I was off to Oban on Thursday for the Rural Parliament and was saved from enduring a damp wait at Craignure by a neighbour who provided a lift for me and my bicycle via the Corran ferry. The day in Oban was unmitigated rain and, after a couple of strolls up and down the Esplanade I was soaked front and back which meant I was pretty grumpy for the fringe events that day. Even without the grumpiness some of Thursday's events were a bit daft. A discussion billed as "making uplands more productive" turned out to be about reforestation and the leaders were bemused when I asked if there were any other ways of making uplands productive. Back at Drumbuidhe I'm even more grumpy about this presumption: we sit in the middle of a woodland regeneration area which was established 20 years ago and has surrounded us in trees but the land seems a lot less productive than the days when it was used for stock. In the 1970s and 80s we used to have the whole shearing circus over here in the summer and no matter how nice the trees are it's now a lot less busy.
Friday saw some more pragmatic discussions and although the 'Open Space' session definitely verged into new age territory, Alasdair Boulton of Morvern Community Woodlands introduced a decent talk about fair use of rural land. This was brought into sharp focus by a phonecall from our estate owner. Although my family owns Drumbuidhe and the surrounding land, we sit in the middle of a larger estate and there are frequent tensions regarding our presence here and the fragility of the track we use to access our property. The estate owner (the Mrs of the couple who own the estate) called, from Suffolk, to say that there had been a landslip on the track and it was impassable. Well, actually, she didn't say that, she has a rather anxious air and she started by asking where I was ("Oban") and when I was going to Drumbuidhe ("tomorrow") and then saying I might want to rethink that. This defined the conversation as her checking my movements and advising me rather than just passing on information. I figured, rightly as it turned out, that she was exaggerating a third party report which had the effect of emphasising her control over me.
Since I am both independent and experienced when it comes to the track her warning had little effect although I did make sure I got over the track in daylight. It turned out that there wasn't a landslip but that the gravel had been washed off about 100m of the track turning it into a mini boulder field that was kind of interesting to negotiate in a fiat panda. I did make it over the track but, since I'll be going uphill on the way out, I'm a bit worried about getting both me and the fiat panda out in one piece tomorrow. So today was spent with shovelling. Lots of shovelling. I shovelled a load of pebbles from the beach into the back of the mark 1 Landrover whilst watched by a diving boat anchored in the loch. I then drove up to the washed-out section and shovelled all the pebbles out into the more serious holes. I also did a bit of drain digging and levelled out the track where I could. Crikey but shovelling is hard work. The landrover fuel guage is showing as completely empty (I think the gauge might be bust ... the landrover is definitely a bit poorly at the minute) so I walked back for lunch which had to be quick, substantial and tasty. Hurrah for pasta! Herb and Roast Tomato Pasta
* three handfuls dry pasta
* three handfuls ripe cherry tomatoes
* parsley
* garlic
* olive oil
* soft cheese (1/4 pack of Boursin)
* salt & pepper
set the pasta onto cook; half the cherry tomatoes and place in a roasting tin, add salt, pepper & olive oil and set under a hot grill 'til they start to blacken; chop the parsley and garlic as fine as you can be bothered; when the pasta is cooked, drain and return to the pan; add roasted tomatoes, chopped parsley and garlic and soft cheese; stir and serve.
Fed and watered I trekked back up with a can of petrol and renewed vigour. Mending the track is like painting the Forth Road Bridge but there is at least enough of a flat surface to be able to squeeze me and the panda out tomorrow.
