Wednesday 27th July 2011
It is show week in about twenty days or so. All the shows in Orkney are within a period of about 10 days. We have got a couple of chickens entered in the Burray and South Ronaldsay show and in the County show.
You are supposed to have them all nice and clean for the shows and I have never tried cleaning a chicken up. (I dont suppose that I am the only one. When did you last bath a chicken?)
Anyway I thought that before I tried washing one of the chickens that we are entering in the shows, I had better test my chicken washing technique. We therefore picked out the worst scruffiest chicken and decided to clean her up as a test.
I was even allowed to do this in the bath. (Don't worry Barbara. Mum made me clean the bath out later so there are not to many feathers in it now.)
You are supposed to use Lux flakes but I have not been able to get any so we grated up some pure soap. Robertson's store in The Hope said that they didn't normally sell Lux except at show season for washing cows and the like. I thought "well it is show season now, so where are the flakes" but I was much to polite to point this out to them.
The scruffy chicken did not seem to be delighted at having been selected for a good clean but we managed to give her a good scrubbing up and several rinses so she was at least a bit cleaner. She was then put in a cage with a heat light to dry her off for a day before being put out again. It seems to have worked OK and she does not look so bad but I think that I may just give the show birds a little rinse instead of being quite so thorough.
We also got all the chickens wormed with vastly expensive cattle wormer (At a lower dose) and the show birds are now getting eggs and cod liver oil in with their feed.
We are not getting a lot of eggs off them at the moment as many are to young so if this continues we will have no eggs left for ourselves as the chickens will have eaten them all. ( There seems to be something slightly wrong with my method of keeping chickens.)
Visitors gone. Weather turned yeukky
Sunday 24 july 2011
It has now turned overcast and a bit breezy, Monday and Tuesday were not much better so it was a "stay indoors" sort of few days. Barbara and Harry are due up next Sunday so we had a bit of tidying up to do anyway. I finally got round tomtaking a load of baby clo0thes out of the shed and took them down to Jimmy and Helens. Theirngrandchildren are haveing some of them and the rest are going for sale in The Blue Door to help raise money for the playpark in The Hope. A good use for sapre baby clothes.
I think that Jimmy and Helen were a bit surprised by the quantity. We had told them that there were a lot but there must have been 6 or 7 big bags full and 3 big plastic tubs. So they are now cluttering Jimmy's garage instead of my shed.
Wednesday turned out to be a better day and I found that had an overwhelming desire to mow all the lawns. (Well Pam said that I wanted to so she must be right) Pam topped the fields so outside is all neat and tidy. The strimmer refused to start properly so there are still a few unkempt edges but this is Orkney, not Surrey so I do not think it matters.
It has now turned overcast and a bit breezy, Monday and Tuesday were not much better so it was a "stay indoors" sort of few days. Barbara and Harry are due up next Sunday so we had a bit of tidying up to do anyway. I finally got round tomtaking a load of baby clo0thes out of the shed and took them down to Jimmy and Helens. Theirngrandchildren are haveing some of them and the rest are going for sale in The Blue Door to help raise money for the playpark in The Hope. A good use for sapre baby clothes.
I think that Jimmy and Helen were a bit surprised by the quantity. We had told them that there were a lot but there must have been 6 or 7 big bags full and 3 big plastic tubs. So they are now cluttering Jimmy's garage instead of my shed.
Wednesday turned out to be a better day and I found that had an overwhelming desire to mow all the lawns. (Well Pam said that I wanted to so she must be right) Pam topped the fields so outside is all neat and tidy. The strimmer refused to start properly so there are still a few unkempt edges but this is Orkney, not Surrey so I do not think it matters.
A day round the big city
Friday 22nd July 2011
John and Alex are going back tomorrow and they wanted to have a look round the museum so I thought that we had better get down there today. We went there the other day but no sooner had we got inside than we had to come out to go and pick Pam up from home. The museum is very good and very well laid out. Obviously there is a lot on the early prehistory of Orkney but the galleries with exhibits from later periods are equally good and perhaps all the more interesting because you do not hear about the more recent history of Orkney. Normally everything seems to end with the vikings.
We had arranged to meet Pam in the Reel after we had been round the museum but were apparently about an hour late. (You can not go round an interesting series of collections with one eye on the clock.) Anyway we finally got there and had a quick coffee before looking round St Magnus Cathedral.
Saturday was a bit overcast and windy but at least John and Alex have had a good week, not to hot but good weather.
Pam had a WI trip to the Hoxa tapestry gallery, the dolls house exhibition and a meal (Once again at The Skerries) so I had to see John and Alex off myself.
I followed them down to the ferry at The Hope and waited with them until they started loading the ferry and then returned home.
I was out in the field feeding the chickens when the ferry went out. I could not help but think that in a few hours they would be back where I was born and raised.
A poem of uncle Jack's came to mind. It is one that I have always liked because I have the same feeling for the same place. I shall therefore quote it to you.
My Birthright
This is my patch,
Here I was born.
Four lanes forming a square.
I toddled round them
Holding my mum's hand.
Boundaries of my world.
Little has changed,
I am still here.
The fabric, more mellow,
Fits like an old coat.
I hold no deeds,
I have laid my scent,
I belong.
I know that it is just nostalgia and I am more contented and happy here than I would be anywhere else but there is something about the place where you were born and raised. Many of my ancestors for hundreds of years lived within a few hundred yards of where I was born. I shall always belong there, wherever I happen to live. I have a claim on the place and the place has a claim on me.
My old friend is part of that and I shall miss him.
Still, it will soon be Christmas.
John and Alex are going back tomorrow and they wanted to have a look round the museum so I thought that we had better get down there today. We went there the other day but no sooner had we got inside than we had to come out to go and pick Pam up from home. The museum is very good and very well laid out. Obviously there is a lot on the early prehistory of Orkney but the galleries with exhibits from later periods are equally good and perhaps all the more interesting because you do not hear about the more recent history of Orkney. Normally everything seems to end with the vikings.
We had arranged to meet Pam in the Reel after we had been round the museum but were apparently about an hour late. (You can not go round an interesting series of collections with one eye on the clock.) Anyway we finally got there and had a quick coffee before looking round St Magnus Cathedral.
Saturday was a bit overcast and windy but at least John and Alex have had a good week, not to hot but good weather.
Pam had a WI trip to the Hoxa tapestry gallery, the dolls house exhibition and a meal (Once again at The Skerries) so I had to see John and Alex off myself.
I followed them down to the ferry at The Hope and waited with them until they started loading the ferry and then returned home.
I was out in the field feeding the chickens when the ferry went out. I could not help but think that in a few hours they would be back where I was born and raised.
A poem of uncle Jack's came to mind. It is one that I have always liked because I have the same feeling for the same place. I shall therefore quote it to you.
My Birthright
This is my patch,
Here I was born.
Four lanes forming a square.
I toddled round them
Holding my mum's hand.
Boundaries of my world.
Little has changed,
I am still here.
The fabric, more mellow,
Fits like an old coat.
I hold no deeds,
I have laid my scent,
I belong.
I know that it is just nostalgia and I am more contented and happy here than I would be anywhere else but there is something about the place where you were born and raised. Many of my ancestors for hundreds of years lived within a few hundred yards of where I was born. I shall always belong there, wherever I happen to live. I have a claim on the place and the place has a claim on me.
My old friend is part of that and I shall miss him.
Still, it will soon be Christmas.
What, No archeology ?
Thursday 21st July 2011
Just for a change we had a day with no archeology. This may have been partly due to my not checking the tide times before we went to The Brough of Birsay so that we could not go over tot the viking site. The causeway across is only passable for 2 hours either side of low tide.
It is a nice place anyway and we have seen plenty of ruins so it doesn't matter if we miss one. Instead we had a stroll from The Brough to Skipi Geo just down the coast a bit.
I had never been down there before. I knew that the fishermans hut which is in the background of the photo, was there and the whale bone that is on so many postcards but I had no idea about the boat nousts. These are the boathaped trenches that have additionally been built up to form safe places for boats even in winter storms. It must have been a hell of a job dragging them right up there though but I suppose that it was easier than building a new boat if your old one got smashed in the storms.
John and Alex somehow insinuated themselves into the photo but the camera is still OK.
Today's title is a bit of a lie as we did stop at the Earls Palace in Birsay on the way back but really only because thay have a toilet there and except for Alex, we are of that age. Then we went to Barony Mills, another place that I have been promising myself that I would go to but have never got to yet. I like water mills and have visited a few but this one was one of the best. The enjoyment was made so much better by the miller who was so obviously totally engrosed by his job. He was an ex salesman but had started his apprentiship at the mill almost 5 years ago and had almost finished his training. It has kept it in the family as I think that his father and grandfather were also millers at this mill.
He was very enthusiastic about his mill and even let Alex start the wheel and machinery going.
The mill is not just a tourist attraction but works commercially producing flour that is sold at shops throughout Orkney, even I think in the dreaded Tesco's. I have used one of their flours, made from Bere, an early type of barley. It adds a beautiful taste to bread but as it is a bit heavy it makes the bread not rise as well as normal. I found that if st used a maximum of 20% bere meal then I got a nice tasting loaf and it was not to heavy.
Baking lesson over.
On the way back home we stopped off at The Loons RSPB hide. There was nothing except the normal birds around but as I have said before, I like it and it was pleasant just sitting there for half an hour doing nothing except looking about.
In the evening John and Alex treated us to a meal at The Skerries. we are getting to be regulars there as visitors who offer to take us for a meal always get taken there. Mainly because it is nice and informal and they do really good seafood. Apparently the cook was off sick and Hamish was doing the cooking. I was impressed. The food was as good as usual so 10 out of 10 to Hamish. There was apparently a bit of friction in the kitchen though and Carol said that although they never argue they had a good row. It just goes to show that you shouldn't make men do the cooking.
On the way down to The Skerries we saw a stoat run accross the road in front of us. There are not supposed to be stoats in Orkney but over the past year or so a few have been seen. The RSPB has trapped some and where we saw one was only a mile or so from where thay have been trapped previously. Thgeneral consensus is that they have come over in bales of imported hay or something like that. Anyway I have reported it to the RSPB and they are going to set more traps. With all the ground nexting birds up here stoats would be a real threat. We have hedgehogs but it is probably to late to do much about them as they are everywhere.
Just for a change we had a day with no archeology. This may have been partly due to my not checking the tide times before we went to The Brough of Birsay so that we could not go over tot the viking site. The causeway across is only passable for 2 hours either side of low tide.
It is a nice place anyway and we have seen plenty of ruins so it doesn't matter if we miss one. Instead we had a stroll from The Brough to Skipi Geo just down the coast a bit.
I had never been down there before. I knew that the fishermans hut which is in the background of the photo, was there and the whale bone that is on so many postcards but I had no idea about the boat nousts. These are the boathaped trenches that have additionally been built up to form safe places for boats even in winter storms. It must have been a hell of a job dragging them right up there though but I suppose that it was easier than building a new boat if your old one got smashed in the storms.
