sheep

We've got three ewes, three gimmers (year old females) and six lambs on the croft. One of our gimmers was 'got at' by the tup last autumn so we have just have our sixth lamb. Hebrideans are all black, very hardy, don't need winter hay and are excellent mothers. 
Our sheep have escaped into the plot a couple of times but have only eaten one of the new trees, Strangely they polished off the mint patch which gives us an interesting choice of supplementary feed before they got for the freezer. Hebridean lambs don't go for slaughter until their second year, unlike most types which are only 6 months old when sold on.

It's good to see stock on the croft and the lovely traditional hay pastures getting grazed properly.

The next stage of running the croft is a planning a coppice planting scheme which will provide for all our fuel needs for both the Mill and our house. We'll plant mostly ash, but strangely there is sweet chestnut on the croft in a small copse planted about twenty years ago as an experiment.

Timeshare on a croft overlooking the Hebrides

We have decided to look for eco-partners to help us complete our build. We are offering a deal whereby folk will get an annual booking during the holiday season in our small roundhouse for a number of years - we think five years is probably about right. You'll overlook the Sounds of Islay and Jura, be able to swim or fish from the rocks by the Mill, help us manage the croft, walk the fantastic west coast of Gigha, watch wildlife, explore the archaeology nearby and just be able to relax in a truly fantastic setting. In return you'll put your rental upfront so we can refinance our kit after the disaster of being defrauded by our kit manufacturer, leaving us crippled in terms of being able to finish our life's dream project. The satisfaction of helping us pioneer a new type of building, uniquely engineered and designed to nestle into the landscape yet be warm and bright and ecologically sound is just another benefit of joining us.
We'll make sure everything is done properly.
If you want to follow us on our journey so far, then check out our website  at http://www.ecoroundhouse.co.uk/ and catch up on our story on this blog - there are 143 posts before this one...so give yourself a bit of time...
We'll need about a dozen like minded people to allow us to move forward, though we do expect to be able to buld the 9m roundhouse in the next couple of months
Email me on flit@gigha.org.uk or text me on 0788 758 3988

Smile

We have just welcomed a BBC film crew to Gigha for a two day shoot. 

Izzie was the star in the setting shots, racing along the Queen's beach, chasing the waves. It took an hour or so to get maybe 10 seconds of eventual screen time.

We filmed at the plot on the first carnivorous evening of the year - the midgies taking an early spring outing in the calm warm evening, biting us all without fear or favour.

The view to Jura was superb and the sun set over the Sound of Islay as we finished shooting, to the delight of the crew.  Not quite as many gorgeous sunsets over Salford docks as from Gigha.

We cooked Chinese style and ate late. Thankfully stir frying is quick. A few bottles of Chinese beer followed and we planned the next day's shoot.

Friday was detailed interview day. The rule of thumb is one minute of broadcast time per hour.  It took all day. We did several takes of each segment to allow for close ups, wide shots and cock ups.

The whole process brought back the difficult and unhappy sequence of events of last Autumn and Winter.

 

All the issues were outlined and will be aired. 

We'll post when transmission is due - we expect to be featured in early Autumn.

I'm not going to spell out any more detail now.

You'll just have to wait and see.