Stephen, The pics of Odin on the Odin website are wonderful. All mine are slides - remember that archaic format? It's like those round black things with a hole in the center we used to play for music. All I can say about Odin is that everything else begins to pale by comparison - certainly for location. but I am sure that a careful perusal of the booklet from the tourist office will uncover other great places. There are so many in Orkney. Tuck On Mar 29, 2009, at 3:33 PM, stephen davie wrote: > Tuck...have you some pics of odin? > Stephen > On Mar 29, 2009, at 2:16 PM, Tuck Langland wrote: > >> Stephen et al, >> >> A further word about Odin. This is a quite remarkable house. There is >> a drive leading to the road, a drive about 50 yards long. It opens >> onto the road running between the Lochs of Harray and Stenness, the >> one that runs alongside the Ring of Brogar (or Brodgar). >> >> At the end of this drive, on the opposite side of the road, is the >> Watch Stone, about a 14 foot tall neolithic megalith. It apparently >> lines up somehow with Maes Howe and the Unstan Tomb across the water. >> In the back garden of the house is Barnhouse Village, an excavated >> and >> restored neolithic settlement. In the next field are the Standing >> Stones, with Maes Howe not far behind them. And down the road a >> quarter mile is Brodgar. (or Brogdar - I can't seem to find >> unanimity >> on the spelling.) My feeling is that this spot on which the house is >> built was the spiritual and probably political center of prehistoric >> Orkney. If the land were empty and someone wanted to build there >> today >> there is no way in hell permission wold be given. >> >> Further, the house is built from timbers, stairs, cabinets etc. of >> the >> old Mauritania. It has two en-suite double bedrooms, plus, upstairs, >> two single bed rooms, both en-suite, and one further bath downstairs >> just for fun. And out back, next to the loch, is a bird hide. Arctic >> terns nest on a tiny point just outside the sitting room windows, >> swans grace the Loch, and we counted some 25 or so species of birds >> seen from house windows. And it is walking distance to the Standing >> Stones Hotel, (you can see it from the front porch) which means a >> nice >> meal out with no worries of driving afterwards. >> >> Once, years before, we rented Braeside, near Twatt, next to Little >> Canada, overlooking Boardhouse Loch. This was less convenient since >> there was only one multi-purpose bath room, and we had about 8 people >> there, so there was, indeed, dancing in the streets, but it had a >> Rayburn, plus a regular cooker, and a nice fire in the sitting room. >> >> Stephen, you raise a very good point when speaking of we, as >> outsiders, taking a perfectly good house at bargain prices from >> perhaps a local couple who could well use it, putting it to better >> use >> than an occasional holiday cottage. Better, I feel, is renting, >> putting money into the Orkney economy, while disturbing it less. And >> of course the other advantages play as well, such as not having to >> worry about deterioration, etc., and being money way way ahead in the >> short and long term. >> >> The only thing that makes me want to own a place is pure romance - >> this is my piece of Orkney. But what with taxes, and the many >> bureaucratic hoops one must jump through, it seems more and more out >> of the question. >> >> However, if any here are planning a trip and planning to rent a house >> sleeping several, a little communication might get others to join up, >> saving money for each, and ensuring a good time for all. Travel wise, >> we are sailing on the QM2 in late July to England and will spend time >> there, culminating in our joining a choral workshop to sing at >> Worcester, Gloucester, and Great Malvern. The following summer, >> however (2010), might be a time to consider a few weeks in Orkney. >> >> >> Tuck >> >>> Interesting Tuck. Kewl place to stay you chose. good on ya! Some of >>> the land near the stones was old Isbister property. I have a Davie/ >>> Isbister relative who's old stone house overlooks that area and >>> indeed it is beautiful near there and must have been for you, a >>> great place to stay. Not too far from the hotel or to town for that >>> matter, but still very natural and rural. I had dinner one night >>> there with a lovely red headed lady from the USA in the stones >>> hotel. >>> Twas funny. The new english owners, were having pain because of a >>> handful of largely drunk young men out doing the warmup for the >>> blackening thing. Boy, the young proprietor's wife was somewhat >>> stressed, yet the wee celebrants were not aggressive or threatening >>> towards anyone. Just drunk. I guessed that they