A Trip To The Hub Of The Island

Our trip to Stornoway was a huge success we had a drive around the outskirts and found an industrial estate with a few little surprises, not least a shop selling pre-loved, upcycled, recycled furniture it was a joy to pop in and see what they had.  I fell in love with a large wardrobe but sadly it had already been sold.  Certainly a place to keep popping in apparently stock changes quickly.

We were certainly blessed when we discovered a charity shop having a book sale.  Bethseda  charity shop were selling books for 1p each.  Apparently they had a surplus of books, we had a field day picking out books for ourselves and the Grandchildren.   Here is a sample of some of the books.

 

We have also joined the Library, the library bus comes to the village every three weeks so we will not have a shortage of books.

 

We found a lovely shop selling local crafts which was a delight, the window display was certainly eye catching.

 

 

I found a stool that I fell in love with, a perfect piece for the fireplace.  It has a certain charm, the tag says it all...

 

 

It has pride of place in the fireplace, a wonderful addition to our little croft cottage.

 

 

The cottage was de-crofted prior to being marketed and after a lot of heart searching we decided not to buy the croft as well which indeed does go right down to the sea.  We felt that it was too big a commitment, we have got a substantial piece of land with the cottage and the outbuildings so we are thrilled with out lot.

 

There is also a craft market held in the Town Hall on a regular basis and a couple of little shops selling craft supplies.

 

I was amazed at the programme at An Lanntair there is certainly a very impressive few months of events, activities and festivals.  We had a stroll around the main gallery of the building showing the Naked Craft Exhibition, an exhibition exploring heritage and contemporary connections between craft traditions and makers from both Scotland and Canada.  Let me show you a few pieces:

 

 

A wonderful surprise and a great addition to our day out, well worth a visit.  There was a very good fish and chip shop, we know this because we sampled their fish supper, such a shame that we have to drive  27 miles to get some.  Hope that has answered some of your questions, I am thrilled that you are so interested and are humbled by your comments and encouragement.  The attic bedrooms are guest rooms there is also a master bedroom downstairs which is at the moment a work in progress and will be revealed soon.

 

See you soon.