9:45pm, Leumadair B&B, Callanish http://www.leumadair.co.uk/
Full day today, seems like so much packed into 1 day… There was no set breakfast time for this morning, so we didn't set an alarm, and ended up getting up ~7:45am. We chatted with our hosts (Miranda and Angus) about the sheep herding DVD we watched last night (I think they were impressed we watched it), and discussed more aspects about sheep crofting.On my first trip to load the car, I met the two sheep herding dogs, one of whom was very curious to meet me, and practically walked on its hind legs with me all the way to the car, as it stretched up to investigate. Outside, the hens were busy making a circuit from their coop around the house.
I followed the chickens around the house...
The kitchen was spectacular! If you live out in the remote Hebrides, it's good to have a fine kitchen for all the home cookin'. There cat jumped in and out of the window frequently...
Before breakfast, Wendy fed the pet sheep a piece of bread. I gave Miranda a deck of 14er cards. Then we sat down for a fine Scottish breakfast, complete with black pudding cakes and fresh made bread for toast. Lemon curd spread for the toast was something new and tasty. The ornate decorations in the breakfast room gave us plenty to observe, in addition to the splendid views outside.
The breakfast room has plenty of windows. The Harris Tweed teapot warmer was QUITE appropriate for our locale...
As we ate our full Scottish breakfast, we saw a rainbow appear outside during a passing shower...
After breakfast, we discussed more about sheep herding, and were offered a chance to partake in the gathering and shearing of a lamb. This was a major bonus! Wendy is super fascinated by sheep, and I too love sheep, and in particular the stunning landscapes they roam in the places we visit.
Miranda told us to follow her car up the road to the fields. All seemed to be going to plan as I backed the car up, and tried to do a K turn in their driveway. Then all of a sudden, the car dropped off the driveway onto some soft grass. I tried backing up to regain the driveway, but started hearing the bottom of the car scraping against something. Uh oh!!!! The wheels would only spin uselessly if I tried going forward. I was stuck, and had a bad feeling. Was this a nightmare? I had visions of us needing a tow to Stornaway, and spending the day in a garage shop, not to mention owing £500 of insurance deductible. I looked under the car, and saw a big plastic tube in the under carriage that was wedged into the ground. Miranda had come back, and saw the situation, and seemed to chuckle a little, "I better go get Angus so he can give you a tow."
Wendy and I waited a few minutes, fretting a bit (mostly me). Miranda returned with Angus, in his orange/red jump suit, and assessed the situation. I was mightily embarrassed and humbled by the situation. I've driven all over rough roads in Colorado, Iceland, Norway, and NZ, and this is the first case of a stuck car (ok, I did need a tow from puncturing my oil pan once in CO). Angus and Miranda were very polite and helpful. He hooked up a tow rope on the back of my car, and after waiting out a brief cloudburst, towed my car back onto the driveway while I steered and braked. Turns out the plastic tube on the bottom of my car was just a marker sign on the side of their driveway (there's also one in front of the car in the pic above). Both the car and marker appeared to be unharmed in the incident.
"You're not the first person to watch the DVD, but you're the first person to do that," Miranda said. After our delay, we finally drove a couple minutes to the sheep station, and helped re-arrange the gate system in preparation for funneling in the sheep. Then we hiked out onto the slopes, where the 2 dogs chased a couple of sheep into the desired area, while Angus shouted commands in his gaelic accent. It took a wee bit for the sheep to be gathered, and the rain came and went in the meantime.
The dogs successfully chased the sheep into the pen...
Once the sheep were trapped, Angus explained how one was a 6 month old lamb (already looking big), and the other was a 10 year old ewe (can tell age by the rings on the horns, or number/length of the teeth). He then folded the sheep's neck, to immobilize it, and gave it a shearing by hand. We had seen a sheep shearing with an electric trimmer before, but not with hand shears in the field. Angus explained that electric shears cut too close to the skin, leaving the sheep too cold this late in the season. Wendy even got to try a go at the shears. She also got to milk it. Only 1 teat gave milk, because the lamb must have been suckling from the other.
Electric shearers cut extremely close to the skin, which would leave the sheep too cold, so Angus trims by hand, leaving enough of the new coat...
Wendy took a few snips with the shears too (it was hard, she said). Sheep grow a new tooth each year, which is useful for identifying their age...
After spraying a blue mark on the sheep's back, Angus let the two back into the fields. We learned a ton about sheep crofting from Miranda and Angus. Almost enough to investigate starting one. :-) Too bad Colorado has too many natural predators for sheep to roam the mountains. Scotland is perfect for sheep, since the only predators are eagles and raptors, who sometimes prey on baby lambs.
