Author: Sadie

Run way clear, CHECK: Lift Breaks, CHECK: Take Off, CHECK!

Lovely Dunans House Basset Bartie, attempts his first spring take off through the bluebells on the lower lawn.  Not bad for an old boy who is blind, he is really going for it, look out Mission Control, here comes a low flying Basset!

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As everyone knows the weather in Scotland is grim! We suffer continually from pouring rain, fog, snow, and gloom and that is generally just in the one afternoon. However would you be surprised if this Scottish lass whispered in your ear, that this is a myth, totally make-believe?  Oh yes, we do get our fair share of ‘weather’ in all forms, however Dunans Castle sits on the West Coast, just off the shores of the glorious Loch Fyne and we do benefit from the warmth that the Gulf Stream brings, as it meanders past our shores.

To this end, the past 2 weeks have brought us glorious sunshine and balmy teeshirt evenings. This has resulted in fabulous flowers, swallows copulating noisily at unseemly hours of the morning (mostly above the eves of our bedroom, hence the grumpy mention), and all creatures generally galumphing about with smiles on their faces. Every where you look 4 paws and 2 legs in all are soaking up the rays.  Needless to say, we all have short memories, so when in June the monsoon season starts, I am sure we shall all be saying how miserable this years weather is and our West Coast bliss will continue a secret for another year, unless of course you read this!

 

A little trip down memory lane for me.  Working with a wonderful Wild Chef Alison Sykora @RealFoodConsultancy & the very talented Alice McKerrow, with the gorgeous actress and friend, Rebecca Bloom.

I created Word War style ‘Flying Kitchens’ to drop into any venue, indoor and out, to deliver a themed food experience. Our chef cooks and shows how it is done, the Actor, sets the scene, time place and the audience, tastes, chats and enjoys the show.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00yvk88

A sample of what I do with www.thewalkingtheatrecompany.com, when I am not at the Castle. Although quite a lot of the War time recipes are inspired by the hedgerow food along the Castles Woodland Walk. I love creating these food inspired theatre pieces.  We have met some wonderful audiences who share their memories with us.

At present we are working on

‘Your Country Needs Stew’ – a WWI event to mark the 2018 commemorations of the end of WWI, & ‘Dine & Jive’  You’ll never guess what that one is about!

 

The joy of glorious sunshine has meant frantic days outside lugging, cutting, pruning and plumping my modest area of ground within the wilderness around the castle, which I call grandly ‘my garden’.

So I do know that plumping is not actually a gardening term, however it gives you the gist of my technical knowhow. My garden mostly consists of boggy patches of moss, with some sturdy plants defying death by drowning. So the shock of a sunny spell is a wonder for woman and plants alike.

I have to be honest, when it does rain here, it really does ‘rain’, our weather can be very extreme indeed. My mind is cast back to a couple of years ago when I received a very odd phone call, which started, so I gather as a result of teaming spring rains. I hope you enjoy this trip down a Lady Lairds Memory Lane – it still makes me chuckle.

Diary Entry Dunans Castle April 2015

Wet Spaniards The Saga – Day 1
This morning, I fully appreciated the curve balls of living in a ‘visitor attraction’, the people who come here are largely fabulous and funny and a continual joy. We do love our community of Lairds & Ladies, however, there is most definitely a ‘dark-side’ to some of our interactions.

Those who know us and join in our adventure, know that we are a ‘Woodland Garden around the ruins of Dunans Castle, with an A listed bridge’, in essence a restoration and heritage project. Our mission is to support the restoration of said Bridge, Grounds and Castle. We run tours for our visitors, we have a beautiful members tartan ‘Dunans Rising’ and we sell tartan gifts through the website. We are international business that feeds significantly into the local economy, bringing our community of folk from all over the world, many to Scotland, just to visit the ruins and the project.

So early one rainy spring Saturday morning, I take a call from a Mr ‘Concerned of Dunoon’, he is anxious, he is worried, he is concerned! The evening before (Friday)he explained, he had met a group of young Spaniards on the ferry, sadly they were getting, very, very wet, the sea was rough and they ‘would’ stand outside, taking photos’, despite his advise. The group told him (in Spanish), his Spanish, he confessed, not being so good, that they were on holiday in the area for 5 days and visiting Dunans Castle and would he know where it might be? He was ‘concerned’ as he had never heard of Dunans Castle, so upon disembarking from ferry, he took them, in his car, to the Tourist Board in Dunoon. Said Tourist Board was closed, it being Friday evening. Being ‘concerned’ for the wellbeing of the ‘Wet Spaniards’, he gave them taxi details, they said they wanted to walk, he didn’t know where Dunans was, not having heard of it, and they were very, very wet and Spanish! He wanted them to take a taxi, indeed he insisted, indeed he rang a taxi for them, once they had left him and demanded that the taxi driver (our lovely local Taxi George), go and find them as they might not be ‘safe’!

