November
It’s been a few weeks since I was here… my Instagram feed has been a bit neglected too. So I thought I’d share some photos from a walk I did on Monday morning. We’ve been battered by storms up here lately so it was a relief to get outdoors once the weather calmed down a bit (although I was wearing waterproofs and wellies - the ground was saturated and a lot of the footpaths had become actual streams).
Halloween has been and gone. It’s usually a lovely night, with people visiting each other’s houses and wearing costumes, but obviously this year has been very different. So we carved three pumpkins and made scary snakes and ladders boards and baked and decorated gingerbread biscuits, and drove down to Sligachan to watch Ghostbusters at a drive through screen they’d set up at the hotel.
There was only one hail shower (strange watching a film with the windscreen wipers going) and Joe loved it: the fries, the onion rings, the sweets, being out in the dark, Mr Stay Puft…
That was on the Friday night, and on the Saturday - Halloween proper - we watched more films. Joe’s still immersed in all things Harry Potter, but once he headed to bed we watched The Lost Boys. It happens to be my favourite ever film (possibly tied with Mystic Pizza) because the Eighties were everything. Seriously, my secret Pinterest boards and favourite Instagram accounts are a testament to this. Interiors, music, fashion, all of it. Who doesn’t love neon lighting and a ra-ra skirt? I’ve actually considered starting a scented rubber collection like we used to have at school. Yes, I’m a grown woman with a child. And I make no apologies.
Apart from the Harry Potter DVDs being on a seemingly endless loop, I’ve been watching Schitts Creek. How did I miss this for so long? I’m already worrying about coming to the end of series 6, even though I’ve only just started series 2. Also, Stranger Things (late to the party again). And in quieter moments, I’m rewatching Gilmore Girls. Again. It’s pure comfort viewing during uncertain times, and it seems a lot of people are with me on this.
Joe’s excited about His Dark Materials returning on Sunday night. We both sit and watch and pretend we’re following the plot, but the special effects are great so that’s something.
Bonfire night would have been today but again, it’s not happening in 2020. We’re thinking of possibly getting together with a friend and her family (outdoors, of course) for a burn up and some food. We can’t find sparklers anywhere but at least we’re in Tier One here in the Highlands, which means no lockdown just yet.
Because of that we’re going to Inverness on Saturday and staying overnight. I need to get Joe a winter coat and some other clothes because he outgrows things so quickly, and it will be nice to look around the toyshop and Waterstones. I need some pyjamas and possibly some boots too, and we’ll maybe pick up a few things for Christmas. There’s the chance we could go into lockdown again so it’s a case of doing these things while we still can.
At work I’ve been doing a lot of photography for their social media and new website which is currently being put together. So I’ve been working from home a bit too, photo editing. That might explain my absence from Instagram and the blog - I’ve got a bit of photography fatigue.
And finally: the house. Oh, the house. Yes, everything is proceeding (at a snail’s pace). We genuinely thought we’d at least have something legally binding on paper by mid October, but no. It’s complicated because we’re in Scotland and the buyer is in England, and both countries have different procedures. Plus their solicitor seems to keep finding issues to resolve, all of which so far haven’t turned out to be issues at all.
Without anything concrete to say the house is sold, we’re unable to pack or make arrangements. The plan so far is to rent somewhere temporarily in Portree until we’ve figured out our next house purchase. Rental properties on Skye are virtually non existent (most end up as holiday lets as it’s more lucrative and there are no legal obligations to tenants). But we know a few people and potentially have somewhere to go, until March if necessary.
Obviously, moving house close to Christmas - and potentially during a lockdown if it happens - isn’t ideal. We’re just having to wait until something gets signed then we can pack and give people dates and make endless phone calls and fill in lots of forms…
I’m stressed. Hence Lorelai and Rory Gilmore becoming my new best friends.
Thank you for your lovely comments - apologies for not replying to them all. I do read them, and they’re much appreciated. Have a great weekend (it’s almost here) and to my readers in the USA: I hope the elections aren’t getting too much for you. I’ve been following them and it’s nail biting stuff. And to those south of the border: good luck with this latest lockdown. Do the right thing and look after each other. We might be next…
