British Summer Time begins tomorrow ......

..... and so today we have snow showers...... I do think that whoever dreamed up the title "British Summer Time" for the time when our clocks move forward was maybe being ironic?

But whatever, I shall dance when the clocks go forward (2am tomorrow morning) - OK I'll save my dance for a reasonable time, probably 11am! But I LOVE LOVE LOVE the longer days and the lighter evenings. Although I work from home I still do a fairly conventional working day from 10am to 6pm so it is a joy to have light in the evening to go for a walk or potter outdoors. Or just sit in the conservatory and watch the birds and the waves on the shore.

But as I say..... today we have snow showers and white horses cresting the waves, and with outdoor temperatures lower than I want to think about.

But Spring is definitely here. The photo at the top of the page are the rooks beginning to build nests in the trees in Stromness. The air is filled with their cawing, which at this time of year is several decibels louder than the gulls who usually frequent the harbour area.

Graemsay has no tall trees, lots of short ones and lots of shrubs, but no tall trees. So it is lovely to get off the ferry in the middle of the town and hear the rooks with their Spring calls - though it has to be said they are unpopular with a number of households. They make a real mess with their nesting and droppings in the tightly packed gardens of the town. Some folk have been known to go out with long poles and destroy the nests as they are being built to discourage the rooks. But others rejoice in the return of nests.

The nests are all higgeldy piggeldy and look as though a puff of wind will destroy them, never mind a well aimed pole. However the town around the harbour area is fairly sheltered and leaves are beginning to appear on the trees again, so hopefully that will afford them some protection. (Photo of spring leaves appearing on trees in one of the lanes in town).

The town has different bird cries echoing around during the seasons. During the autumn and winter months you can hear the starlings massing to roost. The summer months the young gulls roam around the piers trying to get scraps of fish or partans (crab) from the boats, or chips or ice cream from the visitors. Spring is the time of the rooks and crows.

For those who are interested in seeing a bit more of Stromness, the local business forum commissioned a video a year or two ago, which is available on YouTube : click on Stromness to see (approx 8 minutes). The narrator has a real Orcadian accent - for those who haven't visited ORkney, you may notice it's very unlike traditional Scottish accents. I think it has the cadence of the Welsh accent - particularly South Wales where my family originally hail from.

Some people have......

....... way too much time on their hands. I found this on another blog - you really do have to take a look at this YouTube video. It's called "Extreme Shepherding" - no really, it's not at all unsavoury! It's a video made by some Welsh hill farmers: click here

Hmmm wonder if we could try this on Graemsay?

Fire - part 2

No, not another fire, but I wanted to post some pictures of Malcolm demonstrating how he starts a fire. I needed to check he didn't mind being posted on my blog first! So here are the photos, he is using a traditional bow drill method. He also runs courses where people can learn this art, here's his website: Five Senses














Once there is smoke coming from the wood at the base of the bow, this is used to start the fire, just a small pile of wood first then building up once the fire has taken hold.

From small beginnings...... anyone else see a Phoenix rising from the flames or just my whimsical imaginings? ;-)

Fire!

I enjoyed an excellent Spring Equinox party in Orphir (Orkney Mainland) last night. Our hosts, M&R did a great job and made everyone welcome - even providing S'mores (more of that later!). And the fire was magnificent. This picture is of the fire just getting going.

The weather also put on a stunning evening for us. Once the roar of the fire died down you could hear geese, oystercatchers and lapwings calling. The Hoy High lighthouse on Graemsay shone like a beacon, with the light reflecting across the still water to the shore. It was interesting seeing Graemsay from a different angle! At the start of the evening the lights of Stromness were twinkling - we were remarking just big the town looked with lights stretching along the line of the harbour and up the hill. However slowly and silently the mist stole in and hid Graemsay and Stromness from us. All that could be seen of the town was a shimmering light following along Brinkies Brae at the top of the town.

Although there isn't that much light pollution from Stromness, the dimming of the lights did enable us to get a spectacular view of the night sky. I used to love standing in my garden in Kent looking up at the stars, but the view is nothing in comparison with Orkney. There are just layer upon layer of stars. First the largest and brightest begin shining in the sky, then as your eyes get accustomed to looking at them you can pick out tiny pinpoints of light between the brighter stars, and eventually the whole night sky seems to be a glitter. Last night we could make out Orion, the Plough, Saturn and many others I can't name! Just magical.

The party was held on the shore near M&R's house (which is just across the Flow from Graemsay - OK they will say I am just across the flow from Orphir.... depends on your perspective). Anyway, it was possible to walk down to water's edge as the waves gently lapped the shore. Some of the kids came down with us, they were sensible and had rubber boots on so they could jump around in the shallows. Meanwhile I kept my feet firmly on dry land!

