Clinging on
Families of young swallows are fledging and cling to the window ledges of Einar in the strong winds.
Window ledge
Window ledge beachcombing finds
I’ve got a serious problem
Why do people not believe me when I tell them that I have a serious Woodlouse problem?
Twittering and chattering
It’s early in the morning and I can hear the sudden twittering and chattering of birds. It’s so loud it must be …
There was only one woodlouse on my face flannel this morning. My worry is that they’re all still alive inside the Hoover … → 18 August, 2013
Note to self: when arriving and cleaning the kitchen for first use, always empty the toaster crumb-tray of woodlice before warming pitta to avoid that toasted woodlouse smell.
Woodlice are nutritious but not mint flavoured, so always shake them off your toothbrush before brushing.
Coypuffin
My Coypuffin :) I really wish I could remember where I bought this and who made it. Did I get it at …
Not a single slug in the kitchen this time = result! Slugs → 16 August, 2013
Orkney sunshine
Orkney sunshine in the playground.
Real dedication
There’s a beautiful collection of desiccated woodlice in the upturned light shade. It shows real dedication that they crawled all the way across the floor, up the wall and along the ceiling before dying in my light shade.
Rainbows, Peregrine, Traybakes and Fancies, Moonlit Cycling
The 14 mile return cycle to The Wheeling Steen Gallery is either getting easier or I’m getting more blasé about it. So …
Look at the halteres on that!
Craneflies have such an unpredictable wobbly flight. Their flight would be a lot worse if they didn’t have such big halteres to …
Poppy
The last red poppy on wasteland at Rack Wick.
The Puffins are here!
The Puffins are here! I thought that I would have just missed them, but tonight, there they were, like flying boats at …
Pecking order
My first evening here and I’m desperate to get out and about on my bike. Starlings flutter and shuffle their elaborate pecking …
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 …
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 …
Cockles on the beach
Cockles on the shell-sand beach in Pierowall.
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 …
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 …
Rough grazing
Wind and weather conspire together to make Westray’s grass rough and tough. That’s essential for the ponies in my field. When the …
Driftwood and whalebone
The lack of trees on Orkney has meant that generations of people have relied upon driftwood and whalebone for building materials. Orkney’s …
Summer Visitors
It’s wonderful to see that the Swallows who visit Orkney in the Summer to breed have done so well. There are at …
The Sands of Woo
Worm casts at the Sands of Woo.
An afternoon with an Otter
A cycle ride to Mae Sands and a picnic of bread, cheese and water with a nice apple. Mae Sands is so …
Pitter patter on the window
It’s late at night and I’m sitting on the wide window ledge in the kitchen. The light is on and the curtains …