Happy Ewe Year:
Chinese new year is coming up in mid February and I’ve just noticed on my calendar which one it is…
…the year of the sheep!

Quite appropriate for my first year on Skye, I think. Though I think every year is a sheep-y one up here!

‘Up where the mountains meet the heavens above
Out where the lightning splits the sea
I would swear that there’s someone somewhere
Watching me…’:
Driving to the gallery this morning I had to stop to let some sheep cross the road. There’s blue sky and sunshine dazzling on white hills and I have the windows fully down to feel the breeze.
Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Holding Out For A Hero’ comes on the radio and I crank it up and sing along to the top of my voice. AS it nears it’s finale I make a dramatic gestural flourish out of the open window to the sheep coming onto the road on the right…
And make eye contact with three old crofters perfectly camouflaged as they lean against a five bar gate only a couple of metres away from my door.
They give me an amused wave and as I sheepishly return their greeting I hear one of them say to the others, “that’s that English girl…”
Oops.

Rush hour in Kilmaluag

My Precious:
It occurred to me yesterday that someone watching me look for fossils might think I’m some kind of real-life Gollum.
The large boulders on the beach aren’t easy to navigate swiftly so I’ve taken to spider-crawing over them on my hands and feet as I peer and peek between the gaps. Every now and then I’ll squat down and pluck an interesting stone out of a stream or rockpool, inspecting it up close and rolling it between my fingers. Some are shoved greedily into a pocket but most are flung back to where they came from.
I haven’t started saying “my Precious!” yet but then I still haven’t found anything particularly exciting… it might only be a matter of time!

A belemnite fragment I found in Bearreraig Bay at the start of January