Day 2 in Harris

And on the second day we had some time around on of the lochs looking for otters (disappointing) and other wildlife. We saw...

crab remains,

seaweed, 

                  wildflowers and much more.

Meanwhile...the older class went coasteering. They loved that as much if not more than kayaking the day before! They had to don two wet suits, life vests, helmets, socks, shoes and shorts. They were exhausted before they set off, but I think it was all worth it!

Yes, she has two suits on and still very slim!

Ewww! Putting wet shoes on is not fun.

Dads gearing up again! 

The shorts didn't have to be pretty, just on their bodies...still not sure why. Someone said something about the shorts protecting the wet suits when they had to climb on the rocks. Not sure these particular shorts will do the job!

Harris is a lovely even in clouds and mist. Thanks to the Scaladale Centre for a comfortable place to stay and for all the activities. 

Overnight trip to Harris!

The children have enjoyed a great overnight trip down to an outdoor centre in Harris. Below are some photos of the some of the children and the stern beauty of the land down on the south part of the island.

The older ones went kayaking - wet suits, life jackets, helmets. The one on the right is the other at school, Linda.

Two of the dads dressed and ready for some paddling!!

The younger ones went on a climb!

I'm fascinated by all of the different types of moss that grow here. This one is very soft - several inches think and would make a very comfortable bed! As long as it's dry. It looks spikey, but isn't at all.

Don't know the name (again), but the land is slowly being covered with yellow, pink and purple flowers this time of year. 

Day 2 in the next post!

Slipping through my fingers

Three weeks and a half weeks. I've found it hard to leave here after a week's visit. What's going to happen to me when I try to say good-bye this time?

Last Saturday while I was down watching and learning about the care and clipping of sheep my little seven year old friend said, "I'm gonna miss you when you go." I took a deep breath and got out, "I'm gonna miss you, too." Come on! I'm sure there's no crying allowed (or aloud) at the fank!!! That was a close one.

************************

I have a very promising writer in my class and she wrote something today that cracked me up! Their assignment was to write a short newspaper article (imaginary) using a list of words they'd brainstormed earlier. In this particular article, the reporter had been investigating a restaurant because some people had complained of illness after being there. The reporter noticed one cook acting suspiciously and crept up behind her only to find that, sure enough, there at the cook's station sat a bottle labeled, "Food Poisoning!" Is it just me or doesn't that strike you funny?!

Here are some notebooks that they covered in Harris Tweed as part of our unit on that topic this term.

Finally, here's a look at 11pm. I could really get used to this. I don't know about getting used to the darkness at the other end of the year!

Vocab and Veggies

I spent the day Saturday with my friends up on the northern tip of the island in their "plot" where they plant vegetables, not their dearly departed. That's garden to us. Their garden is our yard. Yard in England is our driveway.

Skip is the dump.
Sports -  a strip is the team's uniform.
Pavement is the sidewalk.
Oddly enough..."Scottish" pancakes are exactly like American ones.

Okay, back to the plot. Here are some shots of the garden, the men working in it. My friend, Anne, and I also did do some work, but will opt not to be in the photos.

I also followed the flock down the croft to the fank (sorry, no idea what it is in America, closest I can think of is a corral for sheep) and saw them being dosed and a few were sheared - with big scissory shears, not electric!!

On with the show...

Lots of wind protection has to go up.

Off to the fank go the sheep, the shepherd, two nephews and me.

I took many, many more photos of all of the above but on my friend's camera. So go on over to Home School on the Croft to see more details of the day. 

And a sunset

And on a different note...blanket day at school last week! 

Vocab Lesson

As you can imagine, I'm learning a few new words here:
"bins" instead of trash cans - rolls right off my tongue now
"holiday" instead of vacation
"pupils" because students are in college over here

There are a few I have to think about:
"courgette" instead of zucchini
"aubergine"...eggplant
"sweets"...candy
"surgery"...doctor's office
"strimmer" is the weed whacker - do we call that something else

But yesterday I heard one that I doubt I'll ever use. Messages.  Heard my friend ask her husband if he would "put the messages away." ???? It's the groceries. No other kind of shopping can be called that; just groceries. No one knows why.

Here's one that confuses my friends here when I say it: coffee cake. Looked at my funny when they didn't taste any coffee in it. Nancy M. if you are reading this, thanks so much for making this and sharing the recipe. And Anne, here's how it is supposed to look! All those times I've taken out of the oven and said, "something's not right," well, here's why. This is what I'm expecting.

Anyone coming over for a piece or two or three?

Back to School

I haven't shown you anything from school for a while. Those of you in the US are nearing the end of the school year, if you haven't already arrived there. We will go on until the 1st of JULY!! I've never taught in July before. A shorter summer vacation here means longer holidays spread throughout the year. Like it!

Here we go. We've been learning about Harris Tweed this term. It is a woolen fabric that has a long history on the island, is truly unique to any other woolen and lovely. We've been studying the process from sheep to shop, you might say.

The wool comes from cheviot sheep. They live on the mainland. Their wool comes washed and ready to be dyed, spun and woven here on the island. Here are two illustrations of these sheep.

Of course I forgot my camera when we went to the big mill where the wool is processed, so I don't have pictures of that. But in art they children were taken outside to see how the colors of the landscape have influenced some of the Harris Tweed designs. They did their own landscapes, chose tweed that reflected what they were seeing outdoors for the matting and here's the result.

We are in to process of making notebook covers from the stuff. Here are some not quite finished. I'll show you them again in a week or two when they are all done.

And a map on of the students made showing the island and some places associated with Harris Tweed's past and present!

Finally, some of the lovely faces I see every day! Bye for now. 

10.30 PM

I find this part of being far north really amazing. As we head into June the "days" are lonnnggggg. Here's what 10.30 pm looks like now out one of my windows. AND the weather looks like it is clearing so maybe I'll get some photos from somewhere other than inside my house this weekend!!