well I didn't exactly finish it - more I've stopped doing it. A bit dissatisfying really - I'd have much rather got it closer to completion, and I seem to have spent a lot of time researching and thinking and only written a few (tens of thousands of) words. Now I'm at a complete loss as to what to do..........

So I rushed out and chased the remaining sheep off our land and restored the fence where they'd been getting in. I have to be early in the morning to go to Inverness - I fully expect our fields to be full of sheep. But hopefully not - and the grass will have a couple of weeks to recover before the goats arrive.

Emergency food

I'm running low and don't want to shop until I go to Inverness on Thursday. (I'll go to Tesco - they've kindly sent me a £4 voucher (if I spend over £40) and a 5p off per litre of fuel voucher too.

So here is my emergency food for tonight.

Smelly pink Potato and Spinach soup
INGREDIENTS
A bowl of boiled potatoes found hiding at the back of the fridge
4 or 5 spinach plants. Chopped very finely- the stalks are getting a bit woody.
Half a yellow pepper - be sure to discard the squidgy bits around the edge.
A tomato
A couple of onions - those two will do - it's only soup.
A bulb of garlic - if you've got it use it.
Stock cubes herbs and spices as the whim takes you.
Cheese
Oooh look there's some celery left as well

METHOD

1. Throw the tomato away - it's too far gone.
2. Do your best to chop the onion - but be careful soft slippery onions are dangerous. Chuck them in a large pan with butter/oil to fry off
3. Peel as much as the garlic as you can be bothered with and add to the onions
4. Chop the pepper and chuck it in along with the chopped celery - you can do this one handedly with a bit of practice.
   
5. Add to the pan the white bits of the potato - greeny blue or furry bits can go in the compost along with the tomato, the edge of the pepper and the blood stained onion skin.
6. Add a random selection of stock cubes, herbs and spices - but not too much of that one! Oh dear.
7. Add water.
8. Finely grate the cheese. Pay particular attention to the really hard bits - you've lost enough blood already - and they are surprisingly difficult to dissolve.
9. Add the spinach
10. Whizz up with a whizzer
11. Add the cheese and stir until you get bored of waiting for the hard bits to dissolve - a good tooth brush should get them off your teeth later
12. If, after all, you decide you have the courage to investigate the white fuzzy lump in the freezer and it turns out to be peas - add them and boil for a bit longer. If it turns out to be salt cod, think very, very carefully.
13. Best served in a clean bowl (the last one!)
    
14. Allow to cool while you have a good big dram of the cheapest whisky (which is all that's left). It'll cushion the blow.

I hope you laughed. In a few weeks I'll have perfected this recipe, maybe it'll help to recession proof me.

What an extraordinary recession! Surely we've never had a recession before that smashed into us with so little warning? Many of us have wondered for years how the credit card economy was going to end - I wonder if we're about to find out.

The third leaf (2)

Bizarrely the third leaf so joyously reported yesterday was a mirage. Looks like I'll have to wait a bit longer for those cucumbers.

Perhaps I'm hallucinating - a product of being on my own for so long. There are a number of other strange things happening which I believe to be related to the absence of Jussi.

Most obviously is the sink - it seems to be filling with dirty dishes - and the area around the television is getting pretty tricky to navigate around too. Normally this doesn't happen. Even when I put the water heater on so there's a tank of piping hot water....those minging dishes just don't go away.

And then there's clothes. I did a wash five days ago and hung it out on the line to dry and it's still wet! When Jussi hangs out washing she brings it in a couple of hours later all crisp and dry. I don't get it - I must be doing something wrong.

And then there's food. I seem to be running out.

The third leaf

I deserve a drink. A celebratory toast. One of my cucumber plants has developed a third leaf. I can't show you a piccy cos Jussi has the camera - but rest assured it's almost as big as the original two. They do look sad though - patchy and white, still - I'll be catching up with Liz in no time.

But I'll hold off brewing vinegar for now.

Sunrise 04:21, Sunset 22:21

But I'm still refusing to need any lights when I go to bed - and so far only a few bruises to show for it.

Ellie and Kier visited on Saturday. They left again on Sunday morning, just enough time for a tour of the policies, excessive alcohol and to nurture a lust in Kier for a wii.

