Author: hilary jocelyn

I invite you to  close your eyes for a moment and to imagine a young naïve woman sitting in a derelict shed, looking out of a glass deprived  window frame. She is facing a huge ancient  typewriter that sits on a wobbly old school desk….

“And that’s when I discovered, by talking to our collection of friendly, new, and very welcoming, neighbours, that the name Rupert was indeed a priceless pillar in our community and would be well worth me getting to know.”

Let’s have a debate my friends. Just for fun. The  question I have for you is ..“What environment do you think is more dangerous? Living in the big city? Or life in the countryside, right here in our own back yard?  You get to decide….

 I realize that a bucket list is supposed to be a list of the things you want to do before you die. Rest assured that I am not planning to “ kick the bucket” anytime soon, but ido have some things that I want to do while I am living, breathing, and thriving in this  wild, wicked yet wonderful world of ours.

As the third  month of the year crawls towards its Grande Finale, maybe  it is  time, to delve a little deeper into the theme of lambs and lions, and its  association with the month of March

we looked around our sparsely furnished apartment, and for sure, there was something significant that was lacking. Something that every home really needs. A Table….

I could imagine the raindrops, dressed in white tutus, twirling  high on their toes, performing with Mother Nature’s   perfection and  beauty. I was enthralled.

I opened my smile and surprisingly, from somewhere probably around the edge of my tonsils, a powerful and somewhat  beautiful sound  emerged. And, unbelievably, it even  felt like the noise I think I was supposed to be making.

Happy Robbie Burns Day but don’t you believe for a moment the stories you hear about Haggis.

Storm Agnes is going to hit the island tomorrow, and when it comes, there probably won’t be any ferry crossings for a few days. If we want to get there, we need to go right now!

Community is everywhere, and just needs to be built – sometimes by the willingness and togetherness of wet cement, and sometimes with the heaviness and impossible unwieldiness of blocks of grey granite. This is the story of how, long ago on a remote Scottish island, I first experienced its life changing power.