Dismal – but there’s hope!

A cheering sight

Apologies for the lack of Garybuie news recently, but I’ve been somewhat  ’indisposed’! Anyway, now that I’m back in the world of WordPress, there are a couple news worthy items to report. The weather is pretty dismal today, all grey and drizzly, but tucked away in a couple of spots in the garden is a sight to cheer any winter’s day – groups of snowdrops raising their heads in defiance of whatever the January climate throws at them. Each year, they seem to suddenly appear just at the right time to raise  the spirit and give some encouragement for the remaining winter weeks, reminding us that the world is just sleeping, not dead.

Latest construction work

Also over the last few days, something a little less subtle has appeared at Garybuie. Kevin’s been busy laying the reclaimed flagstones, both as a path and duck-house base. It looks very smart and seems to give that part of the garden a sense of purpose! The path is going to make life so much easier when the weather is wet and the ground muddy. The next task will be to get his latest boys’ toy – the angle grinder – and cut notches in the duck-house base into which the upright posts of the ducky dwelling can be positioned. Goggles and sparks all round!

Meanwhile, the ducks themselves seem more than happy since the ‘big thaw’. They’re all thoroughly enjoying foraging on the surrounding croftland, the Muscovies usually arriving at their destination by flight – even Huff, who seems extremely pleased with his aeronautical endeavours! He can’t quite get the lift, or even the same distance as Puff and Biggles, but it doesn’t stop him from looking particularly smug with his efforts!

Thawed out at last

Cool pool!

Finally the thaw has arrived, although it was a slow process. Early signs included the appearance of shallow pools anywhere the ground within the garden dipped. The ARs were the first to take advantage of the new water feature, although I don’t imagine that their dabbling yielded much of interest! Meanwhile, the rest of the garden was still like a skating rink and it wasn’t until a couple of days later that there was any significant improvement.

Duck heaven!

Then, after some reasonably heavy overnight rain, the garden and surrounding croftland had returned to their familiar green and the sound of rushing burns took some getting used to after the previous silent weeks! The drainage ditch within the garden was flowing once more and we barely saw any of the ducks that day as they made up for lost foraging and paddling time! Even Puff was out there for the first time in all these months. She seems to have become far more adventurous since she rediscovered her powers of flight. Kevin even caught her on the house roof a couple of nights ago!

Needless to say, the arrival of the thaw resulted in Kevin attacking outdoor tasks with the energy and enthusiasm of Tigger! (‘The wonderful thing about  Tiggers, is that Tiggers are wonderful things…) He’d previously taken the roof off ‘Piggy Palace’ and in less than a day, the one-man demolition  team had dismantled and removed the structure, ready for re-cycling as the new duck house. It was sad in many ways to be part of the process, as the building held a lot of happy memories from the past five years of our piggy enterprises. However, we’ll always enjoy those memories, but are now looking forward to a new more feathery future at Garybuie!

Demolition man!

Since then, the weather has stayed milder with the odd shower producing some brief, but beautiful sights…

And,on the subject of the weather, one of our new neighbours, Brian, is now the proud owner of some weather recording equipment! So if you fancy getting a current description of weather conditions in the glen, then check Brian’s blog on his website www.vatersayhouse.com

And lastly, with the demolition of ‘Piggy Palace’ in mind, here are a few of our happy moments to share…

Our first piglets

 

More piglets!

Making friends

Afternoon nap

 

 

TLC for pigs!

 And finally…

Aahhh!

Crispy duck – almost!

Fed up with being grounded by the seemingly never-ending cold snap, we decided to head for Inverness at the weekend –  roads allowing! The road in the glen was actually the worst of the whole trip, although the usual journey of less than three hours became nearer five – inclusive of a lunch break. 

