Festive season

The weather was quite good during the festive season and so we were able to take a walk most of the days.

we spent a lovely afternoon on Uig Sands watching the magnificent Uig hills changing colours and reflecting in the sea

At Geshader we found walking along the shore an old trunk of a tree rotting away.

On a sunny afternoon we sat above Glen Valtos looking down to the Miavaig

It was mostly mild but turned colder towards the end of the week so on the 4th of January the Hills were covered with snow and even the mossy ground rather firm with some frost.

Hogmany

...reflections of Cliff

Christmas Eve

... and a rainbow across the sea

Reflections

winter time, time for reflections

Waves

An afternoon walk to Cliff beach fascinated by the waves‘endless advance and retreat. A group of oyster-catchers close by the water was watching as well but fly away as soon as I approached too close.

Back in Lewis

Back in Lewis for a winter break
for long walks on lonely beaches, where the luminosity of a soft light glitters up the rolling waves.

Farewell

The ferns and other plants are turning rusty brown and summer seems to come to an end.It is time for me once more to say FAREWELL.

Uig Sands

At low tide you get a good feeling for the immensity of Uig Sands. I spent many hours yesterday afternoon walking the full length of the beach, from the Crowlista end to the sands nearest to Timsgarry and further on to Ardroil until I reached the Carnish end.
The sky was amazingly subdivided in a vast crowd of mackerel colored clouds to one half and in bright blueness to the other.
It was most pleasing to watch the gentle waves slowing approaching the land.

Light

Today it was overcast but the sun managed from time to time to break through the thin layer of clouds. Penetrating those slots the light transformed the scenery dramatically and as the clouds opened up and closed continuously it was worth the while to sit down and watch the change.

Sadness

On Thursday, our friend was laid at rest, a modest, sincere man, very kind and caring. Life was not easy for him, especially when his beloved wife suddenly passed away 22 years ago leaving him, his son and four daughters devastated. He was hard-working and kept his house spotless. When his neighbour died a few years later and next door became a holiday home, occupied only during a short spell in summer, John must have been very lonely. He had a good sense of humour and a strong, unwavering faith evident in the way he lived his life. I attended the funeral service with great sadness feeling that another human tie has been cut off. We are most grateful for 30 years of friendship and will keep John’s memory dear. The mist of the morning cleared by afternoon and I could not only put a washing on the line but walk among the boulders above Cliff. While sun and clouds were casting a spell on the rocky scenery I got carried away and spent hours opening my eyes and heart, contemplating.

Loch Suainavat

The pattern of the weather for most of August was that a good summer‘s day would be followed by days of poor weather, drizzle, showers or mist.
Therefore much to our surprise Monday turned out to be glorious. Strolling by Loch Suainavat, scrambling over rocks, smaller ones partly covered with heather we walked on and on. The sun was warm and shining brightly. From the lower slopes of Flodraskarve Mor, Beannan a’Deas and Beannan a‘ Tuath the moorland looked magnificent, within the carpet woven of purple heather and grass turning rusty at the tips, blue lochans sparkled here and there. The light was just perfect, the colours amazing and the blueness of the lochs surpassing. We were entranced in a small world in harmony.
Earlier on we passed by a friend’s house in Adroil , but did not call. He was not to be seen outside and knowing that the lamb’s sales were going to be on Wednesday, we expected him to be very busy. Only when we reached home in the evening we heard that he has collapsed and passed away just before midday.

Coast

A leisurely walk along the coast towards Aird Uig on Sunday afternoon opened magnificent vistas of the rugged coastline: The swell of the sea played gently on pebble beaches, encircled crags and steep cliffs, bathed scattered rocks of various sizes, then flowing on to caves and natural arches leaving white lines of foam on the bright blue surface.

Loch Grunavat

Tuesday last week was a good day for fishing. We went to Lochcroistean by bus or on bikes and followed the peattrack to the end, then scrambled across boggy ground and over rocky hills until we reached Loch Grunavat about an hour later. A light breeze kept the midges at bay. We had to cast the line carefully, to keep it from floating with the waves towards the peebly shore where the hook would get stuck easily.

