On Sun, 1 Aug 1999, M. Lenon wrote: > I did not know wool needed to be cured. And, Elaine (?!), I would be ever so > grateful to you if you would please refrain from explaining it any further > to me! I've always fancied owning a Harris Tweed jacket, you see... Dinna fash yersel', laddie! That was the traditional way, all the males in the household contributed to a big vat which was kept for the purpose. I think maybe it was to help wash out the lanolin, which can smell pretty foul even before it gets rancid. But nowadays, although trademarked Harris tweed must be woven in Lewis or Harris by foot-powered looms (a little is still by hand), it doesn't have to be from the local wool, just Scottish wool. It has been 20 or 30 years since the old curing methods were used, I'd guess. Glad you liked the quote as much as I did. I have a growing collection, and one day maybe I'll find that software that puts a different one on your sig every time you send a message.... All this has reminded me that a month ago I promised Peter Osman to write something for the list about paddling in Scotland. I'll try, but you must understand that I'm a little old lady who really hasn't been at this long and will (alas!) never make it to bustass paddler status. I went to the UK for the first time in spring of '92, and realized when I crossed the border into Scotland that I was home at last (I'm told this happens to lots of folks.) Rented a car for a week and went to the Western Isles (Outer Hebrides). When I was driving around the east coast of south Harris, on a truly incredible road - a guest drove it herself toward the end of her visit, and went in and got drunk immediately upon arrival - there was a derelict house for sale which I ended up buying, having made an offer the next day without having been inside it. It faces a tidal pond which opens into the Minch; the Isle of Skye can be seen to the southeast across the Minch, about 20 miles away, in decent weather. One of the things I thought about when looking at the situation was being able to carry a sea kayak across the street and put it into the water. At that time I'd never been in one. I was 52. There is a great place in Lochmaddy, North Uist, the next island down, across the Sound of Harris. It is the Uist Outdoor Center. Run by a truly *capital* fellow - ah to be 30 again! - named Niall (pronounced like Neal) Johnson. I went there to do some rock climbing, and found that they do lots of kayaking outfitting and instruction, also diving, incidentally. I took a 5-day "beginner" course 2 summers ago, in which I was the only real beginner and had to struggle to keep up. It was great, and I recommend the place. That year they had the first of what was intended to be a yearly kayak symposium and boat show. It was kicked off by a paddle across the Minch from Skye to Lochmaddy. Since then I've dreamt about getting to the point where I could do that with them, and I've hoped that if I paddle my wee SOT hard enough I'll get the strength if not the technique. That of course is the paddle in which I'm concerned with the pee problem. I also have decided I'd like to build a boat, from a kit, in Harris, and will be trying to learn from this group which to choose. I'll be moving overseas permanently in a few months, staying in Ireland, I hope, during the 6 months of each year I'm not allowed to stay in the UK. There is a fairly active paddling group in Lewis, the "island" to the north (Lewis and Harris are geographically one island, though historically quite distinct in dialect and culture, Harris having been more like a part of Skye). The only town of any size is Stornoway, Lewis, which has a weekly newspaper, the Stornoway Gazette. It has a small website but sadly doesn't yet publish its sports page on the site. Too bad, because trip reports of paddles appear occasionally - or at least used to, haven't seen it lately -in the sports page, right alongside the darts, chess and camanachd (shinty). These paddlers must be really fierce! They seem to go out even in the winter gales. (And of course the summer gales, too. Lots of gales in the Hebrides!) One of my reasons for posting all this is in the hope that one of those REAL paddlers is lurking on this list and can be persuaded to post the reports here. Please, if you're there.... Now if anybody is still reading to this point, and want to learn about paddling in the Hebrides for real, you need Brian Wilson's book "Blazing Paddles". I haven't found it yet, but just finished his "Dances with Waves", about a circumnavigation of Ireland. It's wonderful. Slainte! (If you don't know, that's "health", the usual Gaelic toast - or maybe you didn't know that the Scots (Scotti) came from Ireland originally, bringing their language and culture to the Highlands-) e Elaine Harmon - eilidh_at_dc.seflin.org - eharmon_at_cs.miami.edu *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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