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.

Family Visit's and Buster

 An Eventful Month

Well this has been an eventful month, First off Jill went into Hospital in Aberdeen on the 1st, Jean Dave & Mum arrived on the 2nd for a week’s stay, Damien arrived on the 19th for a for a week and then Buster arrived.

Jill's Right Leg.

Jill flew to Aberdeen on the 1stfor what was supposed to be a three-day stay to have her damaged kneecap replaced, this turned out to be seven days for a full knee replacement. All went well and she is now on the road to full recovery although this will be a long process.

Family Visit.

The day after Jill entered Hospital Jean Dave & Mum arrived for a week’s holiday.
They stayed at the Orkney Hotel in Kirkwall and made the Thirty mile round trip each day to our place. The weather was good and it stayed bright & sunny although very blustery for the week, only raining on the morning, they left. Throughout their stay, we travelled all around Mainland Orkney and the length & add breadth of South Ronaldsay, taking in as much of the area and Bird life as possible, covering a distance of over four hundred miles. A great time was had by all but it was a shame that Jill was not here as well, Dave promised to return again in the Spring for another Bird watching trip.

Damien's Visit

On Sunday 19th I went to Kirkwall airport to meet Damien, who was coming to stay for seven days, we picked up the hire car and made the short trip to the house, this was the first time Damien had driven in Orkney and found it a refreshing change from the chaos of city driving.
Although the weather was not that good, Strong winds and heavy showers, we managed to get out most days. Damien enjoyed the Bird watching and managed to add six new birds to his list. While staying with us Damien booked his next holiday, this time a Bird watching & wildlife trip to India in February , not bad, China 2009, Nepal 2010, India & New Zealand 2011

On his last evening, Damien drove Jill into Kirkwall to pick up Buster the latest addition to our family. Buster is a three month old Chocolate and white Cocker Spaniel. He is going to require a lot of love and attention over the coming months so will keep us both busy over the winter months.

Buster

Grand Children.

Well it’s down south again on Wednesday, time to take Alanta & Mitchell back home. They have spent the last two weeks with us, its been hard graft at times but well worth it, They have enjoyed their time here and the weather has been good, with only Occasional rain and some very warm sunny days. Keeping them busy is the hard bit, visits to Kirkwall Museum & the Bishops Palace, Stromness Harbour and the Museum, they enjoyed Seal watching around the Islands, but I think they enjoyed themselves most when playing about on the beaches looking for Crabs.

Plenty of long walks and fresh air, and still they are not tired.

Alanta & Mitchell accompanied Jill to Kirkwall on two occasions to view some Springer Spaniel puppies that are two weeks old, Jill has picked a Chocolate male ,which the kids have called Buster, It will be ready to collect around the end of September.

The Garden ( Yard)

All Jill's own work. not bad for a rush job
next summer a bit more planing.

Back Garden (Yard)