Snowy tunnel

 The main factors resulting in the extended journey time, were the freezing of the windscreen washers and the very bright, low sun. Consequently, we had to make frequent stops to wash the windscreen. The scenery however, was spectacular. The roadside trees were laden with snow, bowing over the road creating an enchanted, sparkling tunnel. The adjacent photo was taken the following day on our return journey, which was thankfully cloudy and much less time-consuming. Unfortunately it doesn’t capture the magical, sparkling quality of the previous day, so you’ll just have to use your imagination! We enjoyed our brief and cold city break, but were glad to return to an icy Garybuie. On our return, whilst feeding the ducks, I noticed that one of the Cherry Bs was walking stiff-legged and kept fluttering her wings. She also looked very wet underneath -  unusual for waterproof feathers. Crisp weather conditions are one thing, but crispy duck is something we can do without, so urgent action was required! We caught her and she was shivering, so it was into a wee cage near the radiator in the kitchen for a couple of hours to thaw out. By bedtime she seemed fine and was eager to rejoin MacRae and the other Cherry Bs. She’s been well since, although we’ve been keeping a strict eye on her.

Thawing out

On the subject of ducks – what’s new? – since Huff’s flying adventure before Christmas, he hasn’t done anything more dramatic than the occasional low-level flight for about five metres within the garden. Yesterday however, he succeeded in getting more lift and managed to land on Biggles’ favourite look-out post! I think he surprised himself and his tail wagged with pleasure fore quite some time! Meanwhile, Biggles and Puff are becoming ever more adventurous in their aerial forays and there’s always a great reunion between the Muscovy family on their return. 

Surprise landing

 

Thankfully, there seems to be a thaw setting in which suits me just fine! The scenery which this weather produces is, without doubt, stunning. Performing everyday chores in it however,  is a different matter altogether and quite frankly, I prefer to put my feet on the ground and know that they’re likely to stay there, rather than take some unexpected leap skywards, depositing me on my rear in a most ungainly manner! It’s good to know that some people like nothing better than returning to their childhood with the arrival of the cold, white stuff. Our son and daughter-in-law, Matt and Sarah – along with some sisterly help, are obviously such people and sent these pictures of their snowy endeavours… 

Snowy endeavours

 

Crispy conditions and creature comforts

Still snowy

As you can see, Garybuie and the glen are still snow-covered. It’s certainly scenic but I think that the ducks and chickens are probably of the same opinion as myself – enough is enough! Along with much of the U.K., we humans long for easier driving conditions, whereas the ducks would be more than happy just to be able to paddle in the drainage ditch once more!

Mini hot tub!

Each morning we have to break the ice on the ducks’ paddling pools, but a moment of real pleasure is when I put a bucket of warm water in what’s supposed to be a drinking dish! It’s turned into a kind of mini hot tub experience and the Muscovies always make sure that they’re first in the queue! With freezing conditions set to continue, I can see that we’re going to have to carry on with our spa duties! Yesterday, we met another member of the glen looking for some creature comforts. Kevin and I had gone for a walk up the glen to enjoy it in all its winter splendour, when we crossed paths with John the postie. We spent a few minutes to wish each other a happy new year, when suddenly, a neighbours’ cat jumped through the post van window and settled down in John’s post tray! Unfortunately, those pleading pussycat eyes didn’t convince him to let him stay on ’stamp duty’ and so he was promptly delivered back in the snow!

Surprise visitor!

But Pat has a cat!

New Year blog

OK, OK, so it’s the 4th of Jan already and I suppose I’m a bit slow off the mark, but best wishes anyway for 2010 from Garybuie! We’re still slithering around on ice here in the glen and our hearts were once again lodged firmly in our throats for Andy and Mary’s  journey home. Things didn’t bode well when we had to rock and push their car just to get it free from the ice on the ground!  

Glass-like glen

Cautious driving down the glassy glen road wasn’t a great start to their journey, but it probably turned out to be the worst part, particularly once they’d got beyond Portree. Thankfully they managed to avoid the most of any falling snow for the remainder of their travels and arrived home safely that evening. There’s no sign of any let-up in the weather in the near future, so I guess we’ll just have to carry on slithering! 

