Labour of Love

TandeM left this morning for the wet trip home. Poor things, weather has not been kind to them, but truth to tell, I enjoyed doing some more touristy indoors things for a change. On my own again for possibly another ten days or so. The house deal fell through as we feared it might, so we STILL have nowhere to go. To coin a much over-worked phrase, Unbelievable.

Back to square one, or even further back than that, having to search for a rental place for the first time in 40 years. With not much coming onto the housing market, we have an indefinite stay ahead of us. To coin another over-used phrase, Bummer! Just wanna be settled in our own place and relax into retirement. Life is rarely simple, is it.

Slept most of today, recovering from excursions and company. And weather still closed in so blip has to be close to home. No, haven't lost my marbles due to stress, it's a Lamp. With a story.

I love crafty things of most kinds, and we'd been seeing artifacts made of piled pebbles. A slate lamp became the thing I desired most. H won't mind me saying he is not the world's best handiman and we are still telling the story of a home made disaster from the early days ... no, on second thoughts that has run its course and I'll stick to the present. So off we took ourselves to the Slate Islands, Easdale in particular and spent a happy hour roaming on the spoil heaps finding flat pieces of slate that were nicely weathered. We filled our rucksacks, even though we only needed half a dozen. What we'd forgotten is that we had to return on the small ferry which is only a dinghy with outboard. When we got on, she went down alarming at our side, and when I sat down, the weight of the slate in my rucksack tipped me backwards, legs and feet flailing the air. Talk about embarrassing. Perhaps the boatmen are used to it. We acted nonchalantly.

Anyhoo, here is the finished result against a backdrop of the overcast last afternoon. It weighs so much I don't like to move it, but it's holding together and working as it should. Good job, H :))

That's Maiden Isle in the background, Mull and Kerrera just distant memories.