Spring?

Still snow on the neighbouring island of Hoy!  Only on the hills though.  Otherwise weather is just grey and cool, but at least no wind for now. 

However the days are getting longer - sunrise at 6.18am and sunset at 6.23 pm.  Soon the clocks change for British Summer time too so it will be lighter even later!

I'm longing to move back into the conservatory (my sitting room for the summer) but as the weather is kind of cool at the moment I'm delaying the move.  Heating oil was 62p a litre last time I checked so I don't want to waste fuel heating the space when the sitting room in the main house is perfectly adequate.  But I so love the view from the conservatory - so for now it's pulling on another sweater to sit out there for a while!

The birds seem to have found their voice again - last night the air is filled with the sound of oyster-catchers and lapwings.  I just LOVE this time of year!

Below is Ward Hill on the island of Hoy with the fluffy willow buds in the foreground. Above the snow covered hills on Hoy and the green island of Graemsay in the foreground!

Reminder of winter....

Today Spring has returned, but last week I went back into hibernation as we had strong gale force winds, sleet, rain, snow and it was really cold!  But today there is some blue in the sky, temperatures have risen and there is NO WIND! 

Spring is a busy time of the year for the crofters and farmers on the island with lambing due to start in a couple of weeks for most people.  Lambing is much later in Orkney/Scotland than down in the South of England because of the climate.  Although some people in Orkney will lamb in sheds earlier than lambing in the fields.

The cows are beginning to calve now too.  Most of the cattle are still overwintering in the byres, but as they calve are often released into the fields.  I love seeing the fields become populated with the lambs and calves. It's just like watching kids playing! 

Tonight we have our island community association AGM were we look at setting dates for events throughout the year.  A few things in the pipeline for Spring with a couple of course planned, one on Archaeology (not much discovered on Graemsay but will be interesting to hear some history) and one on photography.

Anyway I'll leave you with some pictures of the weather this last week!

At the top of the page is the approaching weather, below, it's arrived!

 The hoy Hills glowed in the dark!

But the snow didn't settle on Graemsay, just on the neighbouring island of Hoy and the Orkney Mainland! It looked quite odd - the hens and button enjoying a respite of warm sun one afternoon.

A White Christmas....

... is almost certain for Orkney!  We had more snow showers last night, and freezing temperatures overnight so no thaw (and no change in the water shortage situation either!).  Above is the Graemsay Hoy Low Lighthouse taken by a friend from Stromness just outside the town.

The frost has been extraordinary for Orkney. It was absolutely stunning on Wedsnesday - ice crystals standing like miniature forests on every surface.

Frosted lichen

Miniature ice forests on the stone dyke

More ice crystals

Willow branch

Frosted rosehip

And take a look at this YouTube video of the Orkney Winter Solstice 2010 taken by someone called "Red Orkney". RO must live just outside Stromness as you can see the Hoy hills and Hoy Low lighthouse on Graemsay, plus the Hamnavoe coming in and out of Stromness Harbout and our wee Graemsay ferry too.  The photograpy is stunning!

Wishing you all a Happy Festive Season however you choose to spend it.

Winter Solstice

Today is the Winter Solstice and I greeted the sun rise this morning as it rose above the croft at Windreck on Graemsay at 9.10am.  The rest of Orkney also saw the lunar eclipse this morning but our wee island was shrouded in thick freezing fog so I saw nothing. This was a special eclipse, falling on the Winter Solstice so I was sad to miss it. But I imagined the moon turning blood red through the mist, and thought of all the people over the millennia who saw this as a sign that the Ancient Gods were giving fertility back to the earth again. However I consider myself lucky to have enjoyed last night's rising moon, stars, and still air, listening to the geese calling from near the shore, and then watched the sun rise on the solstice - magical!

Hoy High Lighthouse emerging from the mist

Sandside Bay

The longest night....

Tonight is the longest night (with tomorrow being the shortest day) and our lighthouse has broken. Probably one of the few occassions in it's 160 years of history that it isn't working. In fact it's only since there has no longer been a "lighthouse keeper" living on the island that it has failed!  Thankfully the natural world has taken matters in hand and provided a beautifully still night and a clear moon. In the photo above you can see the MV Graemsay on it's way to the Graemsay pier.

And below the lights of Stromness making this picture look like a Christmas card!

Extraordinary weather....

