February 18th 2025
A Scottish Croft
My dream to live on a Scottish croft is common knowledge in our family and the source of much amusement. I fell in love with the idea as a child when reading Gavin Maxwell's book Ring of Bright Water, his autobiographical account of his life on the north-west coast of mainland Scotland where he kept several wild otters as pets. I particularly relished the thought of building my own furniture from flotsam collected from the local beach.
I was, therefore, very excited when I opened Mary's Christmas present to me this year to find that she had arranged for us to spend three days in Lochinver, on the north-west coast of Scotland just a little further north than Gavin Maxwell's home. After a short flight to Inverness, followed by a slightly longer drive across country, we found ourselves in a beautifully renovated cow byre on a small sheep-farming croft - bliss! What is more, the gods were smiling as we were blessed with the most glorious cloudless skies and no wind throughout our stay.
The years have probably tempered my desire to live in such a remote idyll but it was lovely to very briefly experience my lifelong dream. | 
