Saturday, 29 November 2008

wwoofing at Culdees

I've recently come back from Culdees on beautiful Loch Tay.
Culdees is a small international community consisting of transient wwoofers and others working on the farm and in the bunkhouse. The mission of Culdees is to create a Universal Multi Faith Ecovillage based on permaculture principles and is headed by the Reverend Maryse Verlaik-Anand.
Whilst there I undertook a variety of task and had my first experience of working with animals. Ruaraidh had a great time learning to be a farm dog with training from Nell.
I 'chased' escapee pigs and managed to milk the goat.

As well as doing a bit of weeding, cleaning the bunkhouse and cooking, I spent a couple of days removing staples from fence posts! The weather was great and the views out to Loch Tay breathtaking as the sunset.

During my time off I was able to visit some of the local sights including the Praying Hands of Mary in Glen Lyon and the oldest known yew tree in the nearby village of Fortingale. Another great place was the Watermill Bookshop in Aberfeldy which has been voted the best independent bookshop, well deserved along with its coffee shop and cakes!

All in all I had a great time, met some lovely people, sharing time working, singing and dancing!

3 comments:

Axxman said...

If I was pulling nails or staples in such a beautiful place, I'd use a Nail Jack nail puller!

clairesgarden said...

you've been working hard! how old is the yew tree?

Ruaraidhstails said...

Hi Claire,
The tree is said to be at least 3,000 years old and possibly up to 5,000 years old. It is very much diminished due to souvenir hunters.