Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Hermits Wonderings
Monday, 20 April 2009
Earth Mosaic 2009
Visitors
Friday, 17 April 2009
Prayers and Dreams a new site
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
Life and the wonderful Journey
Birth & Re-birth
....................................
Eyelids gently lift slowly apart
and for the first time light floods in
first one eye then the other ,a cascade of
shapes and colours mingle in a excited flurry of movement.
A tiny brain scrambles furiously to make any sense of it all.
Air rushing down the throat for the first time,
filling lungs too almost bursting point,
then at last it is released in the first new born breath..
noise as of yet ,a muffled watery sense ,
is now clear and distinct
all around...
Fingers extend out searching and seeking and as they land on a surface send pulses of feeling flooding to the wee brain,
for the first time the sensation of touch.
Sitting in the palm of a huge hand and being gently lowered to the bed .
Then a warm face appears ,and a first smile settles on new eyes now able to focus THE JOURNEY BEGINS...
............................
The dafthermit....
Many times in my life I have felt this feeling ,i have always believed that if we have a truly open mind and heart we know less and less the older we get..
I remember arriving in Germany after having qualified as a REME mechanic I was sent to Fallingbostel and my new unit the 16 Tank Transporters..
While there I was so lucky to have met a group of men called the M.S.O (mixed services organization)
I was young and full of myself too cocky by half but I met some one called George can't remember his Russian name .
I had been told to go and see him to get some valves ground down and while I watched this man of at least 70 with such great skill do his job I noticed a couple of old leathery wrist bands he had on, then my thoughts were interrupted as he handed me with a huge smile the valves and I thanked him and headed to the pit to fit them
Over the next few months I got to know George more and more and really liked him along with big Yan and little Yan they would become close friends and teach me so much about life
Then one day as we were all huddled together in the dark pit under an Antar that was in for repair ,lit candle and vodka sitting on the steps George started to talk and told his story of his time in Russia when the Natzi's came...
After a few hours I crawled out of the pit my mind racing with images of horror,life and love
I spent many hours in them pits underneath the huge 160 ton Antars out of site of my superiors and on more than one occasion I would wake up in bed with a massive hangover not sure what had happened only to find out that some of the M.S.O had carried me secretly to bed and had covered for me when asked has anyone seen Craftsman Lowe aye sir he's on a brake test..
So to all the Men of the M.S.O I salute you from my wee bus in the highlands and I hope to meet up with you all again in a far off pit with candles and vodka .......
Many times I was born and awaken to life through these caring strong powerful men.. and have reached out to them for comfort across the vast distance of space and time ....
Throughout my life I have had the feeling of birth & re-birth be it someone amazing I have met or some piece of music or film.. one day I hope to grow up......
Saturday, 11 April 2009
Sunrise In Our Mountain Retreat
Friday, 10 April 2009
Wild Blogging & Deer Whistles
Friday, 3 April 2009
Ping Pong, White swans bridies and lights
Ping-pong ,white swans, bridies and lighting
Well since my last post it has been really busy. I have now almost finished the solar and battery lights etc ,the truck has now got five batteries which are charged up when ever I take the horsebox out( free power love it) and next week I hope to install a water tank which will be heated up from the exhaust pipe from the truck so when we get back we can have a bath/shower ,the bus is now almost finished as well I have now got six batteries on board which run the new tele and satelite system for mel as well as giving us all the lights we need which come on when it gets dark the batteries are charged via solar panels and also when the genny is running all batteries are charging so when I run the genny and turn it off I have gathered as much power as poss from the single gallon of fuel.
Sunday was an incredible night an amazing storm passed over us throwing everything from hail stones to gentle flurries of snow and off course wind
All night the bus rocked and a couple of times it felt as though we were going to be lifted and land who Know's where
It felt as though the bus was being used in a giant's game of ping pong between the gods but thankfully it wasn't as bad as the time a few of us were parked at lands end when the tornado hit which flattened half of the south in a few hours..
But luckily where we are parked up is sheltered most of the time from the worst of the north winds.
We also had some lovely visits first from Ray & Jeff who delivered some amazing Bridies a wee bit like cornish pasties 8 of them so it was bridies for breakfast lunch and dinner thanks some much my friend
and we also had a visit from Pip our friend Gav's wife they stay on the isle of Lewis and we hope to see them again next week
P.s sorry Gav to have stirred Pip upinto wanting to hit the road ....
Monday was a beautiful warm day and we headed over to Dingwall to get the shopping in and catch up on the net
On the way back we called at a new friend who had called up to the bus and after a wee chat we headed home ,as yet another storm was on the way
Climbing the mountain roads most of the time in only 4th gear and foot flat to the floor even on the level but we got home before yet more snow came..
The next few days the sun came back as it has today
We had a visit from the Ullapool bobbies a couple of days ago but they were really nice and said that we could stay as long as we wanted.
Help
Love and light

A wee film about us on STVs the HOUR SHOW click on STV logo to see the film

Andy the Daft Hermit lives 45 minutes outside Inverness with his wife Mel in an old bus parked in a layby. This current home of theirs is the longest they have ever stayed in one spot. “I’ve been travelling now 25 years,” said Andy Lowe. “Mel’s been travelling 15. One of the reasons we’ve come and stayed up here is because of Mel’s health. I wanted to bring her to the mountains for fresh air and clean water and just a slower pace of life.” Mel has had breast cancer twice, skin cancer once, and for three years believed she had bone cancer after being wrongly diagnosed. Andy’s belief in the restorative powers of the north made them pack up ‘The Black Bus’ that they live in and cross the border into Scotland. New Highland home for hermit couple Andy and Mel “I think we both believe in trying to get to a more simple way of life,” said Andy, “but it’s strange for us because we are sort of hermits, or we like to live separate, but it’s not being anti-social… it’s just the way we are that allows us to be creative.” Andy first began travelling when he left the army. Fed up with bureaucracy he packed a rucksack and left for France and has been travelling ever since. By investing any money the couple have earned into solar panels and wind generators they now live a self-sustaining existence, without electric bills, and collect rain water “straight from Heaven”. “It’s not easy,” said Mel. “There might be time when there might not be enough facilities around, but you always find a way, you know?” Rather than rejecting technology, Andy blogs about his travels online and collaborates with artists from around the world via his ‘Scratchy Heid Film Studio’, which he runs from a static trailer next to the couple’s bus. He explained his philosophy: “My belief is that if you can go through life and you drop dead and you’ve got a balance there that slightly outweighs the good than the bad, you’ve done alright. “Yesterday, with what Mel’s been through with the cancer and all that, I had a woman on one of my sites there that thanked me for the writing, for the positive things, and to me that’s worth everything. You can keep your millions, we’re not interested. That is what we do.” To check out Andy’s artwork and video projects check out his website. MORE FROM THE NORTH

Northern Lights

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Scottish Independence TV

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Quick links to various pages/sites within the Blackbus blog
- My journey into the Abyss a brush with suicide
- Just me thinking out loud
- Some off my posts over the last year
- Mels poetry
- Some fellow bloggers i follow
- Living off the grid
- Blackbus and horsebox conversions
- My photo shop/gallery and you tube films
- Blackbus blog reviews on Link referal
- My blog feeds
- Blackbus on Facebook
- Blackbus on FLICKR
- Follow us on Twitter
- Turn your blog into a BOOK
- Useful resources for your web/site
- Free Food and resources
- good sites to wonder too
