What - no eggs!

Both the hens also seem to be enjoying an Xmas break - no eggs for the last two days! Harumph. And just when I was planning on experimenting with some recipes from a Christmas present "baking" book.........

Actually I think White Hen hasn't been laying for a while. Her comb and wattles are quite pale. Whereas Brown Hen still has bright red wattles (an indication she's still laying). She may just be hiding her eggs somewhere that I have yet to find. It is a nuisance though - bless her!

I may shut them in the hen house overnight to see if I get any eggs - though my hens have a knack of sitting with crossed legs till they are let out before they part with their eggs!

I was up feeding Breckan's kitty this morning and took today's photos. Another beautiful calm day and the Hamnavoe was just sailing past Hoy Low (yes another light house!). Hoy Low is a short dumpy light house, compared to Hoy High which is a tall one - hence the names.... The Hamnavoe was arriving from Scrabster and the picture below is it sailing into Stromness Harbour.

And in answer to....

....the question - how does the heating oil get to the house? It comes over on the ferry - but as we don't have a Ro-Ro ferry the oil tanker has to deposit the oil into a small (1200 litre) tank on the pier in Stromness. The tank then gets winched onto the ferry and off onto the back of a trailer at Graemsay. Then it trundles up on the trailer behind a tractor and is pumped into the tank at the back of the house using the "island" electric pump. The system works well but takes some co-ordination as Graemsay only has two tanks available on the Stromness pier and these are also used for diesel for tractor fuel on Graemsay, plus of course a number of homes use oil for heating. However with a little co-ordination and planning, so far all has worked well!

Whoopeee for drop in oil prices!

Just sorting out bills that arrived pre-Christmas and am delighted to find a huge difference in my oil bill. Phew!! BIG Phew! Last tank I had delivered back in August cost £605.00. That lasted four months (oil fired boiler works heating and heats water). Got a delivery of oil just before Christmas and the same amount cost £386! Whooooppeeeeee! The price has dropped from 57.71p per litre to 36.88p per litre.

I have to say I'm rather extravagant with heating. I like to feel warm and NOT wrapped up in lots of layers. I keep the sitting room at about 70 degrees F in winter. The underfloor heating is very efficient so the room stays more or less constant during the day. Upstairs are radiators and I keep the rooms cooler here. This winter I shut off the heating in the conservatory and put a dehumidifier out there to keep things aired. I usually have the heating on low in the conservatory in winter but don't use the room much as the sitting room is cosier for winter and easier to keep warm with fewer windows etc.

I am a huge fan of underfloor heating (so is Button - her paws are forever warm....!). The boiler comes on and pumps hot water around the downstairs floors for a few hours in the morning and again in the evening. But the cement floor acts like a large storage heater and gives out heat even when the pump is off. Upstairs are traditional hot water radiators and these rooms cool down quicker.

Because the stone walls are so thick (3 feet in places) and reasonably well insulated I usually need to keep the heating on till about end of May, till the house warms up - sometimes it's warmer outside in Spring than inside! But usually in the summer I can switch the heating off - except when I have visitors! I've acclimatised to Orkney temperatures but take pity on my visitors!

Now..... if electricity prices could just follow suit........

The road is paved....

.....with good intentions as they say! I had planned to do more with my blog over the holiday, however have been fighting a virus so as you see...... didn't manage to post much!

Anyway above is sunset on Boxing Day. The sun has just sunk behind the Hoy Hills. The weather is still glorious for December. So still and calm! The reflection from the lights of Stromness reached the Graemsay shore last night. It was beautiful.

I went for a brief walk along the shore yesterday and noticed that "the links" have taken a battering during the recent storms. The links are made up of sand and marram grass and I've noticed the erosion in the 8 years I've been here. I've heard stories that years ago the links were flat and wide and wedding marches would process along the top of them. Now in places you'd have to tightrope walk along a ridge and clamber up and down gullies.

I am fascinated by the way the landscape is constantly shaped by the elements, but it will be a shame when/if the links finally disappear. For one thing our "main" road runs by them. The council have talked for years about re-routing the road but who knows when it will happen.

Button has been enjoying the still nights and has been out for the whole night two nights running! I did give her a yell at 3am this morning when I was down making a cup of tea, but still no sign. She eventually rolled home at 7.45 demanding breakfast.....

A beautiful peaceful day here......

...... and hoping it is with you. There was a lovely sunrise this morning at a very civilised time of 9.15ish. But I watched it in bed, drinking tea and with a purring Button beside me. Magic!

It is so quiet outside - no wind! The water is still and calm and the sun is still shining though some grey clouds are trying to douse it's glow. But the Sun will not give in that easily today!

Button enjoyed a stroll out with me this morning.

"Did someone mention a lighthouse? I see no lighthouse....."

Yet another blustery day.....

