Lovely sunny days for visitors....

Well we won't mention the gale on the Sunday when my visitors were here, which was a time to stay indoors with books and a lovely roast dinner cooked by G, one of my guests. Yum! But they enjoyed their visit, and went swimming several times off the beach and near the pier, with a little snorkelling thrown in. Tales of seals, fish and jellyfish..... And we all went outside to watch a sunset....

And did I mention swimming......

The smile says it all!

Meanwhile I pottered along the shore .....

This could be the Limpet equivalent of a Graemsay gathering!

While R and her dad wondered along collecting shells in an old battered jug for a school project.....

And then a walk home up the old pier...... the hills of hoy were under a blanket of mist....

And then dinner was a lovely "Thank You" chicken pie (again cooked by G)..... delicious it was too....

Visitors have departed now and all the leftovers eaten.  A few busy days to come over the next couple of weeks, then a slow wind down as the days grow steadily shorter.

Of Tall Ships and Sunsets....

Wylde Swan

Today started grey and the air was "heavy". I was trying to get my brain in gear when I received a message from someone in Stromness to look out the window as the "tall ship", the Wylde Swan, was just off Graemsay and about to sail into Stromness harbour.

I dashed outside with my camera as I wanted a picture of the vessel in sail - usually once they get near the harbour they have to drop their sails, otherwise they could sail straight into the harbour without stopping!

I love this photo - the Wylde Swan is a converted herring hunter ship - such a ship would have sailed into Stromness as part of the Herring fleet in the 19th Century. Now it's a training ship and much more luxuriously kitted out judging by the photos on their web site!!

Time to drop the sails now...

Then later this evening the murky weather cleared in time for a fine sunset.......

In other more sombre news on the radio today, four people lost their life in the helicopter crash off Shetland last night. The helicopter was transporting workers from an oil rig to Aberdeen.  The Shetland-Orkney-Aberdeen Ferry was diverted to assist as a communications base. Fourteen people were safely rescued and through the night there was the hope that the remaining four would be found alive. Sadly not. Many people in Orkney and around the UK work in the offshore oil industry in the North Sea.  The tragic loss of life this weekend reminds me that for the convenience of millions of us who use oil to heat our homes and power our cars, many people face danger daily in difficult conditions around our land. My thoughts are with the families of those lost this weekend.

Island Sunshine.....

Home Sweet Home

The last few days have been very changeable, chilly, showery and windy. I refuse to contemplate Autumn so am reminding myself of a very HOT sunny day in early August by posting these photos.

Did I mention I live next to a lighthouse?

Hoy (Sound) High Lighthouse







Looking across the bay.....

The road home......

I also live on the "main road"..... ;-)

and finally, the Hoy Hills on a journey home.....

Another island beginning with "G" (not in Orkney)....

Martello Tower dating from Napoleonic War

Yes I've been galavanting about again. This time to the island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands (off the North coast of France for those from foreign parts).  A few days spent in the company of my sister, grown up niece, two nephews, and peedie (small) great niece (well she's taller than me but only 12) and great nephew (who is still smaller than me at four years old).  A lovely time spent pottering around. The family have lived there for many years so I've done most of the touristy stuff. Now visits are leisurely, with bus journeys and coffee stops as well as playtime and pottering.  Just a few pictures to share...

Above is one of many Martello towers that are around the coast of the Channel Islands and England. Scotland has only 3 (two of which are in Orkney!). These were built as defences against French and (ahem) American privateers.

The weather was warm and sunny most of my visit so it was lovely to wander along a different shore. Though these were slightly more populated than the Graemsay one!

There are also a lot of fortifications in Guernsey dating from the German invasion in WWII. The Channel Islands were the only part of the UK to be invaded. As you can see here the Germans also made use of previous fortifications....

Part of this fortification has been turned into a shrine of reconciliation.

A gun opening in a German defence battery wall (hmmm there's probably a technical term for this!).

A ghostly lady (AKA my sister!) glides across the foreground of the German WWII battery....








Then there was some wandering around the town.... Guernsey has beautiful displays of flowers throughout the summer.  They have their own "Battle of the Flowers" too each year. Here's some photos from 2010

And the post boxes in Guernsey are BLUE not red like the rest of the UK.













And the harbour is full of sailing boats....

Some buildings with a French influence - not surprising given the proximity of Guernsey to France.










There was, of course, time to sit in the garden, and share a bench or chair with Sophie the cat, a sun worshipper if ever there was one!

And there were visits to parks (Sausmarez Manor) which had some lovely sculptures around (wouldn't mind one or two of these in MY garden!).

And a train ride for a wee boy.....

And ducks for a wee boy to feed.

And more walks along a beach

And rocks for a wee boy to explore (while Great Auntie Sian shuts her eyes!! Don't worry Mum was on hand....).

And the chance to buy some home grown produce from the many stalls around the island - with honesty boxes to receive payment.....

There was even sand racing on one of the beaches!! It looked very exciting....




But I preferred the quieter spots.....

And now I have my latest visitors all the way from York (Yorkshire). Very hardy North of England types who were stripping off and donning swimsuits within an hour of their arrival. A little light snorkelling and wild swimming off the shore near the house.  They hold the record I think for the shortest time on visitor arrival to total immersion!  The water was declared as warm-ish......  There was also time for shell gathering and rockpool watching.  Unfortunately the weather changed dramatically yesterday with lots of rain and quite breezy. Today is like a Winter day (though warmer) with a bit of a blow with the wind and heavy rain showers.  So it's a leisurely day inside. I had a lovely brunch cooked for me and have been promised a roast dinner too.  These are my kind of guests ;-)  Oh and young R has also been introducing me to the delights of "Ice Age" DVs!

St Margaret's Hope....

When my visitors from Australia were here we took a trip to St Margaret's Hope. A lovely wee village that reminds me of Cornish coastal villages.

I love the cottages hugging the shore, much like in Stromness.

And this boat was for sale. I wanted to buy it - I miss the old boat on the Graemsay shore.

There are several roads in the "Hope" (or the "Hup") as it is known locally.  But the two main roads are Front Road (along the sea-front) and Back Road (back from the sea-front...obviously.....).

Creels piled up along the old pier at the harbour

And one of the main ferries to the Scottish Mainland sails from the village. The "Pentalina" - a catamaran

More "holiday" pictures around Orkney to come. But work and other distractions are conspiring to delay me.....