Like all good things ………

Like all good things or time on Luing came to an end. I have been looking back over my time there and I have to say it’s a place that has touched my soul. I felt so relaxed and at one with nature. I have never slept so well, but we did walk over 150 miles in 3 weeks.

Yes, I could live there quite happily, if only I could drive. But that’s just how it is.

Some things I learned staying on Luing.

• It’s quiet
• Sound travels a long way
• You ration food
• The perfect place for an introvert
• You don’t need much stuff
• There is no rush
• Wind turbines sound very loud
• I feel whole when interacting with nature
• What comes around goes around

My last observation is based on watching the wildlife; an eagle being bombed by a crow,  the crow being bombed by an oyster catcher.

Talking of eagles we were very lucky in having 3 sightings of a white tailed sea eagle, the first sighting was very close, it was sitting on a pile of stones when we turned a corner,  it watched us for a while, it flew to another pile of stones, then another encircling us before flying off.

Another sighting quite close up was of roe deer. The first time it was just one, but the second sighting there were two. Usually they would be off as soon as they caught sight of humans but they stood for a while just looking at us.

There are lots of hares on the island but no rabbits, so I didn’t have the problem of trying to decide if it was rabbit or hare by the ears and tail.  There seemed to be a resident hare in the village who came hopping past our window in the evenings. I saw another regularly coming back after our evening otter watch.

There were so many bird species I couldn’t name them all here, hen harrier, wheatear, rock pipit, greylag and Canada geese,  red breasted merganser to name a few; and not forgetting the dolphins and otters of course.

I hope to go back again some day 🙂

Trip to Corryvreckan and an encounter with dolphins.

We took a Seafari trip to see the whirlpool Corryvreckan; having donned the waterproofs provided and the life jacket I was beginning to wonder what I was letting myself in for. I needn’t have concerned myself as I had a great time being bounced around at speed in the RIB. I was even splashed in the face by a wet dolphin tail, twice 🙂

We went past Fladda lighthouse………

……….and Belnahua (I love saying that word), one of the slate mining islands, this tiny island was once home to 200 inhabitants. The ruins of  some of the miners cottages still remain.From the air this island looks like a doughnut, the heart of the island was quarried and later flooded by the sea.We had a wonderful surprise when a pod of dolphins came to swim alongside the boat. They were clearly playing with us, swimming right next to us and going under the boat. I could have touched them they were so close. This was an incredible experience which I hadn’t expected.
We also saw common seals.

Then we went through the Grey Dogs, a tidal race between the rocks, it was fairly calm, just a small standing wave today.

We spotted a white tailed sea eagle.

Also red deer.

Corryvreckan is the third largest whirlpool in the world but it was very calm today, the tide was against us so it wasn’t very impressive.

I’ve saved the best ’til last, here’s a video of my dolphin encounter, I hope you enjoy!

Otters on Luing

We went to Luing for 3 weeks in the hope of seeing otters in the wild. We have tried looking for these elusive creatures many times on day trips but we’ve never been successful. My husband joked that we would probably see them on our first day on Luing, and he was right.

Walking along the shore something in the water caught my eye, just a glimpse. I thought it might be a seal. OH got his binoculars out and said, “it’s not a seal, it’s an otter, there are two of them swimming together”.

There were actually three otters when they climbed out onto the rocks. We sat and watched them for a good half hour, fishing, eating and playing, we could hear their little squeaking noises.

Then they swam further along the shore, we watched them until they were just tiny distant specks.

We walked this path daily for 3 weeks at different times of day in the hope of further sightings. We had 7 sightings in total. The second time we found some large rocks to lean against, being slate the sun had warmed them up so we laid back and watched the water. We must have blended in quite well because an otter came on shore quite close to us. It came within 15 to 20 feet of us, it saw us but didn’t seem too bothered. We watched it going back into the water to catch a fish, eel or crab, sometimes it would come ashore to eat it’s catch, then it swam along to what we now called ‘Otter Rocks’.

We started to know what to look for when looking for otters, something that looked like a floating log, moving along making a gentle wake. Or just a glimpse of a tail or head. Two or three otters swimming together with arching bodies could easily be mistaken for the Loch Ness monster. We watched three swimming together  in a line or spiralling around each other as they swam.

