It's a Wet and Windy Afternoon...

... so, with the ironing up to date, and Cupar-the-Collie dozing on his duvet behind my chair, I have been browsing through some of the hundreds of photographs we have taken since living on Skye. Looking at them certainly makes one realise just what a spectacular island this is, and also what a contrast occurs in the look of the landscape as the seasons pass.

We get a lot of interesting skies too (not today - it is a pretty uniform grey this afternoon...) so I'm posting a collection of 'Skye sky' photos here, all of them as the camera recorded them, and not enhanced for colour.  I think a few of them appear elsewhere in this blog, but I'm sure you won't mind seeing them again... (click on a picture for a full-size gallery)

We get BIG skies...

...and we get BLUE skies...

... and sometimes even BLOW-YOUR-MIND skies...

Strathpeffer

I realise that my posts about our new property in Strathpeffer may seem to have nothing at all to do with 'Skye Calling', so I apologise to blog readers who come here to read about the Isle of Skye. However, this blog is about the lives of Sue and I, and some of what we do in our new life after relocating to live on Skye - so of course, our venture into property ownership off the island is a very major a part of our lives just now.

In case anyone is wondering - we don't plan to ever live permanently in Strathpeffer, but the cottage will be a wonderfully located holiday home for us, and we will probably holiday-let it as well, if we can find someone to take on the turn-rounds.

Today, I am playing catch-up with my last post, and I offer a few telephone-photos of Strathpeffer village. I promise I will take my proper camera on future visits, and might then produce some slightly better images. But for those who have been waiting....

The Old Bakery is the white building on the left.
The road only serves a few houses, so there is very little passing traffic.

The large building on the right is Cromartie House.
The Old Bakery stands behind it.
The shops at the front were once the bakery shop and tea rooms

Strathpeffer Square - car parking and shops.
The large building beyond is The Highland Hotel

Strathpeffer Square
Shops include a general store, Post Office and pharmacy

From opposite The Square - Strathpeffer Hotel (behind the hedge),
Cromartie House beyond.

Strathpeffer Spa Pavilion
Fully restored, and now a busy music and theatre venue,
also hosting weddings

Strathpeffer -
Beautiful Victorian villas and lots of trees!

The Latest Project

Over the years that we have lived on Skye, Sue and I have become very accustomed to the harsh Skye landscape which features mist-swathed mountains, miles of empty moorland and a coarse coastline mostly comprising cliffs and rocky shores.

Just one and a half hours drive east of the Skye Bridge, the landscape is so much gentler. The hills are more rounded, there are trees and fields, and wide calm firths bring the sea toward the land. Even the climate is noticeably milder. When we very first visited the area in April 2003, we thought what a pleasant place this would be to have a home. And now, we have...!!!

In the beautiful Victorian spa village of Strathpeffer, we have just taken the keys to our latest acquisition. The property we have bought is named 'The Old Bakery', though it might better have been named 'The Old Garage', as my research has revealed that the building which housed the bakery has long-since been demolished. I believe our house and the adjoining flat were originally built, in the early 1900s, as a garage for the bakery delivery van and as store-rooms. The building which housed the bakery shop and tea room, and also provided accommodation for the baker and some of the employees, also still stands - now providing two shops on the ground floor, and privately owned flats above.

Here, should be some lovely photographs of the village that I took the other day in early morning sunshine. Unfortunately, I took the photos using my mobile telephone, and not being a mobile-telephone-person, I managed to leave the horrid device at the Old Bakery on our departure. So it will be a week or so before I will get to put those pictures on here. Just be patient!

However, Sue took a few photos during a lovely walk up the hillside from the village, that we enjoyed during our recent visit. Here's also a few pictures of the interior of the Old Bakery as it is at the moment... (Click on any picture for a full-size gallery).

On a circular walk - about a mile from our house

The fascinating 'Touchstone Maze'.

View from the path - Castle Leod roughly centre

The lounge just needs decorating... and furniture...!

Kitchen also due for a decorating make-over.
The tiles look better when you are there!

View from the kitchen window

Entrance hall

We picked up the dresser from a charity shop.
We also have a dining table now, from the same source

The decking is ours, as is the garden area within the fence,
but not the wooden box (which houses a central heating oil tank).
Garden will need a few well-chosen shrubs I think.