John and Alex somehow insinuated themselves into the photo but the camera is still OK.
Today's title is a bit of a lie as we did stop at the Earls Palace in Birsay on the way back but really only because thay have a toilet there and except for Alex, we are of that age. Then we went to Barony Mills, another place that I have been promising myself that I would go to but have never got to yet. I like water mills and have visited a few but this one was one of the best. The enjoyment was made so much better by the miller who was so obviously totally engrosed by his job. He was an ex salesman but had started his apprentiship at the mill almost 5 years ago and had almost finished his training. It has kept it in the family as I think that his father and grandfather were also millers at this mill.
He was very enthusiastic about his mill and even let Alex start the wheel and machinery going.
The mill is not just a tourist attraction but works commercially producing flour that is sold at shops throughout Orkney, even I think in the dreaded Tesco's. I have used one of their flours, made from Bere, an early type of barley. It adds a beautiful taste to bread but as it is a bit heavy it makes the bread not rise as well as normal. I found that if st used a maximum of 20% bere meal then I got a nice tasting loaf and it was not to heavy.
Baking lesson over.
On the way back home we stopped off at The Loons RSPB hide. There was nothing except the normal birds around but as I have said before, I like it and it was pleasant just sitting there for half an hour doing nothing except looking about.
In the evening John and Alex treated us to a meal at The Skerries. we are getting to be regulars there as visitors who offer to take us for a meal always get taken there. Mainly because it is nice and informal and they do really good seafood. Apparently the cook was off sick and Hamish was doing the cooking. I was impressed. The food was as good as usual so 10 out of 10 to Hamish. There was apparently a bit of friction in the kitchen though and Carol said that although they never argue they had a good row. It just goes to show that you shouldn't make men do the cooking.
On the way down to The Skerries we saw a stoat run accross the road in front of us. There are not supposed to be stoats in Orkney but over the past year or so a few have been seen. The RSPB has trapped some and where we saw one was only a mile or so from where thay have been trapped previously. Thgeneral consensus is that they have come over in bales of imported hay or something like that. Anyway I have reported it to the RSPB and they are going to set more traps. With all the ground nexting birds up here stoats would be a real threat. We have hedgehogs but it is probably to late to do much about them as they are everywhere.
It's "Do" the archeology Day
Wednesday 20th July 2011
When you have visitors up here it is compulsory to "do" some of the famous archeological sites. To fulfil our obligations in this respect we managed to fit The Stones of Stennes, The Ness of Brodgar, Scara Brae, Barnhouse and Maeshowe all into one day.
This is slightly worse than it sounds as with the exception of Scara Brae, they are all within sight of each other.
Scara Brae is the one that everybody wants to see and it is indeed remarkable but now I think that it is over manicured and seems almost like an artificial garden folly for some large mansion.
When John and I first came here about 45 years ago there was nothing at Scara Brae and no tourists so you could just walk in and sit inside the houses alone getting a feel for the scale and comfort that the inhabitants would have had. It seemed real and it was easy to imagine the inhabitants from 5000 years ago living there.
Now however there is a massive visitor centre and cafe and the houses are all "no go" areas so you just walk round carefully mown paths round the top and look down into them. Not really magical at all.
Maeshowe however still lives up to expectations even though it is now also very organised. It is very impressive and remarkably well built and the runic inscriptions from the vikings who broke into it are interesting and witty. Just like any modern soldier putting graffitti on a wall while sheltering from the weather.
The Ness of Brodgar is a new excavation just to the south of the ring and is really unusual. Some have called it a neolithic cathedral although the archeologists have not decided what it is, apart from the usual "ritual or ceremonial".
The stonework on some of it is very fine, both inside and out so it would seem that it is obviously very important for so much effort to be lavished on it.They have also found painted stones in the walls of some of the buildings. Apparently this is the first time that coloured decoration has been found on buildings of this age.
When you have visitors up here it is compulsory to "do" some of the famous archeological sites. To fulfil our obligations in this respect we managed to fit The Stones of Stennes, The Ness of Brodgar, Scara Brae, Barnhouse and Maeshowe all into one day.
This is slightly worse than it sounds as with the exception of Scara Brae, they are all within sight of each other.
Scara Brae is the one that everybody wants to see and it is indeed remarkable but now I think that it is over manicured and seems almost like an artificial garden folly for some large mansion.
When John and I first came here about 45 years ago there was nothing at Scara Brae and no tourists so you could just walk in and sit inside the houses alone getting a feel for the scale and comfort that the inhabitants would have had. It seemed real and it was easy to imagine the inhabitants from 5000 years ago living there.
Now however there is a massive visitor centre and cafe and the houses are all "no go" areas so you just walk round carefully mown paths round the top and look down into them. Not really magical at all.
Maeshowe however still lives up to expectations even though it is now also very organised. It is very impressive and remarkably well built and the runic inscriptions from the vikings who broke into it are interesting and witty. Just like any modern soldier putting graffitti on a wall while sheltering from the weather.
The Ness of Brodgar is a new excavation just to the south of the ring and is really unusual. Some have called it a neolithic cathedral although the archeologists have not decided what it is, apart from the usual "ritual or ceremonial".
The stonework on some of it is very fine, both inside and out so it would seem that it is obviously very important for so much effort to be lavished on it.They have also found painted stones in the walls of some of the buildings. Apparently this is the first time that coloured decoration has been found on buildings of this age.
A nice relaxing day and another cruise
Tuesday 19th July 2011
The U3A here have an ambling group that I have been promising to join for the last few months but have always had something else to do on the days when they were going out. Today hover was a beautiful day and as John and Alex also fancied a wander round we decided to go.
There is an Orkney Ramblers group but they do walks of 20 miles or more and I thought that this may be a bit ambitious for my poor aged body so the amblers seemed a good idea as they only do a few miles.
Today they had a walk round Deerness but unfortunately it wa a bit of a disappointment. We met up at Newark bay, walked for about half a mile round the coast and then walked back. Hardly enough to blow away the cobwebs.
It was easily fixed though. After the others had gone, we had a stroll the other way. Nice and leisurely including a long period of lying on the grass at the new Deerness jetty.
After leaving Deerness we went up to Hoxa Head on South Ronaldsay. We had our butties in the shade of the scenic concrete second world war gun emplacements where lookouts kept watch for anything trying to enter Scapa Flow. We just watched for whales while we had our butties but once again No Whales.
In the evening we were booked on one of the tall ships, The Wylde Swan, for a cruise round the flow that had been organised by the Okney Folk Festival. This time it was nice and calm with a lovely flat sea and I felt that I cold take full advantage of the bar while listening to the music. It was a real good cruise and I am sure that John and Alex enjoyed it aswell.
On our return to Stromness the harbour looked magnificent with several of the tall ships moored there with all their masts and rigging standing out against the sky.
On our way back home after the cruise we were going to take a stroll round the ring of brodgar. It was about 11PM and going dusky. Brodgar always looks better in the dawn or dusk or when the sky is sullen and overcast. In the sunshine the Ring of Brodgar just looks like a load of stones stuck in the ground. With the right light though, it is very atmospheric and impressive.
On this occassion though we decided not to go out even if it looked good. On the road to the ring we ran into clouds of midges thicker than I have ever seen. Great clumps of them were smacking into the windscreen. We therefore decided that it may not have been a good idea to get out of the car so we will have to come back again sometime.
The U3A here have an ambling group that I have been promising to join for the last few months but have always had something else to do on the days when they were going out. Today hover was a beautiful day and as John and Alex also fancied a wander round we decided to go.
There is an Orkney Ramblers group but they do walks of 20 miles or more and I thought that this may be a bit ambitious for my poor aged body so the amblers seemed a good idea as they only do a few miles.
Today they had a walk round Deerness but unfortunately it wa a bit of a disappointment. We met up at Newark bay, walked for about half a mile round the coast and then walked back. Hardly enough to blow away the cobwebs.
It was easily fixed though. After the others had gone, we had a stroll the other way. Nice and leisurely including a long period of lying on the grass at the new Deerness jetty.
After leaving Deerness we went up to Hoxa Head on South Ronaldsay. We had our butties in the shade of the scenic concrete second world war gun emplacements where lookouts kept watch for anything trying to enter Scapa Flow. We just watched for whales while we had our butties but once again No Whales.
In the evening we were booked on one of the tall ships, The Wylde Swan, for a cruise round the flow that had been organised by the Okney Folk Festival. This time it was nice and calm with a lovely flat sea and I felt that I cold take full advantage of the bar while listening to the music. It was a real good cruise and I am sure that John and Alex enjoyed it aswell.
On our return to Stromness the harbour looked magnificent with several of the tall ships moored there with all their masts and rigging standing out against the sky.
On our way back home after the cruise we were going to take a stroll round the ring of brodgar. It was about 11PM and going dusky. Brodgar always looks better in the dawn or dusk or when the sky is sullen and overcast. In the sunshine the Ring of Brodgar just looks like a load of stones stuck in the ground. With the right light though, it is very atmospheric and impressive.
On this occassion though we decided not to go out even if it looked good. On the road to the ring we ran into clouds of midges thicker than I have ever seen. Great clumps of them were smacking into the windscreen. We therefore decided that it may not have been a good idea to get out of the car so we will have to come back again sometime.
Big ships and a yellow submarine
Monday 18th July 2011
On Monday morning The "Mir", a russian tall ship was docked at Hatston in Kirkwall and open to the public. It is the biggest of all the tall ships. A huge ship but not really as pretty as some of the others. Size isn't everything after all.
The crew were obviously very keen to give the tourists something to watch and even appeared to be showing off the local custom of betting on anything by having a race between a whelk and a crab across the deck.
Also at Hatston was a new Scot Renewable tidal turbine. Apparently this one is anchored by just one point to the seabed. This is supposed to allow it to swing so that it will face into the tide at all times. Good luck to them and I hope it succeeds. They do need to change the colour though if they do not want to be the butt of endless jokes.
More interesting than the Mir, was The "Pharos" which was moored on Kirkwall pier and was also open to the public. She is the boat belonging to The Northern Lighthouse Board and services all the bouys and lighthouses around the scottish coast. She is a very sophisticated ship, a complete change from the sailing ships also in the harbour and complete with helicopter.
The bridge wa a mass of high tech positioning equipment along with controls for ROV's, winches and cranes. There were desks for about six other operators in addition to the positions for the normal crew just steering the ship.
Pam had not come with us as she had a U3A committee meeting so we had agreed that we would go and see the Mir and then go round Kirkwall museum and then go back and pick Pam up. We went into the museum and I thought that I would just phone Pam and let her know where we were. She told me that not a single person had turned up to the meeting. Even the chairman had phoned to say he could not make it at the last minute. I therefore dragged John and Alex out of the museum after they had got as far as the first room and we went back to pick up Pam.
In the afternoon we all went to Stromness. There were several of the tall ships in the harbour and they looked really at home there. Stromness is more of an old fashioned traditional port than Kirkwall and they seemed to fit in well there.
