Sutherland

Sutherland is right at the top of mainland Scotland and has some of the most beautiful coastline in the country. Also some of the most hard-to-reach! We walked the four and a half miles to Sandwood Bay, but had to take the minibus for the 11 miles to Cape Wrath – we happened to visit on a day when the MOD had their red flags up, so you had to get across the range very quickly (or as quickly as the rough single-track road will allow). The weather was glorious. Well, of course it was: Scotland is renowned for being the sunshine capital of the world. And there was a chocolate shop. So we had everything we needed for a very relaxing week.

The only thing missing was my voice, which completely deserted me after last weekend’s Taster Day. I was silent for several days so S really had to pay close attention – brilliant! It was quite appropriate, though, as the land is so quiet. Trickier by the sea when the wind and waves are roaring!

Lots of inspiration in the patterns and colours of the sea and the shore. The pictures in the slideshow above are just a taste.

And after all kinds of ridiculousness which is too tedious to describe, I finally have the yarn I need for the cushions and throws: I will get started on them tomorrow. I also need to finalise the schedule of classes I’m planning for the autumn and get those up on the website – I’m always quite excited about a ‘new season’, though in view of the voicelessness mentioned above I may need to prepare with some exercises. Working virtually silently for a few weeks and then talking for an entire day may not be the ideal balance.

“Sutherland” was posted by Cally on 30 June 2014 at http://callybooker.co.uk