Monday, February 26

the rest of day 2

we got in the car late morning and headedd off to explore the island. debbie recommended a few places to go and see and there's not many roads so it's not too difficult to get around without getting lost!

the first place we went to was Scara Brae. This is what the official orkney tourism website says, "It is an incredibly well preserved stone village containing an intricate maze of dwellings, with stone beds, lintels and cupboards are all intact, and dates back some 5,000 years. The site was revealed in 1850 by a violent storm and is now one of the most famous Neolithic sites in Northern Europe."

this photo is taken on scara brae beach:



then the boys were too cold and getting hungry. i was cold and hungry too but i become so alive when i am by the sea - it's like my blood starts rushing round my body ten times faster and i feel amazing. i want to run around and jump about and just fall down in the sand and grin. i did a bit of this but jos' face was streaming and he had snot everywhere. robin wanted to get back to the car and was hiding from the wind behind my leg and andy could barely bring himself to take his hands out of his pockets to give me the camera!

we went back to the car, realised our packed lunch was still at the house so we went back and got it then had a picnic in the car! we ate while we drove to a lookout point over a loch and then on to a viking settlement called The Broch of Guerness. Robin really enjoyed running round with Andy and playing hide and seek. Jos and I found a spot to be sheltered from the wind and jos enjoyed just exploring the properties of grass!!




we drove back to stromness through a few villages and stopped in a little local shop. we also tried to go to a couple of the craft trail places but each was closed. we went to a potters and a wool shed and i was particularly excited about the wool shed (of course!) but not to worry, debbie is hoping to show me a bit of spinning while i'm here. she's been telling me all about how wool is like to work with when it is raw and i'm really looking forward to getting into spinning yarn.

as an aside, ezra who is project manahging our kitchen, called today to say that our neighbour has flipped about the work we are having done. there were a couple of issues with him before we left on holiday but i worked really hard to resolve everything before leaving. anyway, he has now gone and told the council we are doing work without permission so we now have to put in an application for the work we are doing rather than getting a building inspector just to check it after which is how the builder normally works. all this means we are delayed by about a week on the kitchen work. not so much of a problem on one level beacsue we have amazing friends who will let us eat with them but it means the house is chaotic - something i find hard at the best of times. ultimately means i don't want to be in my own home - the lounge is currently stashed to the brim with kitchen stuff. boy am i having a clearout when i put everything back into the kitchen. and praise God, chloe has said she is inviting herself round for a cup of coffee (black, no sugar, and probably cold by the time it reaches her lips!) to help me get stuff sorted.

anyone want to come for a cleaning party once the kitchen is in a better state - the rest of the house is covered in a thin layer of plaster dudt, even though we cleaned all the floors and surfafces on thursday night right before leaving!!

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