There was a book in the cottage called ‘On The Swirl Of The Tide’ by Bridget MacCaskill, it’s a beautiful read about a year studying otters, I’ve found a copy on the internet.

Here’s a lovely quote from the book, which I can relate to now….

“In the bubbling, splashing seething cauldron of foaming water it was quite impossible to sort out who was who while they were madly corkscrewing round each other’s smooth bodies, swooping into the seaweed forest below, curving and swerving through it’s restless stems, rising to box and bite, then breaking away to start the game all over again. Excited wickering echoed around the giant rock sides of the Narrows and told the rest of their world that the otters were having a party”

Bridget MacCaskill.

We had another otter sighting, playing on the rocks and eating a huge fish. We watched the male otter bringing fish to the smaller female, who was lazing around on the rocks. They are very playful creatures, rolling on their backs in the seaweed and sunning their bellies.

Our next sighting was to be the last one along this shore, we were on our way home one evening when I caught a glimpse of a head in the seaweed. There was a pair of them, they swam to the rocks and entertained us for almost two hours. It was a joy to watch them playing, fishing and eating. They love to roll on their backs like dogs. Then we lost them on the other side of the rocks.

We noticed a caravan had been brought down to the shore but there didn’t seem to be anyone in it, it stayed unused for a few days. Then one day there were men in waders, placing something on otter rocks  for shellfish farming apparently. I felt sad as I knew the otters wouldn’t come back. I went every day still to look for them, even walked much further around the bay where I often watched them heading. There were more rocks on the other side of the bay but they were difficult to get to, which is where they are probably playing and fishing now.

When the tide was out one day I went over to some of the rocks to look for evidence, there was spraint, (old and new, but not fresh), and lots of crab shells and legs, chewed molluscs and bivalves that had clearly been cracked open by very sharp otter teeth.

Not surprising when you see their teeth.

I’ve put my video clips all together for a little otter fest, I hope you enjoy.

I had given up hope of seeing otters again, but when we were waiting for the first ferry of the day to go home I caught a brief glimpse of another otter on the shore at Cuan Sound. It seemed to me they were saying goodbye, or was it me saying goodbye to the otters?

I feel so privileged.

3 Weeks On An Island

I’m heading off to a tiny Scottish island for 3 weeks. To get to the island you have to take what is known as the ‘Bridge Over The Atlantic’ to Seil Island, then a small ferry takes you across to Luing (pronounced Ling).

Luing is part of the Inner Hebrides archipelago; it’s one of the ‘Slate Islands’.
I have visited a few times as a day tripper but I want to find out what it’s like to live there for a little while. There is another reason too, but that’s for another post with a bit of luck.

The island is only 6 miles by 1.5 miles, it has the Atlantic Islands visitors centre which serves amazing seafood and cakes made by women from the island. It also has some information about the area.


There’s one shop on the island which sells a bit of everything.
Luing one of my favourite places, I  have been before for a days walking but never stayed there. There are such lovely inspirational views everywhere, and there is THE other reason I mentioned too.

I have packed clothes, food, wine, midge repellent, more midge repellent, insect bite cream, midge nets, and Skin So Soft, I’m not taking any chances with those pesky midges. I go to Scotland regularly and I’ve never had any real problems with them in the past so fingers crossed. Also, I have my walking boots, waterproofs, pop up hide, camera and everything I think I might need including art and craft supplies.

I know most people take minimal art supplies on holiday but that won’t be enough should it rain for 3 weeks so I have stuffed as much as I can into a box and a bag. I bought a small sewing machine as I have a bit of a plan of what I want to do while I am on the island should it rain a lot. I have a basic eco printing kit with me, and as I still had a bit of space in the box so my lino printing stuff went in at the last minute.

Here it is all is nicely packed up ready for the off.

Hopefully I can share my walks, wildlife spotting, and art making with you over the next 3 weeks.

So this slate miners cottage will be our cosy little home for 3 weeks.

This is the view from the back garden.
Edited to say……..

I  intended posting whilst on the island but couldn’t  upload my photos.  I have just got home and I will tell you all about my little adventure in my next few posts.

Raku jewellery

Another quick post today, there is so much going on just now, all will be revealed later.

Here’s some raku jewellery components that were inspired by the raku art tiles in my last post.