Kevin had a worried look in his eye over Christmas when he announced that the house was subsiding! I have to say that my eye was quick to take on the new look as we went outside to investigate further! In fact, on closer inspection, it wasn’t that the house was subsiding, but that a large portion of the path around the house was cracking and lifting skywards, giving the impression that the house was indeed attempting a journey to the centre of the earth! 

Heave-ho!

Unfortunately, as the ground keeps freezing, the path is continuing to heave ever upwards, so who knows where it will end up! Looks like an unexpected job for 2010! 

Even though this extended cold snap meant that the Christmas break didn’t turn out quite as expected in terms of day time excursions, it didn’t prevent Andy getting roped into some of our outdoor Garybuie developments! Transferring paving stones from’Piggy Palace’ to the new ducky dwelling site was a job I couldn’t have helped with, so Andy’s superior muscle power was gratefully appreciated! On this occasion, it was good that the ground was frozen as under the soggier conditions of several weeks ago, the garden would have developed a Somme-like appearance! 

Dismantling Piggy Palace paving

On the move!

Wick Chick efforts!

Last but not least, one small event over Christmas was that one of the Wick Chicks came into lay and just look at her beautiful brown eggs in comparison to our usual supply. They almost look like chocolate! 

I realise that the end of December is the more usual time for re-visiting some of the more special events of the year, but family came first on this occasion. Consequently, here I am reviewing events of 2009 at the start of the New Year instead. I hope you enjoy this pictorial re-cap of some of our special events since I started the blog in April… 

Our first ducklings

Our last pigs

Huff'n'Puff's arrival

Arrival of our Cherry Valley ducks...

...and Mr MacRae!

Huff ‘n’ Puff’s new family

 

Proud new mum Brenda

Our pork 'harvest'!

Friends and former guests, Jenni and Patrick, finally move into their new home on Skye!

 And finally, our two most memorable and special days in 2009… 

Matt and Sarah's wedding

  and… 

Andy and Mary get married

 

Heart re-location

After all the worrying about family travelling up to Skye for Christmas, my dad, Andy and Mary finally arrived safely by Christmas Eve.  Consequently my heart finally re-located itself in my chest, after spending a much of its time in my throat over the past few days!  Temperatures have remained below freezing for days now, but the scenery is stunning and we’ve certainly had a white Christmas to remember!

Andy, Mary and Kevin in the glen

Because of the continuous sub-zero conditions, the gradual build up of crystalline ice formations in the surrounding landscape has been spectacular. It’s as though the whole glen is bursting into flower with millions of

 sparkling white petals…

Icy blooms

 

 

Christmas wishes from Garybuie!

Worrying weather

I remember years ago when the boys were small, one of the big worries coming up to Christmas was whether their immune systems would fight off all of the inevitable vicious viruses which seemed to target all primary schools at this time of year! I always breathed a sigh of relief if we got to the end of term in a healthy condition, with limited prospects of anyone spending the big day feeling rotten! Here on Skye however, the weather is the worry, when like this year, we have family coming to stay. My dad was supposed to arrive yesterday, but after a forecast of blizzards and gales, we persuaded him to postpone his journey north. All being well, conditions will improve by Tuesday and Wednesday when both he and the newest Mr. and Mrs. Delaney are planning to travel to Garybuie.

Perch with a view

One good thing about the snow however, is the stunning scenery in the glen. Puff the Muscovy is still enjoying putting her newly grown flight feathers to the test, and the handrail on the wee bridge is her latest viewing perch. And what a view! Although Huff has surprised us by taking flight recently, maybe he thinks that the handrail requires more of a precise landing technique than he can accomplish, being such a big lad! Much to the surprise of Puff however, was the very precise landing technique of another Garybuie resident…

Surprise companion!

 Despite the weather,

New duck dwelling

Kevin managed to complete the up-graded duck house at the weekend. Armed with his new angle-grinding toy, (an exciting moment I can tell you!), he removed some of the corrugated roofing from ’Piggy Palace’ in the adjacent field and re-used it on the new ducky dwelling. And very smart it looks too! It’s certainly been a very useful shelter over the last few years, starting out as a pig house, evolving into a seasonal chicken coop and finally home to the ARs. We introduced the ducks to their new home yesterday evening which confused them considerably, but hopefully they’ll soon learn where to return to. It’s certainly the most luxurious home they’ve had – and the easiest to clean!

