Saturday Drive - -

Woke this morning feeling achey and fluey with a tight hard cough and it was really horrible outside – grey skies, raining and cold, then Doug had a call to go and do a job for Will Collister up at Shenvalley (pronounced Shenvalla – ey or y in Manx names is always an a (as in apple) sound )– which is Sound Farm. Doug never works on Saturdays but he has a lot of respect and liking for Will, so went in to do the job for him, as a favour to Will. Makes me so proud sometimes my DH!!
By the time he got back the tablets I had taken had kicked in, so when he offered to take me for a drive I thought I might as well say yes – in spite of the gloomy weather. Off we set towards Ballakillowey and then over the Sloc, up our side of Cronk-ny-Eary-Laa(pronounce the double a as ay) towards Purt ny Hinshey (Peel) and as we climbed the remnants of yesterday’s heavy snowfall on our higher ground began to appear at the edges of the road.

I find the hillside surprisingly colourful through the rain, the damp makes the winter landscape so vibrant, the bracken russet against the faded green of the winter grass, and as for the bare branches of the larches in the forest - think Bournville Chocolate, really dark chocolate brown – almost black in fact! These photos do nothing to capture what I saw today. Manannan’s cloak is sending long smoky tendrils down the hillside - almost as if he is gathering the landscape up into his arms to protect us yet again from invaders.
Talking of Manannan – we went into Purt ny Hinshey (Peel) and stopped, to get kippers for tea from Devereaux’s – Doug just had a fancy for Kippers & Dolphins (as he calls it – he means Dauphinoise Potatoes) and just as we stopped heard an advert on Manx Radio for a free exhibition in the foyer of The House of Manannan (the Manx National Heritage site) here in Peel, so after we had got the kippers we went in to have a look. I am so pleased we did – because one of the exhibits is a pagan ladies necklace – its Viking I think and guess what – it’s made from Troll beads/Dolly beads!!! I was wearing my Dolly bead, which is why I noticed! Just goes to show that some fashions are timeless! The building has these fantastic life size bronzes outside showing Vikings landing on the shore, hauling on Odin’s Raven, a Viking Longship through the glass, a heritage they are very proud of, specially here.Also I found a lovely gift for my friend JJ’s little one. Jules is 2 in March and when I saw this Loghtan soft toy I couldn’t resist. Loghtan’s are true Manx sheep – a rare breed (though not on the island) are four horned, have a beautiful soft fleece in shades of golden brown, which they tell me is easy spinning and is a lovely yarn for both knitting and weaving. It needs no dies as its natural colour varies through caramel, coffee, honey and a warm brown, and makes lovely clothes. The local traditional dance group wear waistcoats woven from Loghtan wool. A very profitable drive today I think, and our day turned out more fun that the weather gave us any indication of