Sunset.....

Friday was the last day of July, the weather has been "mixed" at best all summer.  But July ended with a beautiful sunset.

There was thick cloud with heavy showers. The light went from grey to silver, to orange, to magenta....

I was watching the sunset while drinking a cup of tea and sitting in the conservatory.  I was reading a book but this was MUCH more interesting!

The sun is moving back across the sky now as the days start to get shorter...bah!

Sun setting off the end of Warbeth now, instead of much further over behind Black Craig.

The sun set through a stone in the sea glass and stone mobile in the window....

The MV Graemsay was sailing out of Stromness harbour on her last run of the day at 9.40pm

And the sky turned magenta

And reflected in the windows of the conservatory....

Meanwhile the young heifers in the field had a chat.....

The hens were well tucked up for the night and all was calm....

Summer concert and partyon Graemsay

Last weekend was party time on Graemsay!  I'd been back from holiday for a few days and had been dashing round getting ready for a house full of guests.....seven to be precise.  Thankfully all very well behaved and even help with breakfast ;-)

I'd organised the island party as a bit of summer fun after musician's Susanne Lloyd-Jones and George Pain from Caithness, across the water on Mainland Scotland, had offered to come over and give a concert.  Susanne is a classically trained musician but has taken Scottish Traditional Music to heart and written accompaniments and sings the traditional songs too.  George has lead the Thurso Strathspey and Reel Society for many years.  They performed a great concert with a mixture of traditional Scottish and Irish reels and Susanne sang a number of beautiful songs. She has a powerful voice and amazing range and it was a delight to hear her sing.

After the concert, in true tradition, there was a "light" supper.  I'd also been able to provide a wee drink for folk from the proceeds of the money I earned from a recent article in the local magazine, Living Orkney.

I'd invited several friends of mine and "Graemsay" to come over and join in and after the supper they too took to the floor with story, music, song, or joined in the dances.

The weather for once was glorious so the island children could let off steam playing outside, some folk could have a blether outdoors and the rest could get on with the dancing.  Susanne and George had prepared some music for dances and helped us learn a few new ones.  I think I can even remember one of them!  We don't have the stamina to "dance all night" any more so the dancing was interspersed with "musical interludes".

Folk drifted back to Sandside over the course of the wee small hours. I was fast asleep by 1am!!  But I was up ready to provide breakfast to those that wanted it at 8am the next morning.  Some folk were off to work so there was even bacon to go with the usual toast and cereal for those that wanted it.  No fried eggs though..... if you want a fried egg in THIS house you have to cook it yourself. Ha!  I've never cooked one in my life and I don't intend starting now.

Anyway a great time was had by all, and thanks go, as ever, to the Graemsay folk for another brilliant night.

Here are a selection of photos from the night!

George playing fiddle, Susanne on keyboard

Susanne plays the whistle!

And now a song!

Two wee boys enjoy the concert...

The whole island was present apart from one neighbour who was unwell and unable to attend.....

After supper there was dancing.....

And chatting.....

And more music - Andrew from Graemsay sang a few songs....

Lots more dancing.... not sure if Grandad is teaching grand-daughter to dance or the other way round!

And Fran Flett-Holinrake told some stories and sang a wonderful traditional song about the women herring-gutters.  Here she is in mid flow of a story!

Then more dancing.....

And more chatting....

And John Budge gave us some songs and tunes on his new accordion, along with stories too of course!

With an attentive audience too, naturally!

And Irene Mathieson of Graemsay gave us some songs too. It was great to have her playing and singing again.  Due to bad arthritis of her hands she's not able to play as much as she used to, but her voice is as good as ever!!  We all joined in with a rousing "You are my sunshine!"

You can see the supper behind her.  I was too busy tucking into Cake to take any photos of the lovely spread that all the ladies of the island provided.

Later all the musicians joined together to play some tunes. (Hmm don't think you call it a "jam session" in Scottish Traditional Music?!)

So another great night in the wee Graemsay hall.  Graemsay folk certainly know how to party :-) And a big thank you to Susanne and George for travelling over to the island to give us the concert, and the other musicians, John Budge, Fran Flett Holinrake, Irene Mathieson and Andrew Mowat for entertaining us too!

Did you miss me??!

I've been off on my holidays!  Above is a photo from a rooftop cafe in St Peter Port, Guernsey, in the Channel Islands.  Afraid there won't be any more pix - this was a visit to family.In particular to welcome Olly the newest member of the family, at just a few weeks old.  I'm a great-auntie several times over now!  I also got time to play with his "Big Brother" Charlie who turns 6 this week.  It was a chance to catch up with the rest of the family, including a brief chat with my great-niece, Mischa who is now a teenager and towers above me! Ha!

