A tide in the affairs of me...

There I was, stood at the kitchen sink this morning, washing the breakfast things and absent-mindedly gazing at the loch and the bay, when a thought struck me.

"The tide's in."

Now we've been living in this cottage for over a week, so it's fair to assume that the tide has been in and out quite a few times during that period, in its cyclical Hokey Kokey way. But today was the first occasion when I actively registered the fact.

Picking up my bins, I scanned as much of the bay shore as was visible from my vantage point, to confirm that the view went directly from waves to grass. No rocks, no seaweed, no flotsam, no doubt that this was a very high tide.

Sorry, but I don't think I will become bored with this view...

Waders were visible in the field below the cottage, quite a large mixed flock of Curlew and Lapwing, plus the odd Redshank appearing now and again out over the bay. In a sheltered corner of the loch, out of the strong wind, a couple of Little Grebe were busy feeding. Suddenly, lots of gulls flew up from the the bit of shore hidden from view by the ayre. Scanning through this flock, one bird seemed much greyer than the others. In fact, it wasn't a gull, but it was probably the reason that all the gulls were in the air. It was a male Hen Harrier. As sea birds flew right, left and centre, it gracefully glided towards the cottage, impervious to the calls of the gulls and the fierce Orkney blast. I watched, mesmerised, as it drifted passed the window and out of sight.

Once I had emerged from the reverie, another thought struck me. Hmmm, I need to be in Kirkwall soon, to post the last of the Christmas parcels before it's too late. And if it's a very high tide, that might be interesting.

Fortunately, the Churchill Barriers between Burray, Glimps Holm, Lamb Holm and Mainland were open to traffic and not too wave-lashed. So I relaxed a bit when I reached Mainland, and was promptly deluged by spray as I drove into St Marys. Half the main road was under water, as was the pier, a salient reminder that wind direction also has a part to play in tidal forces.

Fortuitously, there wasn't a queue in the post office, so Operation Santa went very smoothly and quickly into Operation Tea-and-cake at the internet cafe. That's my kind of mission. I texted Our Lass to see if she wanted to meet up for lunch, but she was otherwise engaged in some Christmas festivities with her work colleagues. So I decided to lapse into tourist mode and drove over to Stenness to visit the Ring of Brodgar.

Part of me thinks that it looks better at midwinter than it does at midsummer, though it was bloomin' freezing trying to hold my phone still in the howling gale, whilst I took the shot. Though it's not as if I'm exactly having to suffer for my art.

Playing away from home

It's not what you think.

No, really, it's not.

At the moment, I'm sat in the computer room of Orkney Library and Archive in Kirkwall. That's the Orkney Library and Archive which is big on Twitter, Facebook and Blogger.

They've won awards and everything, y'know.

Presumably for stuff like this.

And they're possibly the coolest repository of books and humour in the known universe.

Anyways, here I am, waiting for my car to undergo its MOT, so why not saunter over to the library to wile away the time? And bang out a quick one in the computer room? Well why not, eh? From the feverish sounds of keyboards being thumped all around me, I may well have the lightest touch in here at the moment.

Whilst packing up all our goods and chattels in MK (well, I assume they were chattels, I wasn't even sure which way up they should go), it struck me that we have way too many books (yeah, right, like that's possible!), but you know what I mean.

So it's been something of a revelation, since journeying to Orkney, to re-discover the concept of a public library. Liken it to the conversion of St Tense on the road to Deerness. The library takes on the onerous burden of storing all the books and I am allowed (well, not just me, obviously) to borrow them from time to time. Amazing plan! How could I forget such a whizzo scheme?

Sigh.

So this particular post is my homage to Orkney Library and Archive, for all the happy memories it has created over the years, when I wasn't living on Orkney, but wished I was.

And I'm not even going to mention how awestruck I was to actually visit the place for the first time last week (this is the trouble with holidaying on peedie, remote islands - Kirkwall just didn't appear on the itinerary).

So now you have to promise me that you won't mention any of this to my laptop. Playing away from home? There's just some lines you don't cross.

Settling in

Settling in... to some spectacular wildlife.

Yesterday morning, after a tip off on Radio Orkney's Facebook page, we travelled across to Mainland and up the coast to Evie. Sadly, a dead Sperm Whale had been washed up on the shore. But the carcase had attracted a very special visitor.

A dead Sperm Whale, washed up on the coast at Evie

This was an Ivory Gull. A species which, we were informed, has not been seen in Orkney since 1949. Unfortunately, though we managed to find it roosting in the littoral zone, we did not see it feeding on the whale.

Ivory Gull

Settling in... to the local area around the cottage.

This morning, Our Lass and I had a pleasant wander around the western part of Burray. The low Winter sun was shining, and the wind was blowing a gale, but at least it wasn't raining.

View across Hunda and Scapa Flow towards Orphir (R) and Hoy (L)

Burray village and harbour, with Churchill Barrier number 4 in the background

Settling in... to Christmas at the cottage.

Journey to a land beyond the north wind

Hello from Orkney! 

The last few weeks have been a bit of a blur to be honest, but let's have a recap.

