Town
So we did it. Our house sale completed on Friday afternoon: keys handed in, money in the bank… and a huge sigh of relief all around.
And we now live in town. We’re on the opposite side of the island where the weather is a bit drier and colder. We have an apartment which is on the hillside overlooking the rooftops and Portree bay and, in the distance, the Cuillins. Off to the left is the harbour, and the next street below is where the shops and Christmas lights are, and the Square with the Christmas tree.
It’s warm and cosy and light and bright. I love having such an interesting view. Our tree and twinkly lights are up, Joe’s room is decorated too, and the cat is happy as long as he’s with us - although he keeps attacking the baubles and getting himself into trouble. Jay no longer has to drive 22 miles to get to work every day. We have friends living nearby.
Homeschooling is going fine so far; school kindly gave us plenty of resources and a plan for the next term as to what we should be covering. I’ve subscribed to Twinkl, which is great for worksheets etc. We walk daily regardless of the weather and Joe works hard (although he seems to think we can adopt some kind of Hogwarts curriculum which includes herbology and dangerous scientific experiments).
The move itself was at very short notice after so many delays; on top of that Jay had to work away in Inverness for a few days and I was still working myself. There was so much packing and lifting, and countless return trips with cars filled to the roof and the company van loaded with boxes and furniture. Most of it went into a storage container but plenty came here too, and unpacking was hard work. But it’s done and we’re enjoying our first quiet weekend in what seems like a very long time.
I took some final pictures of the garden on one of our trips. I didn’t feel particularly sad or sentimental; the house was a huge source of stress and anxiety for me. Seriously - I had constant vivid, repetitive dreams about huge, crumbling walls and unreachable ceilings in need of repair, and skyscraper-high factory chimneys looming over the house. It was too big and too old, and renovating it (within the confines of its listed status) would have taken years. We just didn’t have the finances to do it and to be honest, we didn’t have the will to do it either. Just maintaining the place was a lot of work and we felt as though problems would start appearing more quickly than we could deal with them.
And heading into our fourth year on Skye, the prospect of yet another winter spent shivering under a blanket was not a nice one.
So now the house belongs to someone younger and far more enthusiastic and determined than us, with family links to the island. That last bit is important as the ‘It’s not what you know, it’s who you know’ thing is particularly true here.
We’ll no doubt return to the village every now and again. In fact, although I handed in and worked my notice, there’s a staff Christmas party next week and I’m taking Joe along to see his friend while I get to catch up with people.
But we’re loving our new location. We went to watch the Christmas lights being switched on and Santa put in an appearance along with his elves (who were handing out candy canes and lollies). After such a strange year, it was nice to be doing something social. Joe was very excited and we only had to walk a few minutes afterwards to get home again.
We’ve had some frosty days but it’s warmed up a little bit again. Watching the weather come in across the bay is a new pastime - I can’t wait for snow to arrive.
It’s also good fun to explore new places around Portree, and to walk to places we don’t visit very often: the Apothecary’s Tower and the harbour, and the track up behind the Aros centre which takes you down through the forest trails.
Last week we did a brief trip to Glasgow (a necessary journey, not for pleasure) but we stayed in Fort William overnight on the way there and stopped off again on the way home. We had drinks and cake in the Wildcat Cafe and did plenty of food shopping. I also spent some time in the lovely Highland Bookshop looking at books and maps and stationery.
It’s feeling a lot like Christmas.
I think we’re all enjoying our stay in Portree, in this little nest perched up above the rooftops. It’s only temporary (hence my homeschooling Joe) and was a necessary stopgap due to the house sale taking longer than expected, and lockdowns, and Christmas approaching.
But we’re just treating it as a necessary break to take a breath and decompress after a stressful time. We do have plans but they’re on hold until the new year. I think it’s worked out for the best. We’ve been living in the apartment for just over a week now, while still trying to pack and move our belongings from the other house. It’s been exhausting. Last week I started with a sore throat and was unable to sleep for three or four nights because it was so painful. It started literally as soon as we’d moved the last of our things out.
So then I got this really weird, strong craving for Ribena - I never drink cordial normally - but that, menthol cough sweets and Paracetamol seemed to do the trick. By the time we’d left Fort William I was on the mend.
Note: Don’t eat menthol sweets whilst wearing a face mask. The fumes literally seep up into your eyes and it stings like crazy.
That was a long, catching-up kind of post.
I want to get some pictures of the shop windows and Christmas lights so I can share them, but it could take some time as I’m now an unsalaried teacher during the day and that means that chores get pushed aside until I’m not educating/entertaining/feeding/exercising a small person. Creative pursuits are very low on the list.
Like I said, it’s only a temporary thing. I admire those who homeschool but realistically Joe has no siblings and I’d feel a lot more comfortable knowing he was socialising with other children every day. Plus, I like going out to work.
But for now we’re savouring this little epoch in our lives.
