Half a pound of biscuit
Half a pound of biscuit – that’s the way the money goes. WFM Brown makes bread and cakes and biscuits on Westray …
Glasgow, St Mungo and Midges
The toilet cisterns in Einar’s old school toilets say St Mungo on them. St Mungo is the patron saint of accused adulterers …
Fancy a piece?
I’ve just bought this fabulous dried fruit tart from Peter Miller’s shop. Would you like a piece? Hold on! Wait a …
Eggs on the doorstep
I arrive back from a day out exploring and there are freshly laid eggs on the doorstep from my kind Island friend. …
Emptying woodlice from the bread machine
I remembered to empty the woodlice from the toaster when I arrived. I forgot about the ones inside the bread machine. There’s …
Sunrise
Broad horizons. Breathtaking clouds. Constantly changing skies. That’s the view of Westray from my window.
Even a Gypsy caravan was too much settling down
Alicen’s Gypsy caravan has some wonderful paintwork.
6:43 am
I really must put the curtain pole back up with all this early sunshine directly into my eyes in the bedroom.
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams
Tread? More like trample all over. The horses have left their mark on my rhubarb.
Spider in the bath
It’s time for a bath and that means yet another spider to wash down the plug hole.
Drive carefully
Please drive carefully during the breeding season.
Telling stories
Photographs tell stories. They tell stories about objects and people and the relationships between them. Some photographs tell you their own story; …
Lizza and Jenna at Hume Sweet Hume
One of the greatest surprises I had when visiting Westray for the first time eight years ago was finding out there was …
Manuport
It’s a new word for me. A manuport; Something brought by a human from one place to another. Something which shows conscious …
Stromness Professionals at the Graand Owld Byre
Tuesday night in Westray and the only gig in town is a packed house with every available seat taken, children on laps …
Pierowall Fish filleting
One of my earliest memories of coming to Westray was a trip to find the fishmonger to see what I could get …
A prickly subject
The thistle is Scotland’s national symbol. Scottish independence is as prickly as one.
Lady’s Mane
Lady the Shetland Pony is ginger and blonde.
A Greek rainbow
The Yellow Flag Bog Irises have withstood the winter weather and the first ones are coming into full flower in Rapness. Iris …
Three ways down
I’m walking on the cliffs at Stanger Head past the Castle o’ Burrian and climbing up a rock crack when two tourists …
Crane Flies like Time Flies
“Birds do, it, Bees do it, Even agricultural pests like Crane Flies do it.”
On Westray I pray for a still day and then the midges appear and I give thanks for the blustery ones.
Cycling in shell sand
Cycling in soft shell sand is always exhilarating and exhausting and is always a mistake; eventually. The sharp shell fragments will always …
Giant Pebble
A giant pebble at Rack Wick.
Inside Lady Kirk
Lady Kirk in Pierowall was built in 1674 on the foundations of a 13th-century church.
Water Horsetails at Roadmire
Roadmire is a great name for the boggy area leading to Letto Sands. These Palaeozoic horsetails flourish there undisturbed.
Flavour of the month
I’m in the market for some yoghurt. That means I’ve got to clear my mind of any preconceptions about the flavour I might want. What will the shops have for me this year?
Yearning for soft fruit
Everytime I visit [[Westray]] I love the food. Whether it’s the fresh fish from Pierowall Fish or the unpasteurised cheese from Wilson’s …