Monday 3 July 2023
[Expletive] water. Our water tank had been filling slowly and we got to about 72cm of a possible 97-ish-cm. The water coming in from the spring was a trickle a week ago, Sunday, a decent trickle, then it ever so slightly decreased and by Friday it was looking increasingly drippy. By Sunday, yesterday, it was merely dripping. Without going into all the developments and changes during the day yesterday, there is now no water coming in. This time, we pretty much know there is water in the spring and that the problem seems to be something to do with the pipe from the spring to the tank, most likely airlocks, but a few other possibilities have been mooted, though airlocks seem the most likely. I had no idea airlocks could cause so many problems so seemingly-easily.
On the plus side of more regular issues, it’s been windy and not too cold so no midges.
Also, it’s great to have Angela staying, with the added bonus I’ve been happily distracted. The plan had been to cook our breakfast fry-up outdoors but it kept raining and was very windy in the morning so we had to abandon the stove outdoors and settle for breakfast indoors. To walk off the breakfast, we walked up to the spring, which is an excellent aerobic exercise. Angela has a greater tolerance for slugs than I do and very kindly removed a slug from our water supply.
After making up a salad lunch, cake and coffee, we drove to St Mary’s Loch and ate our picnic by the kirkyard up the hill. I felt giddy and kind of liberated. It was windy, beautiful and, as usual, the sense of peace and absence of other people was almost overwhelming. I know Angela ‘got’ the feeling too, it’s such a special place.
We headed home afterwards and talked about the location of the cabin I’m adamant I’m going to build. Angela is studying horticulture and is good at seeing a far bigger picture than I do. She put a bit of a damper on my plans but I suppose I have to concede it was the kind of damper that equates to sensible and useful and which in the long term will be invaluable.
Shortly before five, we headed out again, to Samye Ling, the Tibetan temple. More calmness. Angela liked the area around the river significantly more than the actual structures within the temple complex. We sat inside the temple for quite a long time listening to – well, I don’t know what. I think it was a meditation session. I kind of enjoyed the sound of the one (sometimes two) people chanting (chanting?) and occasional bells and other musical additions. That all sounds a bit disrespectful, I just don’t know what it should all be called. Angela said afterwards that she’d been happy sitting there but hadn’t gone off into deep thoughts, but had rather been fascinated by all the movements, or lack thereof in one monk’s case*, of the three monks in the temple. Always good to have unexpected, simple distractions.
Chris was back from London by the time we got home and the three of us had an enjoyable, chatty, late dinner. I think Angela has adjusted well to our far more laidback attitude to time up here.
*We have subsequently discovered that the completely still monk is not actually meditating; rather, he is a wax model of a former monk