We then had an amble through the town. It is Stromness Shopping Week this week. This is a kind of carnival week and the shops have special displays. I don't think that it is normally very good but with the tall ships being in port along with all the associated events there was quite a lot going on.
On Monday morning The "Mir", a russian tall ship was docked at Hatston in Kirkwall and open to the public. It is the biggest of all the tall ships. A huge ship but not really as pretty as some of the others. Size isn't everything after all.
The crew were obviously very keen to give the tourists something to watch and even appeared to be showing off the local custom of betting on anything by having a race between a whelk and a crab across the deck.
Also at Hatston was a new Scot Renewable tidal turbine. Apparently this one is anchored by just one point to the seabed. This is supposed to allow it to swing so that it will face into the tide at all times. Good luck to them and I hope it succeeds. They do need to change the colour though if they do not want to be the butt of endless jokes.
More interesting than the Mir, was The "Pharos" which was moored on Kirkwall pier and was also open to the public. She is the boat belonging to The Northern Lighthouse Board and services all the bouys and lighthouses around the scottish coast. She is a very sophisticated ship, a complete change from the sailing ships also in the harbour and complete with helicopter.
The bridge wa a mass of high tech positioning equipment along with controls for ROV's, winches and cranes. There were desks for about six other operators in addition to the positions for the normal crew just steering the ship.
Pam had not come with us as she had a U3A committee meeting so we had agreed that we would go and see the Mir and then go round Kirkwall museum and then go back and pick Pam up. We went into the museum and I thought that I would just phone Pam and let her know where we were. She told me that not a single person had turned up to the meeting. Even the chairman had phoned to say he could not make it at the last minute. I therefore dragged John and Alex out of the museum after they had got as far as the first room and we went back to pick up Pam.
In the afternoon we all went to Stromness. There were several of the tall ships in the harbour and they looked really at home there. Stromness is more of an old fashioned traditional port than Kirkwall and they seemed to fit in well there.
We then had an amble through the town. It is Stromness Shopping Week this week. This is a kind of carnival week and the shops have special displays. I don't think that it is normally very good but with the tall ships being in port along with all the associated events there was quite a lot going on.
Deerness Day
Sunday 17th July 2011
The archeological dig at the Brough of Deerness had an open day today so John, Alex and I trotted off down there leaving Pam at home as she had several things that she wanted to do.
The dig is a viking settlement on a headland connected to the mainland by a narrow steep sided path. This I suppose would make it very easy to defend but it does seem a very inhospitable place to choose to live. The path up is steep and a precarious even with the chain that has been fitted alongside it.(Maybe this is why Pam decided not to come.)
On the top is a chapel that may be of viking age or may have been an even earlier pictish one.
This chapel, although not in use, was revered until recent times with offerings of coins and other items dated as late as the 17th or 18th century being found there.
Surrounding the chapel are quite a number of houses of differing sizes from a large one that may have been the chieftans hall, to much smaller houses which appear to only have one bed.
At the moment they are excavating two (semi detached) houses and the team leader led us through what they had found.
It was definitely worth the climb. They have a lecture next week in Deerness hall to explain the dig and show all the finds so I think that will be a "must do". It's a pity that John and Alex will not be able to go as they will be back home by then.
We returned past The Gloup and went to Deerness Community hall. They have an exhibition called "Deernesin 100 objects". There appear to be a great many more than 100 objects but it would be nit-picking to object.
I was quite surprised at the quality of the exhibition. I was expecting a little, village hall type of collection with a few photos and stories. In fact the exhibition would have done credit to many museums. Many and various items illustrating life in deerness and its people were well presented. It was all very good and not just aimed at local interest but interesting to all comers. not just little local displays that outsiders would not understand.
I shall have to go back again sometime while it is still on as there is plenty that I have not looked through.
After Deerness I took John and Alex to Tankerness to see where we have the land that we were going to build our house on befor we bough this one.On the way we passed "Waterfield", a house that we considered buying. It has a lovely shed that you could back an articulated lorry and trailer into. Just an illustration of "shed envy" on my part.
We returned and had a wander on the beach by number 4 barrier before returning home.
Another good day.
The archeological dig at the Brough of Deerness had an open day today so John, Alex and I trotted off down there leaving Pam at home as she had several things that she wanted to do.
The dig is a viking settlement on a headland connected to the mainland by a narrow steep sided path. This I suppose would make it very easy to defend but it does seem a very inhospitable place to choose to live. The path up is steep and a precarious even with the chain that has been fitted alongside it.(Maybe this is why Pam decided not to come.)
On the top is a chapel that may be of viking age or may have been an even earlier pictish one.
This chapel, although not in use, was revered until recent times with offerings of coins and other items dated as late as the 17th or 18th century being found there.
Surrounding the chapel are quite a number of houses of differing sizes from a large one that may have been the chieftans hall, to much smaller houses which appear to only have one bed.
At the moment they are excavating two (semi detached) houses and the team leader led us through what they had found.
It was definitely worth the climb. They have a lecture next week in Deerness hall to explain the dig and show all the finds so I think that will be a "must do". It's a pity that John and Alex will not be able to go as they will be back home by then.
We returned past The Gloup and went to Deerness Community hall. They have an exhibition called "Deernesin 100 objects". There appear to be a great many more than 100 objects but it would be nit-picking to object.
I was quite surprised at the quality of the exhibition. I was expecting a little, village hall type of collection with a few photos and stories. In fact the exhibition would have done credit to many museums. Many and various items illustrating life in deerness and its people were well presented. It was all very good and not just aimed at local interest but interesting to all comers. not just little local displays that outsiders would not understand.
I shall have to go back again sometime while it is still on as there is plenty that I have not looked through.
After Deerness I took John and Alex to Tankerness to see where we have the land that we were going to build our house on befor we bough this one.On the way we passed "Waterfield", a house that we considered buying. It has a lovely shed that you could back an articulated lorry and trailer into. Just an illustration of "shed envy" on my part.
We returned and had a wander on the beach by number 4 barrier before returning home.
Another good day.
The tall ships are coming
Friday 20th July 2011
Twenty of the ships from the Tall Ships Race are due in Orkney over the next few days and we saw some of them from our window as they headed past Burray towards Kirkwall.
Although they were far away on the horizon, they looked splendid with their sails fully set. Just like a scene from over 100 years ago. Very graceful and stately.
When I was out feeding the hens today, the geese took fright and went belting across the field flapping their wings as hard as they could. They very nearly got airborne so we caught them up and clipped the flight feathers off one wing from each bird. That should keep them well grounded or at least they will only be able to fly in circles.
John and Alex Bowker are due up tomorrow. we have tried to contact John but he never answers his phone or e-mails but we did manage to contact Alex so we know that he has got his dad organised and that they will both be up on time.
On Saturday Pam and i were booked in for a cruise on one of the tall ships, the Gulden Leeuw.
We were to go aboard at Kirkwall and cruise round South Ronaldsay, through the Pentland Firth and up Scapa Flow into Stromness.
There were four ships taking part in the cruise to stromness and I was hoping to get some good photos of the other ships in full sail. As it turned out, the ship that we were on was the only one to put up a full set of sails.
I get the feeling that the reason that we had all the sails up was just because the captain and crew are enthusiastic to the point of lunacy. They all really enjoyed going under sail. Even the captains introductory talk was like a comedy act with him doing an imitation of an airline stewardess, complete with "the emergency exits are here and here" with expansive hand signals indicating the sides of the ship.
The other ships kept their engines running and just had a few sails up so there were no really good photo opportunities.
The weather was a bit breezy and although the first hour and a half was OK, I did not feel to good for the next two hours. (I learned later that I was far from the only person not feeling to good) Once we got past Copinsay the sea became a bit calmer and the last two and a half hourswere very pleasant. The crew had us all hauling on ros and adjusting the sails.
The amount of different ropes and pulleys is amazing.
This photo is only the ropes in the centre by one of the masts. There were also a multitude of other ropes along the sides of the ship.
Because of the weather we were an hour and a half late into Stromness and so John and Alex were at the house before we got home. It was great to see John. He is my oldest and best friend. We have known each other since we were in our prams, we like the same things and have the same sense of humour. (Pam finds this somewhat disturbing as se was hoping that I was only one person with my sense of humour) It will be good to have him around for a week.
Twenty of the ships from the Tall Ships Race are due in Orkney over the next few days and we saw some of them from our window as they headed past Burray towards Kirkwall.
Although they were far away on the horizon, they looked splendid with their sails fully set. Just like a scene from over 100 years ago. Very graceful and stately.
When I was out feeding the hens today, the geese took fright and went belting across the field flapping their wings as hard as they could. They very nearly got airborne so we caught them up and clipped the flight feathers off one wing from each bird. That should keep them well grounded or at least they will only be able to fly in circles.
John and Alex Bowker are due up tomorrow. we have tried to contact John but he never answers his phone or e-mails but we did manage to contact Alex so we know that he has got his dad organised and that they will both be up on time.
On Saturday Pam and i were booked in for a cruise on one of the tall ships, the Gulden Leeuw.
We were to go aboard at Kirkwall and cruise round South Ronaldsay, through the Pentland Firth and up Scapa Flow into Stromness.
There were four ships taking part in the cruise to stromness and I was hoping to get some good photos of the other ships in full sail. As it turned out, the ship that we were on was the only one to put up a full set of sails.
I get the feeling that the reason that we had all the sails up was just because the captain and crew are enthusiastic to the point of lunacy. They all really enjoyed going under sail. Even the captains introductory talk was like a comedy act with him doing an imitation of an airline stewardess, complete with "the emergency exits are here and here" with expansive hand signals indicating the sides of the ship.
The other ships kept their engines running and just had a few sails up so there were no really good photo opportunities.
The weather was a bit breezy and although the first hour and a half was OK, I did not feel to good for the next two hours. (I learned later that I was far from the only person not feeling to good) Once we got past Copinsay the sea became a bit calmer and the last two and a half hourswere very pleasant. The crew had us all hauling on ros and adjusting the sails.
The amount of different ropes and pulleys is amazing.
This photo is only the ropes in the centre by one of the masts. There were also a multitude of other ropes along the sides of the ship.
Because of the weather we were an hour and a half late into Stromness and so John and Alex were at the house before we got home. It was great to see John. He is my oldest and best friend. We have known each other since we were in our prams, we like the same things and have the same sense of humour. (Pam finds this somewhat disturbing as se was hoping that I was only one person with my sense of humour) It will be good to have him around for a week.
Trip to Eday and London Airport
Wednesday 13th July 2011
It was a beautiful clear, calm,sunny day for the first trip of the U3A archeology group. Thirteen people of varying degrees of fitness met at Kirkwall pier and took the boat to Eday.
On arrival at Sanday we met the Eday ranger and climbed abourd the minibus which took us to the north of the island to the start of the "heritage trail" at the Setter Stone.
Several members of the group are also members of the birdie group and it was a bonus to see a pair of red throated divers with young on the loch near the setter stone.