.... for Orkney anyway!  Orkney is in the Gulf Stream so our winters are generally fairly mild, but very wet and windy and snow quite unusual, and even when it falls it doesn't last long....usually. Last year though we had some snow and because temperatures didn't get above freezing it stayed a while and everywhere was like a sheet of ice for weeks. So this year we thought we'd be back to wet and windy...... not so far.  We have had snow now off and on since November and these last few days have seen a lot of snow fall (for us).  OK it's not as much as other parts of the UK but four or five inches of snow across Orkney is VERY unusual and more is forecast.

I think I heard on the TV news that our Arctic Blast is due to the Jet Stream moving, so we have the snow that is meant for Canada.  Anyone from Canada like to come and pick it up?? Getting bored with it now!

Yesterday "Scottish Water" (our water provider) had to send out engineers to the island as their monitoring of our water indicated some burst pipes somewhere in the system. They arrived on a special run by the ferry and spent the afternoon looking for leaks. The island water comes from the neighbouring island of Hoy. It's collected off the hills in a small reservoir, put through a treatment plant and then pumped over to Graemsay where it is stored in a large(ish) water tank on the island. It is constantly pumped round a circuit to keep it fresh.  Anyway the engineers were out checking various meters, hydrants and other potential sources of the problem but nothing was found. It's thought the problem might be at the Hoy end, but under several inches of snow and frozen ground it's hard to tell *where* the problem is.  Maybe they should try water divining?

I have to confess I love the landscape covered in a blanket of snow (but I appreciate it's hard for those who have to get out in it). I am obsessed with watching the weather out the window.  I'm trying to get through a block of work at the moment so that I can have time off between Christmas and New Year, but it's hard going as I keep gazing out at the landscape! Another inch or so of snow has fallen this afternoon so I think it will be like this for a while.

When walking in snow it is wise to remember that what looks like a beautiful flat surface may cover dips and holes... as Button found out!  How to climb out of a hole while trying to retain your dignity....

S'no snow!!

It was weird this morning as I opened the door to let Button out - all the snow had disappeared overnight!! The pictures in this post were taken yesterday afternoon -so it is incredible to think it has all gone in such a short space of time!  The Orkney Mainland still looks covered in snow and according to BBC Radio Orkney roads were treacherous this morning, with some schools still closed. However even on the Mainland it is thawing.

The Graemsay "main road" yesterday!

Hopefully the situation will improve further down on the Scottish Mainland and we can get further supplies into Orkney for the shops. I haven't been off the island for two weeks and the local shops I deal with have managed to keep me supplied with things I need, but I understand the supermarket shelves have been pretty bare.

A lot of the older Orcadians are saying that it is a situation like this which highlights how much Orkney has become dependent on supplies from outside the islands.  In the past all the isles would have had bakeries, and much more local produce was grown etc.  We are lucky that Stromness has an excellent baker but it is now the only one, years ago there were several.  Most of the milk in Orkney is locally produced and most folk have allotments, gardens etc. Meat and poultry are also produced in Orkney, but we are all so used to having "summer fruits" and supplies in the depths of winter that we wail when we can't get lemons for our G&T! Anyway hopefully now there will be the chance to stock up again before the next spell of bad weather.


I took the photo of the snowman yesterday when I went to the Graemsay Post Office.  The children at Hoy High had made this fine fellow in their garden, which also houses the island post office.  Yup - no shop or any other retail opportunities on Graemsay, but we have a post office!  For many years this operated out of the small building attached to Sandside, then it moved down to Clett, and in recent years has been at Hoy High Lighthouse in a building in the garden.  The opening hours are 7.30am Monday and Friday for about half an hour, and then from about 11.30 to about 12.30pm on a Wednesday. Needless to say most of us do our business on a Wednesday!  We also have our own postman too who collects mail from the island post box which is in the centre of the island and delivers it to the 8.25am boat Monday to Friday and receives the incoming mail, which he sorts and then delivers to each house. So yesterday I was able to go and get some parcels despatched and buy my "Christmas stamps" - now all I need to do is write the Christmas cards...... bah humbug!

Hope there is a thaw soon for those of you who are snowed in and there are no resultant floods!

Bored now!

The snow almost disappeared over the weekend but then we had an inch or so fall within an hour yesterday! Today has been a bit of a thaw, more snow, thaw, snow, thaw, currently snowing... REALLY bored with this now!

I have plenty of supplies and no real need to get out (thanks to the wonders of the internet I can work from home - I work as a health researcher for UK Universities). However I'm getting "cabin fever" after nearly two weeks of either snow or gales. Whine...moan!  To be fair we haven't had as much snow as the rest of Scotland or the rest of the UK. Though buses on the Orkney mainland have and haven't been running and the airport is open then closed then open! Same with the schools. Yesterday it was announced the schools were open then they closed at mid-day due to the amount of snow falling!

