A fine November Day

I was over in Stromness yesterday just for a fleeting shopping visit. On a Tuesday, Wednesday and a Friday it's possible to get the 10.45 ferry from Graemsay, which gets to Stromness at 11am, a quick run out to the Co-op and Flett's the Butcher and then back in time for the 12 noon ferry home. Though it can be a bit of a "trolley dash" around the Co-op sometimes!

Above is the view from the Stromness pier looking towards Graemsay. My home is to the right of the Hoy High lighthouse (did I mention I lived next to a lighthouse? Sorry - that's a joke from long ago when some friends from the US came up to see me living on a wee island and I had somehow forgotten to mention I lived right next door to a very tall pointy light-house!).

When I returned to Graemsay I found some farmers were shipping sheep. Fortunately there were folk on hand to help with the shopping as it was necessary to walk through the sheep in the pens. The new Church of Scotland Minister from Stromness was over for his first visit, and I'm sure it was a bit of a surprise to be met by a "flock" of a rather different sort!

Later in the afternoon I decided I really needed to clean the outside of the windows after the recent gales - I couldn't even see through my kitchen window it was so covered in salt. I hasten to add this isn't salt spray from the waves but I am close to the shore so the air is laden with salt and the wind leaves it deposited on the outside of everything!

It was glorious to be outdoors, I could see for miles. Below are some of the wind turbines on the West Mainland but quite a few miles North of me. They stand out so clear when the sun shines upon them.

I also managed to catch the first "winter" sunset. Now the sun has moved round and is setting behind the Hoy Hills - a definite sign of winter. With the clocks going "back" on Sunday it's also dark now at 5pm. I have to say that *did* come as a surprise to me! It's been so mild (though windy) that I haven't really appreciated that Winter is here......(well OK technically autumn, but in Orkney it's either winter or summer and even then sometimes it's difficult to tell the difference between the two!)

Evening sunshine...

After a number of very grey cloudy or foggy days it's lovely to see the sun again!  It's been a busy week with work and visitors. Then this morning a quick shopping trip to Stromness across the water, then more work and preparing for another visitor tomorrow.  So entertain yourselves with these pictures!  Sorry I'm not writing more OR responding to comments.... hopefully I'll catch my breath soon......

Looking across the fields at Sandside up the hill to Windbreck.

Making hay....

though not much sun shining!  This summer in Orkney, as in the rest of the UK has not been one of the best.  "Unsettled", "changeable" are words you hear on the weather reports. Therefore it's not been the best of growing seasons either.  In April it was very warm, then it's been fairly cool, right down to darned cold, some sunshine, but not that much rain. 

Anyway the hay was being cut from my field behind the house ready for winter fodder for a neighbour's cattle. But cutting of silage is slow and these last few days there have been quite a lot of rain showers, so not ideal cutting weather.  We now also have the "haar" (sea mist) hanging around, so although it's pleasantly warm you can't see more than a few yards ahead!  Ho Hum... that's British weather for you!

Although we are in the far north of the UK we are fortunate to have the Gulf Stream which keeps our temperatures "moderate" in Orkney, even in the winter.  But a little more of "summer" would be nice too!

On the way to the Mart.....

It's the time of year for the lamb sales and these are some of the island lambs off to the Mart in Kirkwall.  These lambs were herded down a "run" onto the deck of the boat and will then be kept in a field over the weekend until the sale on Monday at the livestock Mart.

These lambs were born about May - lambing is much later in Orkney than in the South of England due to the weather.  Some of these lambs may go as "store" lambs to another farm to be fattened on, or they may go direct for slaughter.

It's a busy time of year for the farmers with cattle also being shipped off to sales as well as sheep. So each week until Christmas livestock will be at the pier ready to be transported. The cattle have to be winched off in a box individually so everyone hopes for good weather when they are being shipped.  These sheep had a calm ride back to Stromness though as the weather had quietened down from the gales of earlier in the week. 

Busy day at the pier....

As I've mentioned before, our regular ferry is away having work done to it and not due to return till the end of the year. In the meantime we have the "Golden Mariana" for passenger traffic, and another vessel, the "Hoy Head" to deliver large cargo every couple of weeks.

As the weather has been poor the last couple of days (with our passenger ferry cancelled on several occasions), we weren't sure whether the cargo would be delivered today. But sure enough out of the mist and spray appeared the "Hoy Head" bearing goods for the island.


First to be unloaded was a shiny new tractor

Then a neighbour's car


Followed by my heating oil

This big chap (the one on the right)

And to be transported from Graemsay to Kirkwall mart were some cattle - winched onto the deck of the vessel singly in this box.



