An early Orkney morning of still and sun. And, birthday faeries.

The mixed weather continues - snow sprinkled on the tops of the Hoy hills, whilst the sun sparkles and the wind abaits - the lighthouse on Graemsay is reflected in the mill pond - what a gorgeous start to the day.  The Norweigan birthday cheese forager has popped up for the weekend to help us celebrate.

I love pictures with reflections and shadows in them - look he's genuinely here. Not a figment of my rather over active imagination. Mr Flowers lives and is being chased by chooks running up the track. I suspect they are after the cheese. Fear not my Norweigan goodies, you are safe and in the fridge - no chooks shall munch on you at all.

I like a walk up the track before breakfast - cup of tea in hand normally - pj's wellies, fleece, hat and several layers normally but not today - today its a fleeceless, hatless, gloveless walk. Its actually warm. I may need to lie down. The hoonds are firm chums and dander up the track with us Haggis following in Peedies every footstep. Nice to see them getting along.

Later, the fun will begin - Haggis was an early birthday present - a bit like the Norvwiegan cheese - both unwrapped thankfully - can you imagine trying to wrap up a wriggly puppy, that will be fun! Goodluck with that Mr F. As I've already ramsacked all birthday post prior to my actual birthday - I know I'm thoroughly spoiled already! Including the Llama crackers sent through the post by a chum - they were yummy - all gone!

Llama crackers - a very silly tasty snack! Thank you Jane and Sadie postively silly and wonderful all wrapped into one tasty snack!

I also have an accidental present from the birthday book faeries whco also left me a pressie in my bag - now wasn't that kind......I really shouldn't have should I? It really caught my eye in the local bookshop so it just jumped into my bag - honest!

Now I know I'm not supposed to buy any more books at the moment - I've hundreds. Whoops, I'll have to sneak it out whilst no ones looking and put it on the shelf and say - 'Oh this old thing, had that for ages!'

Tomorrow on my birthday proper we're going to The Creel in St Margarets Hope for a meal - now that will be very yummy indeed! Thank you Mr F!

Dark days. On thesis recycling and cordial depletion.

With a new puppy in the house - we've been reliant on super absorbant materials in the kitchen and lounge for those wee accidents he appears to have. The spell of unclement weather has not helped puppy training. Haggis the smallest cairn in the universe, would not, it appears, like to go out in a force 8 hail storm to do his ablutions, who'd have guessed. Being the fierce recyclers we are, we've had plenty of newspapers to use and now - we've run out. However as you can see he's perfectly happy - I've finally fathomed what to do with that thesis of mine........you see if you study a PhD - you end up with a lot of paper twittered on. (The blurry tale is how excited he is about standing on my thesis cool huh?)

Haggis appears to regard his attention to detail and reading on willow growth in Orkney with great delight. At least its going to be useful isn't it? Wish I'd thought of that sooner! Perfect way to recycle 4 years of written work - and thankfully we've loads of it, which, given the forecast is probably best. And, he'll be a clever Haggis after all that reading! (A chum mentioned something about the irony of thesis to fea***es...........I'll let you finish that sentence off).

In other news - dark clouds are forming over the homesteads view to Hoy. It would appear we're into dark days indeed, the hills of Hoy are smothered in menacing clouds. I can't say I blame them.......

The reason? The Elderflower Cordial has reached critical levels, we're down to an inch.

 Despite my best efforts I couldn't bring myself to finish it whilst Mr F was in Norway - although that situation may change if he forgets the cheese he's promised to bring home. However if I get one more 'is it flowering yet' question, who knows what might occur.....

The Elder is indeed beginning to leaf up and there are flower buds (look under arrow) emerging my love, however, they are teeny tiny yet - as displayed above. Might be a while before there's any more cordial.  And, I may or may not scoff the cordial whilst Mr F floats through the air (in a plane) towards Orkney for the weekend. Oh the temptation - will I, or won't I have the last of the cordial with my lunch at work today.........!

