Lmst

In the summer of 1976 I went north to the Isle of Lewis. I saw some superb photos in a pharmacy window that were not for sale. I told my mother-in-law, who I was staying with, about them. She proceeded to 'persuade' the pharmacist, the photographer A.M. MacDonald ARPS, to part with them. They are the most precious things I brought home, though I still feel sorry for MacDonald. They are now with Am Baile, the repository for the crofting counties of Scotland.

#Scotland #IsleOfLewis #Crofting

Six women wearing large aprons and carrying baskets of herrings posing for the camera and smiling widely, though they worked so very hard in gutting the fish in this dominant industry in the coastal towns of the Outer Hebrides and elsewhere.

Two women digging for peat, while an older woman and three children stand watching. Piles of cut peat lie in the foreground and middleground. In the background is a small thatched building with smoke pouring out that served as shelter during the summer months when peat-cutting for fuel was a primary occupation, readying for the winter.

A woman, silhouetted against the sky, smiling for the camera, is climbing up a huge pile of cut peat, with a large basket full of peat on her back.

It's been far too long since I shared a bit of #TroughCamTuesday and how could I not share some of this glorious sunshine and gorgeous ewes 😍
#BoreraySheep #SheepOfMastodon #Crofting

Reworking your life - Tiree

https://www.thenational.scot/culture/25048803.spent-12-years-learning-labour-lambing-tiree/

http://archive.today/2025.03.30-155133/https://www.thenational.scot/culture/25048803.spent-12-years-learning-labour-lambing-tiree/ (archive)

A lot of really hard work but I admire and envy her. (Whoops, correction)

#CroftingLife #Crofting #Tiree #Scotland

The shore at Tiree, houses in the background threde surfers on the beach. It is not always like this!

Alasdair Maclean’s NIGHT FALLS ON ARDNAMURCHAN (1984) was his only full-length prose work. Hilary Mantel called it

“…a book like an animated shipping forecast… You hear the ocean and the voice of a salt-laden gale in this sharp, thoughtful, eloquent memoir, which is specific yet not parochial, romantic, reflective, and yet grittily acquainted with the realities of life on the margin.”

@bookstodon

https://birlinn.co.uk/product/night-falls-on-ardnamurchan-2/

#Scottish #literature #memoir #crofting #20thcentury #Ardnamurchan

We have a mystery to solve. One of our ducks has been laying in a secret nest somewhere so we bought a fake, ceramic egg and placed it in a nest to encourage her to lay there. It was a nest made by our goose so a bit oversized for a duck but it was right next to an abandoned duck nest so 🤷 Now the ceramic egg has gone missing...
#RunnerDucks #Smallholding #Crofting

Hens have finally arrived on the croft! We picked up four ex-commercial hens from British Hen Welfare Trust on the 2nd March, 2025. Of course the weather has been less than welcoming and I can imagine these ladies wondering where the hell they have come to with nosey ducks, noisy geese and wind blowing a hoolie!
We've also got some Light Sussex chicken eggs in the incubator. They should be hatching in 2-3 weeks.
#crofting #Hens #HensOfMastodon

A photo of three hens (well four but the last one is hiding) with reddish brown sporadic feathers, looking very punk. They are standing inside a dark coop with fresh chopped straw bedding on the floor.

Heading home to this. Not so peopley and a cracking view. #crofting #Highlands

A sunset over the North Sea, which is the view from my croft. Deep blues, purples, oranges and yellow fill the lower skyline.

Evening walk with my crew. #croftlife #crofting #vanlife

Windy and grey #TroughCamTuesday weather doesn't bother our gorgeous #BoreraySheep who are totally metal.
#SheepOfMastodon #Crofting

#SilentSunday #Sutherland #sunset #crofting

A landscape photo of a sunset. Light, slightly wispy clouds stretch across the sky with an orange glow across the horizon. The foreground shows a grassy field with a person, carrying a blue bucket, walking away on the left.

@kashcah That is huge what an amazing growing space. #Crofting #Smallholding #HomeSteading

Here's my major events thread!
My husband and I have changed our lives significantly over the past few years, with some additional substantial changes upcoming.
It began with moving from Michigan to Scotland in 2014, such a good move for us in so many ways! We lived in the Borders at first but kept finding ourselves wandering north and started learning about crofts.
#crofting

@kashcah I like this. How many sheep have you got? I’d guess they are they all boreray? #TroughCamTuesday #Crofting #SheepOfMastodon

Not a bad morning. Six new house pillars cut, and the hungry hoard fed.

#Crofting

The log gone, and six new pillars on the timber stack.

Cattle crowded round the ring feeder under a clear blue sky. The Little Tractor That Can sits to the right of the picture.

Closer view of cattle at the ring feeder.

Our beautiful Boreray ewes on #TroughCamTuesday
https://youtube.com/shorts/bXJexGaaowk?si=3HqvxDZMXQZ3Ci4m
#BoreraySheep #Crofting #SheepOfMastodon

Feeding the cattle for the second time this winter. These bales are FAR too heavy for me to manage on my own. Loading them up on the far side of the hill isn't too bad, because there are plenty of folk there and I can usually get help. But unloading them this side has to be done alone – with help from The Little Tractor That Can.

The procedure took a bit of thought.

Pictures in reverse order, sorry!

#Crofting

The bale tipped on end, fully unwrapped, the wrapping removed, and the ring feeder fastened around it. The Little Tractor That Can has moved a little away. Beyond the fence, the cattle wait impatiently to be allowed in to feed.

The Little Tractor That Can has moved round so that it's now on the axis of the bale, and all the outer, film wrapping has been stripped down.

The bale tipped out of the link box. This was done with the tractor hydraulics tipping the box, but I can't both tip and photograph at the same time! The alignment of the tractor is still at right angles to the axis of the bale.

Arriving in the field. The Little Tractor That Can stopped in front of the ring feeder, with a huge, partially unwrapped bale in the link box on the back.

Scottish Land Matching Service | Opportunities in Scottish Farming
" free service offering independent advice and facilitation to those considering options for joint ventures in farming and crofting. It is available to anyone either seeking an opportunity to embark on a joint venture or those looking to offer an opportunity on their farm or croft."

https://slms.scot/

More in this episode of the "Crofting Matters" podcast
https://www.fas.scot/publication/crofting-matters-matchmaking-new-and-retiring-crofters/

#Scotland #Farming #Crofting #Agriculture

This tree isn't nearly as big as the first one we pulled out, but I caught the very satisfying moment when it finally came down. They've been hung up since Storm Arwen in 2021, and it's only now we've got the kit that will bring them down.

#Crofting

Well, small victories. It starts, without any easy-start spray; it runs steadily, without leaking any perceptible amount of fuel; it stops on command. There are still things which need work, but this is progress.

#Tractor
#Crofting

Exhausted and despondent. We have the weather to cut hay, so I have spent today desperately trying to get the tractor running again. And I'm very nearly there.

The tractor starts easily and runs well. But the clutch won't disengage. Also, I have one 7/16" UNC machine screw left over, and I'm missing a 7/16" UNF one -- suggesting that somewhere in the build I've put a fine thread screw into a coarse thread hole, which isn't good.

I really don't want to have to split it again.

#crofting

#Crofting

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