No mixed bathing!

Bewildered

The ARS can be forgiven for looking a bit bewildered, as a couple of days ago they found themselves involuntarily confined to the paddling pool!  MacRae and the Cherry Bs have finally discovered the gap under the fence leading to a wider world, immediately declaring the drainage ditch a strictly ‘no mixed bathing’ facility it would seem! 

Ditch discovery

Since then however, MacRae and his girls spend most of their time dabbling in the field and being fairly civilized about sharing all bathing facilities – most of the time! They’ve also been exceptionally good at learning the location of their new temporary home and are probably the easiest of our garden inhabitants to usher indoors of an evening.

On the subject of evening behaviour, I forgot to mention at an earlier date the bedtime routine of one of the Wick Chicks. After all three had successfully accepted Snowball’s coop as their home, one of the birds has decided that it’s not for her and prefers the bench in the utility room! So now, every evening we have to pick her off the bench and put her into the coop! Maybe she just likes a cuddle as we’re always rewarded by a lovely, crooning chicken song when we pick her up! In poultry books, birds are generally classed as either show, or utility breeds. Kevin reckons that our Wick Chick is just confirming that she’s well aware of her identity and obviously, a utility breed needs a utility room!  There’s no denying the logic!

Going back to ducky events, we had a pretty major one this week. Huff took to the air!!! I think that maybe he was just as surprised as we were! Kevin came in to say that he could have sworn that he saw Biggles and Huff flying down the adjacent field towards the phone box. We both went out to look for them and managed to find Biggles back in tha garden, but no Huff. After searching for ten minutes, suddenly a familiar head popped up next to the fence in the field on the opposite side of the road. He had a look about him which suggested that he wasn’t quite sure how to accomplish his flying feat a second time, so Kevin climbed over the fence with a rescue in mind. Kevin’s purposeful approach was obviously just the right kind of encouragement, as the daring drake performed an almost vertical take-off over the fence, across the road, over the garden and into the field! It was quite a sight – and sound for that matter. We’ve not seen him do it since, but maybe he’s seen me lurking with my camera and is shy! Interestingly, any literature we have on Muscovies says that only females and juveniles fly, as the males are too heavy! Don’t you just love to prove a theory wrong!

Perfect perch

One duck who isn’t shy however is Puff, as yesterday she followed Biggles’ example and flew onto the roof of the wee building outside the kitchen window. Presumably Biggles must have told her that it’s a good spot for observing human behaviour! We clipped her wings when she first arrived after a worrying aeronautical display when we thought we might lose her before we got to know her. However, she’s had a moult recently and obviously her flight feathers have re-grown. It’s a joy to watch her cautiously re-discovering her powers of flight. Hopefully she’ll manage to have a few aerial adventures before any springtime broodiness sets in.

Actually, it’s great to watch all three Muscovies and their antics as they are such characters! As I’ve said previously, Huff is a different bird since we moved them into the garden and wags his tail so much, it must ache by bedtime! They’ve obviously been observing the ARs who are regular visitors to the kitchen door for potential treats, and are now never far away themselves if they hear the  door open! Whichever window they appear at, they just know that we can’t resist giving them attention of some kind…

We can see you!

Festive preparations

Festive feline

  

On checking the calendar, it seems that I’ve been neglecting my blogging duties this last week. Unfortunately, festive preparations seem to have got in the way of some of our more routine activities. However, the tree is now decorated, the  Christmas cards are made, (although admittedly not all written yet!) and as you can see, Hamie seems to be completely unruffled by all the fuss. An un-fussed puss? We also ventured off the island to Inverness for our Christmas shopping expedition. Our neighbours Mark and Gerlinde once again stepped into their role of animal sitters while we had our one night city break. The weather for the journey was good, although the Cuillin ridge was looking threatening with the most spectacular sky of greys, blues and fiercely bright, almost sulphur yellow. The scene was like something out of Tolkien and guess what? No camera! Anyway, our shopping trip was successful and we enjoyed the weekend, although it’s always good to get home.  

