Friday 5th November 2010
Well it is a week since I put anything on the blog but then not much has happened.
Well, when I say "nothing much has happened", I really mean that nothing that I consider fascinating has happened to me in my isolated little life. People elsewhere will have been born or died and no doubt great events have occured but they have all passed me by without leaving a ripple.
Insular little sod aren't I.
Last Monday was not a bad day for the start of November ( see we are getting towards winter so days are not now "nice", they are sometimes "not bad"). Anyway, it was not a bad day so when I took Pam down to the surgery in The Hope for routine maintenance, I had a wander round and up to the pier. As you will have come to expect, there were no waxwings.
On the subject of nature, Orkney must have a reasonable number of otters near us as there were 3 run down by cars last week. Two of them near the barriers and one further away in Kirkwall. Admittedly the otter population is now three less than it was but if otters are becoming normal road kill then they must be reasonably common. Well that is my logic anyway. Of course, like waxwings, the place could be littered with otters but I would never see one.
The RSPB have caught three stoats in the past couple of weeks but as there are not supposed to be any stoats on Orkney then that is not quite such a welcome sign. They have been humanely shipped off to somewhere in Fife and released. Orkney bird watchers have been asked to keep their eye out for stoats and photos of stoat footprints have been put on the internet. I would think that it is very unlikely that a birdwatcher with his/her eyes to the sky would see a tiny stoat footprint in the sand. Even somebody wandering along looking down at the sand all the time would be hard pushed to see them.
Tuesday and Wednesday were windy and wet. I don't mind the wind to much but I do not like driving horizontal rain so we stopped in most of the time. I just took Molly out into the field for a play with Jock a few times during the dry intervals. Jock was confused as he normally guesses where the ball will go and gets there before the ball lands. Today however, it was anybody's guess where the ball was going once the wind got it.
Thursday was supposed to be even worse. The forecast had given force 9 gales but it turned outto be a pleasant day.
It was the birthday of our friend Dave from Holm today so we went down to drop off his card and a load of definitely unhealthy cakes that Pam had baked for him. As we were in Holm, I had a quick wander round the loch and round the bay a bit. I think that the path goes a long way round and it seemed as though it may be a nice walk with plenty of waders and ducks if you like that sort of thing. I will have to go for a longer walk round sometime.
Friday was the second day on the run that Jock has not been up so Molly was pining away. I have sorted Molly now so that she can not run away in the field. I have a long piece of string with a lump of wood tied to the end. When this is tied to her collar she can run round towing the lump of wood and I can stamp on the string to catch her.
You have to give it to Molly though. She figured out straight away that when I bend down towards the string, I can reel her in so she comes to me. If I do not bend down then she just legs it.
Pam got some new lights for the living room the other day and I had to put them up today. Previously we just had bare bulbs dangling and glaring bright light everywhere. Now we have two pretty ornaments on the ceiling that Pam likes but the room is darker so I will have to get a table lamp to go next to my chair if I want to read (or eat a lot more carrots). Heigh Ho.
In the evening there was a bonfire down on the beach by No 4 barrier. We did not go down but saw some of the fireworks from the garden. Molly was definitely not impressed. She was not frightened but was fascinated by the lights and wanted to get over the gate to go and see what they were but she was annoyed by the bangs.
Seals-R-Us
Sunday 31st October 2010
A lovely morning so Molly and I had a good long walk across the beach and down to the barrier.
I got Maddy's baby tractor out and shifted several loads of reasonably sized stones from the pile of rubble that the builders had left after knocking the door and window out.
The builder is supposed to be removing the rubble next week and I thought that it was a waste to just let him dump all the good stones in with the rubble so I will save them for something.
After dinner we went down to South Ronaldsay again on a seal hunt. This time though I had looked on the aerial view on multimap. Ithought "If I were a seal, where would I go to have pups". That is assuming that I was a female seal as male seals do not have pups and I am a male but you get the idea. Anyway I was right so I finally found some seal pups.
There were about 10 pups on this beach with another 70 or so on another beach across the bay but they were at the bottom of sheer cliffs so I could not get down to them.
There was a way down from the top at this little beach so I could get near enough to get a decent photo.
I could have got right down to the beach but did not want to disturb them to much in case I upset the mothers. In addition I always think that although they look sweet and harmless, seals are very large carnivores with very big sharp teeth and they may resent me being to near their pups.
A lovely morning so Molly and I had a good long walk across the beach and down to the barrier.
I got Maddy's baby tractor out and shifted several loads of reasonably sized stones from the pile of rubble that the builders had left after knocking the door and window out.