were at the Standing >>> Stones hotel, standing stoned and well, so it all made perfect sense >>> to me. >>> >>> >>> The place I found and loved, belonged to an aging fellow who knew >>> one >>> of my last relatives who lived there. He lived alongside some new >>> wave baronial wannabe from London who made his last years >>> uncomfortable to miserable some days, so rather than sell out to >>> the >>> guy, he simply canvassed the idea of selling to us. My countless >>> cousins here and in the USA were not organized to make the move, and >>> it became clear that the legal control affecting renovations with >>> additions, is something that bathes in bureaucracy like an otter >>> bathes in water. Just to develop a plan and budget requires a lot of >>> time and gabbing with officials. MOre hurdles than a steeplechase >>> event. While the protectionism is to be applauded, there still seems >>> some obvious mysteries involving the new houses there to some >>> extent, >>> and the location of some of them. Frankly, the old stone croft >>> dwellings have a lot of appeal to me, whereas some of the new >>> rectangular box, sheeting and parging look houses without the old >>> slate roof, equates to some of the vinyl and aluminum hasty-house >>> tragedies in this country. After all that "planning" some of the >>> results surly sway far from the integrity of the traditional. >>> >>> We had some stone masons in the family over there, which I thought >>> was interesting or unique, until I figured out that due to the time >>> to build with stone, before the day of the electric socket, power >>> mixers and hydraulics, masonry was a time consuming tedious pursuit >>> which involved the only readily available building material. >>> Stone. I >>> visited a thing called Davie's Brig near Finstown, with a reporter >>> from the paper there. Twas a fine example of what patience and a >>> trowel with a very strong back can achieve. I do not know how old >>> that bridge is, but I suppose it is very elderly for sure. Yet it is >>> sound, like so much of the old stonework. (ie St. Magnus Cathedral) >>> >>> In our case, the Hudson's Bay Company stripped our young men from >>> the >>> Isles there, from three and four successive generations. Thus our >>> name has been stricken from the phone book there. Relatives who have >>> visited there in the fifties through nineties, all sorta >>> say..."nice" >>> and return with a picture and a bottle of scotch or some jewelry. >>> However in the current generation, our own wing of the family is >>> over >>> 150 strong, and there is a keen interest to find a place there to >>> camp. But the approach has changed, which new approach is supported >>> by this global meltdown. >>> >>> So this time around, tis better to line up the partners first, and >>> when the funds are in the bag, then go shopping. I thing that the >>> next decade will give opportunity anew to people wanting to invest >>> in >>> property virtually anywhere in the world. A self styled syndicated >>> little "time share" operation is one way. The other is to buy and >>> fund and staff a b and b for members only, who would own a place >>> which would be available at an amazing rate for owners, but at >>> regular rates for others when the family was absent. It would be >>> good >>> employment for a couple, properly designed. >>> >>> An old and very wise business man once told a friend of mine, that >>> insofar as real estate is concerned, "ownership equals >>> responsibility." We found that even with properties in south >>> Florida, >>> and once in Costa Rica, without a solid management plan, the bloom >>> is >>> soon to fall off the rose, and your practical suggestion Tuck, of >>> renting, falls into play for all the right reasons. At this time, >>> from California to Panama, properties are offered at steadily >>> reducing prices, and to buy without knowing better what the economy >>> in the world will do, is to walk on thin spring ice. When I asked a >>> friend of mine wintering in Mexico if he would buy near Progreso/ >>> Merida where he was enjoying himself this winter, the virtually >>> accomplished old developer said..."why buy, there is no up?" He paid >>> fifty dollars a day for four thousand square feet of luxury on the >>> beach, with two boats, and a house full of hot and cold running >>> wonderful mexican staff to cook, adjust the pool settings, and to >>> take him fishing. A hurricane in the off season will not be his >>> responsibility or concern. >>> >>> A falling...or plunging market is a sad thing indeed. Strips away >>> the >>> positive feelings of younger people, and depresses the older ones. >>> But in the case of Orkney it may well give a few local kids a chance >>> to buy a home