Every cloud has a silver lining...

and there are a lot of clouds here on Rum! Fortunately there is a lot of sunshine too. I think I have seen at least two rainbows every day for the last week as the weather changes rapidly from showers to sunshine and back again.

There is a definite chill in the air though, it's dark by 830pm and the cuilins are turning from green to purple as the heather flowers and the trees are losing their leaves. I love autumn, it's a forager favourite season and a feeling of promise in the air..

We're not without challenges though and just as we think we have life on Rum sussed so we realise we still have so very much to learn. As the nights draw in and the daylight hour count lessens every passing day we are not getting the whack of solar power into our batteries and are using lights for more hours each day so we are draining our battery every few days rather than every few weeks. The generator is on more frequently and we are now rotating four batteries between the pig fence, the internet, the water pump and lights and the boathouse where we charge up the spare every more frequently. We have been caught out far too many times with leaving our car the wrong side of the river so that heavy rain cuts us off and I suspect we'll continue to get that wrong meaning long walks to and from the village and the ferry carrying heavy things. Hurrah for wheelbarrows! We all have wind up torches which are proving invaluable and next week when we head to the mainland for a few nights we'll be stocking up on candles, tealights and tinned goods.

The rain is not such a problem as the wet clothes it produces. We have waterproofs and they do work (with the inevitable casualties of wet socks or wet collars as drips make their way past cuffs and collars) but we don't have anywhere to hang them when we come in and take them off. We put them in the shower to drip dry but we are fighting condensation every step of the way now so bringing wet clothing in just adds to the problem. I've been lurking on caravan forums trying to find tips and hints to combat it but aside from not cooking or breathing and leaving windows open all the time the only other option seems to be a dehumidifier - not really a choice for us! The cold is edging in with all of us doing fair impressions of dragons in the mornings and evenings but hot water bottles and extra jumpers and socks will combat that with additional lines of defence in sleeping bags and high tog duvets ready to be brought out before we resort to putting the fire on.

Poor Bonnie had her first run in with another dog last week and is sporting a hurt ear which she is doing her best to make worse by scratching. She is off to the vets next week anyway to be spayed and we're keeping a close eye on her and taking her for a dip in the sea each day to help clean it in salty water. It's hard not being able to pop along to the vets down the road though. And pants - and socks! We all need them, the kids need new winter tops too and Ady needs waterproof trousers. All perfectly gettable from the internet but not nearly so quickly and easily as popping along to the 24 hour supermarket. Except of course that not being near a 24hour supermarket was on my list of reasons to move here in the first place!

We have less than 50 days to go before the crowdfunder website closes on our compost loo bid - we can still carry on raising money of course but it would be great to manage to get it done through that website. In order to up the ante a little we're pledging a new toilet humour joke for every extra £10 donated - that could be a lot of jokes about poo!