Shopping Week in Stromness.....

This week the weather has been glorious for "shopping week" - a gala week in Stromness, with various events and parades taking place. I think it's called "Shopping Week" as it is organised by local traders to encourage trade in the town, as well as being a local gala. It's now in it's 61st year. But of course in the UK anything "outdoors" is at the mercy of the weather, and last year there was rain and fog. However for most of this week the weather was dry, bright and sunny. Yesterday (Saturday) was the best day of all - very warm (tee shirt weather - no really, even for "softie southerners" like myself.....), brilliant sunshine and the colours of the sky and sea were beautiful (see above, looking from Stromness, across the Holms to Graemsay, with the Hoy Hills in the bacground).

I usually avoid the town during shopping week - parking can be an issue and it's not possible to get a car to the boat as the road is closed for the side-shows etc. However I was in town yesterday morning and bought some raffle tickets, plants and chocolate from the various stalls. I even found a Fireman selling chocolate....... a Fireman with chocolate, now what more could a girl ask...... ;-)

There was street entertainment too - Pirates seem to have arrived in town with a bit of swash-buckling and - er - juggling........ Sadly no Johnny Depp..... sorry, another fantasy.......

I spent the day out in the "country" with friends and will post some pictures during the week. I came back home on the early evening ferry - as I'd been over all day I decided to miss the street party that takes place in the town on the last night of Shopping Week, along with a parade of floats through the street to the Market Green. Though there is a special "late boat" at 11pm back to the island for those who want to participate. I have been before and the street is always packed with folk having a merry time - in every sense of the word! (And amazingly the debris from the street party is cleared away by council road cleaners by about 7am!)

I did however stand outside the house and watch the firework display. The sky was still light from the setting sun, but it was a lovely display, with lots of colour.




Today it's breezy and rainy....... gearing up for the parish agricultural shows, culminating in the County Show on 8th August. I do hope the weather clears up for all the folk who put such effort into the shows!

St Magnus Festival

Last weekend the St Magnus Festival was taking place in Orkney. This is an annual “arts” festival, with international musicians, poets, writers and artists performing in various venues around Orkney.

I spent the weekend in Stromness as there were several events I wanted to attend. The town feels really buzzy during the festival as events start in the morning and go on into the evening, with folk strolling around the different venues, stopping to chat or eat Orkney ice cream (I can recommend the orange marmalade flavoured ice-cream!).

Saturday I went to a reading by the poet, Wendy Cope. She read a number of poems from her various collections, many of them humorous but still with depth. Then in the afternoon wandered down the street to the Town Hall (a converted church) and listened to a piano recital by French pianist, Eric Le Sage, who is acclaimed for his interpretations of Schumann. He also played a modern piece by George Crumb (Three Romances) which is quite “Avant Garde” in the beginning and included various twanging and muffling of the actual strings of the piano as well as – um – clonking of the keys (you can tell I’m no musician!). Apparently the piano (a baby Steinway) was hired from a local musician who was in the audience and having kittens at what was being done to her precious piano in the name of “art”! However piano and musician survived to tell the tale.

In the evening we went to a late cabaret show in the “Moulin Rouge Speigaltent” – a venue well adapted to cabaret, with plush velvet booths and a bar. “Oiseau Rouge” had a variety of artists including acrobats and a juggling comedian. Very entertaining!

Sunday morning there was a recital by Andrew Motion (the former UK Poet Laureate) reading from his new collection of autobiographical writing and new poems. And this was followed by the Endellion String Quartet performing with Eric Le Sage and also doing a quirky musical piece with Wendy Cope narrating poems which were portraits of archetypal audience members including “The Cougher”, “The First Date”, and “The Traditionalist”. Clever and good fun.

The weather was lovely and warm and I took a walk along to the South end of Stromness. I have to confess I don’t venture to that part of the town normally, so it was lovely to explore and see some different views.

Here are some photos of the South end of the town……




Photo on the left - Graemsay in the distance.












And on the left here is one of the "Stromness Cats" - domestic cats who live in the houses along the street and are seen parading around or dozing on warm car bonnets (hoods).

Let it snow, let it snow, let is snow.....!

Well OK they are forecasting snow on the "hills" and I don't think Graemsay constitutes a Hill of any great height anyway. But it is still very chilly in comparison with last week. Brrr. Though snow is no stranger to even the South of the UK in June so one shouldn't be surprised we may get some snow flurries this far north. I may have to put duvets over my veggie patch. The poor wee peas and broad beans that have just stuck their heads above the ground will be retreating beneath it again at this rate.

I've mainly been busy with work this week, but the farmers have been out ploughing and sowing seed for winter feed crops, as well as lambing and finishing off calving. It's lovely to see the fields populated with livestock again. Though it never ceases to amaze me how the lapwings and oystercatchers managed to raise their chicks with the cows and calves, or sheep and lambs across the fields. And the birds *choose* to lay their eggs among the livestock - there are plenty of places on the island "animal free". It seems as if they are trying to make life difficult for themselves!