Dark days indeed. In the mean time - Haggis will continue to research my thesis to pass the time. Whilst Peedie looks on nochantently, I imagine the coversation between the two [in broad Orcadian dialect of course, both dogs being born and bred in Sandwick, Orkney] probably went something like this:

Haggis - 'Have you read the willow work, thats so exciting'

Peedie - 'Willow? That's not exciting. Oh dear she's not been talking about that again......'

Haggis - 'Yes it is exicitng, yes it is. I'm reading all about it and you can grow fuel with it here in Orkney'

Peedie - 'Pah, I've seen enough of that crop to last me a life time Haggis.'

Haggis - 'You've seen willow here in Orkney? The kind which grows to between 3-5m in 2-3 years even with dieback and in this 'hyperoceanic climate' [Haggis is proving to Peedie he does indeed pay attention and can read and hasn't got the attention span of a tiny puppy]

Peedie - 'Yes, pup, I've seen it, been in the field trials (too often{under breath}], lugged the willow, put up with the write up months and bought the t-shirt. One day I'll show you where it all is.'

Haggis - 'Coooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool'

Peedie - 'Beuy, beuy, beuy. Enough already I'm awa' fir a swag (a long lie down) after me porridge, Radio Orkney's on, shh now Haggis.''

My grandad the hooligan.

The day was going well - up with the curlews and the oyster catchers and every other noisy bird here in Orkney at the moment! Chickens fed, eggs collected, extra chunky brownies* cooked, puppies walked - in and out of the house 4 times before 7am, before I noticed the obvious.....Ladies and Gentlemans we have a flat tyre. Deep joy - 7.15am daughters bus due at 8am one mile away - easy you'd think? Normally. However, the pesky car jacks (both of them) were in Darwin, currently in the garage in Stromness being fixed for the summer. Oh dear, however a quick head scratch and conflab with the cellist - we decided best plan was to don bikes, howk (definition here, I'm using it the sense of figuring a cunning plan) ourselves up to the neighbours half a mile away and borrow a jack. The cellist turned cyclist carried on to school bus and I ambled home with a 'borrowed jack' in my hand! I like neighbours, very helpful. Now, what on earth to do? Gotta change a wheel I guess unless any keen participants step forward?

Well boy/man child snored, Mr F off in some forgien location - that left chooks and mutts. The chooks were completely useless and pointed me in the direction of the trailers wheels which were it had to be said nice and plump. Pesky chickens always like to know better!

The hoonds (those manly chaps) - decided to protect the brownies in case of alien invasion of brownie eating fiends and watched on from the window. The team work has probably begun - maybe one of them flattenned the tyre (on smelling brownies) and the other was about to lock me out?

 Even the weather was not being awfully helpful - to say its been a mixed week of weather up here would be an understatment. And, the frequent hail/snow/rain storms of the week appeared to approaching with speed. Eek best get on with it eh?!

However, all is not lost. Firstly this girls' not shy of changing a wheel - and whilst it was a bit of the pain in the derrier - I can change a flat tyre and its not life threatening when at home, early and no pressing engagements. I'm armed with experience in flat tyre changage. 

I blame this entirely on my Grandfather. No shrinking violets on his watch, not a hope. First car I ever got I drove proudly to show him. First thing he did after inspecting my Primrose Yellow Mini-metro? Let the air out of one of my tyres. A grin on his chops - the monster - he flattenned my tyre just like that! Whilst he has previous for being a vandal, on several counts, he chuckled and informed me of his cunning plan. Seemingly, all girls, even pesty ones like me, should learn to change a wheel - so he thought he'd prempt my 'first time changing a wheel tragedy' and supervised me throughout the prempted sabotaged operation. What a lovely kind chap eh? Like I said - he was a complete hooligan through and through. But, I do know how to change a wheel due to his 'kind' help, pesky grandads who help you learn stuff........