Aliens revealed!

  

Meanwhile, back in the glen, our suspected extraterrestrial visitors look far more mundane by daylight. As you can see, the basic ground work between the two forests seems to be complete and  consolidation of the track is now underway as far as we can see.  

On the Garybuie front, not much is happening at the moment with our ‘ducky developments’, a task also affected by the festive preparations, but also by yet more rain. Two other factors have also played a part in the delay. The first is that it’s difficult to dismantle the old duck house when MacRae and the Cherry Bs are still in there! The second, apparently, is the lack of a certain magical tool  – an angle grinder! Seemingly this piece of equipment is essential for cutting the bolts which hold the duck house roof on and for cutting slots for wooden posts in paving stones. The first problem was dealt with yesterday evening, when we moved Mr MacRae and his ladies into their temporary accommodation in the garden shed. The second was resolved upon the purchase of said essential equipment in Inverness. It’s like Christmas has arrived early for Kevin! Although we can’t really tackle anything until the weekend, he just can’t resist admiring his new toy in the box and yes, it’s been surreptitiously plugged in a couple of times, no doubt to get the feel of it. I guess it’s a man thing!  

New vantage point

  

It’s been quite windy on and off over the past few days, an aspect of the weather which ducks don’t seem to appreciate. Consequently, the ARs and Muscovies have spent a lot of their time within the boundaries of the garden where there’s shelter. Biggles has taken the opportunity to explore all nooks and crannies within the garden, along with a couple of new perching posts. Yesterday, while working in the kitchen, something caught my eye through the window – Biggles! A perfect perch for checking up what we humans get up to!

Aliens in the glen?

U.F.O.s across the river?

There were some strange sights and sounds across the river at the end of last week. Moving lights accompanied by ominous clanking gave the impression of an alien invasion. Are exchange rates good for Martians at the moment? Is the holiday season being extended by visiting extraterrestrials? Nothing quite so dramatic I’m afraid, just the emergence of three JCBs from the forest opposite which need the assistance of lights to work at the end of our ever-shortening days. The machines have been hidden within the forest for the past few weeks, where they are constructing a track extending to the forest at the top of the glen. Trees at the lower end of the glen were felled back in 2007 and the felling of the ‘top forest’ is the second stage of the operation, the track being necessary for the transportation of the resulting timber.

 

Upwardly mobile

On a much smaller scale, Kevin has been carrying out some construction work of his own this weekend. The weather finally came good on Saturday, so phase two of the duck development area got underway. Increasing the height of the old pig/chicken/duck house will make mucking-out a lot easier – particularly on the lower back! By the end of the day, the back and side walls were complete, along with a temporary roof. While Kevin was busy with his six-inch nails, (one of life’s essentials here at Garybuie!), I occupied myself with some serious shrub maintainance. Most of the shrubs in the garden haven’t been tackled for a couple of years, so some serious secateur work was needed. I also finally got around to tidying the raspberry plot – another task delayed by bad weather.

 

 

All in all, it was a fairly productive day which is always a very satisfying feeling. It also made us keen to continue our endeavours the following day. The weather, however, had different ideas! Never trust a man from the Met Office! At least before things took a turn for the worse, we were treated to the nicest sunset for quite some time…

 

 

Tranquil skies

 

Sunday greeted us with a biting wind, but at least it was dry. Not to be deterred, I continued to battle with the bushes, whereas Kevin replaced the rotten wooden floor in the developing ducky dwelling with paving stones. And that was it! By lunchtime, some kind of vicious arctic front decided to hurl every permutation of frozen water at anyone daft enough to be out in it! Us? daft? Naw…but I think that this twosome should have tried to find a bigger bush…

Hens and hail