grabbing some fresh air

 not a smart drinker

 sun..over there

 sheep...

 and more snow

 one bagfull less of litter on the paths

New Year's Day in North Tolsta

 The sun greeted us on this first morning of 2014

 so we celebrated by going for a drive, to go for walk...

 to a bridge at the head of Seaforth loch, one of the many places that Charles Edward Stuart is reputed to have landed...but quite a feasible location, miles from anywhere even now...

 fresh peat cuttings, by the old road that runs by the loch

 there has been some heavy rain recently, and one stream had torn a scar right down the slope and by-passed the road bridge

 mid-day sun.....

 We  found a group of at least a dozen "black houses" by a larger burn, with a large fank (group of sheep pens that look like a group of fences)

 and a chassis with a diff....?????

 and a lobster pen.....

 and most surprisingly, a Herdwick sheep !!!

 A small fank

 Then we cheated and drove to where Mr C.E.S. walked....just South of Stornoway...

 and saw a rock garden..

 and in the evening left The Pirate talking in the kitchen while three of us went visiting.....!!

Sheep

Here they are, for those who haven't met them before!!

harvest

I'm enjoying working in the walled garden!
nearly ready.....
Today is the Equinox.

Gathering on the Common. I had to turn off the car engine and wait- no bother. Good to sit with window open and breathe the mountain air

cefn rhyswg walk

A trip to the dentist,this morning, to start sorting the "grimbly" tooth. It had stopped hurting while I was with my Man in the hospital, and the swelling subsided. The dentist drained it today and said that it should have been still hurting...we came to the conclusion that the Mind and Body prioritise matters sometimes.
I decided to try and save the tooth. The dentist could not advise me either way, I had to make the decision myself...and I was relieved to find that I chose the right one!
No spare appointments for the next step until October. That's what you get for going to a good, popular, dentist!
Back to a soup lunch, unsurprisingly, with a slightly numb mouth!!

Getting my head round work is still not easy. The Oily One is not happy and not sleeping well. I decided to go for a walk and managed to bring him too.

We walked up the old road to Cefn Rhyswg, up to below the old barn by Rhyswg Fawr farmhouse, then along just below Rhyswg Fawr farm fields.
It was showery so we decided not to head for the mountain, but to go across over the ridge.
Looking back towards my Man's Stables, where the newly shorn sheep fill the fields.....
and the fleece lies wasted on the ground. It costs £1.20 to shear a sheep and you're lucky if you get much more than that, despite the rise in value. Although it was half that last year.

Along the lane that traverses Cefn Rhyswg to the cattle grid where the lane bears to the left to go past the other side of the Rhyswg Fawr farm fields.
The footgate has been left open again, but the latch doesn't work because the gate post has been knocked and bent in the past years.

Gate closed with the usual piece of wood.
Then down the hill again to Abercarn.


We're both feeling better for the hour and a half walk.

The Carpenter has gone out for a sixty mile bike ride, that will do him good too.
To sleep you need to balance mental and physical exertions!