scribe and saw

Its been a year!

Its hard to believe that a year ago today we moved all the way out here to Calgary. Travelling over land and sea, towing a boat, in convoy with a beautiful horse box full of our belongings being driven by our fantastic friend Matt. Arriving in the dark, to a glowing woodburner and an empty little dovecot ready to make our home.

We arrived to a stormy winter, and began our year getting used to the short days and incredibly dark starry nights. We chopped fire wood, re-arranged furniture, met future employers and began work on my studio and gallery, settling ourselves in to island life. We got used to the sounds of the storms shaking our tin roof, walked on the beaches and in the hills in roaring winds and lashing rain.

In spring we ate lunch outside for the first time, still in woolly hats and socks, with hot cups of tea, watching the trees coming into leaf and the forest fill with life. The gallery opened and welcomed its first visitors and customers, we saw Mull grow busier, I learned to share the beach with families and campers.

Summer saw the island buzzing with happy families, intrigued visitors flocked through the gallery, watched at my studio door as I worked at my bench, making jewellery for people to take away and treasure (I hope!). Ross worked long days and weekends, trying to help keep the vigorously growing gardens under control. We swam in the sea, canoed around the rocks, sat silently in the still water watching seals and sea birds. We waited patiently on the shore waiting to sea Dolphins swim out in the sunset. We learnt that the light lasts long into the night, as if the sun never goes down.

In the last few months we saw Autumn on Mull, we sailed round the north of the island on the beautiful Spindrift and ate freshly caught fish, walked around Caliach point and ate crabs legs and chocolate biscuits on a hill. The island quietened and the leaves began to turn, the bracken died down and turned beautifully orange, golden larch needles fell on the ground. The long nights quickly shortened, we started to light the fire again and begin now to prepare ourselves for our second winter. I have been busy in my studio making stock for Christmas and this weekend we were back outside splitting and stacking wood ready for the long cold nights and rainy days, and cycling through the forest making the most of the cold bright day.

A few pictures from the year...

Our first cycle on a very cold and windy day, looking out to Ben More

Looking out to the Treshnish isles from Caliach point.

 Discovering Langamull beach.

The Gallery when it first opened.

 Watching the skiff sail in on a hazy summer evening

The view of Loch Frisa on todays cycle.

It has been a brilliant year, it has felt challenging at times, we missed our friends, felt too far away from our families and too disconnected from the world, but we had some incredible experiences and shared these with visiting family and friends whenever we had the chance. We're looking forward to seeing what the coming year brings.

Thanks for following along with the blog for a year,

Maike x