Orkney

Orkney never fails to deliver for us.  We've been here almost a week (where does the time go?) and the spirit of the place has captured us all over again.  

We stay at the same place each time we come.  It suits us well, we know where everything is, and the view from our lounge window is stunning, looking out across the Bay of Firth.  The backdrop constantly changes according to the time of day and the weather, so we never tire of it.  The wildlife comes and goes - this morning we spied several seals on the shingle spit, which pleased me no end!

So, what have we done so far?   We visited the incredible Maeshowe, a quite awesome Neolithic chambered cairn, part of the UNESCO site on Orkney which also includes the Ring of Brodgar henge and the Standing Stones of Stenness.  I was fascinated by the runes carved into the stone interior of Maeshowe, an example, it seems, of Norse graffiti!  I have a feeling that the runes and the carving of dragons lend themselves to being incorporated into a quilt.  

We've done a lot of walking, especially along the cliffs at Marwick Head and the Brough of Birsay to see the multitude of seabirds nesting.  We can watch them wheeling, being held up by the winds, swooping for fish in the sea and coming in to land on just the few inches of cliff edge available to each one for hours.  N is very keen on wildlife photography, and will inch ever-closer to the cliff edge for the best photo.  I just click away with my little Nikon Coolpix, hoping for a few reasonable shots.  BTW, I will add photos on my return home, as the iPad has all N's photos.  

Friday and Saturday we had tickets for events in the Orkney Folk Festival, and did we have a great time at them.  On Friday we went to the Ceilidh at Finstown Community Centre, and enjoyed some wonderful music and superb Orkney hospitality.  Saturday evening found us at the Pickaquoy Centre in Kirkwall, for The Isles Gathering, a wonderful feast of music by the very best from Orkney and Shetland Islands.  It was just fantastic and we were blown away by the sheer joy and enthusiasm of the musicians.

Orkney has a pull for N and I and every time we visit we fall in love with the place yet again.  The 'big' skies and sweeping landscapes make for drama, the locals we have always found to be very welcoming, the wildlife is all around, and the 'homebakes' are the best!  We have seriously considered moving here (and still do), and even if we don't, Orkney is somewhere we will return to again and again.

Just before we go

Well, we're just about there.  Bags packed, food cooked for our journey tomorrow, house cleaned.

N made turkey-sausage rolls, I made some seeded rolls and a red onion quiche (not cooked when I took this photo!)  I realised that I'd quite forgotten to mention that we are already cropping our salad leaves and baby spinach.  We've been enjoying freshly-picked leaves all this week.

N and I have been discussing at some length the dilemma we are in over moving house.  We have found that sellers don't want to entertain an offer unless you have an offer on your own property.  Hence our decision to put the flat in the market.  However, as yet we've not found another property that ticks enough of our boxes we face the problem of finding a buyer, but not a house.  We will just have to wait to see if we have an offer from this afternoon's viewing (the second once had to cancel - we were warned about that).  It's just our luck that the first bit of interest in the flat should be on the eve of our holiday!!

Anyway, this time tomorrow we will be in Orkney.  It will be good to be back there again, and we are looking forward to exploring more of this wonderful place.

More from the garden . . . and an unexpected development!

This little saxifrage has been smothered in flowers for a couple of weeks, and  is a cheerful welcome to the garden

N's been pottering in the garden over the weekend, and yesterday we bought some more seeds - Nantes carrots and some coriander; we both love the taste of fresh coriander, it just brings food alive.  I've now got a mini propogator on the kitchen windowsill with parsley, coriander and basil in pots.  Hopefully when we return from our trip to Orkney, they should be germinating.

We spotted this little interloper in amongst the perennials the other day.  It's one of last year's potatoes which we must have missed, and which has now decided to sprout.  You never know, it just might manage to produce a couple of spuds later in the year - more 'freebies', always welcome :)

The birds are really putting on a good choral show at the moment, and this blackbird was in fine voice yesterday.  Although the photo doesn't show it too clearly, he has some distinctive grey markings on his back, which is unusual as male blackbirds are generally completely black.  However, it does make him very obvious, and we have recognised him in the gardens for several months.  