Yesterday on the way to the afternoon boat I saw a wee Oystercatcher chick in the road. It was running for all it was worth straight up the road. Three adult oystercatchers were having hysterics in the air, and one was on the ground doing the "broken wing" trick to deflect me, the perceived predator. Eventually the chick got to the verge and stuck it's head in a clump of grass - but with the rest of it showing! I was really concerned as the road gets busy (for Graemsay) at that time on a Friday with folk collecting kids from school, going to the boat for groceries, or going over to town for the evening and I wasn't sure the chick would survive playing "chicken" on the road. So I decided I needed to take direct action and pick it up and place it through the fence on the edge of the field. I try and avoid handling wild bird chicks in case it causes the parents to abandon them, but the oystercaters were screaming in my ears as I did it and were quick to land near the chick when I retreated, so hopefully it will be OK and anyway it's chances of survival were increased by removing it from the road at that time! It was a dear little thing - just a ball of fluff with some spots on and a black pointy beak. I could feel it's little heart racing as I gently lifted it up and placed it through the fence. It promtly started sqeaking so it's parents were in no doubt where it was. Today I haven't seen the chick but the Oystercatcher's are screaming "Here comes the Giant" when they see me (even 4 ft 9" constitutes a giant in some circles it would seem) so I'm assuming they still have the chick!

Orkney had Royal visitors this week, with the Duke & Duchess of Rothesay (as Charles & Camilla are known in Scotland) visiting Kirkwall and Stromness. I wasn't in town on Monday when they arrived which was just as well as traffic struggles in the tiny street as it is without additional interest from Royal watchers. They met folk from the Lifeboat and the Ladies Lifeboat Guild in Stromness as well as visiting one of the Renewable Energy Centres in the town and Charles & Camilla spent time talking to the small crowd in the street. At least the sun shone for the occassion.

I think the folk of Stromness were somewhat bemused by all the security precautions taken for the Royal visit. One of my friends had a "bloke on a fast bike" sweep past her car as she was down at Warbeth beach dog walking on the day of the visit. Clearly checking out that she and her Shetland collie weren't a security threat!

Orkney will get another royal visitor next week when Princess Anne will visit some of the lighthouses in her role as President of the Northern Lighthouse Board. She visited Graemsay about 12 years ago but is going to the Northern Orkney Islands this time.

The Queen and the late Queen Mother have also visited Orkney at various times. The Queen Mother owned the Castle of May in Caithness just across the water from Orkney, so visiting was just a short hop away.

The other event this week was the Eurpoean elections. However polling day passed us by on Graemsay as we use postal votes as we don't warrant a polling station, there being so few of us.

And we had our own elections on the island last weekend, as it was our Community Association AGM and the committee was re-elected. We also agreed on a programme of events for the year which includes the Harvest Home (which incorporates Halloween!), Christmas party and some quizzes and games nights. So that should be ample opportunity to sample "home bakes". I have tried to get myself elected as chief taster of home bakes to ensure they are up to standard, but there would be too much competition and to be fair we'd need a committee and then there would be no home bakes left for anyone else. Apparently I'm the only one who doesn't see that as a problem ;-)

Another glorious day.....

So still and calm. I've been watching the pattern of the current on the still water around the shore next to the house. The waves have hardly the strength to break on the shore! We are very sheltered in Sandside Bay (well apart from the westerly gales!) and although the rollers still break at the west end of the island (Hoy Low lighthouse end) the sea can be very gentle around the bay here. That's one thing I love - sometimes the waves are crashing so loudly I can hear them in the house, and at other times the air is so still you just hear ripples on the beach.

Today I heard the lapwings and some of the shore ducks calling. The hens were glad of more scraps as were the sparrows. Though I saw a couple of hooded crows hovering over the hen house as I came indoors so I hope the smaller birds got their fill quickly!

The island is fairly quiet this morning. As I am still fighting off the virus I am not participating in the usual "first-footing" activities around the island. As they go on for days I may appear for the tail end!

Yesterday in Kirkwall (on the Orkney Mainland) was the annual New Year Ba Game. This is a kind of street football (though feet rarely touch the ball!) which takes place on Christmas Day and at New Year. I've never witnessed the event myself, nor have any real desire to do so! However it is quite a local phenomenon. Here is a site with some photos taken yesterday so you can get the flavour of the event. If you click further down the page you will get a link to some explanation of the "rules" - such as they are!! :

http://www.bagame.com/

I remember my first Christmas visit to Kirkwall in 1999 I was startled to see shops putting stout panels and boards along shop fronts. I wondered what sort of place I had come to that needed such robust defence against - who? Vandals? Ram raiders? Looters?? No..... it was just the annual preparations to protect property from the enthusiastic Ba participants!