I know it sometimes seems, judging from my photographs, that it is continuously sunny in Assynt.  Well it isn't!  Today dawned grey, and at times drizzly.  But sometimes such weather only adds atmosphere to walks, and as we set off on a walk near Ardvreck Castle in an area known as Eadar da Chalda, or Eadar a' Chalda this was certainly the case.

After climbing the steep hill up from Loch Assynt, the first glimpse of the old farmhouse is really striking.



And the views the residents of the farmhouse had out over Loch Assynt and Ardvreck Castle were equally stunning:



It is thought that the farmhouse was only lived in for about 50 or 60 years, and was vacated in the early 19th Century.  The way it looked today was a far cry from how it looked mid-summer when Stevan was up at Eadar da Chalda:





Lexie found the perfect spot to look out over Loch Assynt and Calda House:



Which gave me time to photograph lichen on the quartzite rocks found in the area, although the area has mainly limestone rocks - completely different to where we live just a few miles down the road where it is Torridonian sandstone.



After a couple of hours we found a spot down by a limestone stream to sit and have lunch.  After rushing around the hillside we suddenly had two very attentive terriers while we ate fresh bread and chunks of cheese and drank cocoa:



This rare close-up of Peggy shows how she gets herself completely covered in heather and twigs when out walking/running:



I had planned to get them both beautifully groomed before heading down to the Edinburgh Yarn Festival later this month (less than 2 weeks away now!), but unfortunately their groomer didn't have a vacancy for them, so I'm afraid they're heading to Edinburgh in their "wild and woolly" look.

Also coming with me to Edinburgh will be the new yarn base which I have just put up in the shop.  It is a 4ply 100% shetland yarn, which is grown and spun in Shetland.  Here is a selection of the colours dyed so far,



and I hope to add more shades before I get to Edinburgh.  This yarn is ideal for the patterns in "Colours of Shetland", a book produced by Kate Davies, and I am happy to say that I will have her book for sale on my stand in Edinburgh as well.  The yarn comes in the traditional 25g hanks that shetland yarn is usually sold in, and is perfect for colour work projects.