Remote
A postbox at the north end of the Island. Remote, I’d call it.
Warm noses
Lady is beautiful and eats delicately from my hand. Her nose is warm. Krummie wants to bite me and farts extravagantly for …
Puppy Love
Meeting Meg for the first time <3 xxx
Drop those scones
Decaf coffee. Drop scones. One butter. No jam. £3.04. The best cakes on the Island :) The Wheeling Steen Gallery – and …
Back to the future
Very little has been touched in my house since the 1970s. The bathroom still has the original, now faded, bright orange, hand-made, …
Land Rover
Friend. Land Rover. Sunshine. Beach. Walk.
Dark Island Reserve
Today I go in search of Dark Island Reserve. A beer that even red wine drinkers find palatable – or so I …
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 …
Breakfast on the Ferry
A cup of tea. A bacon roll. A Tunnock’s Caramel Wafer. On the Orkney Ferry to Westray. £2.80. Breakfast.
Waiting in the Westray queue
Westray.
Long evening shadows
Long evening shadows at the Bay of Tafts with the sound of bike tyres grinding on shell sand as my tires slip …
North Isles
The ferry to Westray is due in less than an hour. There’s just time to admire the blue skies, the boats in …
The Dark Island is so very close
So very close and so very far away. It’s 8:40am and it’s not legal to buy alcohol before 10:00am here. My ferry …
Fancy a sweet?
I’m glad to see that the Orkney obsession with rhubarb continues unabated!
Get your bunting out
So what’s so special about blue, red and yellow bunting across the street in Kirkwall I hear you ask? Well, they are …
Duck and ripples
It’s 7am. A duck swims in the sea in Kirkwall.
Silhouette
The sun is up, the sky is blue. The sun is up, the sky is blue, it’s beautiful and so are you. …
Dawn
There’s a stunning ball of burning gas out there and the earth is tumbling around it. It’s dawn in Kirkwall.
Wandering down The Shore
The sun is up and there’s an Otter entering the sea in Kirkwall. I wander down The Shore and see the pale golden sun appear.
Sleeping in my car
Sleeping in my car overlooking Kirkwall bay – waking to watch the world turn.
Waders twitter
Waders are twittering, a cockerel is crowing and I can just feel the warmth of the sun faintly on my face. It’s …
Dawn breaks
Dawn breaks over the bay in Kirkwall
Rain on my window
Rain on my window an hour before dawn with the amber lights of Kirkwall harbour across the water.
Return to the Ayre Hotel
Time. Time to go home and leave Orkney for a little while. Time to earn a living. Time at the bar. Last …
Heading home
It’s time to head home with a heavy heart. The light on the boat is on in the daytime with blue skies …
Crunching boots on empty tracks
Our boots crunch as I walk along the farm track with Fitty Hill behind and the silver sea ahead.
Sometimes a picture is enough
Fitty Hill from East Kirbest
Sailing Westray down.
Leaving the Island is always a wrench. As I leave the Island, I watch as the ferry sails and Westray begins to …