We did have some respite from the wind yesterday afternoon and evening, but this morning the wind got up again and is currently raging outside. The Orkney Harbours website registered 75mph gusts within the last hour at the "Barrel of Butter" - which is the nearest measurement point relative to Graemsay's position. The Barrel of Butter is in Scapa Flow - so named (I think) as in days long past it was used by fishermen when they used to kill seals for meat etc. I think most of the work was carried out on the small islet and "a barrel of butter" was the cost of using the land! Paid to the Laird no doubt.

Anyway I digress, yet again. So - it's blooming windy out there. Today is the Winter Solstice - Sunrise was at 0904 this morning and sunset was at 1515 this afternoon - though it has been dark much of the day due to wind/rain/cloud etc. London got about 90 minutes more daylight than us with sunrise at 0804 and sunset at 1554.

Usually I go for a walk to celebrate the solstices but today was just too darned windy! However I will light a candle tonight..... In the old times winter was very difficult for people (no change there then...). The growing season had ended and people had to live off stored food and whatever animals they had. People were apparently troubled that when the life-giving sun sank lower on the Winter Solstice that it would disappear forever and leave them in permanent darkness and extreme cold. So they would light a Yule Candle to "call back the sun" during the longest night of the year. After the solstice they would celebrate as they saw the sun rising and strengthening once more. Although many months of cold weather lay ahead they took heart that the return of the warm sun was inevitable. I can so relate to that way of thinking!

At Maeshowe in Orkney the sun illuminates the chamber in the cairn for a few minutes during the winter solstice. More information here: http://www.maeshowe.co.uk/index.html

There's usually a live camera to capture the event but it didn't get that much this year due to the weather!

That was windy!

Just had an extremely windy night - gale force 10 was forecast. I have no idea what the wind speed was during the night as I hid under the duvet with my fingers in my ears singing la la la trying to pretend it wasn't happening ;-)

The noise of some of the gusts was terrific, huge booming noises. It doesn't help that building regulations determined that when the roof was renewed lots of ventilation slots had to be put in along the ridge line, and small pipes every few feet along the bottom of the roof where it joins the wall. Consequently it is bl**dy noisy when the wind is in a certain direction! Obviously building regs don't take into account natural Orkney ventilation! The cat usually sleeps in the study but I found her under a chair in the sitting room this morning. Clearly she'd had her paws over her ears too as she didn't hear me get up - usually she's calling for her breakfast once I emerge for the day. But at least on first appearance there is no damage to the house - well I can't see any debris lying around so that's a good sign. Wind still gusting up to 50mph so I won't be venturing forth just yet.....

Unfortunately last night I was supposed to be helping organise a party for our Film Club night. We were showing Mamma Mia! - the singalong version, together with mulled wine and mince pies. However the "late" ferry was cancelled and due to a work teleconference I couldn't get an earlier ferry. Added to that the Skipper wasn't sure he would be able to get me home this morning as the wind was going to be North Westerly which isn't good for docking at our pier. So in the end I missed the party. Harumph! Heard that it was a good night anyway - about thirty folk and lots of mulled wine was consumed by all accounts. I'd seen the film recently and was looking forward to a light frothy party night watching a film with some *sun* - and Pierce Brosnan - even if he can't sing. But I choose to live on Graemsay so one just has to take the weather as it comes. I'm not so fussed about a rough crossing but I get really scared at the pier. I'm always afraid I'll get blown over, or slip as I get on or off the boat. Given my fragile bones it seemed sensible to stay nice and warm indoors.

The electricity stayed on which was a blessing. I'd curled up on the sofa and watched an hour long preview of "Strictly" (Strictly Come Dancing) and settled to watch a repeat of "Foyle's War" which I particularly enjoy as it's set in Hastings (Kent) a town I know fairly well. Unfortunately the ITV channels went off at 10.30 so I missed seeing "whodunnit" - and yes it was a repeat and yes I'd seen it before...... but could I remember who??? Will have to go online and see if I can find out!!

BBC channels stayed on and thankfully the radio was OK, though that flickered a bit. When there's a gale blowing my "comfort blanket" is having a radio on - I suppose I psychologically feel I need to be linked to the rest of the world even though my own is being battered by wind and high seas! Anyway listened to Jamie Cullum doing a Christmas Show. I love his music (jazz) but had found his "DJ" style rather irritating. However he seems to have grown up now and his show was rather good. As was the music too.

BBC4 (digital channel) is doing a season of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jnr films and shows so I'm trying to catch some of those. I really must try and sort out my video recorder....... I'm never quite sure what channel it is exactly I'm recording.........

Well I'm waffling on about nothing really which is clearly some displacement activity instead of working! Better get cracking!

As long as the wind dies down it's the Children's Christmas Party tonight. Not sure how many folk will be there as various people off south for Christmas. But hopefully there will be chocolate and cake........