A woman stands with her back to us in a navy blue coat, jeans and wellies. She's standing on a hillside looking into the distance, across a small loch towards snow covered mountains and blue sky.

Lindsay

My dad is Seanair to my daughter and to my sister’s kids. His parents were Gaelic speakers, but as with a lot of people, their use of it declined over the years as English became more common. We were brought up speaking English.

I’ve recently moved back to the croft I grew up on on Seil, reconnecting with this place and pace and way of life.

My response to our conversations about family, heritage and identity was to think about how I’m living on the croft, learning from my dad, who learned from his forebears, and all the things that still get passed down.

I think of it as ‘creative crofting’; doing lots of different things - making, growing, cooking - as part of of everyday life.

Piles of hay lie in a field with a loch and fields in the background.

Summer into winter on the croft; everyday creativity, making hay.

Traditional methods being taught to the family - hay stack is an art form in itself!

A traditional hay stack standing in a field. A young man in a red t-shirt holds it steady while an older man on a red tractor pulls ropes which are attached to it.
Three people in shorts and t-shirts with pitchforks building a traditional hay stack in a field on a sunny day.
A plastic tub of brambles on a pale-coloured kitchen worktop.

Bramble picking in autumn from bushes along Ardencaple Road.

An orange bucket of potatoes on a concrete path next to a black doormat, at the feet of the person taking the photograph - their wellies can be seen.

A bucket of potatoes ready to be cooked.

Pancakes with a tea towel to keep them warm, just like Gran did - home-made of course!

A try of Scottish pancakes partly covered by a red and white checked dishtowel on a wooden surface.
A wooden storage rack in a barn containing potatoes covered with sacking.

Home-made frame and potato store to keep them safe over winter.

A muddy ploughed field on a sunny day with trees, a loch and hills in the background.

Potential veg plots marked out and ready for spring.

Grass and a muddy ploughed section of ground.
A wooden Welsh dresser with doors and drawers painted white. On the top shelf there is a dark wooden clock, and on the shelf below there are three glazed dark brown pieces of earthenware: a small pot with lid, a casserole dish with lid, and a teapot.

A Welsh dresser refurbished by us for the cottage - it was brown and varnished and is the same age as me.

A girl of about four stands in the foreground with a toy tractor and trailer with a small piece of wood in it. She is standing next to a pile of cut logs. A man stands next to a tractor and trailer. Loch and hills in the background.

And lastly the everyday creativity of kids through play as we work - Isobel copying us at picking up sticks with a toy tractor and trailer.

A black and white image showing a young woman and an older man standing next to a gate and trailer with rural landscape in the background.

[Words and pictures by Lindsay Gillies, except first and last by Rhona Dougall.]