The Croftless Crofter
So far June seems to have been mostly about water - or the lack of it.
Like so many folk across the area, we are on a private water supply which is piped into the house from a nearby burn.
One of the first explorations we did when we moved to our current home was to follow the water up to the source, in this case tiny springs and burns flowing from the peaty ground and eventually joining up to form a river.
On our croft on Rum, water was the key infrastructure priority. In the early days this was achieved to our caravan by way of filling 20 litre jerry cans which were then pumped in using a solar pump. Latterly it was by way of hundreds of metres of blue pipe from a dammed source higher than our caravan, so it was gravity-fed rather than requiring power.
Over the years we piped water all around our croft, tapped off the same source, to water plants in cultivated areas including raised beds and our polytunnel. It provide water sources for our livestock and I can say that the thrill of moving water from one place to another by harnessing natural power and creativity never wears thin.
In our time here, we have encountered the occasional water-related issue; power cuts, meaning the electric pump cannot bring water into the house (dealt with by collecting water in buckets and pans for cooking/washing/flushing loos, frozen pipes dealt with by a submersible pump into a smaller burn next to the house to fill our water tank) and sudden very heavy rainfall washing our pipe out of the river or flushing debris into the pipe (dealt with by getting very wet sorting it out).
This summer is the first time we have dealt with a scarcity of water.
We managed - just - but were very, very grateful for the rain when it finally came after so many dry weeks. So much so that the whole household went out to dance in it for a while.
When not looking out of the window hoping for clouds in an otherwise bright blue sky, I have been watching the constant stream of birds visiting our feeder.
We have often stopped filling them up at this time of year as the parent birds have stopped relying on us feeding them while they brood their young and fledglings have left the nest.
Aside from the treat of watching inaugural flights with a quick stop in our garden, it is usually pretty quiet by the end of June.
Instead, due to the lack of rain, the ground-feeding birds are desperate for food as the worms are not accessible, remaining buried deep in the dry earth. There have been very few slugs out and the flying bug-feasting birds have also been struggling to find insects to eat in the heat.
Having checked with the RSPB for advice, we have continued to feed and been rewarded with witnessing all of the young birds being brought to our garden by their parents and either fed or shown how to.
I have spent lots of time watching tits, finches, woodpeckers and wagtails in the garden while our four new chicken hatchlings have also been released into the garden to free range and explore.
The light summer nights have provided lots of opportunities to see bats and swallows swooping around the garden hoovering up the midges.
With so much wildlife in the garden - including the raindancing humans - who needs Springwatch!