The group immediately got strung out as some of the good walkers forged ahead and a couple of the ladies were finding the going difficult. Being a good samaritan, I stayed back with one of the ladies who was having a hard time. ( I must have earned some brownie points).
From the Setter Stone the path wound up a fairly steep escarpment and then levelled off a bit. There were three neolithic tombs in a very short distance of each other and each of a different type.
This is Braeside cairn, a stalled tomb and although fairly well ruined you can still see some of the uprights dividing the stalls.
Also close to the three tombs was a large bronze age enclosure the circular banks of which could still be plainly seen even after all this time.
Huntersquoy tomb was a bit further up the hill and although I am told that it is quite well preserved, I shall have to take their word for this. It is waterlogged and almost totally submerged except for part of the entrance and so is inaccessible to air breathing mortals.
At the top of the hill, Vinquoy tomb is quite spectacular.
This is a Maeshowe type chambered tomb with 4 chambers. It is entered through a long low passage which discouraged many of the group from entering but they missed a superb experience.
( It seesm a bit pointless joining an archeology group if you do not want to have to crawl around in wet muddy conditions)
Unfortunately the flash on my camera has broken so I could not get any ood photos of the cells or the inside of the tomb except for the roof and the entrance.
(I think that I will have to get a cheap camera with a working flash just for the archeology)
Vinquoy Hill cairn is right at the top of the hill and the views over the north isles are speectacular. We could even see the silhouette of Fair Isle beyond North Ronaldsay.
It was then down the other side of the hill to the cafe. The cafe is set in a lovely position with great views which was really fortunate as we were absorbing the view for a very long time while waiting for our tea and sandwiches to be served.
Eventually we were all fed and ready to go and then we found that the mini bus driver had wandered off to check the grass in a field somewhere close by that he was thinking of mowing. He eventually returned having decided that he could mow it tomorrow and we all clombed aboard.
We were due to go and look round a submarine (explanation later) but on the way I made them stop so that I could take a photo of the airport.
Yes folks, LONDON AIRPORT is on Eday and what is even more exciting is that it is Wednesday and this is the day when the weekly aircraft comes in. We missed the flight though as the aircraft was delayed because they had a lot of people aboard and so had gone to Westray first to off load some passengers.
The other airport that you may have heard erroneously refferred to as London Airport is actually Heathrow airport and has the official code HEA. The real London Airport is on Eday and has the code LON.
Anyway back to the submarine. This is not, as you may have thought, a second world war wreck but is a reconstructed actual submarine rescued from a scrapyard and re-assembled in a shed by what you could either call an "enthusiast" or a "nutter".
Nutter or not, he has done a brilliant job job and everyone was fascinated by it. He has had to scrounge or buy gauges and bits and pieces from all over and although not yet fully complete, all the controls and most of the gauges are installed and it looks good. The pericope unfortunately does not go up, possibly because of the shed roof but he is thinking of putting a computer virtual reallity fitting on the periscope so that you can look through it and it looks realistic.
Ten out of ten for the bloke who has done it though. We need more eccentrics like that.
Then it was back to catch the 5:15 ferry and then return to Kirkwall via Stronsay
It was a beautiful clear, calm,sunny day for the first trip of the U3A archeology group. Thirteen people of varying degrees of fitness met at Kirkwall pier and took the boat to Eday.
On arrival at Sanday we met the Eday ranger and climbed abourd the minibus which took us to the north of the island to the start of the "heritage trail" at the Setter Stone.
Several members of the group are also members of the birdie group and it was a bonus to see a pair of red throated divers with young on the loch near the setter stone.
The group immediately got strung out as some of the good walkers forged ahead and a couple of the ladies were finding the going difficult. Being a good samaritan, I stayed back with one of the ladies who was having a hard time. ( I must have earned some brownie points).
From the Setter Stone the path wound up a fairly steep escarpment and then levelled off a bit. There were three neolithic tombs in a very short distance of each other and each of a different type.
This is Braeside cairn, a stalled tomb and although fairly well ruined you can still see some of the uprights dividing the stalls.
Also close to the three tombs was a large bronze age enclosure the circular banks of which could still be plainly seen even after all this time.
Huntersquoy tomb was a bit further up the hill and although I am told that it is quite well preserved, I shall have to take their word for this. It is waterlogged and almost totally submerged except for part of the entrance and so is inaccessible to air breathing mortals.
At the top of the hill, Vinquoy tomb is quite spectacular.
This is a Maeshowe type chambered tomb with 4 chambers. It is entered through a long low passage which discouraged many of the group from entering but they missed a superb experience.
( It seesm a bit pointless joining an archeology group if you do not want to have to crawl around in wet muddy conditions)
Unfortunately the flash on my camera has broken so I could not get any ood photos of the cells or the inside of the tomb except for the roof and the entrance.
(I think that I will have to get a cheap camera with a working flash just for the archeology)
Vinquoy Hill cairn is right at the top of the hill and the views over the north isles are speectacular. We could even see the silhouette of Fair Isle beyond North Ronaldsay.
It was then down the other side of the hill to the cafe. The cafe is set in a lovely position with great views which was really fortunate as we were absorbing the view for a very long time while waiting for our tea and sandwiches to be served.
Eventually we were all fed and ready to go and then we found that the mini bus driver had wandered off to check the grass in a field somewhere close by that he was thinking of mowing. He eventually returned having decided that he could mow it tomorrow and we all clombed aboard.
We were due to go and look round a submarine (explanation later) but on the way I made them stop so that I could take a photo of the airport.
Yes folks, LONDON AIRPORT is on Eday and what is even more exciting is that it is Wednesday and this is the day when the weekly aircraft comes in. We missed the flight though as the aircraft was delayed because they had a lot of people aboard and so had gone to Westray first to off load some passengers.
The other airport that you may have heard erroneously refferred to as London Airport is actually Heathrow airport and has the official code HEA. The real London Airport is on Eday and has the code LON.
Anyway back to the submarine. This is not, as you may have thought, a second world war wreck but is a reconstructed actual submarine rescued from a scrapyard and re-assembled in a shed by what you could either call an "enthusiast" or a "nutter".
Nutter or not, he has done a brilliant job job and everyone was fascinated by it. He has had to scrounge or buy gauges and bits and pieces from all over and although not yet fully complete, all the controls and most of the gauges are installed and it looks good. The pericope unfortunately does not go up, possibly because of the shed roof but he is thinking of putting a computer virtual reallity fitting on the periscope so that you can look through it and it looks realistic.
Ten out of ten for the bloke who has done it though. We need more eccentrics like that.
Then it was back to catch the 5:15 ferry and then return to Kirkwall via Stronsay
Show entries in. Hen out.
Saturday 9th July 2011
We are putting a couple of the chickens in for the local shows in August. Originally we were thinking of entering in the 4 shows that we could but as all the shows in Orkney are in the same week then it would be a bit to stressful for the hens. We could use different hens but we only have one really good cockerel. We have therefore just entered for the local Burray and South Ronaldsay show and the County show. Fingers crossed and we will see how we do. I like the atmosphere and fun of showing anyway and I am sure that we will not disgrace ourselves.
Even though I had built the dorkings pen higher than normal, I found one of the dorking hens out on Monday. She was running up and down by the wire of another pen. She was hatched at the same time as a Jersey giant hen and thhave both gone round together since that were let out. It seems wierd in hens but I think that she misses her friend. I put the jersey giant in the dorking pen and then put the dorking hen back. They immediately started going around together and the dorking has not tried to escape since.
Dennis fetched the andalusian eggs back as he thinks that only one is fertile and he wants some to hatch when his grandchildren are up her in a few weeks. I think that there are 2 fertile and there are at least 3 fertile in the ones that I have so we will have to wait and see.
On Saturday I rang John Bowker, my oldest friend. He is coming up for a holiday in just over a week. Fortunately I managed to speak to his son Alex who is coming with him. John is, to say the least not greatly impressed with any sense of urgency, so at least speaking to Alex reassured me that they would actually get here. Alex seems to have everything properly organised.
Mr Scott from the farm up the road asked on Sunday if he could buy a bit of land from us to create a turning circle for wagons picking up cattle. I do not think we will go with that but I will have to be a bit diplomatic to avoid upsetting a neighbour.
We are going on the first U3A archelology group trip on Wednesday so on Tuesday I did some last minute swotting on Eday archeology. Probably to little and to late but then I don't think that most of the others are all that expert anyway.
We are putting a couple of the chickens in for the local shows in August. Originally we were thinking of entering in the 4 shows that we could but as all the shows in Orkney are in the same week then it would be a bit to stressful for the hens. We could use different hens but we only have one really good cockerel. We have therefore just entered for the local Burray and South Ronaldsay show and the County show. Fingers crossed and we will see how we do. I like the atmosphere and fun of showing anyway and I am sure that we will not disgrace ourselves.
Even though I had built the dorkings pen higher than normal, I found one of the dorking hens out on Monday. She was running up and down by the wire of another pen. She was hatched at the same time as a Jersey giant hen and thhave both gone round together since that were let out. It seems wierd in hens but I think that she misses her friend. I put the jersey giant in the dorking pen and then put the dorking hen back. They immediately started going around together and the dorking has not tried to escape since.
Dennis fetched the andalusian eggs back as he thinks that only one is fertile and he wants some to hatch when his grandchildren are up her in a few weeks. I think that there are 2 fertile and there are at least 3 fertile in the ones that I have so we will have to wait and see.
On Saturday I rang John Bowker, my oldest friend. He is coming up for a holiday in just over a week. Fortunately I managed to speak to his son Alex who is coming with him. John is, to say the least not greatly impressed with any sense of urgency, so at least speaking to Alex reassured me that they would actually get here. Alex seems to have everything properly organised.
Mr Scott from the farm up the road asked on Sunday if he could buy a bit of land from us to create a turning circle for wagons picking up cattle. I do not think we will go with that but I will have to be a bit diplomatic to avoid upsetting a neighbour.
We are going on the first U3A archelology group trip on Wednesday so on Tuesday I did some last minute swotting on Eday archeology. Probably to little and to late but then I don't think that most of the others are all that expert anyway.
To much to do, so I didn't
Sunday 3rd July 2011
One of my dorking cockerels has decided that it is easier to go next door and rape all the hens there rather than compete with the other cockerels at home. ( Next door has just got rid of all his cockerels)
I thought that in the interests of good neighbourliness I had better build another pen and keep the dorkings in as well. I built it a bit higher than normal as the dorkings are fairly nimble birds.
The field is looking better now though with all except the light sussex in their own pens.
The food for the chickens is fairly expensive, about twice the price that it used to be when we had chickens down south so I have been looking round for something a bit cheaper. James Wishart, the son of Pam's friend Helen sells crushed barley so I went and got some of thet today. It is half the price of pellets and the hens love it. Unfortunately the sparrows and starlings also love it so I shall have to get some closed feeders.
I even had some time this week to play with my trains. I am trying to fit a chip to an engine so that it can be controlled by a sort of computer control. If I can get this figured out then it will make the electrics for the model railway a lot simpler but it is not very straightforward fitting the chip to an old type of engine and there is nothing specific to the model that I have on the internet. Still if I can figure it out then it will give me some understanding.
