Hebridean Living ..... (Part 1)

As promised, some posts on Hebridean Living:

Here's a photo montage of our local 'rag' the Stornoway Gazette, a 'bobban' sock and a peat. This is my interpretation of Hebridean Living!! Actually I just had a few items in my head which I thought were quintissentially Hebridean to me! All three of these items are things I was brought up with. There can't be many Hebridean homes without a 'bobban' sock somewhere in a drawer! Peats are not such a common commodity these days but they're coming back into fashion with the rising cost of oil and, well, the Stornoway Gazette is the Stornoway Gazette - what more can I say!! - births, deaths, marriages etc., the usual kind of thing!!

'Bobban' socks are made from locally dyed and spun 'bobban' wool which Harris Tweed is woven from. Great for wearing inside your wellies! Peat was the main source of solid fuel in the islands a few years back and are cut, dried and stacked by hand. We used to cut peats when I was little and it was actually a nice excuse to have a day out on the moor with a flask of tea, some sarnies and some good old fresh air. (It wasn't quite so amusing when I became a teenager though!!!). If we could have bottled the smell of peat smoke (peat reek) it would have been a real money spinner - check out Angus Og cartoons. (Courtesy of An Lanntair website).

Hopefully, I will do some more posts with local images of interest - it's a nice excuse for me to whip out my camera during the hols, if nothing else!!

Cheerio an Drasda!!

N.B. Wikipedia definition of peat here!