Hobbit Hole
Please Enjoy Our 125th Blog Post!
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.”
We’re ashamed to reveal that leading up to our stay in the Hobbit Hole (aka Craighead Howfs), we had taken to calling our two days there Hobbit Hell.
Hopefully you’ll forgive our poor attitudes with the smallest bit of context. Living in unfamiliar spaces for over eight months, we knew a particularly challenging period lay ahead once we left the Lake District on June 17.
Since then, we lost some of our most valued creature comforts—16 consecutive days with no kitchen and 31 consecutive days without in-house laundry. Like hobbits, we very much value these creature comforts. We were so excited to visit the southern Hebrides, but this part of our tour came at the price of certain conveniences.
So, when we realized our final two days (days 17 & 18) would be spent “glamping”—no laundry, no kitchen, and a composting toilet reached only be walking outside—we were less than enthusiastic than we had been when we first booked the stay. Let’s see how it panned out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEVZHl23OeY
Pretty cool, except for the Hobbit-sized bed. What we hadn’t foreseen was four nights in Fort William in a double bed. We loved the Clachaig Inn, but, again, this was two nights on a double bed. So what size was this Hobbit bed?
When we arrived, Amanda said that she thought the bed was even smaller than a double. I told her “Yer arse and parsley!”—quickly assuring her she was being ridiculous; after all, they don’t make a bed smaller than a double (except for a twin, of course).
So Amanda went to Dr Google and found this:
Och! In the UK they do have a “Small Double”! Sadly, I had to eat crow and we both had to make do with another two nights on the smallest bed we have ever had to sleep on together.
It’s insane: there is absolutely no consistency in the UK when describing beds! They often describe a room as having a “double bed,” which could mean anything from a “small double,” to “a double” (as we know it), to a “king size” (what we could call a “queen”), to a “super king.” The only description of any value is “super king,” because in that case you know you are actually getting a genuine king bed. A trick we found is to look in photos for two twin size box springs, which is a pretty good indication of a “super king.” (We found out later in Aberdeen, some “kings” (i.e.: a queen) also have two box springs, so that is not a foolproof indicator.)
But I digress…it turned out the Hobbit Hole made for a truly memorable stay.
In The Hobbit, Gandalf carved a mark into Bilbo’s door so the dwarves would know which hobbit hole their prospective burglar lived in.
They supposedly have two Highland cows: Uigg and Beagg. We only ever saw this one and we’re not sure if this is Uigg or Beagg.
Surely this is the bucolic setting JRR Tolkien was gazing upon when he created the Shire!
Gandalf and his Highland pack cow. Watch Gandalf Steve here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PmSCQqinqU (BTW, the Lord of the Rings music you here in the background also plays every time you enter the outdoor loo!)
The Wee Tree Howf and the little lochan.
Wee Tree Howf with Ofuru wood fired hot tub.
They have five pigmy goats: Hannah, Hope, Harris, Percy Jackson, and Tinkerbell.
The owner Ian has quite the sense of humor.
A guinea fowl and the Ash Tree Howf.
Crollwitzer (left) and Bourbon Red (right) Turkeys.
Snow Patrol and Rebel the alpacas.
Seven geese and three white rheas in the background. The large male is Grumpy Drawers and apparently the names of the two juveniles change daily, depending whether or not they attack the owner Ian.
Not pictured are two donkeys, Jason and Spot; a few elderly Say sheep; and Gareth & Homer, the Valais Black Nose sheep.
The little lochan on Craighead Farm, with the squint roofed Whisky Howf just visible at the right.