My "Big Sister" S has lived in Guernsey for over 30 years so I've explored most of it over various visits. Now it's nice just to potter along the shore, go for coffee and cake in cafes, and meet the family.

There was time for a bit of shopping......though I didn't buy THESE shoes!  Surprisingly I could walk in them, but I was on tip toe!  Don't think they'd be much good for a dance in the hall. Hee hee!

And I'd never have kept up with Charlie in the playground (erm I couldn't even with flat shoes!)

St Peter Port has a large harbour, and there were lots of boats in the marina.

In the distance is Elizabeth Castle, a great place to visit

And lost of shops along the sea front

As you can see the weather was mixed.  But it was MUCH warmer than back in Orkney so I was quite happy with that!

It was then onto London for a reunion with some friends and more family (my brave and beautiful niece, Rachel, with her husband, Andy, and their wee girlie, Romilly who is growing fast).

I even had an initiation into visiting a "nail bar". These are very popular in most towns and cities in the UK!  I just went for something straightforward as I knew it wouldn't last an hour of gardening upon my return!! Ha! I was right!

Didn't even last till the party night..... but more of that in my next post!

Button and flowers....

Sorry, but I just love seeing the flowers in my garden!  It's fairly buzzing with bees and insects now, and the swallows swoop low to catch them too!  I haven't been able to do as much weeding this last week as I've had a sore back.  But everything is so exuberant after such a slow start.

This is a new bed, doing well in it's first year!  The lupins were from the garden of a friend so were quite large and well established.  The fennel has been there a while too. But all the rest are new this year.  This was the old strawberry patch.

Ahem, see what I mean about being a bit out of control!

Ooooh but I love the scabious! It's SO pretty and delicate!

And the big blousy poppies

And Jacob's ladder in blue AND white.

And a few photos of Madam Button.... here she is on a mission - time for lunch!

And here she is on the compost heap, heat from below and heat from above!  And yes she IS sticking her tongue out at us!  Ha!

And on the bench.  She's modelling a new tail (not really but there's a bit of old pipe on the bench that appears to be her tail!)

And this year is a good year for the rhubarb!  I have half a freezer full! No time to make jam or chutney at the moment...hopefully soon....

Chooks...and Charlie Boy

Well Tallulah hatched a chick last week!  Clever girl.  Tallulah is a black Shetland hen that I got last year.  So this is her very first chick and she is VERY proud.  Though I do get a bit alarmed when she rushes into the henny house for breakfast leaving the chick rather vulnerable to predation from the crows.  I have to stand guard till she reappears.  Sigh.....   She also chose to take her chick BACK to the henny house only hours after it hatched.  Not usually what hens do, they prefer to keep them apart from the flock, who can turn on chicks, or trample them.  Anyway the chick seems to be surviving despite her rather novel parenting methods!

It's a bit chaotic at breakfast time so the photos are the best I can do when lots of hens are milling about!

Here is Tallulah taking her chick to somewhere more sheltered among the pile of stones here.  She has a small "cave" she and the wee chick can nestle into.

This was a few days earlier when the chick was REALLY fluffy!

Meanwhile the Broon (brown) hen has been looking after her chick well and it (no idea whether it's a he or she!) now has quite a few feathers.  Um...looks a bit moth eaten at the moment but I'm sure it will look fine when older!

And yes each hen has just one chick.  It's my "one child" policy. Ha!  Population control to stop getting over- run with chooks.  I take all the eggs away but leave one, which I mark with crosses.  If a hen chooses to brood that one, it can.  All the rest are put to much better use!  Hee hee.

Charlie is always ready to greet me at breakfast time too.  He stays well away from nasty pecky clucky hens!  So far (fingers crossed) neither he nor Button have got one of the chicks.  The hens are VERY protective of their chicks and aggressive to both cats.

He's happier a safe distance from pecky beaks!

He enjoys a roll in the sunshine too!

Charlie is the dominant cat as far as Button is concerned.  He tends to chase her, and I think he is possibly responsible for one or two injuries she's received.  Usually she keeps her distance if she see Charlie around.  Or tries to hide or runs away!

Meanwhile the girls are sunbathing!

Oh and Miss Button is snoozing on the windowsill in the sun till everything calms down again.

And the young heifers in the field also enjoy the sun on their backs!