The Snow Huntress! 27th Jan

Not having got to bed until well after midnight, and not actually getting to sleep until well after 2.00am, we were up at 8.30am feeling a bit sleepy still - but as I came to the real world I remembered about the snow - I threw open the curtain in the hope of seeing a white wonderland before me, but as I wiped the window from the condensation fog to see out - there was just the usual view of grassy pastures and mountains shrouded and hidden in the clouds and mist.

We went downstairs to have some breakfast and as I opened the downstairs curtains the cloud had lifted off of Pointy Mountain (the rear of the Quiraing) and the whole thing was covered in snow - I got so excited shouting “Oooh, Oooh, Oooh” and rushing to get my camera in my PJs that Vince dashed out from the kitchen thinking something was wrong.

I raced outside - it was well and truly freezing dressed in just PJs, Wellies and my Parka but I got a few shots, then raced quickly back inside before I turned totally blue. Vince told me that it was minus 7 degrees!

We quickly had breakfast (some cute heart shaped crumpets I found in the Portree Co op) and I heated up some Pea and Ham soup for the thermos to take with us. Some drinks and snacks and we were good to go - I had a list of places in mind to try to find enough snow to keep my promise to the Grandies - let the hunt begin!

Given the icy state of the roads we thought it best to take the route with the more gradual incline via Uig, rather than the steeper Staffin route with it’s double hair-pin bends. We stopped along the road a few times to take a few shots of the beautiful lighting over the snow capped mountains we could see across the Little Minch to the Isle of Harris and Lewis.

We managed to get a few shots of the sheep in the snow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIXe9WbXNo4

Although the snow was not very deep, it blanketed the Quiraing and it looked like a Winter Wonderland to play in. As we drove up we could see an ominous looking blizzard coming in behind us - although still out in Uig bay we could see it approaching and decided we better make haste and build our snowman for the Grandies as quickly as possible and then get out of there.

As it turns out building a snowman is actually much harder than I remember as a child in Greenock, Scotland. I figured it would be rather easy - build a biggish ball of snow at the base, a smaller ball for his middle and a smaller ball with a pointed top (to look like Olaf from Frozen), then add the bits and pieces I’d cut out for his face and buttons. The carrot I had packed for last weeks promise of snow (that the forecasters got wrong) had gone a bit mouldy but I had forgotten not cut the reeds I had been eyeing off for his hair and arms at Willie McLeod’s, so we had to make do with the only stick I could find nearby.

I have to say it was rather a poor result despite our best efforts. The sun was peaking out and it melted a lot of the snow around - so things didn’t stick too well and my balls wouldn’t form properly. So new plan build a big lump and try and shape it like a sculpture would. A bit more successful, but still resulting in an Olaf that had been on a severe diet and had gone bald!

Whilst we were building it, a Chinese couple stopped their car and came down to the river bank to see what we were doing. They got out their phones and took pictures of each other with him. They recognised it as Olaf from Frozen - so I guess it might not have been as poor a result as I thought. I’m sure the Grandies will let us know soon enough when they see the photos. We did a YaYa Vlog for them.

As it turns out the snow storm held off, with just the odd flurry here and there, so we ended up proceeding further to the look-out. Vince got the drone up and I took some shots but it was immensely cold and my hands and feet were frozen despite double socks and gloves!

We enjoyed our Pea and Ham soup which helped to warm us up a bit. We decided to brave the hair-pin bends and return via the Staffin route. It was pretty hairy, even though the snow plow had been through, there was a lot of ice and still snow and sludge on the road. It’s also a single track and some idiot tried to come up with a trailer of all things, so at the only passing place on the bend, it was very tight going, and he looked like he might fall back down on our hire car. So Vince made haste to get us out of there and down to the bottom safely.

He did a bit more droning, but I stayed in the car as I was really feeling the cold and couldn’t seem to heat up.

We stopped off briefly at the Staffin Stores to get some spaghetti sauce to go with tonight’s dinner and then headed home. It ended up just in time as the sleat turned to hail shortly after we got home. I was fun to look out the window and see snow gently falling around Willie McLeod’s House, although it melts quickly here.

Vince worked on the computer on his videos and I snuggled up with two hot water bottles on the couch under a blanket to warm up. Although Vince made a fire this load of wood we got a few days ago is damp and doesn’t born as well as our last lot. I ended up falling asleep (and snoring apparently according to Vince) for 2 and a half hours - which surprised me as I never sleep on a couch or sitting up - I like my bed!

We watched a video, “We bought a Zoo” and headed off to bed. But I couldn’t sleep, despite feeling tired, so worked on my photos and blog instead on the laptop in bed whilst Vince drifted off to the land of nod.