Mr James T Henderson of Broughty Ferry, Dundee - Thank you very much - even if you were a hooligan, I can change a wheel like the best of them.

To be honest though - that was far too much excitement before 8am in the morning - I retired for the day with tea with a damp tea towel on my head and arranged to have a chat with a lovely chum  the puppies for a walk to Brodgar! And, just the therapy I needed!

*I've put the brownie recipe on the 'grub' page if anyone's interested - its my friend Janes recipe and its simple and quick and so yummy! This time I doubled the batch mix for a lovely chunky brownie - will do that again - they were lovely. Sadly all gone now!

Not cleaning, abandoned due to mountaineers.

I had started cleaning this morning, not one of my greatest hobbies I have to say. But, with 13 windows upstairs in the living room - I thought best start on the windows eh? Peedie (now nicknamed Neep) decided to lend a helping hand. Closely followed by a (very peedie [quite small]) Haggis.

Ever tried to clean windows with two cairn terriers who think they are mountain goats and dishcloth kidnappers? Both a Haggis and a Neep keep trying to play with your dishcloth, the more you wipe the more exciting it appears window cleaning is. Not easy.  Thankfully the chickens are unaware of this adventure otherwise I'm sure they'd try and come up and join in too. Being the hard core cleaner that I am, I gave up, made a cup of tea and took some photos instead.

The boys are becoming chums - mentoring is going quite well - I fear they might actually team up and fathom how to get into the fridge and the lamb shoulder if they work together I'm sure they'll suss it out. The older dog is teaching the new dog plenty of helpful tricks including the art of sofa mountaineering, thankfully everything in this house, including the dogs, is washable. Speaking of which they both need a bath - best do that before I attempt to clean the bathroom eh?

 In other news - Peedie informs me from his keen mountaineering and inspection of the windows that the garden is still 'out there'.

  Inbetween the snow and the sunshine - I may abandon the cleaning and go out there. Not a hope of finishing the windows right now - these two are now playing with the dishcloth.

On comfort foods and orange yolks........

Some days, despite our best efforts - we unitentionally fall in a heap and decide to run out of energy. I've not done much, but I need a day off it would appear. I'm poorly and lethargic - I can't even muster myself out of my pj's, never mind the door, I guess I need to rest. Or maybe its because I actually gardened yesterda,y despite my best efforts to abandon gardening forever due to hostile winds - maybe I'm now allergic to gardening and its making me ill? Perish the thought - I'm just poorly thats all!

Today the only thing in the entire universe that will help (aside a bit of a rest) is boily eggs. When served in a trusty campervan egg cup - that can't help but get a wee smile on my chops. Poorly as my chops are they can manage a bit of comfort food thats for sure.

The vans line up ready for action - these were sent up here by a lovely friend and they're used often, the up side of having chickens are we've lots of eggs. Except their constant maurading and trying to invade the house - I can't think to a downside of having chickens to be honest. As I don't like chocolate, I know, I know, I'm not a real girl, (nor do I like cake) therefore, the flowers were my 'easter egg'.  Pretty aren't they - I love lillies, these are white stargazer with blue statice for a bit of a contrast. We've a brilliant flower shop in the local village and I try to frequent it as much as I can, just to be um, supportive you understand - nothing to do with my flower addiction. Anyway - back to the eggs.........funny how some foods just make you feel comforted isn't it?

There we go soft boily eggs (3 minutes from boiling) ready for a bit of a full on attack from all those lovely soldiers. The troops are buttered and ready for action.......

I love the colour of the yolk of real eggs - its the one thing I can't bring myself to do if we ever run out of eggs is to buy anything but local - the difference between the insipid shop bought mass produced eggs and local are like night and day. Although I can't imagine running out of eggs either - the gals laid all winter and the new additions appear to have begun to lay, well I know one of them has.

Yolks are bright yellow to verging on orange in this house.......and now for your close up my pretty.....