On Thursday I got an early morning wake up call from Mark Wooton. He rang the wrong number but it was nice to hear from him and to hear that Ivor is OK and still going strong.
Pam mowed the lawn and it is now looking much more tidy without all those orchids that I had been mowing round sticking up all over the place.
One of my dorking cockerels has decided that it is easier to go next door and rape all the hens there rather than compete with the other cockerels at home. ( Next door has just got rid of all his cockerels)
I thought that in the interests of good neighbourliness I had better build another pen and keep the dorkings in as well. I built it a bit higher than normal as the dorkings are fairly nimble birds.
The field is looking better now though with all except the light sussex in their own pens.
The food for the chickens is fairly expensive, about twice the price that it used to be when we had chickens down south so I have been looking round for something a bit cheaper. James Wishart, the son of Pam's friend Helen sells crushed barley so I went and got some of thet today. It is half the price of pellets and the hens love it. Unfortunately the sparrows and starlings also love it so I shall have to get some closed feeders.
I even had some time this week to play with my trains. I am trying to fit a chip to an engine so that it can be controlled by a sort of computer control. If I can get this figured out then it will make the electrics for the model railway a lot simpler but it is not very straightforward fitting the chip to an old type of engine and there is nothing specific to the model that I have on the internet. Still if I can figure it out then it will give me some understanding.
On Thursday I got an early morning wake up call from Mark Wooton. He rang the wrong number but it was nice to hear from him and to hear that Ivor is OK and still going strong.
Pam mowed the lawn and it is now looking much more tidy without all those orchids that I had been mowing round sticking up all over the place.
I spoke to soon
Sunday 26th June 2011
So yesterday I said that the geese were now to big to get out of the field. WRONG.
When I went to check them this morning two of them were missing. I checked around thinking that they would not go far away from there mates and I found one of them running up and down on the other side of the fence in our bottom field. It was lame and must have hurt its leg getting out. Anyway this made it easier to catch.
I searched all over the place in the fields around us but no sign of it. The grass is long though and if they are frightened then they just lie down and keep still which makes them very difficult to find.
I put the three remaining geese into a pen and then thought that I had better phone Dennis and let him know that I had lost one. I did wonder if it was possible that the missing one had gone back home to Dennis's. If Dennis did find out that it had got lost and I had not told him then he would never forgive me.
When I phoned him, Dennis also thought that it would be somewhere close by and would return to be close to the others. He also thought that it was far to great a distance for it to go back home to his house.
Later in the evening I got a phone call from Dennis. The missing goose had turned up at his house. He fetched it back and I put it in the pen with the others. Dennis agreed that this was a good idea until they settled down with us. (I had suggested this last time they legged it but Dennis did not like the idea so he took them back.)
Anyway, hopefully they will settle in and I can let them out in a few days when they think of this as home.
Just because we haveenough poultry at the moment Pam got 6 cochin eggs which I put in the incubator and I am thinking of getting some more andalusian eggs.
On Monday I finally got the new drive belt for the mower and we seem to have spent half the rest of the week mowing lawns and topping the fields.
My andalusian eggs arrived on Friday. As we have not yet hatched any eggs out of the flash new incubator, I put half into our incubator and gave half to Dennis to put in his incubator for me. At least this may reduce the risk if anything goes wrong with one of the incubators.
We let the geese out of the pen that they have been in for a few days and they seem to have settled down so we went to Tesco and bought them a paddling pool as a special treat.
On a sadder note. I found Pam's good quality light sussex cockerel dead. It had all the feathers around its neck pulled and disarranged. I suspect that it was the three runner duck drakes. They frequently gang up on the hens and all three try and rape the hens. I assume that they have done this to the cockerel.
On Saturday I killed the three runner ducks.
So yesterday I said that the geese were now to big to get out of the field. WRONG.
When I went to check them this morning two of them were missing. I checked around thinking that they would not go far away from there mates and I found one of them running up and down on the other side of the fence in our bottom field. It was lame and must have hurt its leg getting out. Anyway this made it easier to catch.
I searched all over the place in the fields around us but no sign of it. The grass is long though and if they are frightened then they just lie down and keep still which makes them very difficult to find.
I put the three remaining geese into a pen and then thought that I had better phone Dennis and let him know that I had lost one. I did wonder if it was possible that the missing one had gone back home to Dennis's. If Dennis did find out that it had got lost and I had not told him then he would never forgive me.
When I phoned him, Dennis also thought that it would be somewhere close by and would return to be close to the others. He also thought that it was far to great a distance for it to go back home to his house.
Later in the evening I got a phone call from Dennis. The missing goose had turned up at his house. He fetched it back and I put it in the pen with the others. Dennis agreed that this was a good idea until they settled down with us. (I had suggested this last time they legged it but Dennis did not like the idea so he took them back.)
Anyway, hopefully they will settle in and I can let them out in a few days when they think of this as home.
Just because we haveenough poultry at the moment Pam got 6 cochin eggs which I put in the incubator and I am thinking of getting some more andalusian eggs.
On Monday I finally got the new drive belt for the mower and we seem to have spent half the rest of the week mowing lawns and topping the fields.
My andalusian eggs arrived on Friday. As we have not yet hatched any eggs out of the flash new incubator, I put half into our incubator and gave half to Dennis to put in his incubator for me. At least this may reduce the risk if anything goes wrong with one of the incubators.
We let the geese out of the pen that they have been in for a few days and they seem to have settled down so we went to Tesco and bought them a paddling pool as a special treat.
On a sadder note. I found Pam's good quality light sussex cockerel dead. It had all the feathers around its neck pulled and disarranged. I suspect that it was the three runner duck drakes. They frequently gang up on the hens and all three try and rape the hens. I assume that they have done this to the cockerel.
On Saturday I killed the three runner ducks.
Trip to Swona
Saturday 25th June 2011
The Swona trip today. Short notice as I only found out last night but still it should be fun. It was a lovely fine day and just a bit of a swell on the sea so a nice pleasant trip.
I went to Swona last year with the ringing group ringing fulmars but it is a bit earlier this year so they were out to ring razorbills and puffins.
There were hundreds of puffins, I have never seen so many and it was good to see them all sat outside their burrows.
Back to the birds though. We got a couple of real surprises. While we were looking for the bonxies a snipe flew up out of a clump of grass and we managed to find the young snipe and so that got a ring as well. then on the way back home somebody saw a curlew chick from the car and so we came to a screaming halt and another bird was rung.
I even got to stroke one.
They also managed to ring some razorbills, some bonxie chicks and some black backed gull chicks.
It was not all just birds though. When we were looking for bonxie chicks we were wandering about in the centre of the island. There were hundreds of beautiful orchids. I am not sure what sort of orchid they were but it doesn't really matter. They were just as beautiful whatever their name was.
Another really pleasant day but unfortunately it was marred a bit as for the last couple of hours on the island my leg started acting up and as I had no magic tablets with me it kept getting worse untill I was only just hobbling. (It's no good this old age)
I managed to survive but the leg finally siezed up in the car on the way back. This meant that I had to cancel my trip to Auskerry which was supposed to be tomorrow. (You can't win them all though)
In the evening Dennis brought the geese back. They should now be to big to be able to get out through the netting so hopefully I will be allowed to keep them this time.
The Swona trip today. Short notice as I only found out last night but still it should be fun. It was a lovely fine day and just a bit of a swell on the sea so a nice pleasant trip.
I went to Swona last year with the ringing group ringing fulmars but it is a bit earlier this year so they were out to ring razorbills and puffins.
There were hundreds of puffins, I have never seen so many and it was good to see them all sat outside their burrows.
Back to the birds though. We got a couple of real surprises. While we were looking for the bonxies a snipe flew up out of a clump of grass and we managed to find the young snipe and so that got a ring as well. then on the way back home somebody saw a curlew chick from the car and so we came to a screaming halt and another bird was rung.
I even got to stroke one.
They also managed to ring some razorbills, some bonxie chicks and some black backed gull chicks.
It was not all just birds though. When we were looking for bonxie chicks we were wandering about in the centre of the island. There were hundreds of beautiful orchids. I am not sure what sort of orchid they were but it doesn't really matter. They were just as beautiful whatever their name was.
Another really pleasant day but unfortunately it was marred a bit as for the last couple of hours on the island my leg started acting up and as I had no magic tablets with me it kept getting worse untill I was only just hobbling. (It's no good this old age)
I managed to survive but the leg finally siezed up in the car on the way back. This meant that I had to cancel my trip to Auskerry which was supposed to be tomorrow. (You can't win them all though)
In the evening Dennis brought the geese back. They should now be to big to be able to get out through the netting so hopefully I will be allowed to keep them this time.
A quiet couple of days but with promise.
Thursday 23rd June 2011
Not a lot today but then at my age I can only stand a limited amount of excitement.
Pam had her craft group this morning so more handbags I suppose. You do all know what you are getting for Christmas, birthdays and so on don't you.
Ater that it was the U3A monthly general meeting. The main disadvantage of Pam being the secretary is that now we have to go to the general meetings which are not normally fascinating.
A couple of good things came out of it though. Firstly, Ken was seeing if there would be any interest in a birdie group trip to the Pentland Skerries and secondly the archeology group is definitely up running with the first trip to be next month to Eday. ( I shall have to remember to swot up on Eday archeology before we go.)
I put my name down for the Pentland Skerries trip even though it is a bit on the expensive side for the boat hire.
I ordered another dozen Andalusian hatching eggs as we only managed to hatch 3 from the last lot. I think that it was because the old incubator was not brilliant and we had a power cut for a few hours on one day when the eggs were in. Hopefully the expensive supa-dupa new incubator will prove that it was worth the money with this lot.
On Friday Pam bought some Blue Cochin eggs from ebay so the incubator is going to be earning its keep hopefully.
I had a nice quiet friday morning as Pam went off with Helen to the Fossil Centre cafe for a cup of tea. It took two hours so they must serve much bigger cups than they used to. Still they both came back all bubbly, so they must have enjoyed themselves.
Dave rang later on to say that the ringing group had just contacted him and they were ringing on Swona tomorrow, did I want to go. Yes, so frantic dashing round making butties and packing waterproofs just in case. I am going to Auskerry on Sun this will have been a good island bagging week although I have already been to Swona once.
Not a lot today but then at my age I can only stand a limited amount of excitement.
Pam had her craft group this morning so more handbags I suppose. You do all know what you are getting for Christmas, birthdays and so on don't you.
Ater that it was the U3A monthly general meeting. The main disadvantage of Pam being the secretary is that now we have to go to the general meetings which are not normally fascinating.
A couple of good things came out of it though. Firstly, Ken was seeing if there would be any interest in a birdie group trip to the Pentland Skerries and secondly the archeology group is definitely up running with the first trip to be next month to Eday. ( I shall have to remember to swot up on Eday archeology before we go.)
I put my name down for the Pentland Skerries trip even though it is a bit on the expensive side for the boat hire.
