Muckdate 15: Our Last Week
So here we are: suddenly it is our last full day on the island and we are mere hours away from returning to mainland life (ferries willing). Our impending departure has rather snuck up on me; it feels like only a few weeks ago we were getting off the boat into a snow storm and now here we are, three months later and spring is making her presence felt with daffofils blooming heartily and the first of the island lambs arriving on the croft near Port Mor. The Hebrides is doing it's best to make leaving a real wrench - or maybe it's trying to ensure our return with scenes like this on the headline above the house:
Sunset looking towards Rum and Horse Island
We have spent our last weekend revisiting some of our favourite places: a trip to the fish box swing by Fanc Mor, a last climb to the top of the Beinn, a final evening playing down on Gallanach beach. The fish box swing is a particular hit with the younger members of the family - and the sculptures that surround it amuse and entertain us all:
This visit we discovered scurvy grass (Cochlearia officianalis) in flower in the crags, something we hadn't noticed before. Scurvy grass is high in vitamin C (hence the name) and was an important part of the diet for some coastal communities across the UK and northern Europe before the advent of imported citrus fruit in the nineteenth century. I can report that it has a pleasantly tangy flavour rather like watercress, but with a lemony aftertaste - and I reckon would be excellent on roast beef sandwiches...
Since we had an evening swim (or in our daughter's case, splash around) a week or two ago, we've taken to going down to the beach most evenings with the kids. They absolutely love this - the silliness of heading out as the sun is going down wearing your swimming costume, woolies and wellies really appeals to our 4 year old, and it's an excellent antidote (or opportunity to channel?) that Silly Hour just before bedtime. Having a beach on our doorstep is something I am really going to miss - as is waking and falling asleep to the peep of oystercatchers and the burble of lapwings. I am also going to miss the neighbours who I watch every morning from the kitchen window: a family of seals who bob, swim and play in the bay. Sometimes there are perhaps 20 of them out there enjoying themselves, and when we come down to the shore they all pop their heads above the water to see what we're up to.
Walking down to the beach in woollies, wellies and swimming costumes!
And finally - I have knitting patterns to share with you! Thanks to everyone who attended my ‘Inspired by the Isle of Muck’ talk this evening - and please get in touch using the website contact form if you missed the talk but would like a recording to watch at your leisure. My next blog post will give you all the details of the patterns including what inspired me to design them and where to get them, but I just thought I’d whet your appetites with a few snaps of my ‘Inspired by the Isle of Muck’ designs:
