Mairi Hedges

Thank you. That's very kind. In my mind I'm not gone forever, but I haven't found the right moment yet to come back. It will probably happen though. Keep well.

Thank you for your concern, I'm just feeling quiet at the moment. I'm sure I'll be back to it soon. Please don't worry.

We've not been here long (18 years) but I think the winds have changed. Prevailing is from the west (bent trees bear witness). But there have been a lot more easterly & cold wet east winds (the worst). Unusual. Some days it can't make its mind up where it's coming from.

Across the hay park. Vegetation sparkling with water droplets, swallows flying just above grass height. Hills & cloudy sky in the background.

Rogart. 7.19am. After the rain. The hay park sparkles & swallows swoop low catching breakfast. Good morning.

A juvenile lapwing on the hill track, hunkered down, (green sheeny feathers & fluffy around the edges with huge, watchful black eyes) pretending to be a stone as I came upon it by surprise. As I walked on, it got to its feet & continued up the track.

Rogart. The wind keeps blowing. It's beyond getting on my nerves. The constant noise. Willow branches are bent at wrong angles or snapped off entirely. However, because the wind was so noisy it didn't hear me coming, I met a young lapwing up close. (It pretended to be a stone).

Looking west up the strath across the hay park which is in shadow for a brief moment.

Hogweed flowers in a ruined building, blue sky behind, insects landing on the flowers.

A purple orchid, yellow lady’s bedstraw & some blue speedwell with lots of globs of cuckoo spit.

Rogart. 10am. Blustery. Big cloud shadows move fast along the strath. Small birds blow about. The hay park sorrel is full of goldfinches. Hogweed is busy with insects. Down the croft, many butterflies, today, mainly ringlets, none willing to pose. Cuckoo spit is on everything...

A meadow pipit’s nest, eggs within a delicate woven grass nest.

Rogart. A meadow pipit’s nest. Hidden in the moss & heather outside the gate…

A view, east across the hay park, the wind is coming from the west, bending the grasses, above, large white clouds in a blue sky.

Rogart. 1.30pm. The wind is whipping across the hay park. Grasses shimmer in waves, bending & rippling ahead of me. The hoggs scatter & run as I approach. They've known me all of their lives & see me every day, but the wind makes them spooky. Swallows swoop low with extra speed.

Water lilies on the surface of a small loch, leaves lifting in the wind.

A nest of debris, made up of tree needles & small twigs, washed together by this morning’s torrential rain.

A section of the track, green larch seedlings all over, beautiful & green.

Brown peaty water, wind rippled surface, with tree roots that look like antlers beneath.

Rogart. A walk up the hill. In the loch of lost pants (long story) water lilies bloom, leaves lifting in waves in the wind. On the track, nests of debris made by this morning’s heavy rain & green larch saplings. Roots under water in the lochan, looking like a tangle of antlers…

A rain blurred view from a window, so much rain is falling, looking over a wet track to green bushes & trees. There's a thunderstorm going on.

Rogart. 6.30am. Woken by thunder, lightning flashes through closed eyes & rain bouncing in through the open window. The sheer volume of water coming out of the sky is incredible. It is lying in ever growing puddles which join, submerging grass. The first noisy storm in a while...

Looking west up the strath, green grass, sheep & mist in the distance.

Red & white campions in front of green nettles.

Pink ragged robin flowers.

Rogart. Solstice dawns grey & breezy, mist is blowing in. It’s not quite what I expected, especially after yesterday’s heat. I’ve caught a cold & that brings on thoughts of days getting shorter. I shouldn’t be thinking of winter. Red & white campion & ragged robin are everywhere.

A group of ewes & lambs sheltering from the sun under a big ash tree

A female ghost moth, freshly hatched, on the kitchen table.

The moth with her wings unfurling.

The moth, yellow & orange, outside, on a wooden step, ready to fly away, out of the reach of hens.

Rogart. Solstice eve. A day where sheep sought shade. Now it is grey & breezy. I brought a newly hatched ghost moth inside so she wouldn't be eaten by hens. I watched her unfurl. Recently I have found lots of white wings in the hay park (the males are white & fly in groups)...

Looking west up the strath. It's green & blue.

Purple pink foxgloves grow in front of a stone wall.

Small apples nestle between green leaves.

Rogart. 9am. 19 degrees already. It's a beautiful day. Behind the ruin, swallows are swooping in & out of the one tiny window hole. Self seeded foxgloves, ivy & honeysuckle (brought home from local walks) climb. The first apples are growing on a small tree I raised from a pip...

A view south west out of the front of the shed, looking over rolled up coils of wire, Lucky the sheep is grazing green grass, there are willow trees behind. The sky is grey.

Rogart. 6.12pm. Sheltering in the shed waiting for a torrential downpour to pass. I could see it coming from the west. The Pensioner eventually joined me & there was a hen laying an egg in the straw bale next to me. The rain was so heavy it was bouncing up off the ground...

Looking west across the hay park, green with a grey sky above.

A nest full of hen's eggs hidden underneath a clump of rashes.

A yellow flag iris.

Rogart. Looking to the west across the hay park which is rippling in the wind. The sky is threatening rain. I found the reason why I've only had about 4 eggs in the last 2 days. Every day is a game of hide & seek (dratted birds). In the big ditch, yellow flag iris is flowering.

Thank you, that's kind. I usually make elderflower cordial & I've been making kombucha so I think I'll try making some elderflower kombucha.

A view east across the hay park, my path through long grasses & cow parsley.

Rogart. Fine rain at bedtime, turned everything blue green silver. Droplets of water haloing & drooping plants in the still light of short nights. (I fall asleep to almost daylight). Morning across the hay park. My wellies stuck with grass pollen. The air smells of elderflowers…

Thank you, North Scottish Highlands. East Sutherland.

Her Granny is Betty, who was herself a pet lamb, due to being a triplet.

A small white lamb, with milk froth all over its chin standing in a grassy park.

Rogart. One of the first jobs in the morning is bottle breakfast for Betty. (Smaller twin whose Ma can only count to 1, despite my best efforts). Betty stays in the park with the rest of the flock. She plays with the lambs. She comes running when she hears the gate latch squeak.

A large ash tree at the bottom of a hill, clouds in a blue sky above. A dyke running down the hill.

A purple spotted orchid in sparse grass.

A yellow globeflower, viewed from above.

Rogart. Breezy & warm. Cloudy skies, but bright. The scent of grass & birch. Birdsong is surround sound. A pair of wood pigeons clatter out of an ash tree, followed a little while after by another pair. Plump grey bodies flying west. The spotted orchids are up, globeflowers too.

An old sheep chewing a leaf, standing in tall grass.

A messy sparrow nest made with sheep’s wool & sticks. One egg in it on the green metal frame of the baler.

Rogart. It’s been a while. Lucky (15 year old pensioner) roams & lurks. Stuffing her face. Giving me jump scares by baaing loudly from unexpected places. Elsewhere, sparrow nest building control needs to step in. This, on the front of the baler, low down, easily in reach of cats.

Thank you for your concern. I'm okay, just feeling quiet. I'll try to resume normal service today.

I'm fine thank you, just busy & feeling quiet, (this is this year's bottle lamb, a part of the busyness). Thank you.

Yes, we're lucky to get to almost June. I don't think that they liked the dry. The swallows are pleased. We usually have a breeze/howling wind here, so generally, they're not too bad.

Low cloud under a white sky, looking across a fence over green grass to flowering whin bushes.

Rogart. 7.16am. Heavy rain shower earlier. (Woken by 2 soggy cats, met a 3rd in the kitchen at breakfast time). Tree branches droop under weight of water. Low cloud hangs in the strath. Not a breath of wind in this green place. Loud birdsong & the first midge bites of the year.

A misty view across brown peaty water dotted with raindrops, there's a couple of small trees on a spit of land.

Rogart. 9.25am. It's raining, heavily, but it's coming straight down, no wind behind it. (I like to think I can hear things growing). From my run up to the lochan. Not much to see at a distance, but the track on the way up was full of milkwort, bird's foot trefoil & lousewort...

Thank you.

A cloudy blue sky with a strip of sand & a strip of pebbles, a small cliff to the right, topped with green & the sea to the left.

Rogart. (Between Golspie & Brora). Seals swim. Oystercatchers walk quickly or fly noisily overhead. Running back towards Golspie. Fresh sand studded with rocks & pebbles, strewed with seaweed. I pick my way along until it gets too difficult, then I head onto the coastal path...

Red campion flowers in a blackcurrant patch with aspen trees in the background.

Rogart. 8pm. Sunshine through red campions & blackcurrant bushes with a background of chattering aspens. A cold wind & rain showers again. My eyes are soothed by the green that abounds at the moment. Today, it’s been constantly moving. Catching the light & filled with sparrows…