The builder is supposed to be removing the rubble next week and I thought that it was a waste to just let him dump all the good stones in with the rubble so I will save them for something.
After dinner we went down to South Ronaldsay again on a seal hunt. This time though I had looked on the aerial view on multimap. Ithought "If I were a seal, where would I go to have pups". That is assuming that I was a female seal as male seals do not have pups and I am a male but you get the idea. Anyway I was right so I finally found some seal pups.
There were about 10 pups on this beach with another 70 or so on another beach across the bay but they were at the bottom of sheer cliffs so I could not get down to them.
There was a way down from the top at this little beach so I could get near enough to get a decent photo.
I could have got right down to the beach but did not want to disturb them to much in case I upset the mothers. In addition I always think that although they look sweet and harmless, seals are very large carnivores with very big sharp teeth and they may resent me being to near their pups.
The return of Jock
Friday 29th October 2010
Friday morning and Molly was happy. Jock came up to play today for the first time in several days so she was bouncing all over him.
Duncan tells me that Jock is just as bad and if Duncan goes round to his parents in the morning then Jock will not eat his breakfast because he knows he is coming up here and he gets to excited.
The plumbers finally got round to fitting a stop cock to our water supply after I have been asking for 2 months. They had to turn off the supply to Mr Scotts farm up the road because our supply is taken straight off his water pipe. I duly went up and told Mr Scott what we were doing and explained that the water would be off for 10 to 15 minutes. The plumber then cut the pipe to fit the stopcock and found that the one he had was the wrong size. He therefore had to shoot of to Kirkwall to get the correct one and I had to go to Mr Scott and tell him that his water would be off for about one and a half hours just as he was having his dinner. Hopefully he had a full kettle of water.
However all's well that ends well and I now at least have a stopcock.
On Saturday we went down to the garden centre in Kirkwall where the RSPB were having a "feed the birds day" with info on what to feed and so forth.
We were looking for some plants and shrubs for the garden but there was not much there. I suppose they may have some more stock in next spring.
I got a big ball of string and made a lead for Molly. It is about 20 yards long with a lump of wood on the end so I can let her go and if she won't come back then I can just stamp on the string and reel her in.
Friday morning and Molly was happy. Jock came up to play today for the first time in several days so she was bouncing all over him.
Duncan tells me that Jock is just as bad and if Duncan goes round to his parents in the morning then Jock will not eat his breakfast because he knows he is coming up here and he gets to excited.
The plumbers finally got round to fitting a stop cock to our water supply after I have been asking for 2 months. They had to turn off the supply to Mr Scotts farm up the road because our supply is taken straight off his water pipe. I duly went up and told Mr Scott what we were doing and explained that the water would be off for 10 to 15 minutes. The plumber then cut the pipe to fit the stopcock and found that the one he had was the wrong size. He therefore had to shoot of to Kirkwall to get the correct one and I had to go to Mr Scott and tell him that his water would be off for about one and a half hours just as he was having his dinner. Hopefully he had a full kettle of water.
However all's well that ends well and I now at least have a stopcock.
On Saturday we went down to the garden centre in Kirkwall where the RSPB were having a "feed the birds day" with info on what to feed and so forth.
We were looking for some plants and shrubs for the garden but there was not much there. I suppose they may have some more stock in next spring.
I got a big ball of string and made a lead for Molly. It is about 20 yards long with a lump of wood on the end so I can let her go and if she won't come back then I can just stamp on the string and reel her in.
No waxwings either
Monday 25th October 2010
I had to take Pam down to the surgery in The Hope so I took the opportunity to wander out towards the pier where the Pentalina docks as there had been reports of waxwings there.
You may not be surprised to hear that all the waxwings had left as soon as they heard I was coming.
From Pier Road it is a nice view across Water Sound to Burray and you can't see all the scaffolding on the house so it doesn't look bad.
Tuesday was a really nice day so Molly and I had an extra long walk right round the beach. The world and his dog (literally) seemed to have the same idea so Molly was chuffed as she got to see 3 dogs that she likes and have a good sniff while the humans chatted.
We went for a meal with David and Claire to the Skerries on South Ronaldsayin the evening. From the car park you can see the lights from houses on the scottish mainland across the Pentland Firth. The Skerries is just a few hundred yards from The Tomb of Eagles, one of the more famous neolithic sites on Orkney. Earlier today the archeologists had started a dig just outside the door of the restraunt. A few weeks ago somebody had moved some stones from the top of a mound and had found themselves looking into a hole with a skull looking back at them from a pool of water. The county archeologist was informed and they decided to dig it straight away, probably because of the risk of water damage to the bones.
