Autumn greetings...

Autumn must be here - there are massive pumpkins in the organic garden of the Columba Hotel.

Despite the apparent routine, housekeeping still manages to have some surprises left. Last Friday we "bed-bugged" the rooms, ie vacuumed all the matresses and the wooden slats of the bed (in which they are supposed to live). It was a lot of hard work, especially doing the top bunks (and as the youngest of the team I nobly offered to do most of the clambering), but accompanied by a lot of laughter too. There are some jobs where you have to laugh or else you'll cry - and this is one of them!!

There is a gentle rivalry between the cooks and the housekeepers in the Abbey as we gamely share the limited space. Catherine (a cook) and I have a contest on this week as to which of us can be the rudest... Those who know me will find that funny I'm sure!

In the past three days I've managed to get to all four compass points on this island as well as get up Dun-I, the highest point. The fascinating thing is the variety of landscapes and moods in the nooks and cranies of Iona. I'm convinced that Iona is bigger on the inside than on the outside (much like the Weasleys' tent) and I wonder how much of this the visitors can see as they walk around the village. I walked to the North Shore with some vollies this afternoon where we scrambled on rocks are boiled water on a stove for a cuppa - just perfect for an inbetween shift activity... The blue/green waters on the white sands were amazing as always.

Yesterday after my morning shift I helped Simon, our general assistant/gardener (married to the warden of the MacLeod centre), and some guests in the garden. It was a nice change from all the indoor work I've been doing. The Abbey has a little herb patch that gets used by the kitchen, even if things are winding down now. I did some digging and planting of fennel and clearing beds, which was all good for the soul:)

Sunday evening service is a quiet one with an extended period of silence in a candle-lit church. It can be a difficult one to be in after all the work where your head starts nodding off. But similarly it is one of the most touching ones as it is a blessing to really be still after all the work we do.