there, at prices not affected by the "invasion" of >>> outside money. Where I live here, prices are as sure to drop, as are >>> Bill Clinton's britches. So everyone is just scaling down for the >>> long haul back. Underline long. >>> >>> We now think that maybe buy the land and sit, and think and plan >>> the >>> structure, and then build an old new orkney place from scratch, not >>> snatching away an existing home from some young Orcadian couple, but >>> building additional tax revenue, and supplying some jobs in the >>> process. The green construction techniques are appealing, right down >>> to the mini windmills, infloor heat, and dc lighting and solar >>> panels. So that is where it ended. Wye or Finstown...but near the >>> water, with enough land for a highland cow or two, and some chickens >>> and maybe an alpaca. In truth, a person would be better to build a >>> day care facility with accommodation and leave something there to be >>> utilized in absence, in a way that benefits the place. Or an indoor >>> pool and spa with a unit or two. But as was suggested by our friend >>> from Lethbridge, we's have to bust out of the life of generalities >>> to >>> do something that astute. >>> >>> Tuck, my memory flashes back to somebody that was indeed an >>> architect >>> on this "chat and spat" expat site. Indeed I see you are a sculptor. >>> Wow. I am visiting a sculptor in Santiago de Cuba the end of next >>> month. Did you see the Haida pole that is installed in Orkney? >>> >>> Take care on this rainy windy spring "stay indoors" day. >>> >>> Stephen (Kol) Davie >>> On Mar 29, 2009, at 12:14 AM, Tuck Langland wrote: >>> >>>> Stephen, Robert, et al, >>>> >>>> My wife and I once spotted a wonderful little stone house with >>>> stone >>>> flag roof, right down near Scapa flow in Orphir, and thought it >>>> would >>>> make a grand place to own, but on a later trip we went to look at >>>> it >>>> and it was gone, torn down and replaced with a huge house being >>>> built >>>> by a guy who owns a disco or something in Kirkwall. Sad, but it >>>> would >>>> have taken so long and so much money and so much time spent there >>>> to >>>> make it habitable it was totally impractical for someone like me, >>>> with >>>> a career here, to be away that much and spend that much. But we did >>>> enjoy "planning" it in our heads, where the AGA would go, things >>>> like >>>> that. >>>> >>>> However, a house all ready to move into, paid for by about 8 people >>>> would be a different story. But then all 8 would be fighting for >>>> prime >>>> time in it, like the St. Magnus festival and so on, and no one >>>> would >>>> want it in February, so it would stand idle a lot. >>>> >>>> In the end, simply renting a self catering place is cheaper and >>>> easier, and then you don't feel pressured to go there every trip. >>>> We >>>> have rented Odin, the house with the red roof just beside the >>>> Stones >>>> of Stenness, three times now, and find it perfect. It overlooks >>>> the >>>> Loch, which is just a few feet from the front room, it has a >>>> beautiful >>>> front glassed in porch, a great living room with a fire, a >>>> wonderful >>>> kitchen complete with all mod cons, including a fan oven, plenty of >>>> cooking gear, nice wine glasses and so on, and sleeps 6, with 5 >>>> bathrooms for the six, so no one need stand dancing in the hall >>>> of a >>>> morning. At somewhere around 500 pounds a week you are a whole >>>> lot of >>>> money ahead in the long run - and the short one for that matter. >>>> >>>> But if someone comes up with a good bargain and a list of folks who >>>> want in, spread the word and there may just be interest anyway. >>>> >>>> >>>> Tuck, >>>> >>>> Sculptor, >>>> retired professor of Sculpture Indiana University South Bend. >>>> South Bend, Indiana >>>> On Mar 28, 2009, at 8:44 PM, Robert Sutherland wrote: >>>> >>> _______________________________________ >>> Orcadia Group Photo Album >>> http://tinyurl.com/28bx9x >>> ------------------------------- >>> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ORCADIA- >>> request@rootsweb.com >>> with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and >>> the body of the message >> >> _______________________________________ >> Orcadia Group Photo Album >> http://tinyurl.com/28bx9x >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ORCADIA- >> request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes >> in the subject and the body of the message >> > > _______________________________________ > Orcadia Group Photo Album > http://tinyurl.com/28bx9x > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ORCADIA-request@rootsweb.com > with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and > the body of the message