
'I liked the job, and there were really lovely people. But every day I would stare out the window thinking, "when is this going to end?"' Louise tells Metro. 'I was so bored. I just wanted to be outside.'
Taking such a big step into the unknown was daunting, but looking back, Louise now 44, says she felt huge relief. 'It's really pivotal when you realise you're in the wrong place, and I love change,' she explains.
'Mum taught me about picking mushrooms and what plants were edible or poisonous,' Louise recalls. 'She would show us where all the white raspberries were, and the red ones, and the blackberries and what we could do with them. She knows the name and the Latin name of every single plant ever. She's 82 and a walking encyclopedia.'
The landscape on Mull has 'harshness and softness', adds Louise. 'You have mountains and woodland, and beautiful wild land in between that's not cultivated at all.
'There are deer and lots of stags making a real racket, sea eagles and golden eagles, there are no foxes or badgers, but there are otters and seals. It's magical.'
Moving back home after quitting her job helped her rediscover this love, but money was low. 'I rented a cottage in the grounds of a castle that was just in front of the tide. The tide would come up almost to the door, which was beautiful but it also meant there was water running down the inside of the cottage. It was so damp.'
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