Bag the Bruck, gardening and sunshine!

This weekend has been just glorious with sunshine, warmth and blue skies (OK it was cloudy Saturday but still NO WIND....). I'm making slow but sure progress in the garden. I planted onions this weekend, plus several rows of carrots too. I'm unlikely to be self sufficient(!) but it will be nice to eat fresh produce, which always seems to taste better when home grown.

I've mainly be using seaweed as fertiliser, and the hens love rootling around the fresh seaweed for grubs and things. I leave the seaweed on top of the earth to dry for a few days then dig into the bed before planting. I've never used seaweed as a fertiliser before but it is a great organic fertilizer and so near to hand for me! I also have some well rotted cow manure which I used for the carrot bed today as I thought I might lose the seeds among the seaweed!

This weekend is also "Bag the Bruck" weekend in Orkney. "Bruck" is Orcadian for rubbish. A local environmental group provide bags and gloves and communities across Orkney go out round the beaches, reservoirs etc and gather any flotsam or jetsom or whatever rubbish is lying around. So today Irene and I went along the beach at Sandside gathering up old netting, bottles, pipes, or whatever we could find. Button, of course, had to come along to ensure we were doing things properly........ We sat on the beach having a wee rest after our exertions and Button did her "Sphinx" impersonation.

Later on in the afternoon a group from Stromness came across the water in their Kayaks. Some of them had a short wander around the island before heading back as the tide changed.

So it's been a beautiful weekend to be outdoors and I think I am finally losing my winter palor!