Tuesday, June 30, 2009

A spontaneous purchase

Yesterday I went into town to go to the post office, and came home with a sewing machine. As you may have guessed, I did not obtain this sewing machine at the post office, but at a cute charity shop in town. Because I think it's so cute, I like to go in on a regular basis to check things out. The women that work in the shop are Gaelic speakers, so sometimes I like to buy things just so I can talk to them and practice :)

So, after checking out the entire store again yesterday I was lamenting the idea of leaving the shop without finding anything to buy when I came across this baby:

It was 5 pounds and something inside me said, "BUY IT!" So I did. Now I've just got to get my hands on some fabric...hmmm...

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Summertime and the living is easy...

The revelation came as both good and bad news. I was chatting with the Postman (whose name is Ronnie), and he asked me how I was getting on. I told him that I really liked it here and thought that everyone seemed to be very friendly. At that he laughed and said something to the effect of..."That's because it's so nice out! What until winter comes..."

The good news was that the summer season on the Isle of Lewis means that everyone is in a good mood ALL the time! Yes, it's true. Strangers smile at each other as they pass. Drivers watch out for those poor few with the Learner plates on their car so that they can help them out. Shopkeepers are chatty and everyone is always ready to help others in any way they can. All of this means that for the rest of the summer I can look forward to feeling like the sweetheart of this community as people are quick to forgive my cultural ignorance and are ready to smile at my accent.

The bad news is that because I came here at the beginning of April, I thought that this was just the way people were here. I thought that I really was the sweetheart of the community because everywhere I go people are smiling at me and seem to genuinely care about how I am getting on. Oh well, at least I was made privy to this phenomenon before I bumped into it come winter.

In other news, I've been working on my art journal a bit! See for yourself :)


I have joined a ceilidh dancing class...it's a bit like square dancing slowed down...


The second picture was drawn in a cafe in Amsterdam...
the wall was much cooler, but that's part of what it said.




We spent an afternoon at Luskentyre Beach on the Isle of Harris (which is technically attached to Lewis).
It was warm and beautiful!