I was supposed to be working on Sunday but somehow managed to spend most of the day watching the grand prix and Wimbledon. Bad Bad Boy! I'm working better today though - and I'm expecting it to be a zero human contact day (although I briefly saw a neighbour on Saturday and he's promised a visit sometime this week to talk fencing).

Human Contact 2

I know this doesn't really count, but I've just had a visit from a young, jolly and enthusiastic couple. Jehovah's Witnesses. I mean Pulease!

Unfortunately I was in the middle of working and didn't really want to be disturbed, which now they've gone I somewhat regret. They were fresh faced young things and it would have been fun to have a cup of tea with them I think. And work is driving me nuts anyway. Still I sent them off with a smile on their faces (one smile, two faces. Mmmm).

I've spent most of my life having little time for religious people. I used to think that belief in an almighty was an abdication of human responsibility. I'm much less judgmental now and attach greater importance to the spiritual and the humility of deference to a spiritual existence.

But then again, Jehovah's Witnesses are loonies.

Friday night

Advance notice - there'll be no Friday night. In fact today looks like it's a zero human contact day - not even the postie. Of course I was spoilt yesterday - postie and a trip to the shop and a phone call with Tom.

But I'll have visitors tomorrow. Ooh!

Human Contact

Actually contact with any living thing apart from flies and woodworm beetles (under strict instruction from Jussi to squish them on sight) would be welcome. Although there's the cats of course.

Jussi phoned from Hamburg yesterday - the only human contact. It's hot there - that kind of hot where everything grinds to a halt about noon. After a lunch of potatoes and green sauce followed by ice cream and red sauce - you go off and hide in cool shade at the bottom of the garden with the mosquitos and rotting plums. Around 4pm out comes the gin and you cool off with gin lime and ice. Nice. Happy Birthday Elizabeth (yesterday).

Those sauces don't translate so well. Green sauce is sour cream with all kinds of fresh summer herbs and chopped boiled eggs - it is amazing. And red sauce is basically summer fruit puree - equally fantastic (and not in the least basic - Elizabeth purees all the fruits by hand - it's a big job, but then she does go for industrial quantities).

I reckon yesterday was the hottest day we've had here. The mercury must have soared into the high teens - and it was coupled with a really balmy westerly which is what made the biggest difference. And I might not have those sauces but I'm cooking with celery (an ingredient banned by Jussi). Yesterday was celery simply braised with garlic, peppers, garlic, tomato, garlic, onion, garlic, potato, a pork chop and garlic and cabbage.

Today human contact will come in the shape of a phone call from Tom at Changeworks. Later I might go to the post office and refill our electricity stick (Scottish Hydro have given us a new meter - we don't have power cards anymore, we have a stick - doesn't sound like progress does it?). But I'd rather save the trip to the post office until tomorrow. Don't want to spoil myself.

sunrise 04:14, sunset 22:25

Hold on tight! My readership is falling off. This is because I am neglecting the blog.

Chestnuts
There's lots of reasons for this - but mainly it's because I'm trying to focus on a big piece of work I'm doing for Changeworks. I delude myself that if I don't blog I'll get more work done. So far it's not quite working that way but I still have high hopes. Another reason for the lack of blogging is a crisis of confidence over what the blog is - is it a public diary, a social commentary, inane and perhaps amusing ramblings - or what?

Anyway, Jussi and Ailsa are away in Hamburg leaving me here 'to get more work done' - ah that old chestnut again.

Sporting Heroes
The weather is glorious, I'm watching Wimbledon for the first time in decades - and thoroughly enjoying it - and wondering if I'll speak to anyone today. Yesterday human contact came in the form of a delivery driver.

I'm amused by the fuss over Andy Murray's remarks about not supporting England. For any English readers please be assured that a Scot who supports any English sporting endeavour is a very rare thing. It's in their blood. It's not so much that they like to see England lose (well sometimes maybe) it's just more that they prefer to see the other team win.

I had a similar problem during the football over that last couple of weeks. Obviously I was supposed to want Germany to win. But as hard as I tried I always found a reason to want their opponents to win. Many English people will understand that - they just need to take those feelings and transpose them to Scotland and they might understand Andy Murray's comments.