About this point in the narrative of events on Friday, it can be assumed the Wet Spaniards made good their escape and set off on their holiday. Mr Concerned having done his good deed for the day went home to look up Dunans Castle on the internet!

Wet Spaniards The Saga – Day 2:
Mr Concerned, now an expert on Dunans Castle – Home of the Scottish Laird Project, rings the house and explains to me, the happenings of the day before. I eventually gleaned that he was ‘concerned’ and wanted to know if the wet Spaniards had arrived the previous evening . I said I was very sorry, as it was now Saturday and the office was closed, there were no staff on site and I was absent the day before, but I would be happy to enquire on Monday.

It was at this point that Mr Concerned turned into Mr Angry, Irate, and Indignant. ‘What’, he bellowed, ‘no staff, what sort of scam are you running’ how can you leave your guests without staff? I said that we were open Monday – Friday for tours and that we were not an accommodation provider. Mr ‘Concerned’ was not having any of this, he had looked extensively at our website, he knew all about us, the ‘people of Dunoon’ needed to know what was going on, we had lost the ‘Wet Spaniards’ and he wanted to know where exactly what I was going to do about it?

He then went on to list his extensive grievances;
a) We were running a hotel without staff (or roof incidentally),
b) the castle was ruin so how could we run it as a hotel,
c) he had never heard of us,
d) why did the wet Spaniards not know where they were going?

And my personal favourite,

f) it was our duty to tell people there were no wolves in the forests and hills around the Castle or indeed in Scotland!

By this time my will was weak and to be honest, I really wanted him to go away, so I said I would ask the staff on Monday if anyone had seen the ‘Wet Spaniards’ or HAD any understanding of whom they might be.

‘But, but’, but he spluttered, ‘where are they, you are all the way over in Glendaruel, its a long way over there, it’s a wilderness, they could be lost, what are you going to do about it’?

Do? I queeried, then patiently and politely, pointed out that as the Wet Spaniards had made their way from Spain, to Dunoon, it was very likely they would have the sense to manage the last 30mins of their journey to Dunans, as and when they wished to. I suggested that if he was so anxious and had a genuine concern for their safety, the police would be the best port of call, as they would be able to advise him.

‘Police’ he spluttered, ‘I don’t want to waste their time’ with this nonsense’ and mercifully he hung up!  So that was my Saturday morning gone! Thank you, Mr Concerned of Dunoon, next time you haven’t heard of a visitor attraction 30 long, long miles away from your home, or decide to ‘help’ some international guests, please, please, don’t call me.

Wet Spaniards The Saga – Day 3
GUESS WHAT! Its Saturday afternoon and a jolly group of ‘Wet Spaniards’ have just arrived at Dunans Castle – Home of the Scottish Laird Project. They are not lost, nor wondering in the wilderness, they did not meet any wolves, they did meet a strange man, who followed them a lot and insisted on taking them in the wrong direction in his car. They are here on a ‘walking holiday’. I have given them a tour and sent them off to enjoy the garden, where they intend to have a picnic. The good people of Dunoon, will I hope be at peace and Mr Concerned, whomever you may be, may I suggest yoga and a good does of ‘mind your own’ tonic. May everyone be blessed in their own homes – happy Saturdays all.

Photographic evidence they are alive and well, if a little ‘wet’

 

 

 

So this weekend, having committed myself in print to moving forward, it came, that when a dear pal, said, ‘come and watch the footie’! I determinedly, if not entirely enthusiastically accepted the invitation.

Now ‘watching footie’ is not something I have willingly done since my early 20’s, when I dated a goalie, you’ll understand the interest was not wholly focused on the finer points of the game. So the prospect of watching football on TV, was only mildly acceptable, especially as I am in essence much more of a rugby lass. However the FA cup semi final was the event, Tottenham Hot Spur V some ‘other’ team, who shall not be named, you can however identify them in the final as Spurs rather lost the plot in the second half!

As a wee girl, recently arrived in London, I used to get taken to White Heart Lane, Home of Tottenham Hotspur and saw both FA cup final wins in 1980 & 1981, the matches washed over me in hazy cacophony of sound, the roar of the crowd, the smells, beer and fags with a tart overtone of ketchup and hotdogs and so many people, all about me, yelling their heads off, I had never ever seen grown-ups behave like this before! I do remember jumping up and down in the stands, caught in the moment, shouting Ozzy, Ozzy, Ozzy, Oi, Oi, Oi (reference Osvaldo Ardiles). It was a big deal to one with little legs and it felt very, very special indeed.

So it was that our weekend invite, triggered all these memories, a real past blast, so it was decided, by mummy (that’s me), that we would go. The venue, a neighbour’s house in the Glen, a beautiful, tranquil hillside home, some 3 miles from the Castle offered us the exciting opportunity to bicycle there and back again, This immediately provided an appropriate level of interest to the girls, so we were all in.

