Thanks Bruce, Love to hear about life in Orkney. Isabella Bruce Fletcher wrote: >Our trip to Kirkwall last week was uneventful despite Maureen's belief that >the boat was doomed to plunge into the depths every time it rocked. The >outward and return journey took about 90 minutes each instead of the usual 2 >hours because the boat did not call at Eday or Sanday. It seemed strange at >first to see all the traffic and people in Kirkwall even though it was less >than two months since we left 'civilization. However, I remembered to keep >looking in my rearview mirror and we soon adjusted to looking both ways >before crossing the road and fastening our seatbelts every time we got into >the car. The main purposes of the trip were to visit the hairdresser/barber, >stock up with some seed potatoes, onion sets etc. and to bulk buy some >frozen food. We achieved all these objectives and still had time for a >leisurely lunch in the Kirkwall Hotel. An added bonus was spotting and >buying some fresh strawberries that had been grown on Papa Westray - much >tastier than the huge, forced strawberries that appear in some mainland >shops at this time of year. >There were several monks from Papa Stronsay on the ferry to Kirkwall. On the >return journey they were laden down with a variety of mysterious parcels >including an extremely long curtain rail that was particularly difficult to >control in the stiff breeze. I always thought that monks were quiet, >thoughtful, rather lugubrious people but the Transalpine Redemptorists from >Papa Stronsay seem perpetually happy and cheerful. >The chap who does various electrical and plumbing jobs that are beyond my >capabilities (i.e. most of them) keeps hens on his croft and has just >acquired five lambs, two to keep as pets and three for the freezer. Last >week he thought that the lambs had escaped because there was no sign of them >in their field. Just as he was about to commence a search of the area his >wife called his attention to five lambs that were squeezing themselves out >of the tiny henhouse entrance followed by one hen. Fortunately the lambs >will soon be too big to get into the henhouse so the hens will have the >place to themselves again. >We have just one wagtail who has visited us almost every day since we moved >in. For almost a week now we have been delighted to see that he/she has >brought a baby wagtail into the garden and has fed it while we watched >through the kitchen window. There are plenty of local birds - sparrows, >starlings and blackbirds - just as there were in Yorkshire but we hear >curlews, oystercatchers and lapwings calling all the time. The two greylag >geese near one of the two shops are now the proud parents of two goslings >and emit warning hissing noises if they think that anybody is too close to >their offspring. The sparrows and starlings are all very tame and appear to >have no great fear of humans. When either of us goes into the garden the >birds immediately take to the air but as we walk about they will land right >behind us and carry on as though nothing had happened. It is not uncommon >for Maureen to shake the washing line to make the birds fly off it so that >she can peg out some clothes. Maureen puts out food scraps for the birds >every day and they are soon gobbled up but some birds are very ungrateful >and leave multiple tiny, dirty claw prints or, worse, their 'calling cards' >on her clean washing. > >