The sun shines out of his guitar
There’s just time on a glorious day to see my friend Chris and record a video for one of the songs from his album with his band Ippykak.
Deceptive
A new day and a new beach to explore. This one is hidden behind long kelp drying walls. Over shattered rock and …
Buried Treasure
When I was a child I played on the beach all summer holiday and one day, when I was very young, I …
Grace and poise
Cycling past the Skello shop I see a vision in white, a stunningly beautiful, windswept and magnificent white horse. She has grace …
Capturing the emptiness
There’s only one road from Einar and in the wind it’s tough cycling. I stop for a breather and capture the emptiness.
Snuffle, oink, scratch
The pig needs a scratch so bicycles are stopped, bristles are rumpled. What a fine looking pig.
Spring light
It’s a beautiful time of year as low spring light gives the view from my field a golden glow and sheep graze …
Middle of the road
Middle of the road; that’s something you could never accuse Westray of being.
Lambing
Lambing is a wonderful time; quivering tails and wobbly legs are always a pleasure at this time of year. Cycling past the …
The truth at last about Westray tourists
So this is what happens to visitors? Spotted in a glass cabinet of curiosities at the Museum in Kirkwall.
Noltland Panorama
Noltland Castle is a wonderful castle with panoramic views of Pierowall and its bay. Here’s a 360 panorama taken with a Spinner …
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’.