I see I started this post 19 hours ago!!!! it is so long since I did these posts regularly it seems the interface has changed, not good for me, but we will give it a bash.

The idea to-day was feed the sheep and get the Blog up to date. Get it so that I can get back to regular updates on Rona life. I fed the sheep, then checked the generator. Up to the house for the jeep, puncture!!! Up to the garage with it, the jack was holding up the tractor, the spare was flat and my back hurts. So I got that done, wnt to wash the tyre and found the drain a bit ripe in the larder. The drain was blocked. So here I am 4pm or is it really 3pm?

Rust, tale of my life. Think I am getting rusty myself. The Goldoni tractor is at least 15 years old and it has done sterling work. But being by the sea it suffers and it is now getting to the stage that it is ‘very’ rusty. So it is an ongoing job to keep it going. In this case the brake pipe connectors I had as spare were the wrong thread, so I resurrected the rusty ones and got it going. Tomorrow I’ll check out the rest, they look pretty ripe too.

Back to where I was:

Here we are on the 1st of March.

These are strange times for sure. Getting ready for a season that may or may not happen. Everything is in place, the cottages are ready, the place is spic and span, boats ready, everything serviced, painted, up to date, then nothing.

We await directions and instructions from our glorious leader Nicola, I guess we will just have to wait until the election is underway then all will be clear.

Since I started we now know that we are open for business 1st of May.

Back to what is happening. No Eagles or whale pictures on this blog to-day , although the Sea Eagle plus another has been bothering the herons over in the forest all of this week. No pics’ yet. Just our deer.

The job this week was ‘The Annual Deer Count’.

Weather was grim and the count was not going so well but I tried, got to just over 100 deer and called it a day (not counted on the same day!!!)

On the way home I stopped by the Trail Camera to pick up the card, many Eagle photos again but also this Raven, we have a few here and I’m afraid they are always floating about at lambing times. They have the most powerful beaks and can cut open a lamb as if they were using scissors, not good. Back to Base and weekends have been most enjoyable just now being able to get out for a walk.

Over in the forest, still looking for deer but the rain came on so I went down through the forest and met up with Lorraine. We did a bit of beach combing and came up with this old piece of timber, wonder how long it has been in the sea?

A bit of prospecting for firewood, getting it out is the problem.

No problem getting it out of the roadside though. I finished off the firewood myself and Mike were cutting in February and hopefully this next month (April) we can get a mega store in.

Calm days, the boat ready, best put it in the water. (It has been swinging on the mooring more or less since).

Back to the day job and sadly the Mink still are present, despite trapping well into double figures this winter, I had two in one trap earlier this month. You hardly see them but they are about. Unfortunately quite a few tracks were visible in the recent snow.

We have a wonderful Excel sheet now with all the maintenance and one of the last jobs this winter was to service the lifejackets, they all blew up and canisters checked, hopefully we do not have to use them.

A fortnight ago I got the call for the vaccine, the Dentist was on the cards as a tooth had been bothering me and it was just before I put the boat in the water so a day trip to Portree. It was a fuel day and it gave me a chance to load up the Seaflower.

Weather has been iffy this month, good to start but certainly going out like a lion. But when the weather is poor the garage is the best place, the ATV was overdue a service and it was a very rainy day.

Mike who was over helping us put out the home made Mulch Mats and I finished them off, a wee bit fertiliser and the trees should not disappear under the bracken and grass, but at least we can find them.

I’m going to call it a day here, food calls but will carry on tomorrow (I hope).