We are often asked what we do during the long winter nights on Mull. It is difficult to know what to answer. But I usually say that if you want to be out every night you could be, because hidden away behind village hall doors and private homes there is always a lot going on – it may not be the heady excitement of west end theatre but it might be the Tobermory Panto; it may not be watching Paulo Nutini at the Glasgow Hydro, but it might be listening to Iain Thompson the Singing Shepherd at a local ceilidh! For us, we like to blend a mixture of being out and busy with evenings at home – and for me personally..evenings out wandering with my camera at night!
We have our share of weather in the winter, and those long winter nights on Mull can be wild and stormy, when in the Treshnish farmhouse you will find Farmer and his family in the ‘bunker’ (the old kitchen with its thick stone walls and wood burning stove) warm and cosy with the winds howling round the gables, having enjoyed a walk at Calgary on a winter Sunday afternoon (as we did yesterday afternoon).
Or it might be still and clear and frosty, as it was last night. We were off visiting near Dervaig, and the road sparkled. We made a detour to Croig to look at the faint aurora reflecting over the bay.
And on the way home we enjoyed the moon lying on its back at the end of Calgary Bay, as it began to set – it felt as if it was setting in a teacup, as the brightness of the moon created hillside silhouettes.
Back at Treshnish it was slightly milder – above freezing, but the skies were just as clear. What stars! The Milky Way was bright.
Regular readers of our blogs will know that I spend a lot of time outside on clear winter nights on Mull, trying to capture the colours of the aurora borealis on camera, from the beauty of our garden. I don’t usually need to go further, but Croig is a favourite destination and it is great when the family that live in the house by the pier leave the lights on!
The days and nights from the autumn rush into winter and soon we are looking at the end of another year, and into the new year, and days getting longer again. The winter of long evenings will soon be behind us!
