Those words, taken from the Collins English Thesaurus, sum up the past week or so here at Garybuie. To be fair, things started out uneventful, commonplace, ordinary, unexceptional, unremarkable, insignificant. After collecting my larch branches and delving into the loft for the Christmas decorations, I got on with making Garybuie feel a wee bit more festive because the weather was SO gloomy. It didn’t take long for Pusscat and Hamie to find their ‘Waiting for Santa’ spots!

Events became more lively last Wednesday. Gales had been forecast and on this particular occasion the Met. Office got things right. (Unfortunately) We laid in bed listening to the gathering storm and eventually, I fell asleep only to be woken later by Kevin half-whispering, “Christine, Christine…I need you to wake up. Part of the conservatory roof has blown off and I need help”. That got me fully awake and moving! The sound in the conservatory was awful. With the wind inside and out, all the roof panels were vibrating, sounding like some kind of ominous drum roll. We headed over to the old church to find some plywood, followed closely by Pusscat who was almost howling in distress. Thankfully, it wasn’t raining although the lightening show was quite something. Armed with stepladder, wood and nails, we started to board up the gap on the inside; me holding the wood in place, Kevin busy with the saw and hammer. The wind played a tug of war with the ply, determined to pull it from my grasp but finally, we were wind and water-tight once more, miraculously just before the heavens opened. This all took place at 4 a.m. and we slithered back under the duvet at 5.30. As you can see, our nocturnal efforts aren’t overly attractive but it will suffice for now. Luckily the escaped panel hadn’t disappeared up the glen but had wedged itself in the shrubbery, so Kevin managed to replace it the following morning.

Winds of 102 mph had been recorded on Skye that night, not the strongest we’ve experienced, in 2005 (I think) 143mph was recorded, just before the anemometer disintegrated! It was scary at the time, probably more so because it was during the night, but mainly because the wind being both indoors and out seemed to be doubling its strength and I felt as though sooner rather than later, the whole roof would have been torn off. But then I thought, Get a grip woman, this is NOTHING compared to what all those thousands of poor souls have suffered in the Phillipines. How does a roof panel compare with the complete loss of your home and family members too?
Of course, although the following days remained eventful, the events were somewhat calmer! First of all, after the storm it snowed! It didn’t hang around for long though and we soon returned to a gloomy wetness.

I busied myself making Christmas cards and then off we went to Inverness, Christmas shopping. We haven’t been for a couple of years, getting gifts online instead. It was quite nice though to see the decorations and hear the carol singers, as well as being able to get ‘up close and personal’ with potential gifts! We stayed overnight and then it was great to escape the crowds, noise and traffic, returning to the peace of the glen!


The only problem with buying gifts is that they all need wrapping and parcelling up to send to family and I’m glad to say that I’m almost done with my Santa’s little helper role for this year! Of course all the usual chores still need to be done albeit at a slower pace than in the summer. The hens spend a lot of time in their Winter Spa hiding fro the rain, whereas the ducks are having a grand old time out in the field, digging up all the juicy morsels which present themselves when the ground is so wet. I took Max, our neighbour’s dog, out today and spent a few minutes checking in with the cockerel who moved from Garybuie to start a new life with some new ladies!

It’s not just the blog which has been neglected this past week or so, but my painting has too. Anyway, there are the beginnings of a new portrait and hopefully I shall be able to spend some time on it at the weekend. Now this is one cute pair and I know that many of you will recognize the duo!