Tales from a down-shifted family
- Making the most of modest means
Going All-In on Robot Mowers (Again) You may remember that we went all in on robots during the Covid lockdown, adding robot mowers to our collection of robot vacuum cleaners. Since then, Hector (who mows the back garden) and Harriet (in the front) have done a great job. It started as a fun lockdown project...
A Damp Start and the Battle with Midges It rained most of the night. I don’t get much sleep at the best of times, even at home in my own bed, but in a tent with the wind blowing and the rain lashing at the sides, there’s no hope. The wind did ease overnight though,...
All Alone It was all change today, as Anna would be heading home. We were, of course, up and ready to go earlier than we needed to be, but there wasn’t much point hanging around. We headed off towards Lochmaddy so that Anna could drop me off where I’d finished my walk yesterday. This time,...
More Islands Within four walks I’d already covered 64.8 miles of the 155-mile Hebridean Way. I’d visited five of the ten islands, and a bonus sixth by car, and was about to start day five with a quick trip from Benbecula across the causeway to Grimsay and then across another to North Uist. This was...
With three days of walking along the Hebridean Way under my belt, we were now getting into the swing of things. Having Anna supporting me in the hire car was making life easy and the whole experience good fun. The comfy bed and endless breakfast options from the B&B helped too. Progress was good and...
After another night at the hostel in Castlebay, we were up early for the bus to the Ardmhor Ferry Terminal on the far side of Barra. Over breakfast, Anna spotted a half-used gas canister on the free shelf — perfect, as I hadn’t been able to bring one on the flight. One less thing to...
We met a lovely German couple over breakfast at the hostel. We later found out their names were Stephanie and Christian, but for now, we were calling them “The Germans” — I don’t know what they called us!! They were also walking the Hebridean Way. They hadn’t organised a taxi to get to Vatersay though,...
This post marks the beginning of a series documenting our return to the Outer Hebrides – retracing old steps, making new memories, and walking the full length of the Hebridean Way. Back in the Day The Outer Hebrides are one of our favourite places. I’ve been there a number of times to go surfing, windsurfing...
Summer is back and temperatures are soaring. Yesterday was lovely here at Ynyslas with a gorgeous quiet morning. I spent most of the day in the garden, doing a few chores, catching up with things, and generally tidying up. It’s become a lovely, peaceful place to sit these days. Not that I’m very good at just...
Over the past 20+ years, various trusty wheelbarrows have served me well for getting my windsurf kit to the beach. Loaded up with two boards, 2–3 sails, two masts, two booms, a whole host of fins, extensions, tools and accessories — not to mention a harness, helmet and some spare parts — they’ve done the...
Fitness / Technology / Triathlon
Fixing the Altimeter on my Garmin Forerunner 910XT
Monday, March 17th, 2014
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Surf Ski, Kayaking and Canoeing
Bringing Two Surf Skis Back from the Dead (Maybe)
Tuesday, June 16th, 2026