These will be listed in my Etsy shop eventually but there is so much going on just now I haven’t had time to list them yet.

Raku Art Tiles

Just a quick post from me today to show you my raku art tiles. I made these when I made the clocks but I forgot about them until now.

These art tiles are inspired by my sketchbook work that I did on Dionne Swift’s Drawing for Textiles course, which for me wasn’t just about textiles.

I love the colours and textures, here are some closeup pictures

 

Working with the seasons- new foliage.

I have been waiting eagerly for the leaves to come on the trees so I can do some printing.

We have been out walking most days during this amazing fine spell, the river is very low.

It’s lovely to see all the wildflowers coming into bloom, but I don’t pick those.

Primroses.

Blackthorn.

English bluebells.

Cowslips.
Common violets.Red campion.

There were swans, ducks, geese and herons nesting on the pond. Also frog spawn and lots of small fish as well as an eel in the burn.

The lambs are growing fast
Do you ever get the feeling you are being watched?  🙂

I noticed the field maple and sycamore trees had small leaves and flowers so I picked a few to eco print.

They worked quite well but I should have used heavier paper as I tore some of the sheets when they were wet so I will have to cut them down a bit.
I have blue bells in my garden so I tried the hammering technique to transfer the print but it just transferred a mushy mess, for now I will stick to boiling and steaming .

I am really enjoying working with the seasons but I think Spring is a time where it’s hard to keep up with all that’s bursting into life around me.

Happy Easter!

What glorious weather we have had the past few days, I  hope it lasts a little longer.  I’ve had quite a busy spell getting gallery stock made, but now it’s family time. It’s not often that both grown up kids are home at the same time so we are just chilling out, enjoying each other’s company and catching up over good food and long walks.

I’m determined to have some knitting time though, I  fitted some in while sitting in the garden, the aran jumper is nearly finished now.

It was hazy today but very warm, the photos aren’t so good so here are some pictures from our walk along the river a couple of days ago. I love the abstract marks, colours and texture in these photos.

The light was beautiful.

The water was incredibly clear.

It was such a calming walk, we didn’t see anyone once we got out of town. I love this little vignette under the bridge, it’s hard to think of this gentle river as the raging torrent that has flooded the area several times.

I hope you are enjoying your easter weekend whatever you are doing.

Jill

Raku clocks

I finally got my raku clocks fired during the week, I was so excited about finishing these.

Some are textured and have metallic flashes; on the wall they catch the light beautifully.

You can see how the flames have licked the glaze surface.

Others are painted with designs inspired by my sketchbooks, they have crackle glaze, colour(including some copper) and smoke stained lines.

Some clocks are flat and some are slightly curved, each one is unique.

The nature of raku glazes and firing means you get some cracking and crazing, this is part of the process,  it’s ok so long as it doesn’t go right through the piece but unfortunately I had a couple of rejects including this one below,  I really like it so I finished it and will now have to find somewhere to hang it.

The pointers are very fragile so I had to find a way of protecting them, I got some clear plastic pointer covers off the internet, then I tried different packaging inside the boxes to keep everything in place, rolled up cardboard and a little bubble wrap seemed to do the job best. Problem solved!

I fired some raku art tiles as well, I will show you those soon.

Have a great Sunday!

 

A drive through The Lakes and tea at The Ryebeck

We mostly go walking when we are in the Lakes but there are certain times of the year when I like to drive through taking in as much scenery as I can. Friday was lovely,  the higher fells still had a dusting of snow. The colours were gorgeous with the chartreuse green of new leaves, as well as some trees taking on a red tone from buds yet to open, also the sculptural form of the bare trees, and white birches glistening in the light.

Moody skies, sunshine, blossom and hosts of golden daffodils makes this my favourite time of year to drive through the Lakes.

Not in any particular order we saw Thirlmere, Windermere, Bassenthwaite, Derwent Water, Rydal Water, and Grasmere.

The fells with their dusting of snow.

This fell is commonly known as The Lion and the Lamb, think you can see why

Afternoon tea at the Ryebeck was a real treat,  we had a beautiful view of  the gardens and Windermere.

On the work front it’s been rather cold so we postponed the raku firing all week, Saturday was much better so we got a lot fired, they still need finishing so I will show you later.

Enjoy your day 😊