If they get it excavated and roofed over then it could make a good attraction for the restraunt next season.
Wednesday morning was overcast, wet and windy and when I looked out of the window at about mid day I though that something had happened to the pier down at the village. I could not see the landward end at all.
It then dawned on me that it was still there but was almost covered by the sea. It must have been a particularly high tide and with the stiff south westerly breeze, the swell was covering the pier.
I nipped down to the village later but the tide had begun to recede so the water was not quite making it over the pier.
Thursday dawned beautiful and sunny with no wind and surprisingly it stayed that way all day.
We had 4 or 5 people (plumbers and electricians) working on the extension all day and it is now covered in pipework and has bits of wire poking down from the ceiling and out of holes all over the place.
Duncan was only up breifly with Jock which did not go down well with Molly. She saw Jock out of the window but by the time I got her out he had gone.
She had her dog training in the evening so at least she managed to see some dogs including a new one that she had a good sniff at. Having a new dog in the group threw her a bit and she ignored me for the first 10 minutes but after that she did OK. I however did not do so well and was told that she was doing everything right and quickly but that I should have been more strict with her. I thought "Why be more strict if she is doing it all properly and fast" but I suppose I will have to raise my voice a bit in future.
I had to take Pam down to the surgery in The Hope so I took the opportunity to wander out towards the pier where the Pentalina docks as there had been reports of waxwings there.
You may not be surprised to hear that all the waxwings had left as soon as they heard I was coming.
From Pier Road it is a nice view across Water Sound to Burray and you can't see all the scaffolding on the house so it doesn't look bad.
Tuesday was a really nice day so Molly and I had an extra long walk right round the beach. The world and his dog (literally) seemed to have the same idea so Molly was chuffed as she got to see 3 dogs that she likes and have a good sniff while the humans chatted.
We went for a meal with David and Claire to the Skerries on South Ronaldsayin the evening. From the car park you can see the lights from houses on the scottish mainland across the Pentland Firth. The Skerries is just a few hundred yards from The Tomb of Eagles, one of the more famous neolithic sites on Orkney. Earlier today the archeologists had started a dig just outside the door of the restraunt. A few weeks ago somebody had moved some stones from the top of a mound and had found themselves looking into a hole with a skull looking back at them from a pool of water. The county archeologist was informed and they decided to dig it straight away, probably because of the risk of water damage to the bones.
If they get it excavated and roofed over then it could make a good attraction for the restraunt next season.
Wednesday morning was overcast, wet and windy and when I looked out of the window at about mid day I though that something had happened to the pier down at the village. I could not see the landward end at all.
It then dawned on me that it was still there but was almost covered by the sea. It must have been a particularly high tide and with the stiff south westerly breeze, the swell was covering the pier.
I nipped down to the village later but the tide had begun to recede so the water was not quite making it over the pier.
Thursday dawned beautiful and sunny with no wind and surprisingly it stayed that way all day.
We had 4 or 5 people (plumbers and electricians) working on the extension all day and it is now covered in pipework and has bits of wire poking down from the ceiling and out of holes all over the place.
Duncan was only up breifly with Jock which did not go down well with Molly. She saw Jock out of the window but by the time I got her out he had gone.
She had her dog training in the evening so at least she managed to see some dogs including a new one that she had a good sniff at. Having a new dog in the group threw her a bit and she ignored me for the first 10 minutes but after that she did OK. I however did not do so well and was told that she was doing everything right and quickly but that I should have been more strict with her. I thought "Why be more strict if she is doing it all properly and fast" but I suppose I will have to raise my voice a bit in future.
First snow on the tops of Hoy
Thursday 21st October 2010
A cool morning but quite pleasant. I went down to the tip at The Hope and looking back, all the slopes of the Hoy hills were covered in snow for quite a way down from the tops. Very picture skew it was to. A much better view than that from most rubbish dumps. Unfortunately I did not have a camera with me and I am to old to use a mobile phone for taking photos. If I start down that road then the next thing will be talking into the camera. I already talk to the television, so it wouldn't be long before I got locked away.
On Friday we went to the dreaded shop again. Hurray!! We also went to several other places to get very interesting things for the extension.
I can not remember what all the interesting things were but Pam assures me that they were interesting.
On Saturday there was a model show at Firth community centre in Finstown. I asked Pam if she wanted to go down there but she declined. I don't think that I will ever understand women. She was all excited about sinks, showers and wooden floors and yet today, she is not even a bit excited about going to a model show at which there were several model railways amongst other things. Perhaps as she is still convalescing after her op then that may account for her otherwise unexplicable behaviour.