We have a number of 'projects' lined up for the summer, and I really should make a list - I may start jotting things down when we're away so they don't get forgotten.  I have one major craft project which I am looking forward to very much - there's a deadline for that and it needs a bit of planning to fit in with everything else.  

And now to change the subject completely, we had a phone call from the estate agent this morning, and we have a viewing this afternoon!  And then, a couple of hours' later, he phoned again to arrange another viewing today!!  Good grief, it's taken us by surprise.  Nothing for 4 months, then 2 the day before we go away.  We will wait to see what, if anything, comes of it.

Holiday photos

As promised, I've picked out a few photos from our cruise.  Nothing special, just ones that capture each particular port of call.

Sunrise over the 25th April Bridge, across the River Tagus, on our approach to Lisbon, Portugal.  This bridge has a number of names, but the date refers to the 1974 revolution, and is modelled on the Golden gate Bridge in San Francisco.  

This rather bizarre-looking edifice is the famous Santa Justa lift in the centre of Lisbon.  It's a magnificent structure and we went all touristy and actually paid to go up in the lift, and an extra 1.5 euros each to go up the spiral staircase to the viewing platform - the views were great!  Having reached the top, we could then walk out onto another street level (although not visible in the photo) - this is the reason for the lift being built originally, as this part of Lisbon has some pretty steep hills!!

Old wooden windmills at the saltpans in Arrecife, Lanzarote.

Mending lobster pots - clearly size is important! - on Gran Canaria.

We had a wonderful day in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, and went ashore twice.  The weather was glorious, and what better way to pass a couple of hours than sitting on the promenade, by the beach (Playa de las Canteras, one of the longest city beaches in the world), enjoying a bottle of the local brew, and watching the world go by.  In the morning we had walked the length of the prom, and back again.  It was lovely.  There were lots of youngsters learning to surf, and school children had lessons outside, and they all seemed to be enjoying themselves.

In Santa Cruz de la Tenerife, the capital of Tenerife, we came across these colourful decorations in the streets around one of the churches, presumably for some local festival.

La Palma proved to be a delightful little gem - an abundance of flowers, shady squares and wonderful old buildings in the little main town.  There were no tacky tourist shops, and there was a lovely slow feel to the place.  We loved it.  La palma is apparently the world's steepest island.

Our final port of call was Funchal, in Madeira.  We went up in the chair-lift (we don't normally 'do' the tourist things so twice in one holiday was quite an achievement for us!) and were rewarded with some fantastic views - you can just see our ship at the cruise port, in the centre of the picture.  Although we could have walked back down, or had a ride in a wicker toboggan, we came back on the chair lift, and took loads more photos.  I think Madeira is a place we would like to return to for a week, to explore more fully.

It was a lovely holiday, and one of the benefits of cruising is the opportunity to sample several different destinations.  Inevitably we discover places we would like to visit again, but for longer.  Madeira is obviously one, but we also found Gran Canaria brilliant, and La Palma and Lisbon were also very enjoyable.  it's been good to look through the photos again to remind us.

Tomorrow is 'screen-free' Sunday, which is probably just as well as I really need to pack! 

Veggie garden up-date

What a glorious day today.  We've been in the garden, sorting things out, and it's really beginning to look like a proper veggie garden again.  I remembered my camera, so here's the tour:

First up, the potato bed.  In previous years we've grown potatoes in bags, and had really good crops but we've gone back to planting them in the ground this year.  They've already been earthed-up once, so they seem quite happy there.  

Courgettes next, just 2 plants but they grow pretty big and always crop really well for us. 

At the other end of the raised bed from the courgettes are the peas, starting to scramble up the netting.  N has put some more peas in another container, so they should produce another good crop.  We've not grown peas before, so it'll be interesting to see how they go.

