Water, water everywhere.....
But only beer to drink!
The island is being battered by some good strong southerly winds at the moment, they also seem to have brought an awful lot of water with them.
The Linkspan (Ferry Ramp) is getting a good soaking.
The sea was finding any little low spot and invading it
Not too much in the way of sea defence along this bit.
Is this 30 MPH or 30 Knots?
Just in case you have been locked in a box for a while........Christmas is on it's way!!!
We hosted the local school's staff Christmas dinner the other day, which seemed to go down well as there was nothing left for my supper.
Well.........This is the big one!
We have been here for a whole year today, a year in the blink of an eye, it just doesn't seem possible.
A celebratory party is organised for this Saturday which will include the "Santa Float" bringing Santa to the hotel for the kiddies (Young and old) followed by a Christmas Disco and buffet.
Lets hope the weather improves a bit!!
Until next time........................
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A Bit More of the Aftermath from the Blow..
And Christmas Arrives at the Bar.
The sky has been alight here in the early afternoons recently.
This twisted piece of metal is all that remains of a once proud wind turbine.
This, apparently, was one of the earlier models to have been put up on the island,
It had stood for a good few years and survived numerous severe gales, but the newness has obviously worn off and this one took it to the floor.
On a slightly lighter note, the deckies are up!!!!!
The bear is in place,
Glittery things abound,
and the tree is on it's table.
Rudolph the brown nosed (OOOeerrrr) reindeer is keeping an eye on proceedings from the "comfy" chair in the corner.
Until next time.....................
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Winter Comes-a-Calling......
The Sand bags were popular.
The road is quite deep in this one......to say the least!
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This morning the wind had eased a bit, but in came a touch of snow.
They might be hardy but they don't look happy.
Even the neighbouring Isle of Eday looks a bit dramatic today.
Until next time...............
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Still Here.....
A few random pictures from the past months.
Its a work of art!.................or maybe not.
This was a fine late afternoon return from Kirkwall, you can keep your trains and buses, this is the way to go shopping!
It looks like all you need here is a very large match.
This caught us out.
At first glace it looks like wavelets on water but it is in fact millions of spiders webs,
meaning that there must be millions of spiders in there.......ooooerrrr.
Time to do the lottery.
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Right lads.......Which way is south then?
Yesterday was a grey day indeed,
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The wind arrived and whipped the sea into a frenzy
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and for some reason they cancelled the ferry.
All's well today though.
Until next time..........................
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Back To The Blogging...
A day of seals and birds.....need some help with the bird!
The season has come to an end now and a bit more time is available to us once more.
Traipsing off around the island we found a few seals waiting for their photo shoot.
It's me again,
make sure you get my best side.
All this is just sooooo very tiring darling....
Poseur!
Now this is where I need some help.
These pics are taken at extreme range with a hand held 200 lens, hence they are rubbish.
The thing is, this bird dwarfed the Gannets that were working out there at the same time, and a Gannet is a big bird!
Arctic Skua came to mind but there is no forked tail and the ones I have seen so far are nowhere near as big as this thing.
I'm also not sure if Skuas dive for fish.
So... it is over to those of you who are trained in the ways of all things birdlike to please tell me what you think it is.
Until next time..........................
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The "Fest" came.....
And (unfortunately) was soon gone again!
It all started on Friday night with a bit of trepidation as to whether any one was going to get out here, the ferry crews are working to rule at the moment which causes a fair bit of disruption to the timetables.
But.... all was well in the end as the "Alpha Dixies" launched into a night of music and song.
This pleased the locals no end.
The dancing did get a bit eclectic at times.........
and up to light speed at others.
Saturday dawned with the weather letting everyone down, but the "Herring Walk" (A 2 hour walk and talk about the Herring fishing industry here in days gone by) was well attended and raised at least £150 for the RNLI over the weekend.
There was a concert in the Kirk (Church) during the afternoon which went down very well, we couldn't get there though due to having to put the bar back together ready for the evening.
An evening dance in the community hall rounded off quite a full day.
Sunday on the other hand was just that, a day of sun!
The BBQ (or should that be BB View?.... what a location!) went well with mountains of sausages and burgers on offer.
The "Chefs" hard at work.
Some men of leisure soaking up the sun
The community greenhouse was open for teas and a chance to sample what has been grown.
I must say to my shame that this is the first time I have been in here and it was huge. All the plots are segmented and really well tended with some interesting things growing away, things you would not imagine would grow on an island this far north.
More about that in another Blog methinks!
Back to the bar for another night of music, this time it was the turn of the delightfully named "Wriggley Sisters".
A much slower and relaxed atmosphere was abound as everyone wound down during the evening. The sisters were really encouraging to the local youngsters with their playing, offering advice and tips as they went along.
All in all the weekend went very well indeed and plans are already afoot for next year.
Until next time........................
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