the big clean up

the first pic is the sky at 00:03, the rest are from the next day when we were getting ready for Sheen's kids, her sister, her sister's kids and her mum and dad arriving at 8pm.

After a loungey scrambled egg brekkie and hyped up on super strength coffee we got to work.

* house hoovered, brushed and mopped - tick
* bathroom cleaned and cobwebs brushed out of corners - tick
* windows washed free of bird poo and dust in and out - tick
(a flock of starlings and oyster pickers are the real permanent residents here)
* rugs beaten - tick
(Only once you've done this can you start to fathom why domestic appliances were so essential for female liberation. Why vent your fury at the world when you can beat up a mat? Besides, trust me, you'd have no strength left afterwards. I have a tonne more respect now for the few housewive and domestic servant revolutionaries. It's tough as in prison tough.)
* groceries and basics from the shops - tick
* wee wild flowers bouquets in each room - tick
* cooked salmon and caper paster, garlic bread and salad for tea sorted - tick
* birthday cake baked and iced for Sheen's sister - tick
(took 3.5 hours in the halogen oven, but aye..)

About lunchtime I opened a cupboard looking for bleach and found almost all the bedlinen unwashed we needed for the nine of us staying that night, in dire need of washing. Oops. It took seven loads in the machine, a classic Hebrides blustery sunny day and a new impromptu washing line but we got there in the end. Or thereabouts, a few sheets over doors drying in front of the fire, but we got enough of it dry in time. A minor miracle. For a while it our wee idyllic sanatorium for tired ladies turned into the Magdalene sisters.

Sheen was missing the kids like crazy so it was a big moment when they arrived. It was lovely to see more of the clan Mac; wee yin's, old yin's and my age yins. An early night ensued after such a long journey for them. Me and Sheen were tempted to head out for our usual walk down the bay with a whisky tea at midnight, but with the rain back on we headed for the nearest bar for a quick dram and a shot of WiFi contact. Only my phone was out of juice.. och well..

I had a nice wee blip break, so this is one of many back blips