I make a special mention of these neighbour’s, they are both very dear to Charles and I, and part of the Castle story. In 2003 when we first arrived in Glendaruel, in a white hire van and a Suzuki Jeep respectively, stuffed full of, well, ‘stuff’, plus 2 Basset Hounds. These kindly neighbours hired us their wee holiday cottage, by the side of the local Hotel which they were at the time running, plus very generously threw in the use of their cow byre, to store our worldly chattels in, until we had erected our big red flat packed shed.

Having not seen them for an age, well in reality not seen anyone in an age (reference previous post ‘into the light’), we all became quite enthused. Number 1 daughter because she really likes sport, and number 2 daughter, who is quite open about her limited enthusiasm for said subject, because she likes visiting!

Duly bicycles were inspected, rusty but working, helmets dusted off, dusty but useable, Daddy was prized, reluctantly, out of his office so off we set. 6 mile round trip, excellent company and a great afternoon had by all. I think we might do this again, once the pain in my thighs has subsided. Be warned Michael, Liz, Fiona & Tat. We will be back and Thank you xx

So having started this Blog earlier this year, with great intentions and a desire to communicate, you will have spotted the go slow and eventual halt in proceedings. In all honestly, I simply lost the will, I hunkered down, feeling I had nothing much of interest to say or anything really positive to explore. A general malaise has been a sensation that has permeated our lives at the Castle over these winter months. Unusually, Charles and I, generally very positive and get up and go type people, an intrepid pair who actively find a solution, change direction, work with the flow, clamber that hillock, etcetera, etcetera , well in short, we have both been feeling rather glum.

There are lots of reasons, lack of time together, limited family connection, a loss of a dear friend, 90 hour working weeks, no sun light, political uncertainty, massive taxation, spiraling food & utility bills, decreasing markets and huge sense of so much to do, that neither of us feel that we are chipping away enough to breakthrough anymore!

Any or all of the above affect so many of us in this life, okay so not everyone is daft enough to take on a slice of ruined history, and dedicate their lives to a restoration, but I do know everyone has their own challenges, their own ruined castle, in what ever form it takes. We all have our own dark doors that we sometimes just can’t face opening, a place where a miasma of ‘stuff’ lurks, that simply overwhelms and is so hard to untangle.

So what to do, I know that it is a must to find the positive, find the love. Its always a start, in words of my father-in-law, I do know, that I have ‘those that I love and those that love me’ and without that love, I couldn’t get by, but sometimes in the dark, it is hard to find the light.

Spring is now the in the air, the days are lighter and I can see flowers from the windows of the house, swallows have arrived, the bleat of lambs echo through the hills, the woodpeckers are back and a ‘the sound of the cuckoo, high on bended hill’ (Glen Massan Manuscripts) reverberates. Life and light abounds and all of this is a blessing. So I have made myself write, made myself open the door and I will connect. I walk the fat Basset every day, I kiss my man and my girls and I tell my family I love them.

What ever this year brings you all, may it bring you love and the ability to love. I will be back.

http://www.sada.org.uk/index_2.php

https://theanatomyoflove.com/what-is-love/what-is-love/

A beautiful profound poem to share. Sung at our Wedding and at my grandmothers funeral

Amazing Grace – by John Newton (1779)

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.
’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!

Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

 

 

 

 

It has been a busy weekend at it at the Castle, or to be more accurate a busy weekend down at ‘The Lairds Retreat’, where for this season, we are officially opening up the new Kitchen. to add to our accommodation, nestled in the old walled garden.

Set at the head of the original Victorian flower garden, is what was once a derelict Victorian Seedling Shed, which in it heyday would have been a beautifully crafted building, being in the lower part a dry-stone wall with huge dressed stones and in the upper part thick greenhouse glass.

So I sit in the kitchen on this inky black dark Sunday evening, clutching a much needed cup of tea and covered in grime, a bit of mud and quite a lot of paint, due to be honest, to my enthusiastic painting style, and I am so pleased its all finished! If it wasne so dark out there, I would take picture, that can be done on the morrow, ideally in some sunshine.

One of the things we are very keen on is up-cycling, so in order to cosy up the new living area in the main Building, we found this lovely bucket style chair, which just happens to be an old Commode. Much hilarity ensued as I explained to the children, why ‘in the olden days’, ladies and gentlemen, who did not have access to indoor plumbing, or their loo was too far away from their bedroom, would use said article, or even, have a potty under the bed for the small hours, which with the clarity of the young, they, when they had stopped laughing, pronounced as weird!

Fortunately at the Lairds Retreat,  we have a lovely Bathroom with shower, so our Commode can just be a chair, and with a little TLC, I magic a tatty unloved, redundant household object chair into this beauty, complete with a re-upholstered seat and no po. A small but pleasing result.

Pics of the Bothy tomorrow – if the sun shines.

Lovely article on the history of the Loo, enjoy! http://www.localhistories.org/toilets.html