Autumn equinox

It was the Autumn equinox this week in the Northern hemisphere.  To be fair we had some fairly mild weather and not too windy, but we did get quite a bit of rain.  But around the equinox itself we had blue skies and sunshine.  So here are a few pictures as I drove around the island....  Above, looking over the fields at Ramray, towards the Hoy hills.

Below a dive boat over one of the WWII wrecks in Burra Sound. Hoy in the background.  Recreational diving is big in Orkney in the summer months with several dive boats sailing out of Stromness every day from about Easter through to October (and some a little earlier or later)

Hoy Hills, and the mouth of Burra Sound

A panorama looking East. Hoy hills on the right.... this is the old School road....

The old school building (disused as the children go over to Stromness to school now).

Looking towards the Old Manse, Hoy High lighthouse and Sandside. Orphir hills across the water on the Orkney Mainland.

Looking over to the lighthouse across Sandside Bay

A closer view...

The view over to Garson, and across the water to the outskirts of Stromness

And a day earlier.... NOT so sunny.... but a lovely calm day nonetheless.  Sandside bay...

A gorgeous glassy calm quiet sea....

A view across the old lighthouse pier to the old Manse and the Hoy Hills.

A carpet of seaweed and wonderful reflections....

Across the coral sand....

Stromness in the distance.....

And an around equinox sunset....

Randomness.....

Here are a few random photos from end of August....  Above cows "chewing the cud" up at Garson overlooking Sandside bay.

Button soaking up the sun....

This dandelion gives me hope - I try and not use chemicals for weed control, but have to use something along the paths otherwise they get unusable, so I use a mixture of white vinegar, salt and washing up liquid to kill off plants along the pathway.  This dandelion wasn't giving up though and I don't blame it.  It really cheered me up!

And these poppies were from a wildflower mix.  I just love them!

And off on my travels South - I loved the line of seagulls on the shed roof in Stromness!  Waiting for the creel boats to come in and any fish scraps to be had.

I stayed overnight at Tense Towers with G&G the night before I headed south.  They live over on the East Mainland.  I was looking West to the Hoy hills and the sky was ablaze.  I was hoping it wasn't my house! (It wasn't).

The next morning, at ridiculous o'clock I boarded a plane for Edinburgh.  It was a lovely morning and we flew over the linked South Isles, linked by the Churchill Barriers.

You can see an oil rig in the next photo - nope not drilling for oil.  These are accommodation rigs apparently that are brought to Scapa Flow safe harbour for maintenance. Some controversy over them as they are brightly lit and there can be quite a lot of noise from them.  But seemingly they bring in quite a bit of revenue for Orkney Harbours so for now they stay.

Linked south isles a bit more obvious.... maybe

And way back in mid-August I took this short video of a sunny Sandside beach.....

Back at the end of August....

We had some lovely weather in Orkney just before I went away South.  The evenings were glorious - as long as you could escape the midges!  Here are some more photos of a walk to the shore, this time at sunset.

Button on the alert....

I love the reflections on the sand... Button in the foreground there!

The sky was magnificent that night...

Meanwhile Button went exploring.... look closely at the side of the pier.... yes she has a habit of climbing down it. Sigh.  The first time she did it my heart nearly stopped but I've kind of got used to it as she does it frequently now - well at low tide anyway.... goodness knows what she does when I'm not looking!

And again....

Meanwhile I found treasure on the beach.... a groatie buckie (tiny cowrie shell).

The Hamnavoe ferry coming into harbour....

The tide was out too....

I love the reflections on the water...

Heading home past the byres that used to house the cattle...

And Madam Button decides to wander home too....

And here is a short (30 sec) video of the waves gently lapping the shore..... (there's a little fairy dancing in this one - haha!  Didn't spot that till it was too late...)

First thing on returning home....

...... is a walk to the shore, of course!  Accompanied by Button, naturally....  So here are a few pix from last week.

The tide was well out. At one point I thought Button might take a walk to Stromness! But, like me, she isn't font of walking on seaweed, so we both stayed on the sand...

Daisies along the bank by the old buildings at Sandside... (probably now shredded in this weekend's wind!)

I love the textures on the shore, the different rock strata, boulders and pebbles.

Button contemplating going on a hunting spree (field mice....)

Plenty of maerl (a sort of coral) on the beach....

And while Button stayed on the beach hunting, I wandered back through the garden to admire the late summer colour.  Sadly this has been blitzed by the wind this weekend.  But the agapanthus were looking grand against the crocosmia...for a while!

Blustery weekend...

While anywhere South of Yorkshire in the UK basked in sunshine and temperatures in the mid 20s (C), Orkney was battered by winds.  Nothing major, just the first of the autumn gales.  And there was rain.... lots of it.  Today is calmer and sunnier but still quite blustery.

It's a bit of a shock to my system as until last Monday I was South in Dorset enjoying a summer holiday.  This time I managed to come home in one piece with no broken bones or bruises! Result!

Anyway back to Orkney..... some photos of the weekend before the salt spray completely covered all the windows making it impossible to see out...

Above, the Hamnavoe ferry sailing into safe harbour in Stromness.  Later sailings were cancelled.  The sea looks fairly calm there but after a few hours of a 40-50mph wind outside the Sound it was pretty wild.

The willows around the house took quite a battering too.  Leaves are scattered across the garden now having been wrenched off branches.

At least one corner of the garden escaped the battering.  The last of the daisies and the late summer asters just coming into bloom.

Time to remember to watch weather forecasts closely and be prepared to batten cat-flaps again!