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.

New Wheels Again

Be not afraid - I have not parted company with my wonderful Jaguar  - Puss is safely residing in her garage. It is my everyday drive that is the subject of this post!!

The other day, I part-exchanged my Land Rover Freelander 2, after owning it for just 9 months and 10,000 miles. I liked the Freelie's chunky styling, the solid all-leather interior, and the feeling that the car could go anywhere... but my car was flawed. It had a seemingly impossible-to-rectify fault which caused the car the lurch or hesitate on gentle acceleration from a standstill. This fault completely spoiled any enjoyment in driving the car. I also disliked the agricultural ride, and the rather heavy six-speed manual gearbox. An automatic would have been so much better.

Here's the now-departed Freelie...

And so...

I have bought a BMW X3......

To give it its full title, it is a 2013 X3 X-drive 20D M Sport Auto.

What???!!! I've bought a BMW..???  Urrrrgh!!!

To me - the X3 is a bit of an 'old man's car' (so maybe I now have the perfect vehicle...???) Yes, the X3 is very smart and superbly comfortable, if not very pretty to look at...  It has more power than the Freelander, has a larger load-space, yet is more economical on fuel (and cheaper on vehicle excise duty too...) After just a few miles of driving it, it is very apparent that the X3 is leaps and bounds more refined than the Freelie (better finished, smoother, quieter, more comfortable). I acknowledge that the Freelie would be the far better vehicle off-road... but I don't drive off-road... The auto gearbox in the X3 is superb - and works just like the Jaguar, with steering wheel paddles for manual gear changes when in sport mode.

What's not to like...??? Oh yes - it looks like a beached whale...

... but it's a nice place in which to sit!

Allotment update - August 2018

It's a long time since I posted an allotment update, so here I offer a late-summer overview on what has happened veg-wise this year.

I generally plant the same veg each year, though might vary the variety. This year, with some determination, I tackled the cabbage root fly with plastic bottles and home-made carpet collars. The young plants were grown inside plastic bottle 'greenhouses' and once a decent size, and released from the bottles, I placed a square of carpet offcut round each plant stem to prevent the root fly from getting in and laying her eggs.

The ploy was very successful, and I lost no plants to root fly this year.

But then - we had a rabbit....!!!!

The rabbit decimated the broccoli, and also did some damage to the outer leaves of some of the kale. Mr Bunny didn't seem to like the sprouts, and left them untouched. But he did nibble the tops off every one of the runner bean and pea plants as they came up - so we had no crop from them this year. For now - Bunny seems to have departed (I only ever saw one) so fingers crossed that is the last we will see of him!

The other problem this year - unusually for Skye - was a lack of rain! The carrots struggled, and about four-fifths of my first planting simply disappeared. I planted another row later, and we will certainly get something of a crop from them. The potatoes seemed unaffected by the lack of rain, and have done brilliantly again. The broad beans were wonderful, and were harvested and frozen yesterday. The onions are OK - but no whoppers - mostly just medium size. The kale is also fantastic, and the brussels sprouts are looking like they will produce a good crop later in the year.

Front left - potatoes. Front right, rhubarb (just ready for pulling for a second crop this year) and strawberries
Middle bed - brassicas - kale on the right, sprouts in the middle (also carrots, barely visible in this photo)
Far left - onions and swede, far right, more potatoes
The furthest bed (not really visible) is now cleared - it was the beans and peas...