I ordered another dozen Andalusian hatching eggs as we only managed to hatch 3 from the last lot. I think that it was because the old incubator was not brilliant and we had a power cut for a few hours on one day when the eggs were in. Hopefully the expensive supa-dupa new incubator will prove that it was worth the money with this lot.
On Friday Pam bought some Blue Cochin eggs from ebay so the incubator is going to be earning its keep hopefully.
I had a nice quiet friday morning as Pam went off with Helen to the Fossil Centre cafe for a cup of tea. It took two hours so they must serve much bigger cups than they used to. Still they both came back all bubbly, so they must have enjoyed themselves.
Dave rang later on to say that the ringing group had just contacted him and they were ringing on Swona tomorrow, did I want to go. Yes, so frantic dashing round making butties and packing waterproofs just in case. I am going to Auskerry on Sun this will have been a good island bagging week although I have already been to Swona once.
Trip to Hoy
Wednesday 22nd June 2011
It was the U3A birdie trip to Hoy today. I had always sworn that I would never go walking on Hoy as it looks far to lumpy to me. There seems to be a flat bit round the eastern side and another bit at South Walls. The rest of Hoy is either flat bits which are high up at the top of hills or are all up and down steep slopes.
This time however we were told that there were going to be two options. An easier walk from Rackwick up to the Old Man of Hoy or a more strenuous walk up the hills and down to The Dwarfie Stane. I of course said that I would opt for the easy stroll.
When we got to Hoy however,it was decided that as very few people had opted for the easier walk, we would all go on the more strenuous climb. I am sure that I was conned.
We were dropped off near a smallish lochan called "the water of Hoy". As a bonus there were a pair of red throated divers with chicks on the lochan so it was a good start for a birdie walk. I would put up a photo of the divers and their brood but I have recently been told that not only is it illegal to publish photos but it is illegal to even take photos of category one birds on or near their nests. Whoops!!
In my defence, I was a long way away and several other people were taking photos.
Then came the nasty bit. We had to go up a 45 degree slope up to about 750 feet. Now this may not sound to bad to you (It certainly sounds bad to me) but there are no paths and we were walking over rough heather with deep, wet spagnum moss underfoot. This meant that every time I put my foot down it sank into the moss and I had to haul it out again. I think that I had to stop about 3 or 4 times on the way up for a breather. I was not the worst off though. Our gallant leader has had heart surgery and reckoned that the gubbins (valves, pacemaker or whatever) that was inside him was rattling away like a racehorse.
When we got near to the top there was a lovely view over Scapa Flow. I was sorely tempted to shout "You can see our ouse from ere". I hesitate to say that the view was worth the climb but it was a good view.
A bit more gentler climbing and we were almost at the top. At least at the top of the bit we were on. We were still overlooked by the bulk of Ward Hill on the other side of the valley.
The only birds that were about were Bonxies but at least there were a lot of them and they did not seem very nervous so we could get quite close to them. In the case of breeding pairs, some of them got a bit closer than was comfortable as they dive bombed us when they thought that we were to near their nests. One came in so low over my head that I could feel the draught as it passed. We managed to accidentally find nests with young and nests with eggs, so with the adults we had a "full set".
We had our butties at the top and then came down Trowie Glen to the bottom of the valley on the Rackwick road.
At least it was a bit easier coming down than it had been going up.
We then walked along the bottom of the valley (not on the road of course, that would be to easy) to the Dwarfie Stane, a huge boulder that has been carved out to form a neolithic chambered tomb. Then to the pier, to be more precise, back to the cafe by the pier for a much appreciated cuppa before returning on the ferry to Stromness.
At the end I was glad I had gone and I thought to myself that at least if I can do this walk then I can do any other walk in Orkney that I am likely to go on.
It was the U3A birdie trip to Hoy today. I had always sworn that I would never go walking on Hoy as it looks far to lumpy to me. There seems to be a flat bit round the eastern side and another bit at South Walls. The rest of Hoy is either flat bits which are high up at the top of hills or are all up and down steep slopes.
This time however we were told that there were going to be two options. An easier walk from Rackwick up to the Old Man of Hoy or a more strenuous walk up the hills and down to The Dwarfie Stane. I of course said that I would opt for the easy stroll.
When we got to Hoy however,it was decided that as very few people had opted for the easier walk, we would all go on the more strenuous climb. I am sure that I was conned.
We were dropped off near a smallish lochan called "the water of Hoy". As a bonus there were a pair of red throated divers with chicks on the lochan so it was a good start for a birdie walk. I would put up a photo of the divers and their brood but I have recently been told that not only is it illegal to publish photos but it is illegal to even take photos of category one birds on or near their nests. Whoops!!
In my defence, I was a long way away and several other people were taking photos.
Then came the nasty bit. We had to go up a 45 degree slope up to about 750 feet. Now this may not sound to bad to you (It certainly sounds bad to me) but there are no paths and we were walking over rough heather with deep, wet spagnum moss underfoot. This meant that every time I put my foot down it sank into the moss and I had to haul it out again. I think that I had to stop about 3 or 4 times on the way up for a breather. I was not the worst off though. Our gallant leader has had heart surgery and reckoned that the gubbins (valves, pacemaker or whatever) that was inside him was rattling away like a racehorse.
When we got near to the top there was a lovely view over Scapa Flow. I was sorely tempted to shout "You can see our ouse from ere". I hesitate to say that the view was worth the climb but it was a good view.
A bit more gentler climbing and we were almost at the top. At least at the top of the bit we were on. We were still overlooked by the bulk of Ward Hill on the other side of the valley.
The only birds that were about were Bonxies but at least there were a lot of them and they did not seem very nervous so we could get quite close to them. In the case of breeding pairs, some of them got a bit closer than was comfortable as they dive bombed us when they thought that we were to near their nests. One came in so low over my head that I could feel the draught as it passed. We managed to accidentally find nests with young and nests with eggs, so with the adults we had a "full set".
We had our butties at the top and then came down Trowie Glen to the bottom of the valley on the Rackwick road.
At least it was a bit easier coming down than it had been going up.
We then walked along the bottom of the valley (not on the road of course, that would be to easy) to the Dwarfie Stane, a huge boulder that has been carved out to form a neolithic chambered tomb. Then to the pier, to be more precise, back to the cafe by the pier for a much appreciated cuppa before returning on the ferry to Stromness.
At the end I was glad I had gone and I thought to myself that at least if I can do this walk then I can do any other walk in Orkney that I am likely to go on.
Corncrakes, What corncrakes?
Monday 20th June 2011
Yet again another beautiful day so I let the ducklings and their mum out of their little hutch and into one of the big pens. At least I can now top up the food and water without being attacked by the mother duck. She was really aggressive when they were in the small coop but now that she has got room to get her babies out of the way she has calmed down.
There have been two corncrakes calling on South Ronaldsay recently and as it is rare to have them so close, I though that I would go down for a listen. (You would think that I would know better by now wouldn't you?) Anyway, it was a nice night so at 11PM (They only call at night) I toddled off to South Ron.
The nights now are what they call Simmerdim. It never goes really dark. At 11:15 I got to Windwick where one of the corncrakes has been calling. Although it was dusky, it was still light enough to still see all the colours of the flowers along the roadside and in the fields. I could hear the gentle swell of the sea and the cries of the birds. It was idylic. The only thing that I could not hear was a corncrake. After about 30 minutes I decided to go to near Gaira where the other corncrake was. Although I heard two birds that i could not identify calling from the undergrowth, yet again no corncrake. Well now there's a surprise.
On Tuesday I had a lie-in before once again doing chicken stuff. This time making a hutch for tiny chicks.
Yet again another beautiful day so I let the ducklings and their mum out of their little hutch and into one of the big pens. At least I can now top up the food and water without being attacked by the mother duck. She was really aggressive when they were in the small coop but now that she has got room to get her babies out of the way she has calmed down.
There have been two corncrakes calling on South Ronaldsay recently and as it is rare to have them so close, I though that I would go down for a listen. (You would think that I would know better by now wouldn't you?) Anyway, it was a nice night so at 11PM (They only call at night) I toddled off to South Ron.
The nights now are what they call Simmerdim. It never goes really dark. At 11:15 I got to Windwick where one of the corncrakes has been calling. Although it was dusky, it was still light enough to still see all the colours of the flowers along the roadside and in the fields. I could hear the gentle swell of the sea and the cries of the birds. It was idylic. The only thing that I could not hear was a corncrake. After about 30 minutes I decided to go to near Gaira where the other corncrake was. Although I heard two birds that i could not identify calling from the undergrowth, yet again no corncrake. Well now there's a surprise.
On Tuesday I had a lie-in before once again doing chicken stuff. This time making a hutch for tiny chicks.
Another lovely Orkney week
Saturday 18th June 2011
A lovely day today as of course it always is in Orkney. Sunshine, no wind and a clear sky.
We took the dog for a run on the beach in the hope of getting rid of some of her excess energy. It never works. She has more energy than can possibly used up by just running about for a bit. I think that putting dogs in treadmills similar to the ones that they used to have for turning spits over fires would be a good idea for renewable electricity generation. I am sure that Molly could generate enough power to run our house for the cost of a tin of dogfood per day.
RSPCA may not like it though.
It always astounds me that we can go down to such a huge,lovely beach and have it all to ourselves on a beautiful hot day in the middle of summer. Very occassionaly we see somebody else walking a dog but most of the time the beach just stretches out right across to South Ronaldsay with nobody in sight.
Sunday was another beautiful day so I took myself for a bit of a bird watching. I am no bird watcher but I enjoy wandering aimlessly around in nice places and the bird watching gives me an excuse to wander not quite so aimlessly.
There has been a water rail at The loons reserve this week, apparently nest building. I have never seen a water rail and I like The Loons anyway so I decided to beetle off there. Needless to say, when I got there water rails were conspicuous by their abscence, not a one, zilch. It was really pleasant just sitting in the hide for an hour or so just looking over the pools and watching the birds that were there.
On the way back home I stopped off and had a wander round the Loch of Ayre in Holm. Again there was nothing spectacular, a few seals in the bay and some shelducks amongs the other ducks but again it was just pleasant to have a wander round in the sunshine.
In the evening we went with David and Claire for a meal at the Commodore. I was pleasantly surprised. I had always thought that the Commodore looked a fairly souless place but I had never been in. In fact it was really good. So good in fact that Pam put on a pound in weight, so now the next few days of her diet will be just an attempt to get back to where she was yesterday.
A lovely day today as of course it always is in Orkney. Sunshine, no wind and a clear sky.
We took the dog for a run on the beach in the hope of getting rid of some of her excess energy. It never works. She has more energy than can possibly used up by just running about for a bit. I think that putting dogs in treadmills similar to the ones that they used to have for turning spits over fires would be a good idea for renewable electricity generation. I am sure that Molly could generate enough power to run our house for the cost of a tin of dogfood per day.
RSPCA may not like it though.
