37/365

The weather calmed down completely (ha, ok, maybe not completely, it did rain for a while in the afternoon) on Wednesday and I nipped a couple hundred yards down the road to take a few photos of my Granny's cousin's daughter's daughter...:) If you can tell me what relation to me that is, then feel free!

Say hello to little Eva MacPhail :) I couldn't get over how teeny tiny her wee head is! My more immediate relatives are all fatties, so that's just what I'm used to, haha. She was utterly adorable, and it was lovely to get a few cuddles in the morning and catch up with her Mum and her Granny :)

36/365

It's quite sad the little number of photos I took throughout my trip, but the weather was so bad I really didn't want to drive all over the island like I normally would. After taking this picture (and driving back to the house to get my phone because I'd forgotten it and was hoping to communicate with the outside world while I was in town), I started to head down to Harris but turned back after 15 minutes because the wind and rain was too crazy.

So, I'm glad I at least visited the War Memorial in Stornoway and took a few photos of it, trying out the HDR setting on the Mark iii...I'm not a huge fan of over the top HDR but it can be really nicely done! I'm not saying that's what this is, by no means, this was just a quick snap to shield my face from the piercing wind for a second. But I do like the stonework of the tower.

35/365

On Sunday night the crazy storm weather that would rattle the island for 48 hours began, so on Monday, other than nipping in to town to meet my friend Isabel for a quick lunch (it was lovely to see you Isabel! Can't wait to see your chalkboard projects!), I didn't spend too long out of the house.

I decided to do Bench Monday in the comfort and warmth (yeah, you read right! I had the heating on all day so the house was actually warm) of the housie, with the dogs, a half eaten bag of crispy M+M's which I was obsessed with all week, my teacup, cosy socks from Leverburgh, and my random selection of movies that were thrown in a bag before hitting the road on Thursday morning. Can't remember what I watched that night...think it was Fast and Furious 5. Yum.

Oh, I've just remembered I sat in the car and watched some beautiful waves crashing in at one of the coves near the house that afternoon too, sadly there weren't any benches to stand on. Even if there were the tripod probably would've blown over in the wind.

34/365

On Sunday I headed over to Stornoway for Church, and spent the day at the Martin residence catching up with, and being fed very well by, my good friend Rachel's parents. Her Dad was our minister here in Aberdeen almost 10 years ago and it's always lovely to see them!

The guy who's not too chuffed to be getting his picture taken is Paul, the youngest of six, now ruler of the house! He's a fellow photography nerd, but he loves making videos even more, and he's nae bad at it either. It was great to see some of his work from weddings he's filmed this past year, and just sit all afternoon talking about photography and videography! And then all evening too...haha.

Thank you very much for your hospitality guys, and putting up with me All.Day.Long.

33/365

On Saturday I had a few engagement shoots to do :) Unforunately the weather didn't stay this beautiful for long and that one had to be rescheduled, but the one later in the afternoon went ahead thankfully! You never know what's going to happen with the weather in Lewis. It was so windy we were getting a bit of everything over the space of 10 minutes; rain, sunshine, sleet, hailstones.

This shot was taken at my favourite beach, Garry, at the end of the road in Tolsta. The tide was right in so, unless a fancied a swim, I wasn't able to get out to my favourite little rock climbing spots. And you can see a bit of snow on the ground if you look close.

Many good times were had at this beach, and hopefully many more to come in the years ahead!

32/365

On Friday night I went along to a Quiz Night with a couple friends which was to raise money for an incredible challenge! One man from the island is planning to row from New York...to Stornoway...to raise money for the charity SAMH, check out his website here for more details, and how you can donate if you feel you wish to do so! You can see the boat he'll be rowing, and living in for 3 months, all by himself! But it's all good, turns out he can watch movies on his laptop, and the boat has an inbuilt sound system, so he could totally party with the whales!

It was a great night, with 27 different teams taking part, our team coming somewhere in the middle of all that, and a pretty amazing selection of raffle prizes to win...there was only one of which I particularly wanted though; surfing lesson for 2 people! Amazing. It was the first prize in the draw, and my friend Alasdair won it! He then proceeded to ask his girlfriend, my lovely friend Laura, if she'd like to go with him. Safe to say I wasn't chuffed. Think I'll dress up as a shark that day and have some fun in the water...


...I love you guys really!

31/365

So this was the night I arrived in Lewis :) I went straight from the Ferry to Tesco to stock up on food for the week, then headed to what is pretty much my second home. Every time I walk through the front door, I breathe in through my nose and do a little dance inside (and occasionally do an actual dance too) because the smell brings back so many memories and simply makes me feel happy. Very happy. Some people find this weird, because they think it just smells like a dusty old house, that lies dormant for months. I don't smell that.

Once I whipped together some much needed grub, I sat down in the living room, which is filled with photos, much like the other rooms in the house. I love it! There are professional photos of my Dad and his brothers when they were teenagers, all wearing tank tops over their shirts...definitely deserves a 'lol', photos of my parents at their wedding, and my uncles at theirs, photos of my grandparents at their wedding and their parents at their weddings. These in particular are amazing to look at as they are so old! VERY different from the photos I take at Weddings these days. Thankfully camera technology has advanced, and people have learnt to smile. And a lot of snap shots of us all throughout the years.

The photograph shown above is my family at my aunt and uncles wedding, almost 23 years ago now, taken outside Kings College Chapel in Aberdeen. Safe in Daddy's arms :)

I may have had to sleep with an electric blanket under me, and a blanket, a duvet, and another blanket on top of me, and a hat on my head for part of one night, but I love being in that house, surrounded by memories.