The sun was moving in and out of clouds

and at the end of an enjoyable afternoon we had caught enough brown trout for our dinner and some more for the freezer…


On our way back across the bogs I was fascinated by the luminousity of little shallow pools

Scarp

A glorious day on Monday, one of the few this summer…Friends took me in their car to the upper end of Uig, to Brenish where we spent the afternoon by the shore, watching the waves breaking on big slabs of stones. An amazing vista opens here with the small Mealasta Island only a mile away and the larger Isle of Scarp 6 miles distant which belongs to Harris. On Friday I was to see Scarp again as part of an exhibition at An Lanntair celebrating the work of Robert Adam, who took photos of Scarp in 1937.

Mist

This week most of the days started misty. Sometimes you could hardly see next door. The mist and drizzle could last all day, or lift slowly in the afternoon opening the curtain for some great views.

Last night when walking home from a ceilidh at friends the sky was clear and disclosed in its dazzling spaciousness a magnificent firmament of luminous stars.

On the moor

A walk in the moor can be full of surprises.
On a beautiful day climbing up a small hillock often opens a magnificent view on numerous blue lochans.
Today I came across a small loch away from the nearest village which has been used as skip for various machineries and later I found vehicles dumped at the end of a track. It’s amazing how nature takes over after a while, wheels and other implements sink slowly into the soft boggy ground, as plants soon grow among the cracked parts and once smooth surfaces, now rusting, change to rough, flaky colourful textures.

Cliff Beach

A week of change, friends going away and others arriving. The weather was very unsettled wet and windy most oft he time. Friday on Cliff Beach was a good day for bodyboarding.

While combing the beach I found some magnificent blue-colored jellyfish.

Seaweed

On my various walks this week I found seaweed of fine colors ranging from dark, nearly black, rusty-brown to green, yellow and bright orange-yellow, and a diversity of shapes, big bubbles, long stripes with smaller bubbles, multi-fingered, broad, fine and more, gently floating in the sea…
As it was low tide, I could also reach rocks which were covered with strings of big mussels a fine appetizer for our Sunday dinner.

Ungeshader

My trip took me to Ungeshader were the remains of derelict houses, only 3 used as holiday cottages for a period of the year, illustrate the decline in population in Uig very well. I spent the day by the old anchorage roaming among seaweed covered rocks, looking out towards the range of the mountains at the end of Loch Roag. The sun moved in and out of big clouds which were continuously changing their shape and color. The majestic scenery was dominated by the rusty colors of the seaweed, a windswept Rowan tree on the edge of an old walled enclosure, the greenness of the pastures and the dazzling light on the sea. When the wind seemed to have dropped the rocks and hills on the other side were reflected in a fine dramatic setting.

Baile na Cille

I walked across the Glen to Uig sands to visit Baile na Cille. This old burial ground has always been regarded as a sanctuary. There is a legend that it was once bare rock and that a man called Elidhean brought the soil from a nearby hill called Cnoc Elidhean. It was carried in panniers on the back of two white horses, and a wall was built to retain the soil. Under the mound is said to be a pagan temple or a dun. There certainly are the discernible ruins of a very old chapel built after the mound was created. In this burial ground are remains of the many Uig people who were interred here over the centuries.
There are ruins of two other churches nearby, too small during the Great Revival in the 1820s for the big crowds gathering here. So in 1829 a newly built church, with seating for 1000, came in use. This building is now too big for the declining congregation and at the moment considered to be sold to the community. The Manse itself has been transformed many years ago into a hotel.
At the gate to the burial ground, no longer in use, a placard lists 34 tombstones, some standing still upright, some bending with time, others tumbled over and hardly recognizable in the long grass.
The earliest stones date back to the 1820s and the latest to the beginning of the 20 century. Old and young are gathered here alike but remarkable are two tombstones covering extreme life spans.
In 1859 a stone was erected to the memory of a 7 day old girl and in 1903 a stone was dedicated to a Centenary.
While I walked between the stones the weather changed and opaque clouds were drawing in from the SW, to be replaced soon by a veil of mist. This enhanced the solemnity of the site.
Later on I followed the shoreline to Crowlista where I found bright yellow seaweed and an abundance of cockles – a delicious dinner that night.