This authentic sheep crofting experience at the Seaforth B&B has been a highlight of the entire trip so far. Angus and Miranda were true examples of modern day shepherds, who have great compassion the the sheep in their flock, and work hard to make sure they are healthy and happy. Miranda said we are always welcome to come back next summer, for the main sheep gathering. Maybe some year…Sheep crofting may be an endangered profession, as the younger generation is moving to the cities and pursuing other careers. The number of crofters on the islands have diminshed in recent years, such that the entire community relies on each other for help during season sheep gatherings.
During the next hour of driving Wendy kept repeating: "That was SO cool!"
Back on the road, it felt awesome to have just experienced the sheep expedition, and exhilarating to have a healthy set of wheels. Since the weather was amenable, we took a scenic drive out to Hushinish Beach. The 14 mile road was perhaps the most narrow and winding road we've seen so far in Scotland of that length. Very scenic…
Views as we drove up along the coast...
We passed a private castle along the way...
A fairly straight section of one-lane road, before reaching the beach...
At the end of the road, we stopped at the beach and took a short walk.
We followed a sandy path amidst plenty of sheep...
The Scarp Island (pictured) is famous for attempting to deliver mail via rocket, many years ago when the island was inhabited...
Retracing the drive back to the main highway, we turned north for Stornoway, passing Seaforth B&B again. Once on Lewis Isle, the mountains shrank to rolling moors, with a bit of a moonscape feel. We made good time on the wide highway to Stornoway, and were surprised by the large size of the city.
The terrain smoothed out more when we reached the Isle of Lewis...
They say the Isle of Lewis is flat like a pancake...
Arriving at Stornoway, the largest town in the Outer Hebrides (surprisingly large!)..
We parked at the ferry terminal, and walked to the Arts Center for lunch at the café. Wendy ordered a swede and cardamom soup, banana bread, and chips to share.
After the late lunch, we walked around Stornoway, finally making our way to the Loom Center. It was a big "hole in the wall" shack full of all sorts of Harris Tweed products and fabric. Cool stuff. We bought a Harris Tweed teddy bear.
Plenty of shops selling Harris Tweed here...
They use Harris Tweed in everything here...
The Loom Center had all sorts of Harris Tweed products, samples, and some exhibits...
We walked back to the car, and drove towards our B&B in Callanish. It was ~5pm, and we decided to make a quick detour to Bernera Island. But the iron age exhibit was closed, so we turned back and drove to the famous Callanish Standing Stones.
Looking south to the mountains of Harris Isle...
More one lane roads, with passing zones conveniently located. Old hat at this point...
I was amazed at the number of mailboxes and phone booths on these remote corners of the Outer Hebrides...
More rainbows...
The Callanish Stones consist of fifty 5000 year old standing stones, and aside from Stonehenge, are the grandest relics in Great Britain. You can actually walk among them (unlike Stonehenge), and it's free to visit.
Skies were cloudy and rainy when we arrived, but the sun appeared for a bit, and created a rainbow.
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Wendy took this photo, with me on the left...
Fortunatley there weren't many people around during our visit (helpful for pics)...
After 30 minutes of photography, we left for our B&B nearby. It took us a couple tries to find it, but we arrived in plenty of time for our 7pm dinner there.
Turns out, the other guests staying here tonight, who also joined us for dinner, were bicyclists whom we had seen on the road the past 2 days. One of them even took a pic for us yesterday on South Harris. They were great fun to visit with over the evening. They were about our age, from northern Whales, and on a 9 day bike trip across the Scottish Isles.
We shared travel stores, and learned some history about Scotland. It was fun hearing their take on the London Olympics (they said everyone was SUPER into the Olympics, and the Paralympics too). These were the first folks our age that we've met at B&Bs (not that we've met a lot of people, as it hasn't been very crowded).
Dinner was HUGE! For starters, Wendy had the soup, and I had the stuffed pepper (excellent). We both had lamb for the main course, along with all sorts of veggies and 4 kinds of potato to share. For dessert we had an apple crumble with warm custard. Then there was tea and chocolates for dessert! The whole meal lasted ~2hrs 20 minutes. The power cut out for a few seconds at one point. This is something the outer islanders are used to, as all their power comes from Skye, and an issue somewhere along the line cuts off power to the whole island.
Dinner portions were huge, with plenty of sides to share. Turns out this place is also a cafe on the weekends...
I checked the skies after dinner to see if the stars were out. Sure would be spectacular to get some star shots under the stones. It was raining out, but 15 minutes later I could see stars. This seemed too good to be true, so I checked again 10 minutes later. Most of the stars were gone. Guess this means the clouds are cycling. I checked periodically over the next 30 minutes, and it was mostly cloudy. I didn't really feel like hanging out in the cold for long exposure pics, when it might be raining on and off, so just headed to bed.
Set my alarm to be up for sunrise photo ops tomorrow. Never got the wifi password for this place…. We must have spent at least 15 minutes over the course of the day looking for lens caps lost in the car (eventually finding them).