The weather is inclement. Despite appropriate garb, the wind and rain make it very difficult to explore. We are busy inside and the week passes quickly. 

Clayton Ward arrives to spend time with us . 

Digby attends church with me and Sam is impressed. Another dreadful sermon!
 
Cousin Sam is a proud Highlander, Gaelic speaking and most knowledgeable about the Glendale area, it's history and its people. The local paper is printed in both English and Gaelic.
 
Sam lends me 'The Glendale Bards' a selection of songs and poems by Niall MacLeoid c.1843 - 1913 'The Bard of Skye'. All in Gaelic, while they lose much in translation, the essence is still retained.

  "His songs were prized by fellow Gaels for their sweetness of sentiment and melody, which placed a balm on the recent wounds of emigration and clearance". Introduction.
 
"Oh, hail to your summits,
your dismal dark corries
your lush verdant mountains
where the kid widely roams!
The storminess of winter
closes round the hilltops,
every wood by its roaring
laid bare to the ground."
Hail to the Isle of Skye
Niall MacLeoid

"When summer returns,
with every grove and tree in leaf;
when birds on tops of branches
make a joyful noise with their tunes,
and the little children run with joy
around the hillocks picking blooms,
it would be my desire that season
to be in the Glen where I was young."
The Glen Where I Was Young by Niall MacLeoid

Glendale hospitality: The locals are incredibly kind. We are given a dozen free-range eggs. A fellow who Digby met while drawing at the Minch a few days ago, gives us freshly tilled produce. The potatoes are lovely but I am totally flummoxed by a turnip the size of a human head. With half closed eyes I see the agonised face of an old crone. Now what am I going to do with that?

Domestic chores: Digby takes the rubbish bin down to the road and checks the letter box on the way back. No mail today.

We find unusual natural forms: Seaweed on a boulder. Not unlike a boab tree. 

The inclement weather results in many hours indoors. 

The locals are most generous. I make apple (Granny Smith) and lemon jelly to reciprocate. 

We have dear little rabbits that forage early in the morning.

We brave the elements and explore!