We went out on another fruitless seal hunt on Sunday. It's a good job that we are not eskimo's, we would have starved to death by now. It was a nice day however and we got round several places that we have not been before.
For those of you who are convinced that Orkney is a cold and desolate place, I took a photo looking down towards Herston. Note the palm trees. Considering the fact that trees of any sort are not exactly common here, palm trees can be seen in gardens all over the place. I assume that they are sucessful because we do not get many frosts and palms are built to cope with high winds.
A cool morning but quite pleasant. I went down to the tip at The Hope and looking back, all the slopes of the Hoy hills were covered in snow for quite a way down from the tops. Very picture skew it was to. A much better view than that from most rubbish dumps. Unfortunately I did not have a camera with me and I am to old to use a mobile phone for taking photos. If I start down that road then the next thing will be talking into the camera. I already talk to the television, so it wouldn't be long before I got locked away.
On Friday we went to the dreaded shop again. Hurray!! We also went to several other places to get very interesting things for the extension.
I can not remember what all the interesting things were but Pam assures me that they were interesting.
On Saturday there was a model show at Firth community centre in Finstown. I asked Pam if she wanted to go down there but she declined. I don't think that I will ever understand women. She was all excited about sinks, showers and wooden floors and yet today, she is not even a bit excited about going to a model show at which there were several model railways amongst other things. Perhaps as she is still convalescing after her op then that may account for her otherwise unexplicable behaviour.
We went out on another fruitless seal hunt on Sunday. It's a good job that we are not eskimo's, we would have starved to death by now. It was a nice day however and we got round several places that we have not been before.
For those of you who are convinced that Orkney is a cold and desolate place, I took a photo looking down towards Herston. Note the palm trees. Considering the fact that trees of any sort are not exactly common here, palm trees can be seen in gardens all over the place. I assume that they are sucessful because we do not get many frosts and palms are built to cope with high winds.
Who needs birds?
Wednesday 20th October 2010
It was supposed to be a wet and windy day today and there was a U3A old farts bird watching walk on. As the day actually looked as though it may not be as bad as they forecast I thought that I would give it a go.
The weather forecasts up here are notoriously innaccurate. It is probably not the forcasters fault. I think that Orkney is often on the edge of a lot of the weather systems and a few miles either way and they either hit or miss us. The weather also changes so fast. The local saying is that if you don't like the weather then wait 5 minutes and it will change.
I do not normally like paying for clothes but I have lashed out and bought a decent weather proof insulated jacket, a good pair of waterproof over trousers and a decent set of boots. I think that the winter weather here makes it worth having a good set of outdoor clothing or I would have to either stay indoors or just get cold and wet.
Anyway, back to the plot. I got all dressed up and insulated better than the space shuttle and so of course the weather was really pleasant with just 2 or 3 light showers. Although it is supposed to be a bird walk we did not see many birds,a hen harrier and a brambling being the highlights.
As we are all, including myself, old and slow, I was not quick enough with the camera to get a decent photo of the harrier so just to add a bit of interest and colour,this is somebody else's photo of a male hen harrier so that you know what they look like.
Impressive birds eh!
These U3A walks are really just an excuse for a load of oldies to get together and go for a reasonable stroll in good company. They do this very well. Although we are new up here i am welcomed and get on well with all the others and it is nice to have a reason to go for a bit of a walk in various places that I may not otherwise get to. The walks are normally only about 5 miles so it is not to demanding so suits me well. It's nice to see a few birds and adds interest to the walks but they are really just incidental.
One of the ladies on the walk is very knowledgeable about birds but another two people seem to know half the people in Orkney and who lives where, who's cows are in this or that field and all the local scandal so we just wander round chatting like a bunch of old farts which is where we came in.
It was supposed to be a wet and windy day today and there was a U3A old farts bird watching walk on. As the day actually looked as though it may not be as bad as they forecast I thought that I would give it a go.
The weather forecasts up here are notoriously innaccurate. It is probably not the forcasters fault. I think that Orkney is often on the edge of a lot of the weather systems and a few miles either way and they either hit or miss us. The weather also changes so fast. The local saying is that if you don't like the weather then wait 5 minutes and it will change.
I do not normally like paying for clothes but I have lashed out and bought a decent weather proof insulated jacket, a good pair of waterproof over trousers and a decent set of boots. I think that the winter weather here makes it worth having a good set of outdoor clothing or I would have to either stay indoors or just get cold and wet.