And just as the events were drawing to a close on the pier, the "Golden Marianna" arrived with groceries from the town. Including a large box for me - the weather does not look good over the coming week so I'm stocking up on essentials - like cat food and milk!

Pastoral landscapes

Before the heavy rain of the last couple of days grass was still being cut for hay/silage on the island. This has been a good year for crops in Orkney as the weather has been mainly dry. So lots of silage and hay bales being piled up around in byres and corners of fields.



And on the sea, the "Hamnavoe" plies her trade back and forth several times a day between Stromness and Scrabster on the Scottish Mainland.

Did you miss me?

OK that's a rhetorical question! I've just returned from a quick work-related visit to London. The temperature there was 31 degrees C (that's around 90 degrees F) and on any scale that was way too hot for me!!

I was delighted to return to a WARM Orkney though, with sunshine and blue skies. Today it's been 23C (74F) in my study with windows open and on the side of the house away from the sunshine! Must be some sort of record for Orkney. However there has been a slight breeze so it's been glorious outdoors.

I came back in time to see my field being cut for winter silage. For the first time in ages (due to long grass) I've walked down to the shore through the field and saw these guys sunbathing.

Tonight the Oystercatchers, Starlings, Curlews and regular gulls are scratching about among the stubble, rootling for insects and worms. The swallows are swooping across the field too, and I discovered a swallow has nested in the barn. I saw her while I was rummaging for two of my hens which have disappeard and I suspect have gone broody. The other two hens are hiding their eggs too so I am grumpy to be without fresh eggs seeing as I seem to be feeding FOUR hens! (Well two of them probably aren't eating much due to sitting on a nest, which worries me as nothing will hatch as I despatched the cockerals some time ago).

Note: Broadband on the island seems v-e-r-y slow since a thunderstorm yesterday, so if it goes quiet again for a day or two it may be due to technical problems - sigh.

Tram lines on Graemsay?

No - just tractor wheel marks after the field was spread with fertilizer. Some years the field at the back of the house has been used as summer grazing, but the fence is in poor repair so this year it will be used for silage, or maybe hay for winter feed for island livestock. Once I get the fence fixed and "livestock" proof, animals could go back in there - not mine I hasten to add! I let a neighbour use the field - I get the pleasure of looking at the livestock without any of the work!

Today has been another bright sunny day. I've been out weeding in the vegetable garden. The peas and beans I sowed just before I went south are already appearing above the ground. I have to turn a "blind eye" to the rest of the garden as it will be some time before that is sorted out. As a friend said, just concentrate on what has been done, rather than looking at what needs to be done! Otherwise I get a bit despondant. However I just need a little patience and all will come together.

I see there was a cruise liner in Stromness harbour today. Orkney is visited by quite a large number of cruise liners, though most visit Kirkwall. Usually the visitors are landed in small boats and then go on coach tours around the Orkney Mainland to various historic sites such as Skara Brae or the Ring of Brodgar, with a little time to shop in the town. At least the visitors will take home good memories of Orkney in the sun this time.

And I heard seals calling today while weeding the garden. That is such a relief as I haven't seen seals around for some time. They would usually be around the rocks and skerries of the shore, but the fish must have been scarce as there were no seals to be seen for some time. However the fish must be back as the air was filled with seal calls tonight. Most of the seals around the island are grey seals. In years gone by they would haul out onto the sandy beach in May, but they've been choosing other sites on the island for their sun bathing in recent years.

Here's a photo from about 10 years ago when they would sunbathe on Sandside beach:

Peedie lambs......

There are new lambs appearing in the fields around Graemsay as lambing gets underway. I just love watching the peedie lambs (peedie = Orcadian for small), especially when they all start playing together like kids, racing around the field and jumping about.

The kye (cows) are also appearing in the fields after wintering indoors, and again the calves all join together to race around.

The Starlings have hatchlings in nests at the top of the byre and I can hear the cheep cheep noises as the parent birds fly in with mouthfuls of worms to feed them.

The Arctic Terns are back too - it can make walking along the shore a bit hazardous as they dive bomb, at least they scream a warning! I got pecked on the head a few years ago as I didn't think they would actually hit me!

The Bonxies (Great Skua) are around too. I was watching fight in the sky when a Bonxie was chasing a gull to get it to drop it's catch.

The Black Back gulls are around too - especially during the lambing season. I'm not keen on these as they tend to attack the ewes as they are lambing and peck out the immobile ewes eyes, or attack young lambs.