Our Lass headed northwards in early November to take up her new post on Mainland, the largest of the Orcadian archipelago. Yours Truly remained behind in Milton Keynes to look after the arrangements for the house sale and move.

After a few last minute hiccups and traumas, a little over a week and half ago, I said my final goodbye to Tense Towers, a fond farewell to a building that has provided some magical natural history moments over the eleven years we have lived there. Having locked the front door for the last time and driven to the end of the street, I found that I had to retrace my steps for one more photo.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you...

the first...

the original...

the classic incarnation of...

Tense Towers!

See? No turrets

Earlier in the day

With the weather set to deteriorate all across my planned route from MK to Orkney (about 600 miles as the crow flies), I set off with a little trepidation and plenty of last minute packing crammed into our car.

My first pit stop was an overnight in Manchester, courtesy of First Born and her beau. With some business to attend to in the city the next morning, I was able to sit out the worst of the storm force winds, before heading northwards once more, to spend the night with family near Dunfermline in Scotland.

The following morning, I set off early on the full day's drive to the ferry port at Gill's Bay, on the north coast of Caithness.

Dawn over Fife

En route through the Cairngorms

As the sun set, and darkness fell, I finally reached the port and nervously waited for the ferry. I shouldn't have worried, the hour's crossing of the Pentland Firth was as smooth as smooth could be. So my huge thanks to the Pentalina and her crew.

Arriving at St Margaret's Hope on South Ronaldsay, I experienced Orkney as I had never seen it before. In total darkness. All our holidays have been in late Spring and early Summer, when darkness is a very rare commodity. After crossing the Churchill Barriers, the causeways that link South Ron with Mainland, I eventually crested the rise that revealed a street lit vista of Kirkwall, city and Royal Burgh, capital of Orkney.

It was fantastic to be reunited with Our Lass, for these four weeks had been the longest we had been apart in more than 24 years.

And now a different life beckoned. A fresh start. A new day.

Kirkwall dawn

Whilst we are house hunting for a new home, Our Lass has found us temporary lodgings in a small stone cottage. What it lacks in size, it makes up for in location.

View from the cottage garden

By the shore of Scapa Flow, alongside a fresh water lochan and nestled above an ayre.

A new chapter of our lives begins here...

Update

Dear Reader and/or Faithful Follower,

This is just a quick update to let you know that I did indeed arrive on Orkney as planned, despite the atrocious weather encountered en route.

It's a long story and even longer in the telling, as they say.

As you can imagine, things are a bit hectic at the moment, as we endeavour to adjust our life style to sync seamlessly with the Orcadian modus operandi.

It's safe to say that Orkney is living up to expectations (must be all those episodes of Northern Exposure on dvd), as yesterday we ventured to a hardware shop to browse the shelves and, having selected a suitable purchase, I was served by a nun.

It should've been obvious from the Julie Andrews numbers belting out of the speakers that they were holding a promotional event for The Sound of Music and the staff were in costume.

It made I chuckle and no mistake.

There will likely be a significant gap until my next post, but in the meantime, please peruse this other update and comment as you see fit.

Laters!

Channelling 101 Dalmations and Scooby Doo.

And there was me thinking I could steal away quietly...

... nope.

I would've gotten away with it too, if it hadn't have been for those pesky... jolly nice folk at FoHESC. 

A weekend of packing and an odd last day at work

For the last weekend of habitation in Tense Towers and MK, it was all hands to the pumps boxes, as First and Second Born helped their dear old dad to shoehorn too much life into too small a space.

The girls were terrific, little whirlwinds of energy, scattering cardboard, bubble wrap, tissue paper and packing tape to all points of the compass, as the kitchen and lounge disappeared into their temporary cubes of accommodation.

All cartons were labelled with an initial letter for the room, followed by a number for the cumulative total of boxes for that room. So when we arrived at Box 9 for the kitchen...

Well, it had to be done.

Today (Monday) was my last day at work in England. 

I arrived at the office to find my desk emblazoned with Good Luck banners and balloons, plus a seriously chocolatey chocolate cake. Many Thanks to Gem and Sam! The pentangles were a nice touch, I thought. 

A morning spent tying up loose ends and handing over tasks morphed into a meeting for the whole firm in the boardroom. After 14 years with the same company, there's always going to be plenty of ammunition for the farewell slideshow, with the added bonus of knowing that I had provided most of it anyway, during various daft stunts and morale-boosting schemes..

I wasn't disappointed!

Much research had uncovered several photos taken during a Red Nose Day with my previous employer, pre-2000. We take our ritual humiliation seriously, y'know! So my colleagues were treated to the sight of me wearing Our Lass's midwifery dress, red stockings and suspenders, plus army boots. Classy.

 Actually, quite classy compared to the next slide, which showed me in 2006, stripped down to only a climbing harness in a fetching yellow and blue, plus the obligatory boots, with a carefully-positioned mountaineering helmet to protect what little was left of my dignity.

One day, perhaps, these will see the light of day on Imperfect and Tense. For a large contribution to a charity of my choice!

My next blogpost is likely to be from Orkney, should I survive the snowstorm forecast for the day of my arrival.

Er... I'm going out now, I may be some time.