Anyway, back to the plot. I got all dressed up and insulated better than the space shuttle and so of course the weather was really pleasant with just 2 or 3 light showers. Although it is supposed to be a bird walk we did not see many birds,a hen harrier and a brambling being the highlights.
As we are all, including myself, old and slow, I was not quick enough with the camera to get a decent photo of the harrier so just to add a bit of interest and colour,this is somebody else's photo of a male hen harrier so that you know what they look like.
Impressive birds eh!
These U3A walks are really just an excuse for a load of oldies to get together and go for a reasonable stroll in good company. They do this very well. Although we are new up here i am welcomed and get on well with all the others and it is nice to have a reason to go for a bit of a walk in various places that I may not otherwise get to. The walks are normally only about 5 miles so it is not to demanding so suits me well. It's nice to see a few birds and adds interest to the walks but they are really just incidental.
One of the ladies on the walk is very knowledgeable about birds but another two people seem to know half the people in Orkney and who lives where, who's cows are in this or that field and all the local scandal so we just wander round chatting like a bunch of old farts which is where we came in.
These seals are rubbish
Sunday 17th October 2010
Not to be defeated in the search for seal pups we took another trip out round Windwick and Burwick as I had heard that there were pups at Burwick.
It will come as no surprise to you dear reader, that we did not find any of the damn things. But this time I did not even see or hear any adult seals.
On Monday things went from bad to worse as the new Tesco store opened in Kirkwall.
Now you will know that Tesco's is to say the least, not my favourite shop and the idea of going round the new one on the first day of opening was to my mind only marginally better than castrating myself with my teeth and no anaesthetic.
So of course we went to Tesco's. It was the first time since moving up to Orkney that I have felt my heartrate rising and I do not think that it was because I was excited by the prospect of shopping there.
It is not that I don't like shopping. Shearer's is a nice shop. They sell everything from bread to beachcaster fishing rods and from baked beans to wood burning stoves. It is almost a pleasure to go there. Fighting my way round a supermarket full of crazed women who look one way and push their trolleys the other way while we buy stuff that we either don't need or could have got from Shearer's strikes me as little short of masochism.
If we needed to have a selection of 43 different types of pasta then maybe we need to go to Tesco's but we don't.
Tuesday came as it often does after Monday and the builders started knocking the window out of the old bedroom wall. When the new window is fitted then that will be almost all the external work done.
In the afternoon Pam thought that she was getting a bit of an infection in the wound from her op so I managed to persuade her to phone up and make an appointment to see the practice nurse on Wednesday. It was 5:15 PM when she phoned but this being Orkney instead of England, the doctor told her to come straight round and he would see her as soon as she got there instead of making an appointment for sometime in the next few days.
We shot round to the surgery and he checked Pam, took some samples and started her on antibiotics straight away.
Even Pam thinks that the standard of care up here is much better than down south even if we do have to travle to Aberdeen for some things.
Not to be defeated in the search for seal pups we took another trip out round Windwick and Burwick as I had heard that there were pups at Burwick.
It will come as no surprise to you dear reader, that we did not find any of the damn things. But this time I did not even see or hear any adult seals.
On Monday things went from bad to worse as the new Tesco store opened in Kirkwall.
Now you will know that Tesco's is to say the least, not my favourite shop and the idea of going round the new one on the first day of opening was to my mind only marginally better than castrating myself with my teeth and no anaesthetic.
So of course we went to Tesco's. It was the first time since moving up to Orkney that I have felt my heartrate rising and I do not think that it was because I was excited by the prospect of shopping there.
It is not that I don't like shopping. Shearer's is a nice shop. They sell everything from bread to beachcaster fishing rods and from baked beans to wood burning stoves. It is almost a pleasure to go there. Fighting my way round a supermarket full of crazed women who look one way and push their trolleys the other way while we buy stuff that we either don't need or could have got from Shearer's strikes me as little short of masochism.
If we needed to have a selection of 43 different types of pasta then maybe we need to go to Tesco's but we don't.
Tuesday came as it often does after Monday and the builders started knocking the window out of the old bedroom wall. When the new window is fitted then that will be almost all the external work done.
In the afternoon Pam thought that she was getting a bit of an infection in the wound from her op so I managed to persuade her to phone up and make an appointment to see the practice nurse on Wednesday. It was 5:15 PM when she phoned but this being Orkney instead of England, the doctor told her to come straight round and he would see her as soon as she got there instead of making an appointment for sometime in the next few days.
We shot round to the surgery and he checked Pam, took some samples and started her on antibiotics straight away.
Even Pam thinks that the standard of care up here is much better than down south even if we do have to travle to Aberdeen for some things.
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