New things

Threre's all sorts of new little things going on. We checked out Wild Argyll Kitchen for cakes in Tighnabruaich, interestingly run by the partner of our plumber. We had a delicious cinnamon roll and coffee. Can't wait to go back for another tasty treat. The yoga dome owners have also opened their new produce hut, and in the fridge was their first batch of kombucha - a chinese drink which is fermented tea and supposedly very good for you. Liz's new project is to have a go at brewing some herself.

We have spotted yet another new bird int he garden - a blackcap. Relatively uncommon in the UK, Liz was thrilled and grabbed the bird book from Hugo's mum and dad at Christmas to identify it. It was a regular visitor for about 3 weeks, but has since moved on again as far as we can tell.

When mum and dad were up, the Classic car rally 'Flying Scotsman' came past our house - a host of around 60 pre 1948 cars making their way up from Chester to Glencoe. Some seriously expensive classics being put through their paces on three legs of times trials.

Home improvements wise, it was time for the single garage door and bricked up twin to 'go' and be replaced by a big single (5m wide) Hormann door like we had a Erica Drive - a massive improvement in both looks and reliability! The car still fits in with an inch to spare.

Local community events continue, and we joined the Whist drive run by the Brownies to raise money for a new defib unit at the local Clachan (village) centre 3 miles away - a giant raffle with lots of whisky prizes (which we didn't win) but Heather managed 1st place based on total points, and Liz 3rd place. A fun night, and a great way to meet people. Progressive whist involves two teams of two playing against each other, with the winning couple moving in opposite directions, and the losing man moving one seat round the table to meet the new partners coming to join them for the next game. A brilliant £400 was raised.

Our nearest 'town', Tighnabruaich (a place with a shop and doctors surgery - and an RNLI lifeboat station), hosted an RNLI fund raising event with venison burgers, tea and cake, a raffle and plant stall (3 herbs purchased for our planned herb bed at home), and open gardens which were truly spectacular and inspiring for our future planting scheme!

Which leads onto tackling the garden where the first jobs have been getting the basic shape of the garden right (borders, paths and moving compost heaps out of sight!) There is so much to do and so it will one bit at a time. One weekend's task was to move the path outside our bedroom window over to make the bed smaller and remove some pavig slabs that didn't match the rest of them. The dirt section on the photo will be filled with grass to make the lawn larger.

Spring is well and truly in the air - the days are getting longer and longer. John's energy levels for physical work are far less than this time last year, his heart rate doesn't get above 100 leaving him absolutely whacked after about an hour of gardening - and he's just had to buy a self propelled mower with electric start to help, but we are getting there and the place is starting to take shape. Looking forward to more good weather and more progress in our outdoor space.