Kate's blog

14/1/2022

6 years ago today

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Can it really be just six years ago that we arrived to settle in Miabhag Nam Beann?

This is how our wee Byre looked then, with Daryll hard at work on it. We lived in the van for the first few weeks, spending exhausted weekends with our friend John at Northton.

To celebrate how far we have come over the last six years I will share my diary entries for those first few weeks and months, posting each one on the date that it was written.

The first entry will be on 20th Jan.
but these are the photos I took on this date, in 2016.

The neighbours said we were hardy!

2 Comments

Jimbo

15/1/2022 06:24:00 pm

Wonderful..dream come true.

Kate link

16/1/2022 09:55:44 am

Thank you for your comment Jimbo, you really made me think. People often say that we are 'living the dream', although they certainly didn't say that during our first few years here when we were living in a shed with no running water or electricity!

Making your dream come true can seem stubborn, selfish, and will almost certainly involve flying in the face of sound counsel from friends and family. But if you have imagined a different life for yourself, it is possible to take some very radical and committed steps to set that transformation in process.

This story starts at the point where we own land, and have spent the remainder of our savings on building this sturdy shed to live in. This is our only property, and I have left a steady teaching job in Cornwall to be here.

Though Daryll has done wonders during the autumn months, 'The Byre' is far from complete, and I only have half of December's pay check left in the bank. Due to struggles with housing in Cornwall, we are not credit worthy and at the time I wasn't allowed an overdraft. We could almost be seen as 'economic migrants' from Cornwall, and we came to The Hebrides in search of opportunity.

Having taken this enormous and almost desperate leap of faith, my attitude distilled into survival mode and I found that I was up for almost anything, as long as it furthered our aim, which was to settle and find jobs that made use of our skills and knowledge. We wanted to be a useful part of this island community. We wanted both sea and mountains to be woven into our existence.

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Kate Lewis

Owner and manager of Wild Harris. Mother of two wonderful adults. Kayaker, surfer, hill walker, wild camper, mountain biker and creature of the coast.

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6 years ago today

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