The morning started bright and breezy but the wind dropped later and it turned into a beautiful afternoon so we took a trip out to Brodgar. The ring of Brodgar is Pam's favourite place in Orkney (and therefore the world) and if the light is right then it is a very atmospheric place. I don't know why some of these places feel so unusual but they do.
The ring is in a beautiful place, situated on a narrow strip of land between the two big lochs but that is not what is special about it. There is something indefinable about it. Maybe it is the place and that is why they built the ring there or maybe it is the ring itself. Probably a bit of both.
From Brodgar up to Birsay for a cuppa in the tearooms where some Lapland Buntings obligingly sat just outside the window while I tried to figure out what they were. There were loads of seals basking on the rocks by the Brough. The wildlife is all very convenient up here.
On Monday morning Molly was very relieved because Duncan turned up with Jock.
Come to that, Pam was quite pleased aswell but not because she wanted to run round a field chasing Jock.
Duncan and a couple of mates got the roof beams and the big heavy RSJ up without the aid of machines although they did manage to drop the gable end section when an unexpected gust of wind caught it but fortunately nobody was hurt.
In the end however they got all the framework up so tomorrow it is the sarking. I think that sarking is just a technical term meant to intimidate the layman. I am fairly sure that it just means planks of wood.
Tuesday
I was right, sarking just means putting planks on the roof.
I am told that in Scotland instead of just using roofing felt and laths, the roofs are fully boarded to make them windproof and the tiles are nailed straight onto the boards. That seems very sensible, especially up here.
The lads got all the sarking on except for a couple of bits where some pieces are to be fitted to tie in with the existing roof so at last it is looking like a nice shed. I personally think that we should stop there, a good shed would be OK.
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