Nuair a thig air duine thig air uile. It never rains but it pours

It is it with much pride and delight that I revel in being the solo member of Rag Tag to make it into the office today.  This is thanks to my much trivialised arcane transport method; the wonderful pushbike. So let this post be homage to the men and woman out there on two wheels.  The bike has been highly discussed topics as I’ve attempted to overcome the wild weather of the last few days via pedal power.  It’s given me an intimate experience of the intensity of the surrounding landscape and it’s invisible forces.  There is something wonderfully palpable about traveling through such epic landscape in such imposing weather on something so small and slow, encountering without barriers the vivid theatre of the towering landscape as it almost cries out.

So from the staggering landscape to the lashing rains of the last week, my overwhelming feeling of living in the highlands is things are not done by halves.

Nuair a thig air duine thig air uile.  It never rains but it pours.

I hope to bring the same vigour and intensity to my work here at Rag Tag.

We Believe Tea Should Always Be Made In A Pot.

As I sit in the Rag Tag workshop in Balmacara in the silence and calm I thought it would an opportune moment to reflect upon my first few weeks at Rag Tag.  Today is in stark contrast to my initial inaugural experience of the workshop, where there has been a continual hustle and bustle of happenings and activities.  It can be a daunting experience moving somewhere new but the constant flow of friendly faces over the last few weeks have made me feel very welcome.

During my short time I have been taught by skilled marksmen in the ways of the tailor and knitter, found sensational bargains at the Rag Tag Jumble sale and swam the divide between Kyle to Kyleakin (ok the last bits not true...yet).

However my favouritest (yes favouritest) thing about working at Rag Tag has been the lunch times where everyone puts together their two fish and five loaves and sit like the knights at the round table sharing an elegantly cobbled together meal.  I have been sampling everything from Norwegian black bread to truly original home bakes.  It has been a lesson in hospitality, which seems so central to Rag Tags operations.  The underlying ethos that tea should always be made in a pot.

So I will enjoy the quiet today, but look forward to returning to a brewing pot tomorrow.

Ps. I have been so inspired by the in house culinary skills I have volunteered to cook 20 roast potatoes for the Christmas dinner.  So watch this space and I will let you know how I’m getting on. 

That There New Bhoy

Reuben our new graduate started work toady.

We first got to know him when he turned up cleanly shaven in shirt and tie at our shop a couple of weeks ago. 

He is a surfing, drawing (soon to be sewing) biking extraordinaire from Ireland and has designed his own range of post-apocalyptic toothbrushes. He recently graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in Product Design.

Reuben will be helping us get our online shop up and running so watch this space.

NB Reuben did not write this himself