Apologies for not updating this site but I guess things eased off after christmas and I did not have much news to pass on.
We had a dry winter, very different from last year when it seemed to rain non-stop from november to may. There was an unusual amount of snow that stayed around for a couple of weeks causing a few delays to our postal service but life quickly returned to normal.
Thankfully foot and mouth did not reach this area and most of the movement restrictions have now been lifted. Following my contract cancellation in January I was unable to work my notice as the range area was closed off. The range has now opened but as I officially became jobless on 10 May it is no longer of any relevance.
Naturally I have had a lot of time to contemplate my future. There is little or no work in the area and I cannot see myself commuting 4 hours a day to Inverness. The local PC/Photography work still arrives but is unpredictable and certainly not sufficient to live on. A new twist has been scanning & printing watercolour paintings from a local artist. My investment in high quality equipment is paying off as the results are indistinguishable from the originals. It was a natural progression to provide a complete service including picture framing and I used the last of my cash to purchase everything nescessary to start the business. It is amazing how expensive this gear is but the results are impressive and I can confidently turn out framed pictures as good as any I have seen. It will take a long time to recoup the outlay but at least it is another service I can offer.
I have started to advertise locally and show a few pictures in the Rhiconich hotel. Hopefully the tourist industry will recover and I can sell some work. The three pictures at the top of the page are examples of my work and are printed in widescreen format with a black border and frame. This works well and I have also produced A6 miniatures of some watercolours also with a black frame. Black does seem to set everything off well but I have to be carefull not to become the "Henry Ford" of picture framing - any colour so long as it's black !. think the hardest part is matching frame moulding and mountboard to the picture but I will get better at this as time progresses.
My kitchen "extension" now has a window so that I have a great view of Ben Stac while I am washing up. I added a couple of shelves and started growing herbs. These have now been transplanted to a series of growbags on a shelf outside the house. I needed to keep the plants out of reach of the sheep as they are partial to corriander....
Talking of sheep, I now have 8 lambs from 7 sheep. Just one to go but she seems determined to hang on. The ewe's are 8 years old now so this has to be their last season. Problem is that there may not be any sales this summer so I may have them as "guests" for next winter as well.