It always astounds me that we can go down to such a huge,lovely beach and have it all to ourselves on a beautiful hot day in the middle of summer. Very occassionaly we see somebody else walking a dog but most of the time the beach just stretches out right across to South Ronaldsay with nobody in sight.
Sunday was another beautiful day so I took myself for a bit of a bird watching. I am no bird watcher but I enjoy wandering aimlessly around in nice places and the bird watching gives me an excuse to wander not quite so aimlessly.
There has been a water rail at The loons reserve this week, apparently nest building. I have never seen a water rail and I like The Loons anyway so I decided to beetle off there. Needless to say, when I got there water rails were conspicuous by their abscence, not a one, zilch. It was really pleasant just sitting in the hide for an hour or so just looking over the pools and watching the birds that were there.
On the way back home I stopped off and had a wander round the Loch of Ayre in Holm. Again there was nothing spectacular, a few seals in the bay and some shelducks amongs the other ducks but again it was just pleasant to have a wander round in the sunshine.
In the evening we went with David and Claire for a meal at the Commodore. I was pleasantly surprised. I had always thought that the Commodore looked a fairly souless place but I had never been in. In fact it was really good. So good in fact that Pam put on a pound in weight, so now the next few days of her diet will be just an attempt to get back to where she was yesterday.
To much information?
Monday 13th June 2011
For those readers of a squeamish disposition I suggest that you may like to move on to the next posting. Do not pass go. Do not collect £200.
Yesterday the trip to Westray was really enjoyable but today I am paying for it.
For the first time in my life I have got piles or to be more polite, heamorriods. Normally I would keep this information to myself but I am letting you know as a warning to those of you who are married to somebody who throws nothing away.
We had no pile cream in the house (well why would we?) so Pam said that I should use drapoline. This in itself is probably a leftover from when Maddy was a baby but worse is to come.
Pam said that she had left the ointment out in the bathroom. Well, we are dead posh and we have two bathrooms. (Are you ahead of me?) I applied the cream as required and then Pam's voice came from the bedroom asking when I was going to come for the cream.
I will omit the details of the conversation that followed but the gist of it was that the ointment that I should have used was in the en-suite. I then checked the ointment that I had actually used with Pam.
At this point you have to ask yourself why anybody who has not had horses for years would still have a tub of ointment for treating cracks in horses hooves, and furthermore, why would they keep it in the bathroom.
I have now discarded the offending ointment but on the plus side , there are no cracks in the heamorroids which have now dissapeared you will be pleased to know.
On Wednesday,Duncan came round to fetch some shelves for the book case and when he opened the door to come in, Molly shot out. At a guess she was probably looking for Duncan's dog Jock but he was not there so Molly just legged it off.
As usual when she is enjoying herself, she went deaf and didn't hear me calling her back. In the end she did come back when all the cows in the field surrounded her. They have calves and probably were not happy.
I just sat on the grass outside the field and Molly came through to sit by my side for protecdtion. Obviously fear is a better way to teach obedience than all these new fangled kindness methods.
Thursday was another of those "No Killer Whale" days. A pod was seen off Burray Ness at 5:15PM and they were reported as heading off north.
I didn't hear about them until 6:15PM and we immediately jumped into the car and tried to guess how far north they would have gone in an hour. We settled for Deerness being the best bet and so we shot off there as quickly as possible. Needless to say there was no sign of them when we got there.
Next morning we found out that the whales had turned back on themselves and were in the bay off No 4 barrier from 6:15 for about 20 minutes. If I had looked down from our house with the binoculars before setting off for Deerness then I would have seen them.
I think that we are doomed in the killer whale spotting stakes.
For those readers of a squeamish disposition I suggest that you may like to move on to the next posting. Do not pass go. Do not collect £200.
Yesterday the trip to Westray was really enjoyable but today I am paying for it.
For the first time in my life I have got piles or to be more polite, heamorriods. Normally I would keep this information to myself but I am letting you know as a warning to those of you who are married to somebody who throws nothing away.
We had no pile cream in the house (well why would we?) so Pam said that I should use drapoline. This in itself is probably a leftover from when Maddy was a baby but worse is to come.
Pam said that she had left the ointment out in the bathroom. Well, we are dead posh and we have two bathrooms. (Are you ahead of me?) I applied the cream as required and then Pam's voice came from the bedroom asking when I was going to come for the cream.
I will omit the details of the conversation that followed but the gist of it was that the ointment that I should have used was in the en-suite. I then checked the ointment that I had actually used with Pam.
At this point you have to ask yourself why anybody who has not had horses for years would still have a tub of ointment for treating cracks in horses hooves, and furthermore, why would they keep it in the bathroom.
I have now discarded the offending ointment but on the plus side , there are no cracks in the heamorroids which have now dissapeared you will be pleased to know.
On Wednesday,Duncan came round to fetch some shelves for the book case and when he opened the door to come in, Molly shot out. At a guess she was probably looking for Duncan's dog Jock but he was not there so Molly just legged it off.
As usual when she is enjoying herself, she went deaf and didn't hear me calling her back. In the end she did come back when all the cows in the field surrounded her. They have calves and probably were not happy.
I just sat on the grass outside the field and Molly came through to sit by my side for protecdtion. Obviously fear is a better way to teach obedience than all these new fangled kindness methods.
Thursday was another of those "No Killer Whale" days. A pod was seen off Burray Ness at 5:15PM and they were reported as heading off north.
I didn't hear about them until 6:15PM and we immediately jumped into the car and tried to guess how far north they would have gone in an hour. We settled for Deerness being the best bet and so we shot off there as quickly as possible. Needless to say there was no sign of them when we got there.
Next morning we found out that the whales had turned back on themselves and were in the bay off No 4 barrier from 6:15 for about 20 minutes. If I had looked down from our house with the binoculars before setting off for Deerness then I would have seen them.
I think that we are doomed in the killer whale spotting stakes.
Westray Trip
Sunday 12th June 2011
Not a bad day, a bit of light drizzle and a bit breezy but OK for walking in.
This time for a change, when I got to Kirkwall there was a ferry. In fact there were two ferries so I was spoilt for choice. I managed to figure out which one was the westray boat and met up with the rest of the motley crew who were going on the trip.
There were eleven of us, twelve if you count our guide Chris. He is the RSPB warden on Papay (Papa Westray) but was on his way back home and so was taking the walk on Westray before getting the boat over to Papay. At least I think that he was getting a boat but he may have been flying. (Interesting fact No 1. The flight from Westray to Papay is the shortest scheduled airline flight in the world. 2 minutes including taxiing at both ends although I think it has been done in about 90 seconds.)
Unfortunately the ferry from Kirkwall to Westray took a little longer than 90 seconds, about 90 minutes longer. there was nothing exciting on the way over but at least it was cheap. As I am over 60 and have a bus pass, I get half price on the ferries so it was only about £3.50 for the ferry and unexpectedly the mini bus that picked us up from the ferry, and took mus to the other end of Westray was free on my bus pass. I had assumed that the mini bus was a special hire as it took us to a farm off the beaten track for the start of our walk and then came to another farm to pick us up at a pre-arranged time in the afternoon.
The walk was not a long one, about 4 miles but it was better than most from the bird point of view. There were loads of puffins, some of which obligingly sat only a few feet away while we all took photos.
There were even more guillemots and razorbills and a fair sized gannet colony. Inland a bit was a colony of arctic terns and ever present as usual were the skuas. There were several great skuas (bonxies) and even a couple of arctic skuas.
The bonxies are the thugs of the bird world and they look the part. The arctic skuas on the other hand, though probably almost as bad, are much more graceful which makes you forgive them some things.
hen we started out on the walk Pauline had been quite concerned about the footware of some of the visitors. The grass was short and the grass and the stones were fairly slippy. She told several people to be very careful, especially near the edge of the cliffs. In the end nobody fell except pauline. She was very very lucky. We were at Noup Head and all the others had moved off. I was just taking a photo of some gannets when I heard a noise and turned to see Pauline falling. She landed and stopped flat on her stomach one foot from the edge of the cliffs. (The cliffs at this point are at least 200 foot straight down)
I gave her a hand up and she very quickly regained her composure as we walked up to the lighthouse. If it had been me that fell thenI would have had to sit down for 5 minutes to collect myself.
By the lighthouse there was a large seal colony. This is I think the biggest colony that I have seen, over 100 seals hauled out on the rocks.
Then it was a quick walk to the farm where the mini bus collected us and took us back to the pub for a meal and a pint before it returned to take us to the ferry.
The rain held off for most of the dayand it was a hunky-dory trip.
Not a bad day, a bit of light drizzle and a bit breezy but OK for walking in.
This time for a change, when I got to Kirkwall there was a ferry. In fact there were two ferries so I was spoilt for choice. I managed to figure out which one was the westray boat and met up with the rest of the motley crew who were going on the trip.
There were eleven of us, twelve if you count our guide Chris. He is the RSPB warden on Papay (Papa Westray) but was on his way back home and so was taking the walk on Westray before getting the boat over to Papay. At least I think that he was getting a boat but he may have been flying. (Interesting fact No 1. The flight from Westray to Papay is the shortest scheduled airline flight in the world. 2 minutes including taxiing at both ends although I think it has been done in about 90 seconds.)
Unfortunately the ferry from Kirkwall to Westray took a little longer than 90 seconds, about 90 minutes longer. there was nothing exciting on the way over but at least it was cheap. As I am over 60 and have a bus pass, I get half price on the ferries so it was only about £3.50 for the ferry and unexpectedly the mini bus that picked us up from the ferry, and took mus to the other end of Westray was free on my bus pass. I had assumed that the mini bus was a special hire as it took us to a farm off the beaten track for the start of our walk and then came to another farm to pick us up at a pre-arranged time in the afternoon.
The walk was not a long one, about 4 miles but it was better than most from the bird point of view. There were loads of puffins, some of which obligingly sat only a few feet away while we all took photos.
There were even more guillemots and razorbills and a fair sized gannet colony. Inland a bit was a colony of arctic terns and ever present as usual were the skuas. There were several great skuas (bonxies) and even a couple of arctic skuas.
The bonxies are the thugs of the bird world and they look the part. The arctic skuas on the other hand, though probably almost as bad, are much more graceful which makes you forgive them some things.
hen we started out on the walk Pauline had been quite concerned about the footware of some of the visitors. The grass was short and the grass and the stones were fairly slippy. She told several people to be very careful, especially near the edge of the cliffs. In the end nobody fell except pauline. She was very very lucky. We were at Noup Head and all the others had moved off. I was just taking a photo of some gannets when I heard a noise and turned to see Pauline falling. She landed and stopped flat on her stomach one foot from the edge of the cliffs. (The cliffs at this point are at least 200 foot straight down)
I gave her a hand up and she very quickly regained her composure as we walked up to the lighthouse. If it had been me that fell thenI would have had to sit down for 5 minutes to collect myself.
By the lighthouse there was a large seal colony. This is I think the biggest colony that I have seen, over 100 seals hauled out on the rocks.
Then it was a quick walk to the farm where the mini bus collected us and took us back to the pub for a meal and a pint before it returned to take us to the ferry.
