Why Retreat to The Decca?

Why should you retreat to The Decca?

Well, you probably shouldn’t. 😉 (Just kidding, of course!)

It’s hard to get here (all the ferries and planes, oh my!), we’re almost at the northernmost tip of this island, there are only 3-4 places nearby to go out and eat (fewer on Sundays), and there’s no high street shopping (just one-of-a-kind beauties made by local artists). The weather is frequently cold, windy (one of the windiest places in Britain), and rainy, and you’ll probably be comfortable in trousers and long sleeves during most of the “summer.” It’s also pretty rural here, so eau de sheep and cow mixes with the scents of the wildflowers, grass, and sea. Also, I’ve never seen screens on the windows in Scotland, and this house is no exception. That means we occasionally get spiders, flies, and the odd white-tailed bumblee. And then there’s the quicksand on the beaches. It’s not a place for the faint of heart.

However…

If you’re looking for stillness…

And a place where the huge expanse of sky turns from gray to white to every shade of blue you’ve ever imagined… and then gets lit on fire with a golden sun that turns the buttercups to glowing yellow — standing out brightly against the rich green grass — until it reaches the horizon and shifts everything to orange, purple, and glowing pink…

Where you don’t just get snow, ice, and hail, but also graupel (it’s a thing — look it up!), and we can’t guarantee the nights will be dark in the summer (except for maybe 2-3 hours), or when all those stars and northern lights come calling in the winter…

A place where the landscape is a study in colour therapy — as if someone took a giant paintbrush and just covered the whole canvas with swathes of colour…

Somewhere the beaches have crystalline water, delicate wildlife, giant sandy stretches that take ages to cross, waves that make seasoned surfers cringe, and sweet coves of deep teal, and sea glass green water…

A place where the birds are so numerous and chatty you’re sure they think you can understand them (and if you’re here long enough you think you might be able to)…

Where wildflowers suddenly pop up out of the grass, with no warning until their bright colours dazzle you in the shockingly bright sun and where the undulations of the land look like waves that got frozen in time (and then grass grew over them)…

Well then…

Maybe you’ll want to visit us. And if so, you are welcome. 💙🌅