The worst blogger?

That may well be me. No update for nearly a month and a half, and it's not as if there's been nothing going on. As I mentioned before, there's the temptation to do a huge catch up type post when it's been a while but then you just get fed up and get nowhere. So where have we been?

Well, the PC has been dead for a while - lack of service support from Dell, who are - can I just say - rubbish. I defy them to come back to me and defend themselves. Enough of that though, it's sorted now. Next we've had the car fail its MOT test and a bill of a few hundred quid to sort the brakes. It has to go, really it does. The temptation is still the Land Rover 90 or 110 - interesting fact: the 90 or 110 refers to the vehicle length in inches apparently - but they're hopelessy uneconomical so we've sorted ourselves out with a nice Peugot 306
Turbo Diesel Estate which we collect this weekend. Thank goodness for that...

We've still been freezing of late though, the central heating and woodburning/multifuel stove only got fired up last night (23rd Nov) to provide us with some much needed warmth. Hopefully that will take care of itself. Gail's pal Davie (he of electric sorting out fame) put the system in, slowed down no doubt by our incompetent attempts to assist. How is it that one can feel so "handless" in the face of someone so practical? I've been thinking a lot about that actually - I don't have any "skills" to speak of which I can pass on. Okay, I'm a school teacher but there are curriculum documents to help and lesson plans to follow, what I lack are real, practical things that I can do and be able to pass on to, say, Ben. I know about 20 odd guitar chords now though, that's a start...

What else? Oh, feaschar mhath and all that - started Gaelic classes last month and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. It's a really tricky language but I think my Glaswegian upbringing and those West-coast (Scotland, not L.A.) glottal stops are helping. Interesting fact number 2: S ma shin means "that's good" and it looks (and sounds) suspiciously like "smashing"...which is nice.

It's been so long...

…since I’ve been around. Jings and, indeed, crivvens. Haven’t updated this for what seems like a hundred years. It appears I’ve been overtaken by the whirlwind pace of life in the west Highlands!

A lot has happened since the last update, too much to write about perhaps. This is a bit like how I got on with my first attempt at diary-keeping this year: if I missed a day or two I always tried to catch up but it never worked and I just got fed up with it. I’ve not written in my diary since the 24th of June… I digress, as ever, this weekend we’ve had our first visitors. Gail’s friend from work, Sue, and her husband, Davie, came up to help with the electrics – Davie has his own electrical business. It’s not so much the business that is electrical – that sounds all wrong. Davie is an electrician. That’s better. Anyway, we now have working lights, an outside light and no manky “Dimplex” panel convectors on the wall. Which is nice.

Panel convectors. Heaters to you and I. Heating is an issue – in that we have none. Well, an oil filled radiator and a halogen heater is about it. There’s a multi-fuel stove on order but we haven’t heard much for a few weeks on that score. In anticipation of its arrival and our impending need to chop wood, I built a wood shed type thing from a rotten old fence panel we found behind the shed. It used to look like this: now it looks like this:

Well, I liked it! Even recycled the nails and everything…

DIY is a bit of a theme – last weekend was spent atop the shed in the pouring rain, re-felting it in order to stop the drips caused by weeks of torrential rail. I seem to spend a lot of time up a ladder or with a screwdriver in hand at the moment. I really must get out more. That said, we tried to get out last week – off to Acharacle on Friday night for a fish supper in the campervan. Two problems there; 1: chippy closed for the winter (!), 2: campervan stinking of petrol – only four weeks after the new fuel tank and pipes were fitted. We got that sorted on the Monday but still haven’t had the fish supper…hopefully this will be rectified later this week on our proposed trip to Mull. I’m now off for the half-term break and the ferry terminal is but a 25 minute drive away. Balamory here we come…

Jings, crivvens, help ma boab!

That's twenty-two days between postings now. Shocking display. Still, I've had a lot on...

I must share the most surreal experience to date of my time here...I was in one of my school's the other day and the Feis tutors were in - these are the folks who do musical things with the kids in the Gaelic Medium classes.

Well, they were in the hall working with a group of children on penny whistles and violins, whilst two of the older boys tuned their guitars - one electric, one acoustic. As the tutor led the fiddlers and whistlers in a bit of Celtic diddly-eye, the lads could be heard jamming, ever louder, with a bit of Smoke on the Water...dah, dah, dah, dah, dah, de-dah.

Thirteen days...

...since my last post. Does that make me a bad person? Or just a bad blogger?

Anyway, the adventure has been so adventurous that I've had no time to write about it (and no access to a PC either, but that's another story; actually I suppose it is this story - suffice to say, I'm online now in the wonderful new library in the fantastic new Ardnamurchan High School).