Yesterday was also very beautiful though when it was snowing - huge flakes of snow.  So here are yet more pictures of snow!  And Button - who still likes to come for her morning perambulation with me but is glad we don't go too far!

"The snow is over my paws - can we go in NOW!"

Arctic Smoke

Here are some photos of Arctic Sea Smoke (defined by the Met Office as "Evaporation fog or steam fog which is formed when water vapour is added to air which is much colder than the vapor's source; most commonly, when very cold air drifts across relatively warm water").  Very pretty!

It snowed again last night and then froze and today I doubt the temperature is above freezing.  However seemingly the schools are open in Orkney!  Though no school buses so I'm not sure how many children have been able to get to school. Kirkwall airport was open but a number of Scottish airports are shut so I'm not sure how much traffic has been coming in.  Even one of the London airports is closed today due to the weather conditions!  This is quite unusual for so early in the winter.

The little town of Stromness across the water looks very pretty in a blanket of snow!

Yes more snow....

Well to be honest it has thawed then snowed again, so we don't really have any deeper snow than we did before. When I went out to shut the hens in for the night a couple of hours ago it was still thawing, but who knows what the next few days will bring.  All the schools in Orkney were closed today as lots of the rural roads are tricky to travel along. Not that the island kids seemed to mind having another day off school - they were out with sledges earlier today! I think all the children throughout Orkney are hoping for more snow and all the parents are longing for a thaw!  Although Orkney isn't doing too badly with snow it is far worse south in Scotland. I think the main route (A9) has been blocked for much of the day.  Thankfully I don't need to go anyway in a hurry!

Above is sunrise this morning rising above the hill at Windbreck at about 8.45am.  Most of the fields are empty around Sandside now as a lot of the cattle have been taken indoors for the winter, and sheep moved to other fields.  So the fields are left to the curlews and lapwings, who have been a bit disconsolate the last few days.

Last night there was a bit of a breeze and I love the way the snow is clinging to the stone in the garden dyke.

 

Snow over the Orphir Hills on the Orkney Mainland

More snow....

More snow overnight. Still not very deep on Graemsay, and very crunchy so fun to walk in (unless you have paws). I'm staying nice and snug indoors most of the time, as is Button, but we both "took the air" this morning.

The young hens are somewhat bewildered as to where all the grass has gone. I cooked up some spaghetti and rice for them as a treat (they like spaghetti as they think it's a pale worm!).

Water running from a land drain is frozen on the shore.

Another snow shower coming in

Time to head home to the warm!

Snow....

We're not having as bad a time as other parts of the UK (yet), but we have snow and the occasional blizzard! I went out this morning to feed the hens and they were still roosting - the snow on the roof made the hen house dark and they thought it was night time!  They were surprised to see me with breakfast......  However I have kept them shut in for the day as there are some young birds there and I'm not convinced they understand it's better to stay indoors during a blizzard!  Charlie the barn cat was glad to have breakfast, but at least he has a lovely warm hay barn to sleep and hunt in.  I gave him "extra rations" but I suspect he's probably getting plenty of food from the mice moving out of the field into the barn! The garden birds were glad of more fat balls, seeds and peanuts, and with the hens shut in I was able to leave food on the ground for the blackbirds - though of course the sparrows and starlings were just as happy to eat it.

I was due to go over to Stromness last night as various galleries were having openings of their Christmas exhibitions. However after phoning the ferry skipper's wife to book the boat she advised me the wind was due to get up and snow to come in so I cancelled. Just as well as we have enough snow to make driving difficult and slippery!

So I'm snug indoors with a slightly grumpy Button (a bored cat is an annoying cat!) and am just watching the weather pass over. I have lots of work to be do so I'll just get my head down and get on with it and await the thaw!

Here comes the blizzard again!

Highland Spring

OK I confess, I've been away on holiday for the last week! I left you with some pix of Graemsay to keep you occupied ;-)

Got back on Sunday from a lovely week in Ullapool (very-North Western Scotland) among mountains - see photo above. I'll post more pictures later this week but I'm just trying to catch up on emails, work etc.

Returned to Orkney where it's COLD, and has just SNOWED!!



In true "Amazon" fashion - If you like reading about islands - you might also like Island life - the Blue Cabin Blog. This is by Michael Faulkner, a writer, who lives on Islandmore, Stanford Lough, an otherwise uninhabited island in Northern Ireland. His wife, Lynn, is an artist and her semi-abstract style is inspired by the landscape. Mike also sent me a link to a short video of a young seal pup who befriended them a while ago : YouTube video clip. Thanks to D for pointing me in the direction of the blog!