The rain held off for most of the dayand it was a hunky-dory trip.
Not much happened.
Sunday 5th June 2011
This week was a bit of a nothing happened week. I seem to have spent half my time doing chicken things and getting the chicken shed fitted out using some of the bits out of the old kitchen. The chicken shed is not for the chickens to live in but is for me to keep all the chicken stuff, the young chicks while thay are on heat lights and the incubators.
I managed to get the electrics sorted out and have installed the old work surface and sink that was taken out of the kitchen in the house. All I have to do now is to rig up a water supply and some drains. I think that I have an old water heater somewhere so I will have to root that out and fit it aswell.
The bottom field was looking a bit unkempt so I topped the grass off but there are now a few orchids in the field as well as in the garden so I mowed round these as I like seeing them about. They are not rare and even grow along the road verges but I do not like to cut them down before they have seeded. Consequently the field now looks as though it has been attacked by a drunken trainee barber. Long patches of grass here and there and mower tracks swerving all over the place. Gareth would be ashamed of me.
I managed to break one of the belts on the sit on mower so I had to finish the lawn with the tractor and pasture topper, once again avoiding the orchids. It now looks worse than the field as e are about 100 orchids in the lawn and I have swerved round to miss almost all of them.
Duncan finally got the shower in the old bathroom finished. Only a year late but then you can not go rushing things up here. That is the last thing that has to be done to the house I think, so Pam is a happy bunny.
On Wednesday evening we went to the Al Murray show at the Picky Centre. It was the first time we have been to a "Do" there and I was impressed by the arrangements. Unfortunately, I was less impressed by Al Murray, though some others really enjoyed it. His act seemed to me to mainly rely on taking the piss out of the people in the front three rows of the audience.
Duncan enjoyed it but then he knew all the people in the front three rows so maybe that is why I didn't enjoy it so much.
Having sad that, it was an OK night, just not as good as I was hoping for. Maybe Eddie Izzard will come up here one day.
On Saturday morning I had a senior moment (or a senior couple of hours) I got up early, packed my lunch and other bits and bobs and headed off to Kirkwall to catch the ferry to Westray. Imagine my consternation when on arriving at the harbour there were no ferries to be seen and I knew that I was in plenty of time. After asking the whereabouts of the ferries, I concluded correctly that I had got the wrong day and that the trip to Westray was Sunday and not Saturday so back home again.
This week was a bit of a nothing happened week. I seem to have spent half my time doing chicken things and getting the chicken shed fitted out using some of the bits out of the old kitchen. The chicken shed is not for the chickens to live in but is for me to keep all the chicken stuff, the young chicks while thay are on heat lights and the incubators.
I managed to get the electrics sorted out and have installed the old work surface and sink that was taken out of the kitchen in the house. All I have to do now is to rig up a water supply and some drains. I think that I have an old water heater somewhere so I will have to root that out and fit it aswell.
The bottom field was looking a bit unkempt so I topped the grass off but there are now a few orchids in the field as well as in the garden so I mowed round these as I like seeing them about. They are not rare and even grow along the road verges but I do not like to cut them down before they have seeded. Consequently the field now looks as though it has been attacked by a drunken trainee barber. Long patches of grass here and there and mower tracks swerving all over the place. Gareth would be ashamed of me.
I managed to break one of the belts on the sit on mower so I had to finish the lawn with the tractor and pasture topper, once again avoiding the orchids. It now looks worse than the field as e are about 100 orchids in the lawn and I have swerved round to miss almost all of them.
Duncan finally got the shower in the old bathroom finished. Only a year late but then you can not go rushing things up here. That is the last thing that has to be done to the house I think, so Pam is a happy bunny.
On Wednesday evening we went to the Al Murray show at the Picky Centre. It was the first time we have been to a "Do" there and I was impressed by the arrangements. Unfortunately, I was less impressed by Al Murray, though some others really enjoyed it. His act seemed to me to mainly rely on taking the piss out of the people in the front three rows of the audience.
Duncan enjoyed it but then he knew all the people in the front three rows so maybe that is why I didn't enjoy it so much.
Having sad that, it was an OK night, just not as good as I was hoping for. Maybe Eddie Izzard will come up here one day.
On Saturday morning I had a senior moment (or a senior couple of hours) I got up early, packed my lunch and other bits and bobs and headed off to Kirkwall to catch the ferry to Westray. Imagine my consternation when on arriving at the harbour there were no ferries to be seen and I knew that I was in plenty of time. After asking the whereabouts of the ferries, I concluded correctly that I had got the wrong day and that the trip to Westray was Sunday and not Saturday so back home again.
Pam comes on a trip
4th June 2011
Well life seems to be full of trips out at the moment. It's another lovely day today, so another trip. For a change this time Pam came aswell. I think that this was mainly because no walking was involved.
The RSPB had organised a boat trip to see the breeding sea birds around the cliffs at Deerness including going into a couple of sea caves. It had originally been organised for a couple of earlier dates but was postponed each time because they need really calm weather.
We met down at Sandside bay in Deerness where Sydney the boatman has his house and boat. A lovely place next to St Ninians Chapel. The chapel was up for sale a couple ofyears ago and Barbara looked at it when she was thinking of moving up here but it was eventually bought by a group of people from Deerness (The friends of St Ninian), and is now used for the community. I am sure that this is better than turning it into another converted chapel for housing. It seems to have given a boost to the Deerness community and they are very active now.
Anyway, back to the plot.
There were 3 boat trips and we were on the second one. there were about 10 people aboard the boat and when I saw where we were going I understood why we needed perfect calm weather.
The boat cut across the bay to the base of the cliffs and went in very close, dodging rocks both above the surface and just under the water for most of the time. (On occassions like this you just have to believe that the skipper knows what he is doing.)
Sydney, the boatman was very good, not only did he manage to steer the boat safely into many very risky looking places but he was a mine of information about the coastline, the geology, the wildlife and the people of Deerness.
He took us right into The Gloup.As you can see, the entrance is very narrow and normally there is a good swell so it would be a bit dicey if it was not perfectly calm.
I have seen The Gloup from the landward side and it is an old sea cave which has had most of the roof collapse leaving a deep,narrow inlet which is accessed through an arch that still remains from the cave roof. I did not realise that the cave still goes a lot further back than you can see from the top. Sydney took us right in with very little room on either side of the boat at the entrance and then through The Gloup and into the cave at the other end.
This photo is coming back out of the cave into The Gloup under a little waterfall so it was "hoods up" for everyone.
It was a bit reminiscent of the boat trips round Blue John mines in Derbyshire. It feels really unnatural being in boat in the pitch dark inside a cave.Then it was back out into the Gloup, through the arch and out to sea again.
I was surprised to see that in the three sea caves that we went into there were shags nesting on ledges inside the back of the caves where it was almost dark. As we approached they just slid off their nests and dived under the water. I suppose it is a really safe place for them as all the predators hunt by sight and you can not see a nest in a cave from up in the sky.
Round the cliffs by Mull Head there were Black Guillemots, razor bills and a few puffins nesting.Some of the guillemots have a spectacle marking around their eyes and according to Sydney, who knows everythi, the further north you go the more of the birds have these markings. The day is not wasted. I have learnt something.
Finally we returned to Sandside bay where we had started from but on the way we went close to some skerries where there were a load of seals and some pups.
As always seems to be the case, there had been some killer whales in Sandside bay the previous day, presumably looking for careless seals or pups but of course there was not a sign of them while we were there. Pam is normally dead keen to see some killer whales but this time she decided that she did not want to see any fish that was bigger than the boat that she was in. (For Barbara, my pedantic daughter. I know they are mammals)
When we landed, Pauline, who organised the trip asked if I wanted to go on a trip to Westray on the 12th. I considered this carefully for 2 seconds or so before saying yes but Pam chickened out as there was a fair bit of walking involved.
Well life seems to be full of trips out at the moment. It's another lovely day today, so another trip. For a change this time Pam came aswell. I think that this was mainly because no walking was involved.
The RSPB had organised a boat trip to see the breeding sea birds around the cliffs at Deerness including going into a couple of sea caves. It had originally been organised for a couple of earlier dates but was postponed each time because they need really calm weather.
We met down at Sandside bay in Deerness where Sydney the boatman has his house and boat. A lovely place next to St Ninians Chapel. The chapel was up for sale a couple ofyears ago and Barbara looked at it when she was thinking of moving up here but it was eventually bought by a group of people from Deerness (The friends of St Ninian), and is now used for the community. I am sure that this is better than turning it into another converted chapel for housing. It seems to have given a boost to the Deerness community and they are very active now.
Anyway, back to the plot.
There were 3 boat trips and we were on the second one. there were about 10 people aboard the boat and when I saw where we were going I understood why we needed perfect calm weather.
The boat cut across the bay to the base of the cliffs and went in very close, dodging rocks both above the surface and just under the water for most of the time. (On occassions like this you just have to believe that the skipper knows what he is doing.)
Sydney, the boatman was very good, not only did he manage to steer the boat safely into many very risky looking places but he was a mine of information about the coastline, the geology, the wildlife and the people of Deerness.
He took us right into The Gloup.As you can see, the entrance is very narrow and normally there is a good swell so it would be a bit dicey if it was not perfectly calm.
I have seen The Gloup from the landward side and it is an old sea cave which has had most of the roof collapse leaving a deep,narrow inlet which is accessed through an arch that still remains from the cave roof. I did not realise that the cave still goes a lot further back than you can see from the top. Sydney took us right in with very little room on either side of the boat at the entrance and then through The Gloup and into the cave at the other end.
This photo is coming back out of the cave into The Gloup under a little waterfall so it was "hoods up" for everyone.
It was a bit reminiscent of the boat trips round Blue John mines in Derbyshire. It feels really unnatural being in boat in the pitch dark inside a cave.Then it was back out into the Gloup, through the arch and out to sea again.
I was surprised to see that in the three sea caves that we went into there were shags nesting on ledges inside the back of the caves where it was almost dark. As we approached they just slid off their nests and dived under the water. I suppose it is a really safe place for them as all the predators hunt by sight and you can not see a nest in a cave from up in the sky.
Round the cliffs by Mull Head there were Black Guillemots, razor bills and a few puffins nesting.Some of the guillemots have a spectacle marking around their eyes and according to Sydney, who knows everythi, the further north you go the more of the birds have these markings. The day is not wasted. I have learnt something.
Finally we returned to Sandside bay where we had started from but on the way we went close to some skerries where there were a load of seals and some pups.
As always seems to be the case, there had been some killer whales in Sandside bay the previous day, presumably looking for careless seals or pups but of course there was not a sign of them while we were there. Pam is normally dead keen to see some killer whales but this time she decided that she did not want to see any fish that was bigger than the boat that she was in. (For Barbara, my pedantic daughter. I know they are mammals)
When we landed, Pauline, who organised the trip asked if I wanted to go on a trip to Westray on the 12th. I considered this carefully for 2 seconds or so before saying yes but Pam chickened out as there was a fair bit of walking involved.
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