Happy New Year

Hibernation's over. It was lovely to spend a couple of weeks disconnected from cyberspace and hiding from civilisation. We walked every day, and in all that time met three people to talk to. I spoke to my family on the phone and otherwise was completely reclusive. Sometimes it is good to let the chatter subside.

As part of the 'views from the croft' series, this is the east-facing view from the highest point on the croft. From the left, the mountains are Canisp, Suilven, Cul Mor and Cul Beg, all now owned by Assynt Foundation, one of our many community organisations.The eastward view from the studio here is roughly the left hand half of this view. (And yes, this picture is unseasonally green... but it's nice to be reminded what it can look like. For much of the past few weeks the mountains, along with the rest of us, have been in cloud.)

Part of my post-hibernation rude awakening is going to involve trying to fix the storm damage. The turret roof has lost half its felt and my top garden fence is down again, having just been mended after marauding deer bust through it and devoured all the brassicas. I add these to the list of outdoor jobs - there's seaweed to be brought up from the shore, tree pruning to be done around the garden and digging - if we ever get a dry day. 2011 was the wettest year in Scotland ever recorded, and we had twice the average rainfall for December. The croft squodgometer confirms this.