Relocation, relocation, relocation

Apologies for the break in service. Things will continue stutteringly as signal permits until such time as BT connect our new home to the rest of the world.

Following the successful completion of our house purchase, our furniture arrived from storage a few days later. Our Lass's glee upon being reunited with her belongings was positively heart-warming. This was a good thing, as the boiler refused to fire up, due to running out of oil before we could arrange for more supplies.

Yeah, oil, eh? The current trend in Orkney is for air or ground source heat pumps. A noble and environmentally-friendly option. However, the construction of our new abode commenced before this fashion kicked in, which means an oil burner it is. At least it's a condensing unit, so should be more efficient than previous generations of boiler. The house is well insulated, too, and we're hoping for smaller energy bills all round.

The house is situated near the top of a low hill, looking out across Scapa Flow to Hoy. A minor road runs along the front aspect. To the south west, across a small field, is a large farm. To the south and east, are several other dwellings, one still under construction. To the north, is a patchwork of small fields and the distant hills of West Mainland. But to the north west is a view taking in most of Scapa Flow, with glimpses of Burray, South Ronaldsay, Flotta, Hoy and the Orphir coastline of Mainland. The plot of land which surrounds it is the archetypal blank canvas, though I would caution against imagining it as a large, white and pristine sheet of paper...

Front garden, masquerading as a wader scrape

Rear garden, with potential for livestock?

The first task in the garden, once it's dry enough to wander onto without fear of losing your wellies, is to begin planting hardy shrubs to provide shelter for other vegetation. Fortunately, we have a copy of 'Kiss My Aster', a book written by Amanda Thomsen and as recommended by biobabbler. Meantime, small, green, non-descript shoots are emerging into the light, so we'll soon know what's under all that mud.