14th of March to 9th of July, 2021.
Here starts my long journey in the Outer Hebrides. Isle of Lewis to me more specific.
I am living in this super cute traditional cottage. It is about 500 metres from the sea and I have a beautiful view of it from the cottage. It is true that the view is slightly disturbed by our neighbor, and original owner of the cottage, T., who was a famous accordion player. Sometimes he sits outside and play a bit.
In the ground floor there are two rooms, one bathroom, the kitchen and the conservatory. Upstairs there are more two rooms, another bathroom and the hall. I am staying in one of the upstairs rooms.
The cottage is under restoration. I will be working on it and there are also other workers coming to do some of the hard work.
I start painting the downstairs bathroom. All white. From bottom to top. This bathroom is ready and I will be using it while the one upstairs is being renewed. It looks like a horror movie up there: the wall paper was removed from the wall, the floor is also gone, and the old furniture just complete the scenery.
My room is cute and even that the kitchen looks funny with the stairs right on the middle, I like it too, because it has this authentic old look. My favorite part is the conservatory, though. Is there where I spend long ours in the afternoon either reading or doing my jigsaw puzzles. Its warm and the light is great. Plus the view!
So basically I like to be here a lot! I am by my own for the first few weeks, after that an Irish guy is coming to volunteer too. He will take the room opposite of mine. When I arrive, Tina had filled the cabinets and fridge with food. And great food! A lot of food! Our deal here is different from the one in the main land: I will be paid per week and with that money I will be buying my own food. But because of the big shop is in town, which is about 15 minutes driving but the bus can take up to 1 hours, she decided to be nice and get me this first lot of food.
I am working eight hours per day instead of the ordinary five hours of Workaway. That is because of the amount of money Tina is paying me. When I think about it now, I wish I had done less hours and had enjoyed more life. But that was the deal, so…
I restore some old furniture and one of them it turns into a beautiful piece after I rescued. I also paint the front room, which takes a lot of time because the walls are two different colors and one of them is this wooden board pattern, which is super tricky to paint, because I need to paint, with a small brush, the lines in between first, to after cover it all with the roller. The bathrooms have all their alls like that. So a lot of work.
The day that we are waiting for the Irish volunteer in town, we have some extra time so Tina suggests we drive to the Callanish Standing Stones, this super famous and historical monument here in Lewis. They are from the Neolithic area, so about 5000 years ago. And apparently they were used for rituals. It is about 30 minutes driving so it is very generous of her to offer and I happily accepted. We are only the two of us there, what makes the experience much better. In my opinion, it is a place full of energy. At least, that is what I feel as soon as I walk in.
The Irish guy is probably the only Irish person I have ever met (or even the only Irish person in the whole world) who is a jerk. He is simply impossible! My little paradise is disturbed a lot by him. But it is not just me, he gets in a lot of trouble with Tina and Norman too.
I get up every morning super early and go for my walk before work. Is the best idea for many reasons: when I finish work, all I want to do is relaxing by reading a book or doing my puzzles, not going to walk; it gets light super early up here, so it worth to enjoy the early sunrise; by the end of the day, the conservatory is so warm, almost like a sauna, so it is pleasant to spend my time there.
The Isle of Lewis it is an ugly duck which it turns out to be an actual duck. No swan in disguise, lost in a duck nest… no! Lewis was born to this world to be what it is: an ugly duck.
Do not get me wrong though, the Isle it has a lot of beauty! Oh, how pretty it is Lewis! And I could scream that out loud to the world, without be ashamed of being called a foul. It is an ugly duck in essence, though.
Growing under the shadow of it’s Southern sister, Harris, and South Western cousin, Skye, Lewis embraced its destiny, submissively: diminished. There are only a few people who can see it and appreciate Lewis for what it is: most of the locals and people like me, who identify themselves with the Isle. I fond the Island pretty much now and its raw personality will remain with me forever. As much as its unique people, its features, its colors, its oddities, but mainly its peace. A peace which not even Lewis wind can disturb. And if you ever being to Lewis, my dearest readers, you know that that it means a lot.
I also washed the outside of the cottage with this power, pressure washer thing. It is super tricky because I have to climb in a not very safe scaffold. And it takes time. Plus you get all wet. After that I also paint the whole outside. Now the cottage it is a beacon of light in the middle of the Isle and anyone can see it from far away. And the blue of the windows… Oh My Loki! It took quite a away for me and Tina to decide on the right shade, but luckily we have the same taste and vision for colors, so we made the right decision. I used (for the first time) this spray machine for painting to do the windows and the gutters. It is fun! And I love to learn something new.
One day when I was finishing the top of the garage door, super concentrated with a small brush to make straight lines, I was with my back to the road when I heard the noise of the stones in the floor moving. When I look it back, for my surprise, I face myself in the presence of 10 or 12 sheep! Laugh. And they are all looking so cute staring at me. But at my slightest movement they get startled and go away. About 10 minutes later, a pick-up stops and they guy, speaking in such an ordinary way, as it was the most normal thing to ask somebody, asks: “Have you seem some sheep passing by here?” And I answer also with a very calm voice, as it was the most ordinary thing to say to someone – Sure! They just went up the road! Just another day in the Isle of Lewis.