Baked tatties (jacket potatoes) were being cooked in the embers of the fire, and sausages were cooked on improvised skewers. And the best bit after consuming the savories was dessert - S'mores. For the uninitiated these are chocolate biscuits with marshmallows on top, the mashmalows first having been toasted on the open fire. The soft warmth of the mashmallows slowly melts the chocolate on the biscuit. I can only eat three in one go. Which is probably just as well as others were keen to eat them too. I was very magnanimous and even helped a wee boy, Hamish, toast some marshmallows AND let him eat them himself. Though someone did discover I was hogging the packet of biscuits and marshmallows..... damn, thought the darnkess was hiding my gluttony!

So it was a great night and a wonderful way to herald a new Spring!

A walk on the wild side

Well to be fair it's Button walking on the wild side not me! Today is the most glorious warm Spring day. Just right for the Spring Equinox, where the length of day and night are equal. YES! Spring is here! I heard the skylarks call rising in the field behind the house, and the lapwings and oystercatchers down by the shore. The wrens are twittering around the byres, and the sparrows look busy - I've seen them disappearing into holes at the top of the byre. The starlings must be nesting too.

A walk along the shore was sublime. The water is so blue and still. I tried taking a few photos, but again Button thought it was all about *her*!

Tonight I'm off to friends over on the Mainland for a Spring Equinox party - hopefully on the beach, or if the weather changes then around the warm stove in the kitchen or the conservatory.

Anyway back to the Spring Equinox - although the length of day and night across the globe are, in theory, equal, there are slight variations the further from the equator you go. So today in London there will be 12 hours 10 minutes and 35 seconds of daylight and in Glasgow it will be 12 hours 11 minutes, 49 seconds of daylight - and probably a minute more in Orkney!

I was rather hoping that the clocks would also go forward this weekend for "British Summer Time" but I see from my calendar that I have to wait another week for that event. Oh well can't have too many celebrations at once!

I feel like a dormouse emerging from hibernation, feeling the warm rays of sun on my body and warm ground beneath my toes..... Hmmm maybe not a good analogy with Button around. OK time to clean my whiskers and practice my happy dance for the party tonight!

This is a picture taken of a rockpool on the "shell" beach:

"Early" morning

I've just returned on the 7.45 ferry from Stromness (yes that's early for me!). It's another lovely calm day and I thought you might like to see some of the photos. Since about 8.30 however the mist has been rolling in and out and it's a little chilly. But it still feels like Spring!



First, this is a picture of the Fulmars nesting at the pier on Graemsay. Usually Fulmars nest on rock ledges on cliff faces. The birds lay an egg in a shallow part of the cliff - no cosy nest lined with down for a Fulmar chick! Pairs of birds will sit together on the nest, with many other pairs around and lots of chattering going on. Fulmars will defend their nests from intruders by vomitting a horrid oily smelly substance up to 2 metres! However our pier Fulmars seem a little more laid back and accepting of passing folk. And as you can see - the "cliff" is probably only about 15-20 foot high in places! Although fulmars look like regular gulls they are in fact related to the Albatross and have an average lifespan of about 32 years, though ringed birds have been known to live to over 50 years.

These photos were taken sailing from Stromness round to Hoy this morning (before the mist rolled in).

Note to self....

Do not endeavour to put up new washing line without first removing freshly collected eggs from one's pocket. Sigh - I should know better by now. A couple of years ago my mobile phone met a sticky end - literally, when I jumped into the car forgetting I still had eggs in my pocket form the morning collection. It was an old phone and I didn't try claiming on the insurance - wasn't sure quite how to explain that my phone now had egg yolk oozing out between the keys.....

And the hens were outraged this morning, quite rightly, when they saw their hard work being scooped out of my pocket onto the grass, all yolk and shell mixed in together. Sorry girls - I'll try and be more careful in future.

Still - at least I will be able to try out the new washing line, once my jacket has been through the washing machine!

Second Note to Self:
Pay attention when throwing ingredients into breadmaker..... I often put seeds into my bread, my favourite being sunflower and pumpkin seeds. So I buy large packets from Tesco and secure open packets with an old fashioned clothes peg. Um..... I THINK I had two clothes pegs when they came out of the cupboard, but when I went to put them back in the cupboard I can only find one. I'm hoping it's isn't in the breadmaker..... oh well it'll add fibre I suppose - sigh.

And finally, for today at least I hope!:

When putting a "jacket potato" in the oven to cook for lunch, remember to check one has turned on the oven or lunch will be - er - a little solid and raw..... (posted at 13:11)