New Job

Well it's been a few months since I last posted, Plenty of jobs to do and time just fly s by.
I start a new job tonight, I am now the Night watchman/cleaner on the Pentalina, The ferry which travels between St Margaret's Hope and Gills Bay in Caithness.I decided I needed some extra cash to pay for my next project which I hope to start in the next month or so.I am going to build a 12' Clinker boat, it should take a few months to complete, I have the plans and all the necessary tools, just the timber and epoxy resin to get. I have the use of a large shed with power, so plenty of space.Well must go now start work at 11pm.
Hopefully my next post will be the start of the build. Below is a picture of the Pentalina.

Damien's Visit.

Damien came up for a ten day break in March, the weather was reasonable for most of the time, it only rained for the last two day’s of his stay. Jill kept him well fed, as usual, and we went bird watching most days and visited a fair number of sites.

We had some good views of Short-eared Owl’s over his stay and Damien added another four or five new birds to his list, including Snow Bunting, Slavonian Grebe and Red Grouse, although the Grebe was a fair distance away and the Grouse was a very brief encounter. Overall we managed around sixty species.

                            Snow Bunting

Buster

Buster had his Eye operation last week, all went well although he wasn't impressed with the traffic cone they put on his head.The swelling on his eye had  reduced a lot by Monday when I had to take him back to the vet's in Kirkwall, all was well and he should be one hundred percent in a week or two.
After the visit to the vet's we took him for a walk over to East side, the weather was great, blue sky ,little breeze, although a little chilly.
Buster loved it on the beach ,charging around and running into the sea, It was a good afternoon's walk, we were out for about four hours and Buster slept most of the evening.

Buster with the Traffic Cone.

 You can still a bit of swelling around the Eye.

A walk on the beach.( one wet dog)

 

Kirkhouse Point & the Pool of Cletts, Eastside.

Home Safe

This should have been posted in January.

Well Jill arrived back safely on Friday the 7^th Jan ,after fourteen day’s visiting the family down south. She managed to see all her friends and family and had a great time. Marcus came back with her to spend ten day’s with us, he was greeted by Buster who went completely manic, charging around the house and jumping all over him and trying to get his ear’s, which was very amusing .

On Sunday 9^th it started to snow again, with large wet flakes, by the evening we had about 2” of wet snow. Marcus has been taking Buster out for walks early mornings, which has given me a much needed break .

Plenty of walking with Marcus around South Ronaldsay over the ten day's , the weather has been fairly good a bit of rain in the mornings and then sunny but blustery at times . We went for a walk to Hoxa Head the other afternoon, it was a long hard walk  as the ground was water logged from heavy overnight rain, but on the way back with the sun  setting over the mainland it was a fitting end to the day.

Saturday we went to Stromness as Marcus wanted to get a closer view of the Island of Hoy and see some seals, well he saw Hoy, but it was so blustery that there were no Seals about, later it started to rain hard so we headed back to the Bistro in the town and had a good lunch before heading home.The Ten day's went by quick and it was time for Marcus to return Home, He enjoyed his stay and promised to return again in he summer.

Marcus With the Island of Hoy in the background.

Orkney battered by Windstorm Gustav

 What a night.
Thursday 3rd February, Gale force wind's hammered the Isle's all night and into Friday morning, at 11.30pm there was an almighty crash and Jill called out to ask what had happened, on looking out the window I could just about see the end of the garden and it looked as if the back gate had blown wide open ,so I went down stairs and into the garden to close the gate only to find that it was not there any more, the wind had torn it from it's hinges and it was now laying in the road one hundred feet away. After recovering the gate which measures six feet by three feet, I secured it in the garden before making a hasty retreat. I never slept much for the rest of the night. The next morning the wind had dropped a bit ,and I made a quick check of the outside of the house for damage, apart from a bit of rendering from the chimney breast all was well.
The Churchill Barriers were closed all night, as the waves were coming right over  the top, they were not reopened until 8.30 . With the help of Gale force SW winds  the sea had reached the top of the slipway and was starting to enter our road, fortunately high tide was at 10pm and the water never came any higher.

Below ,extract from The Orcadian  Newspaper.

After a night of severe winds, transport to and from the county was disrupted on Friday morning.
The highest reported wind speed overnight came from Hammars Hill, in Evie, where a top speed of over 122 miles per hour was recorded. According to the Met Office the maximum at Kirkwall Airport was around 73 miles per hour, with gusts over 100 miles per hour also reported in Stronsay.
125 mph gust is on par with the Great Storm of 1953.

After a night of hurricane force winds, the Hamnavoe battles her way out of Hoy Sound on Friday morning.

December Weather

Well it's coming up to that time of year again, The weather changed the other day to heavy snow, in the blizzard conditions there was quite a bit of drifting, unfortunately Jill was supposed to fly down  south on the 17th ,but the weather at Inverness prevented her flight from leaving, so is now booked for the 22nd (fingers crossed). We have not had any snowfall for two days, but it is very icy . Buster loves this weather, charging around in the snow on his daily walk, its just hard to get him back in the house (a biscuit bribe usually does the trick) .
Dave took some of the grandchildren to Lapland to see Father Christmas on the 21st.

Winter Wonderland .

A view from just outside the house.

The Square at night.

Winter is upon us.

Well winter is upon us, the evenings are closing in and we are getting more storms,
Jill's leg is a lot better,she can walk without the stick, she went into  Kirkwall on Monday morning to see the specialist from Aberdeen Hospital, He was very pleased with her progress and there was no need to see him again, unfortunately the weather turned very windy so the police closed the barriers to traffic. Jill caught the two o'clock bus but this was turned back at No 1 Barrier, as the waves were still to rough and coming over the road, they eventually opened the road at four o'clock and Jill arrived home at five o'clock ,nine hours after leaving home.
Buster is growing fast, Jill measured him the other day and he was 86cm long and 34cm around the belly, we have been unable to weigh  him as he will not keep still.

The bird watching has been very good, with north easterly wind's bringing in migrants from Scandinavia .
and all the winter birds returning ,the fields are filling with Golden Plover,Lapwing and a whole lot more.

Waxwing

Pectoral sandpiper.














Last but not Least.
Jill will be returning to Bristol for Christmas , she will arrive on the 17th of December and return on the 7th January ,I will be staying here as I do not think it is right to put a puppy in kennels for three weeks.
Marcus has decided to return with Jill on the 7th and stay for ten days.

Well that's all for now, cant think of anything else, so will post again before Christmas.