A place to call home....in Scotland
"Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,
The Hills of the Highlands
forever I love. “
Robert Burns
Anytime someone tells me they are searching for that one true ‘home’…I get excited. I know it well, that restless feeling about a place that you haven’t discovered yet….you can feel it, taste the air around it, almost touch it, smell it and you yearn for the sight of it. You can just about see it, but not quite, not yet….and then, with luck, you find it.
Just thinking about it makes me giddy and restless as I type…I remember writing about it ten years ago, before discovering Tahilla Farm and I am feeling it now for a blogging friend, Amanda, who has found that special place in her home country, Scotland.
Amanda and I have been writing back and forth for a while now. She picked up through my posts that I was a Caledonophile (lover of Scotland) at heart and started sending me Instagram feeds highlighting the beauty of Scotland. During that time she told me about a longing she had for a plot of land to set deep roots for her family. She could almost feel it, I could almost feel it…then she found it and I am over the moon excited for her!
She says it is a dream, the purchase of an old derelict farm cottage with 5 acres of land in the Highlands, an area she grew up in. She describes it as both exciting and daunting, requiring a lot of plotting and planning before they can begin to build. They have time, there is no hurry, they will know when the time is right. I asked if the property has a name, she hasn’t been able to locate the original name but she mentioned there are two barn owls living in it during daylight hours so the name might be something ‘owl-esque’. I love that…
I asked Amanda if I could share her first photos as I know many of you would be right there, excited as I am, for this amazing task before her. Although I haven’t met Amanda in person, I imagine, like many of us, she enjoys the grit and dirt of good project. Busy work and busy hands make for a happy heart. I can feel that hands on hips moment, my favorite bit, doing a slow 360 degree turn in the center of a project, breathing it all in and saying…”Ok, let’s get started.”
Notes on Scotland…
I mentioned that I am a self-proclaimed Caledonophile. If you also enjoy the beauty of Scotland, here are a few Instagram accounts Amanda sent my way…
Instagram:
and on a different note…. Women With Altitude and Shetland Wool Adventures
From me to Amanda…two Instagram accounts she might like, Ben Pentreath and Charlie McCormick have been sharing life via Instagram from their home away from home along the coast of Scotland. Two amazingly talented fellows, it is a joy to watch whatever they do.
Scottish cashmere
Last week we had a nip in the air and I went straight to my drawer to pull out my Scottish Travelwrap from The Travelwrap Company. There is nothing quite like the feel of Scottish cashmere when the weather turns. They are one of my favorite things.
On the ‘telly’…
If you enjoy murder-mystery dramas and haven’t seen Shetland, you must! I have lost count of how many times I have seen it…always takes my breath away.
Monarch of the Glen is like one of those old videos you might pull off the shelf and watch again just because it is charming and lighthearted. My favorite characters are Hector MacDonald, (Richard Briers) and his pal, Kilwillie, (Julian Fellowes). They just make me laugh!
Another crime drama that kept me on the edge of my seat- The Loch This one will play mind games with you, I love a good whodunnit. Might not watch it if I was home alone though…
For the who like their crime drama with a touch of dark and moody Edinburgh, Amanda recommends Rebus. I am starting it tonight!
How many of you thought I would forget Outlander ? Never! You can probably guess which seasons are my favorite. The ones pertaining to Scotland. :))
A Scottish book affair…
In 2014 I wrote in my Collage of Life Archives about art, books and and a handsome Scotsman-more specifically, James Alexander Malcom MacKenzie Fraser, Laird of Lallybroch of Outlander fame. My art teacher introduced me to the books and my love of Scotland and historical fiction flourished. The long and short of this one…is have a look at the Outlander books by Diana Gabaldon.
Ian Rankin is a prolific Scottish crime best known for is Inspector Rebus novels, as mentioned above. I am sure Mr. H has a few on his bookshelf…I plan to investigate.
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf is set in The Isle of Skye in Scotland. Written in 1927, I can still feel the beauty of the island in her words.
Amanda recommends The Crow Road by Iain Banks…it is next in the book line for me.
Mention Alexander McCall Smith and a host of books will come to mind. Have you met the residents and neighbors of 44 Scotland Street? in Edinburgh? If not, you must.
You might also like:
Top 10 books about the Scottish Islands and Highlands
9 must-read books about Scotland
40 books set in Scotland that everyone should read
On another note…
Kristin, a long time blogging friend, kindly sent this poem to me for our Poetry Trail…
How to Recognize Grace
by Marilyn Chandler McEntyre
It take you by surprise.
It comes in odd packages.
It sometimes looks like loss, or mistakes.
It acts like rain or like a sea.
It’s both reliable and unpredictable.
It’s not what you were aiming at or what you thought you deserved.
It supplies what you need, not necessarily what you want.
It grows you up and lets you be a child.
It reminds you you’re not in control.
And that not being in control is a form of freedom.
Be strong. Be patient. Be kind.
And from Cath…this lovely image by Gaëlle Boissonnard to dream upon.
an image by Gaëlle Boissonnard
Wishing you safe passage this week,
take care and be well.
Jeanne xx