Against one of the fences is the runner bean trellis, and the plants have already started to twine themselves upwards.  Hopefully this year we will manage to pick the beans when they are young and fine - some of last year's were left on the plant too long and were a little bit stringy!

Alongside the beans is a small (homemade) planting box which contains carrots - the little seedlings are just about visible.  We'll be planting some more carrots in between the courgettes and the peas - there's a few spare inches there!

This is our 'covered bed'.  N made this 3 years ago when we tried to grow brassicas and needed a way to keep the cabbage white butterflies out.  We now use it for sowing seeds direct - we have a bit of a pigeon problem and didn't want them pecking the little seedlings.  In this bed is spinach, rocket, and Little gem lettuce.  

Finally, some tomatoes in the greenhouse (and 2 rather weedy-looking peas).

We grow veg in 3 raised beds, one of which has a hinged cover, and in a number of smaller wooden containers.  We also grow against fences, and in the greenhouse.  The courgettes and tomatoes were bought from local nurseries, but everything else has been grown from seed ourselves.  We haven't been too ambitious this year as we have hopes of moving so we have restricted the number and variety of plants.

Now we just need the right amount of sun and rain, preferably at the right times, and we can look forward to picking our crops and enjoying fresh, tasty home-grown vegetables.

Where the heart is

My inner balance mechanism has finally resumed normal working order, and I'm back to making lists and trying to catch up on lost days.  We've had sun, rain and gales (but thankfully not the snow that some parts of the country woke up to!) and I've just about caught up with the washing.  Just as well, as we're off again next week, back to Orkney, which is fast becoming our 'home from home'.

Long shadows at the Ring of Brodger

We first visited Orkney this time last year, when we travelled the length of the UK by train (quite an adventure, and great fun).  N suggested, more for a laugh than anything, that as we were so far north, why not hop on a boat and visit Orkney while we were in the neighbourhood?  So we did, stayed for a week, and fell in love with the place.  Totally.  And very unexpectedly.  We didn't want to leave to come home.

Calm reflection on the Bay of Firth

It is such a beautiful place, and we found everyone very welcoming and friendly.  And the skies are so 'big'.  It's hard to put into words when you find a place that feels so 'right', but we both felt it.  We returned again last October for 2 weeks, and looked at houses - quite seriously - and wondered if we could, or should, up sticks and move there.  We have kept that conversation open and on-going; it would be a huge move (and we have discussed it with the children), but we have also talked at length about following dreams, and the regret and disappointment of missed opportunities.  

Dramatic sky at Hoxa Head

Lobster creels at Tingwall

And so we will return next week, ready for the wind and the rain (always plenty of that), gulp in the fresh air, be stunned again by the scenery, the brilliant sunsets, big skies and wildlife.  We have tickets for a couple of gigs at the Orkney Folk Festival which we are really looking forward to.  And, of course, we shall be having our fish suppers from the Peedie Chippie!!  Yum!

I must post a few photos from the Canaries - I have finally downloaded them - and get some up-to-date pictures of the veggie garden, where everything has benefitted from the rain and sun.  There's so much to do again!

Has the boat stopped moving yet?

We're back, in fact we've been back since Friday.  Unfortunately the motion sickness I suffered from on-board decided to stay with me for an extra 48 hours after we disembarked, and it's only been this afternoon that I've started to feel a little more like normal again (or as near normal as I am usually!).  Hence the lack of post-holiday posts.

We had such a good time away, visiting some lovely ports of call, seeing some great sights, beautiful walking, meeting lovely people and enjoying some very welcome warm weather. N also points out that he enjoyed not having to think about what to cook every day - more about that on another post.  Hopefully by tomorrow we might both be feeling a bit brighter (N is incredibly tired at present) and be in a position to pick up where we left off.  I think we have both been amazed at just how shattered/poorly we have been since our return. We can't understand why but really just don't have the energy to spend the time working it out!   Tomorrow, however, is another day and we are both optimistic that it will be brighter.

I haven't even felt like downloading our holiday photos but hopefully that will happen tomorrow.