And the sun is shining again after several days of a chill east wind. Thankfully my cloches and seed coverings survived the wind and everything is beginning to burst into life in the veggie patch - yes even *I* can now tell I have potatoes growing.........

Friday was the worst day weatherwise, and of course I had several appointments in town so just had to go across to town. The ride on the boat went via Hoy and was pretty rough - a combination of an east wind and a high tide. The boat picked up school-kids who had been spending a couple of days at the Outdoor Centre on Hoy, and I did feel sorry for some of the kids as some of them looked various shades of white or green. However most of them seemed to be enjoying the roller-coaster ride on the boat.

Here's another sunset from last week (sunrise is now at 04:39 (or so they tell me) and sunset at 21:39, and the other night it was light all night! OOooh I LOVE this time of year):

Still here!

(Photo: Button pretending to be an ornament....... should I decorate her for Christmas?)

Ooops - are you ever convinced you've done something and then found you haven't? Thought I'd updated my blog this week but obviously not...... I remember composing something in my head - must have just stayed there!

I only went over to the Mainland for a couple of appointments this week, otherwise I've been home, working. Ii'm really busy workwise at the moment as one project is coming to a close and needs to be completed before Christmas and another is about to start in the new year. I seem to be spending a lot of time in front of the computer screen at the moment. But I'm looking forward to a few days off over the Christmas break.

I haven't yet been able to go in to Woolworths (known in the UK as "Woolies") to take a look at the cut price bargains. The announcement that Woolies has gone into receivership was received with sadness by many in the UK. Woolies has been around on the UK high street for so many years. The Shetland and Orkney branches were the most profitable in Scotland, or so I heard. So it will be sad if they close, and sad for those who may end up unemployed in the new year. Woolies is an icon in Kirkwall - without it the town will feel quite different, in my opinion. It's one place where you can get all sorts of odd things, and I'm not sure there are any other shops in town that sell the range of kids toys that Woolies do. Well OK not that I actually buy any kids toys but I know lots of folk that do! I shall miss the "Pick and Mix" sweeties. I grew up with Woolies pick and mix always available. I still like to indulge when I'm in town. Lots of brightly coloured sweeties full of additives - oooh lovely.

Button is settling in well - she has now taken to bringing me gifts. The first was a dead sparrow - I thanked her but explained about the falling numbers of sparrows in the UK and that I didn't want her contributing to their demise so would she please bring me mice. She has clearly taken the lecture to heart as she has since brought me two field mice from the barn. She's a little put out that I won't allow her to bring them into the house! It took a while to convince her she couldn't - particularly with the first mouse. She dropped it on the doorstep and I managed to get her indoors then dispose of the mouse (threw it into the field). When I let her out she was most put out. She looked at me as if to say - you ate it all by *yourself*? Have you not heard of sharing??" and off she trotted to the barn again...... I'm having a rethink about a cat flap!

Folk on the island are busy getting ready for Christmas. We have the children's Christmas Party in the Hall the weekend before Christmas. Irene (who used to be the teacher at the school on Graemsay) organises it. It's one of my favourite island events. There are between five and seven island kids (depending who's around at the time) so all the adults must join in the party games - parce the parcel, obstacle race, musical arms (don't ask). And of course prizes are chocolates, sweeties etc. Santa Claus pays a visit with gifts for the children, and everyone contributes to the buffet.

At the moment the farmers are busy sorting out kye (cattle) and lambs to ship to the market. Some are "store" animals which means they will be sold on to other farmers who will feed them up for the meat market, others may go direct for slaughter and onto local butchers or may be shipped south. The Kirkwall Mart has been having its Christmas sales and the champion steer was sold to a butcher in Guernsey (Channel Islands), where my sister lives. So I shall have to tell her to go to the butcher and try some Orkney beef!

Most of the cattle on Graemsay are now in the byres for the winter, although the sheep stay out all year and are fed winter feed in the fields.

The hens are still laying, though I'm not sure if one has stopped or gone and found another place among the hay to lay her eggs. I'm hoping to get some more laying hens soon. I only have two hens and Findlay the aged (retired) cockeral, and I'd like to build the flock up again. Not because I need more eggs but I just love seeing the hens around. They are still scratching about in the garden for grubs and bugs and things.

The garden is looking quite bare now as all the shrubs have dropped their leaves and most of the plants died back for winter. Though the cordyline, pampas grass, hebes and escallonia are still green. How they have remained so during some recent gales is beyond me. Clearly very hardy plants!