Mice nibble… #2
Slippers Just when I was thinking I’d like to get my cold feet into some snug slippers in this Orkney Summer I …
Sugar and spice and everything nice…
… that’s what Westray is made of. Slugs and snails. That’s what my house is made of. Here’s an adventurous slug who …
Sunrise through broken windows
In art classes when I was a teenager I used to love using blue with red, orange and yellow. It is a stunning combination. No more so than in nature, and there’s nothing that my dirty, broken windows can do to dull the spectacle. In Orkney, just a sunrise is so spectacular it’s as exciting as an eclipse.
Is that on the inside or the outside?
Is that fly on the inside or the outside of the window? I really can’t tell. If it’s on the inside, then …
10 minutes after dawn
I’m up early because it’s dawn at 6:07 and I want to see the sun appear on the horizon. It’s ten minutes …
20 minutes before dawn
It’s light in my window and it’s not yet 6 am . The sky is bright and the walls reflect the early …
Turnips like melons
Living on a small island gives people a different mentality. Living on Westray ranks somewhere between living on the main islands of …
Megrim
Mmmm… Megrim is on the menu at Helgi’s tonight: Megrim Vierge – steamed Megrim fillets on crushed new tatties with herby citrus …
Cockles on the beach
Cockles on the shell-sand beach in Pierowall.
For Want of a Nail, the Ship Was Lost
In dazzling sunshine I step off the grassy bank and onto the beach, ending sock-deep in something black and congealed. It’s the …
A chap with an attitude problem
A chap with an attitude problem… and a bull. A quick cycle to the Bay of Swartmill in the sunshine with my …
Lay me down in a field of daisies
A trek to Noup Head Lighthouse and time to rest and use my Spinner 360 camera to capture the scene. “Lay me …
Martin
It’s time for a trip to see Westray Potter, Martin Terrell at his studio and I’m grateful that he’s agreed to throw …
Lawyers’ Wigs and a bug’s-eye
The fields on the ride to Noup are covered in Lawyers’ Wigs, no not the wigs of lawyers, but a mushroom also …
Birds’ nests look so simple
Birds’ nests look so simple until you try to imagine making them with only your mouth and feet.
For the love of Rhubarb
It’s time for a cycle trip to the Westray shops – all three of them – to see what rhubarb treats they …
Leaving my keys
It’s time to cross from the Mainland (and that’s the name for the main island of Orkney, not the UK mainland) to …
School in again all this week. As usual, lessons given in usual order but progress not so satisfactory. Seemingly the scholars are longing for the vacation.
Malc tends to the pigs
Malcolm tends to the pigs at Steenyha’.
Cattle on Noltland
The bones of wind and wave washed cattle litter the sand dunes of the Links of Noltland. Here are a couple I …
Remembering schooldays and a bucket with a wooden lid
Nancy remembers the Hall as it used to be; a school. So does Catherine. “It’s the first time I’ve been in here …
The Saltire and the burning bush
The Church of Scotland Kirk has a wonderful sign of the Saltire and the burning bush painted on a Westray stone flag …
Curly Kale at Dead Man’s Nose
Tommy is very kind. He’s decided I should have some of his green and some of his purple Curly Kale. Tommy’s garden …
Competitive Cabbages
The Westray Industrial Show is nearly upon us. It’s when folks here get competitive over cabbages, but not Tommy. He says more …
Under the weather
With this kind of treatment, Malcolm’s Steenyha’ pigs will never be under the weather, whether it rains or shines.
It’s fast, it squeals and it’s unbearably cute
Piglets are such tricky blighters to photograph; even when you hold them they wriggle. Here’s Malc with one of Molly’s litter. All …
Nine and a half pigs
A quick trip down the road to see Mr Pig today where Molly has produced 10 piglets, or nine and a half …
Needing a shave
Several days into my Westray trip and I need a shave. Molly the pedigree saddleback pig is nice and bristly this morning. …
With the grain
Orkney has precious few trees. And I mean precious. Perhaps I should say Orkney has a few precious trees. Windswept, almost barren …