We (lots of us) came up to Ardnamurchan on the 14th of August - again, another story, see the Banana Bus blog for details - and I was left to my own devices from Monday the 16th of August. I suppose some people, sensible, normal sort of people, would suggest that it's perhaps not the best idea in the world to move stop one job on a Wednesday, start another on the Monday, move house and for that move to be to a completely different way of life...but we generally tend to ignore those people. As Billy Connolly once said "---- the begrudgers!"

(I was going to censor myself there as I don't feel swearing's really in keeping with this blog but (a) I don't believe in censorship; and (b) censoring Billy seems somehow unacceptable to me.)

Anyway, the 16th was an in-service day, for which I was to be at Acharacle primary (which will be my base every Monday and Tuesday) and on the Monday morning I had my first set of names to remember - something which has become a feature of the last 8 days or so. Thankfully it was only staff who were in, but still, I've not caught all the names yet!

Tuesday followed, much in the way that it tends to do most weeks, and I had the joys of a "planning day" in order for me to work out how best to divide my time in the school. It's hard to get my head around all the different things I'll be expected to do in the six schools at the same time as trying to settle into a new home, without my family with me and with all the stresses attendant in trying to buy, sell and move house.

Wednesday gave me a trip to Lochaline. Although I've been over to Mull a few times, I've never taken the ferry from Lochaline and I was taken aback by the stunning view from the classroom. I've just tried to Google for a picture but to no avail, I'll have to take one of my own. The children at the school were very well mannered and seemed to have a tremendous lack of attitude, so perhaps there is something in the whole rural lifestyle debate...

Thursday morning began with a rather arduous journey, I had to go all the way across the car park in Strontian to the front door of the school - some 75 yards! This was my first experience of "the Gaelic" in a classroom - even though Acharacle has two Gaelic Medium classes (one large, one small!) I'd not seen any of the kids. I was pleased to be able to catch the drift of what was being said (admittedly it was only a P1-4 class but having never really heard it spoken I enjoyed being able to pick up "good morning, how are you?" and "fine thanks very much" as the teacher went round the class.)

I had my first taste of the social life of the peninsula on Thursday evening - a get together with teaching staff in the Resipole Farm restaurant (which I'd been in twice at the weekend, but no matter) - the subject of local housing, or more properly the lack thereof, was the main topic of conversation. I' astounded by the seemingly nonsensical approach to things - why build a fantastic new high school if staff there have nowhere to live? Two of the staff on the night out were staying in the (under utilised) pupil hostel!

Friday saw the relatively short trip to Ardgour, to what is a fairly new (at only ten years old) school with a lovely staff. For me the best thing about this school - and this is not to take away from it in any way - is its proximity to the Corran Ferry, as I have to drive back to Edinburgh on a Friday night and I can get to the ferry in about 90 seconds from the school.

That was week one that was. Other than school and the night out, I finished reading Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure, which was only marginally less exciting than the stage show. I also spent an evening clearing part of the loft - the chap who's selling us the flat also owns the shop and there appears to be somewhere in the region of thirty years worth of old shop fittings in the loft. AS I type this, we're into week two, and last night (Monday 23rd) was spent clearing the rest of the loft - I really must get a digital camera, as words can't do justice to some of my findings: a Caravan and Camping Club "Listed Site" sign - that's going in my bus! - and a floor polishing machine to name but two.

It's the final countdown...

As I type, there are just 97 minutes until I finish work here, then it's off to a new life. My goodness. The stress. It's all very exciting, or should be, if we could just get sorted out with a house.

The house, of course, is when the real fun starts, kitchens, bathrooms and decorating. As Billy Connolly would say, "haud me back!"

Time can pass slowly...

...things always change. They don't, however, necessarily change quickly enough. Still no word back on whether our offer for the Strontian flat has been accepted. It's been over a week now. I'm supposed to move up there this weekend so I'll be keeping everything crossed.

On a more positive note, we've had four offers for our house today - all subject to survey - but at least we stand to make a few quid...which is nice. This, of course, is where the dilemmas creep in - do we throw more capital at the new purchase and reduce the mortgage or do we spend lots of money on getting the camper van resprayed?

"Readallabahdit!"

Does that work phonetically? Anyway...I've decided to try to put my journalistic experience, such as it is, to some sort of use and have come up with the not so very novel idea of perhaps a column or feature for a newspaper or magazine all about our adventure.

I've contacted the Sunday Herald, Glasgow Herald and the Times Educational Supplement to see if they're interested.

I've had a few replies so far and some people seem quite keen to talk about it, at least in principle. We shall see...I wonder if there's a book in there somewhere?

Gail has set up a website, which may someday become a portal for her creative talents in the jewellery design arena...she's blogging too now, not too sure about the look of that blog though: Gail's wee hoose.