This morning bright and early we saw one of these beauties in Achmelvich bay. He was just a tiddler, coming into shore to have a look around Tife barked at him, as usual! It's the first time I've seen a common dolphin so close to shore, and quite a magical sight!

time marches on...

Well, it had been my plan to write in this blog every day about what we've been up to, but it just hasn't worked. There's too much to do, and to be honest we've been having such a good time. Not only that, but it took weeks to get a phone line, and then get the internet connected. We still don't have any TV, not that it matters right now. In the winter I think it might be a different story. Everything up here moves at a snail's pace, something it's quite hard to get used to.
I still can't believe I'm living here permanently. It feels like an extended holiday, one that will come to an abrupt end shortly and I'll have to rejoin the real world. The dogs are having a ball, with all the hills, woods and beaches to run on. Tife likes to stand in front of the house barking, as if to say "this is my place!" Until the highland cows come along, then he runs away scared, silly bugger!

Packing

Who would have thought we could have accumulated so much junk! I have taken twelve boxes of books to the charity shop, and still have another twenty! It's going to take at least another two trips to the rubbish tip, and I dearly hope all our stuff is going to fit into the van.
Everyone says moving is incredibly stressful, and they're not wrong. There's just so much to worry about: we have not exchanged contracts yet, although we're supposed to complete a week on Friday, we've still got loads of furniture to sell, I'm still working... it's a nightmare. I keep telling myself to calm down, it'll all be worth it. Hope so!

Back home

I’m back in Leicester now, after a horrific journey. Eleven and a half hours it took, in the pouring rain. I had the dogs with me and to be fair I did stop four times, which was nice as I realised only on stopping that I had left my raincoat in Lochinver. Needless to say the dogs didn’t care. Back home now and work tomorrow, but I don’t mind. It’s not for long.
Last night we wandered down to Achmelvich beach, where we had the place almost to ourselves as a glorious gold and orange sunset raged across the sky. It reminded us why we want to be here in the first place. Many people complain about the Scottish weather, and I don’t deny it can have its moments, but when everything comes together, there’s no place like it in the world. Only three weeks to go and we’ll be there forever.

New transport!

Messing about down at the loch today, we discovered an old rowing boat submerged at the edge. It took a bit of effort, but we managed to pull it out, and with the aid of the mop bucket, we got it bailed out. It turned out to be fibreglass, and floated quite well once it was dry. I found the oars in the garage, and just had to have a go, and John brought his camera to capture the special moment when the thing sank with me on board. He was disappointed though, as the little boat floated quite happily, and I had great fun trying to work out how to row. John couldn’t wait to have a go himself. I thing we might try and get some kayaks, as the loch goes around in a semi circle and eventually runs to the sea. It’s a shame I’m only here for a few days, there’s so much to explore.

Just got back from my very first trip to my new home. Having seen hundreds of photos that John took of the house, I had no doubts that I would love it, but I wasn’t sure how I would feel about the place having no heating. May had not exactly been warm, so I took lots of warm clothes. There was no need, however, as the weather turned unsuspectingly warm, and the bank holiday weekend was spectacular!