House for sale on Graemsay

No not mine!  But the old Manse on Graemsay is shortly to be offered for sale.  Some preliminary details are here 

Expected price will be offers over £85,000.

Sunset (again)

There was a lovely sky last night.  I just sat in the conservatory listening to the radio and gazing out at it!

The new Balfour Hospital

As you know I had a short spell as an inpatient in the local hospital in Kirkwall.  It was the NEW hospital and had only been open about a month.  The facilities are great and a huge improvement on our old hospital.  We are SO lucky to have been able to have a new one built for Orkney.  Below is a short YouTube tour of some parts of it before it was opened.

All patient rooms are now single rooms, apart from the day surgery which has 6 beds in a ward.  Single rooms are much better as they reduce the risk of infection (each room is deep cleaned after patient is discharged).  I loved my single room with ensuite shower-room, tv, wifi AND I could control the temperature in the room myself AND open windows!  The bed could be electronically adjusted by patient or nurses alike for the greatest comfort.  The staff of course are the same wonderful staff as in the previous hospital.  They too are getting used to new ways of working and finding their way around.  I think some folk find the single rooms a bit lonely as they like company, but for me, when I'm poorly I prefer the privacy and quiet of my own room. The food is cooked on the premises - it was OK!  And while I have no wish to return any time soon it is great to know that such modern facilities are now available in Orkney.  And remember in the UK the NHS (National Health system) is FREE at the point of delivery.  And I will fight to the last for that to continue!

A wander round the garden....

Last week when I was home on "day release" it was lovely to just sit in the garden.  It's all going very feral this year as I've not been well enough to do much for a few weeks and with lots of rain and warm days it's just galloping away.  But as the garden is for my enjoyment and for the birdies and insects I'm quite happy with that.  Feral gardening is much more my style than ordered borders.

It was also lovely to be greeted by the hens.  Though the welcoming party was led by Pecky Hen which was a tad alarming as I still think it was she that tipped me into the wheelie bin the other year!!

And of course to be accompanied by dear Button was lovely too....

Though Button soon got bored and wandered off for a snooze in one of her favourite spots.  Not exactly well camouflaged....

The hens love the garden and help keep slugs and snails in check....

While Harriet Hare guards the salad leaves!!  It's great having these growing in the garden and to be able to pick them as and when.  Much cheaper and healthier than the supermarket bagged salads leaves!

Lots of variety for different bees, wasps, hover flies etc to feed on.

Hardy geraniums are the stalwarts of my borders!!  All shapes and sizes and colours.  Verbascum self seeds and is doing well after a few quiet years.

This hebe is smothered in flowers this year and the noise as you approach is amazing as it is just alive with buzzing bees!  The feathery plant next to it is fennel which grows really tall each year.

This area is always quite damp so has some trees and more woodlandy plants in it.

Bottoms in the air foraging!  Orange hawkweed (fox and cubs) doing well.  It's a bit of a thug but easily enough to control as long as you keep on top of it. The frothy "Ladies mantle" doing well this year too.

Gooseberries doing well and nearly ready to harvest!

Ooooh forgotten the name of these loverly balls of flower - they will be a lovely blue colour when in bloom.

I love the orange of the Globe flower and it goes well with the yellow spires of verbascum

The lupins are going over now but the Astrantia is still going strong.

Hope you enjoyed your wander round the garden!

Sunset....

The sunset on Tuesday evening was lovely.  Not one of the most spectacular but a joy to watch just the same.

And a short YouTube film about one of the most Northerly of the Orkney Islands, North Ronaldsay (6.5 mins long) 

Home again!

Across the garden

I was able to move back home on Monday, yay!  Visitors from Australia were arriving at 4pm so I came over in the morning. It was a glorious day, warm and sunny and it was a real joy to be back.  It;s been lovely having my visitors here, not been together for about 3 years so lots of catching up to do and they are looking after me well, making sure I am well fed!  I've left them to go off adventuring while I just relax at home.  It's wonderful to be home!!

Button seems happy to have me home too. Bless!  Though her meows are getting more demanding by the day. Ha!

In the evening we wandered down to the coral beach at Sandside.  It was lovely to breathe warm fresh air again.  I hadn't been to the beach for a couple of weeks at least and I missed it!

Seeing this seal was very special for me.  It's the seals that drew me to the house and we don't see them on this part of the shore often now.  So it felt like a proper welcome home...

My visitors had a perfect afternoon sail across to Graemsay....

In the morning I had sailed from Stromness via Hoy and it was a lovely sail too....

All calm at Moaness pier on Hoy.

Looking towards Hoy and the Orkney Mainland

Heather on the hills of Hoy.

The sleeping dragon of Hoy

Graemsay pier and Hoy High lighthouse coming into view.

Sailing past Clett on Graemsay

Scarratain (with a traditional turf and flagstone roof)

And then I was at the pier, met by neighbours who helped me move back home.Yay!

Sailing back to Graemsay....

Hoy High with Stromness in the background

Having spent just over 48 hours in hospital I was discharged on Tuesday but still needed some recovery time.  And because there are no medical facilities on the island it was thought prudent that I stayed on the Orkney Mainland till I was fully recovered.  So I stayed with a friend in Stromness, overlooking Graemsay!  I've been coming back home during the day and heading back to Stromness at night.  But tomorrow I'm moving back home again - yay!

Anyway, here are a few pix of the sailing to and from Graemsay - each journey took me via Hoy.  The weather has been really poor in Orkney, lots of fog, rain, and very low cloud.  Warm but just grey and damp (and no not good for my asthma....).  So here are some moody skies....

Above, waiting for the boat back to Stromness.  The post sticking up to the left of the photo indicates where the electricity cable for the island comes ashore from Orphir on the Orkney Mainland.

Leaving Moaness pier on Hoy

The old Kirk on Graemsay

And the "other" Graemsay lighthouse, Hoy Low.....

And along the waterfront in Stromness. You can see many of the houses have their own piers.  The "Red Shed" is a local landmark and a former RNLI lifeboat station....  Now used by a recreational diving company.

And back to Stromness for an overnight stay with a lovely view of "home"!