Now is a really busy time for the build. We have two guys (the two Dereks) busily and speedily installing battens and erecting plasterboard panels, with husband wiring and ducting alongside them.
It means long days and not much in the way of breaks. He’s shattered when he collapses in front of the fire each evening. A good tiredness, I think – one born of a long days manual labour and visible progress, but certainly tiredness. We’re neither of us as young as we were!
The best I can do is provide tea and food as it’s needed, and finalise the many remaining decisions on bathroom and kitchen finishes from the caravan.
When I’m not browsing tile sites and bathroom fittings catalogues, or calling Home Energy Scotland for advice, I spend much of each day making flatbreads, cake, quiches, stews and soups.
My latest attempt at urban food is kebabs! Sliced leftover roast lamb, shredded red cabbage, garlic and mint yoghurt, harissa paste and baked soft flatbreads. When you don’t have a takeaway on the island, you make them yourself. Probably much healthier too.
I’m not even pretending that the pear frangipane tart was anything other than an indulgence…we need yummy things right now.
I’m also reading this. An excellent book, if slightly terrifying. It’s about the disappearance of insects due to pollution, pesticides, chemical runoff, changes in farming practices and climate change, and is written very accessibly and compellingly. Dave Goulson is well qualified to write about this, being a Professor of Biology, an expert on insect ecology and an Ambassador for the UKs Wildlife Trusts. Get a copy if you can.
So progress on the build is steady as we move through the highland winter. I’m starting to think about seeds and have ordered seed potatoes, onion sets and garlic. We’re still eating red cabbage and kale from the croft, at least what the deer haven’t eaten.
Soon, now. Spring is coming. Not long now.
Ravencroft Skye 
Mmmmmm a pear tart!
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Had to be done…😝
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Not long now and you will have a house!! So exciting to see you building.
As for the insect apocalypse, it is real and terrifying. I have seen a reduction in the number of species we see here and a huge reduction in once common insect numbers. When I was a child, we would know it was near to school holidays when the Christmas beetles began to fly into the house. I haven’t seen one in years now. The stinging flies have all but disappeared from our property and even house flies are fairly rare. I do not miss the flies at all, but they perform a vital function in the ecosystem, there are dire consequences for them not being here.
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We’ve noticed it here too. Windscreens used to be splattered with insects on summer car journeys : no more. They are crucial, and we are killing them. What’s more, no one is doing anything about it. If they go, we go….
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Yes indeed. I think some people are doing what they can (yourself included), but not enough.
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What an exciting time on your build! It must be hard for your husband to keep up with a couple of professionls but well done him! Keeping them all fed is just as big a contribution and no mean feat in a caravan kitchen. I will try to get that book – thanks for the recommendation.
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Hope you enjoy it. Well, enjoy it isn’t perhaps the right way of putting it. It’s important and well written. 👍
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No enjoy is perhaps not the right expressinon but I know what you mean. It is important we are wawake to the threats and do what we can to avert them.
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Totally yum. Worrying about the insects though!
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It is, Dave. Get a copy if you can
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