Late Winter/Spring Post continued

The island in winter is quiet, dark and snug. Everything is sleeping. There are the occasional bright clear days with fantastic light as the sun drags itself over the horizon for a few hours, soon to sink back under.

Harris in winter

Harris winter

I made Christmas cake here and fed it slurps of brandy. It made it back to Somerset for the festivities but the swirling wave icing turned smooth on its journey as hand luggage through Inverness and on to London. Christmas came and went in a blur ; shopping and cooking and late nights up with my boys watching football.

Brandy fed Christmas cake!

Important New Year's ingredient!

Bubbly on the beach

Champagne on Luskentyre beach

The hills of north Harris from Luskentyre

Then back to Harris for New Year with girlfriends. It is becoming a ritual to spend this time of year with a group of women and long may it continue. Lovely days sitting by the fire with whisky, occasionally pulling on the boots for a walk in the wind. I must mention two fantastic escapades. One was to Luskentyre beach where Rachel marched in to the sea and swam! ( This is early January! ) We collected shells which are now incorporated with Moroccan tiles in a design above the cooker!

Shells with tiles

Freezing and hungry, we drove to Leverburgh, where the ferry crosses the infamous Sound of Harris to the Uists , but also is home to the wonderful Butty Bus,...a converted bus that sells bacon and egg rolls and homemade soup all year round! How we devoured these delights!!!

Butty Bus!

The other, Bridget and I set off for a walk up over the Harris hills and round to a beach opposite Scarp, then back over a cliff path to Husinis. It was a battle against the wind......exhilarating and tiring, every step sinking into wet ground. After a couple of hours and about halfway we realised we hadn't left enough time and the hills and valleys were stretching before us. We strode on, barely talking as we needed all our breath. We reached the sandy spit at dusk with a half hour climb ahead of us. We felt happy and triumphant to reach the road at Husinis. Even though it was getting dark now we would be fine on the road. Twenty minutes later we hitched a lift back to the house where our friends were peering anxiously out of the window.

All too soon my girlfriends returned to London and Gav flew up and we had a lovely few days making plans, and suppers, knowing that we wouldn't be seeing each other for a long time as I would be flying to Sydney in ten days.

I flew South and after a trio gig in Newcastle under Lyme, and a night on Kuljit's floor, I caught a very big plane to the other side of the world!  I was going to Australia for the first time, to see my son in Sydney and to see as much as I could (not much) of the country. Also I was to visit long lost relatives in Tasmania. I took a deep breath, settled in to my seat which was to be my world for the next twenty four hours, and perused the menu of films to escape in to.......