Guess its all the slugs and worms the hens chomp on. Best not think about that bit - I'm poorly after all! I'm sure I'll be back to full tilt as soon as, but for now - its comfort food and the sofa for me!

(It would seem Sian, who I had to cancel going to visit today as I'm so wimpy and not feeling well and I have more in common than either of us imagined - this is her comfort food too!)

Mair Seven Days....gairdening, sna and a drought.

Now and again I like to join in with Jacqui at The Barefoot Crofter - for 'Seven Days' for a look at the week just gone by. This week for us started with a trip to the beach for the wee puppy Haggis (9wks old, 2kg weight!), Peedie is now a giant dog, or seems like a giant. The first trip to the beach was successful, Haggis (the horrid) waded upto his chest in the sea - clearly not afraid! That deserved his name on the beach............

The weeks generally been taken up with my normal wombling and also a fair bit of gardening - having given this up at home - I'm tending to rampage around other people gardens. Don't worry I'm not guerrila gardening on the quiet - I'm not that keen - however I'm often caught rampaging around other folks gardens (lets call them clients, it sounds better than being a garden stalker). I only tend to play, or interfere in, sorry I mean work in, with a few folks gardens, and this week - play was stopped by snow. SNOW! I gave up weeding the rockery I was rampaging around after I couldn't see the weeds for the white stuff.

Play-stopping snow, isn't much fun. However prior to gardening I was wearing my very lovely hand made mitts (by a lovely chum Keiss, who I'm seeing soon up here in the frozen north).  Can you spy them under the snow - rainbow stripes and so lovely - I wear them all the time! (Not when gardening)

Gorgeous aren't they - clearly I couldn't put them back on again - bah - had to gently wash them and dry them out! Poor mitts and snow isn't fun. We had a bit of a snow dump of it this week.......do you wish you were here.....Darwin doesn't.

The weather abaited long enough for me to plant another willow hedge (again in another garden) - I had willow planters thumb again this week! But all done! I'm still amazed you can grow a tree from a stick (hard wood cutting) - thats pretty amazing or ridiculus I can't decide!

In between all this gardening malarkay - I've had my mother to stay and lost my children - all in all a normal week I guess? Made a few of Robyn's cinnamon whirls - they looked better uncooked than cooked! Somehow or other I don't have the knack with these! Although the recipes amazing.

And, finally, the most dreadful news - we're down to the last bottle of the sweetest sonsie of elderflower cordial - thats right - made in June-August last year - and now its running out - Mr Flowers is not a happy bunny.

Neither am I as - the trees here are just breaking bud and coming very slowly into leaf - sensible things - between the snow and the sunshine if I were them, despite the current and upandcoming cordial emergency - I'd stay asleep for a bit yet. However, there's not a hope of a flower anytime soon and we're on 1.5l of cordial and diminishing...............there maybe a a flower emergency to hand soon, and we might need a special trip to the mainland for an early crop to stop the 'elderflower cordial drought'.

Best quote of the week - from a movie cellist chose..........

'Its easy to love you now, you're young and fun.  But pick me, not him, I'll love you when the winds dried you out and you're old and broken.' - Class!

Romance clearly isn't dead.

Anyhows, thats been my seven days - how have yours been? If you've a moment go over and join Jacqui, the Barefoot Crofter.......

Here is the root of the root.....

Now on occassion here at the old stripey homestead we get a bit serious. I know, I know, you're as shocked as I am to hear its not all rampaging chookies and stripey odd socks. Occassionally a bit of (not so hard core) science goes on in the good life lab (kitchen), we celebrate arts and culture and language and sometimes even poetry. Oh, yes and we blether on about food too alot, so its a bit of a mixtermaxter of life really. Then again, isn't everyones. This blog of rambly goodness tries to be as inclusive as possible.

Today with this in mind, I want to leave you with a bit of poetry which I love for several reasons, and I want to share for several reasons today for people in my thoughts, most of which I'll keep to myself but they know who they are. The last verse is amazing.  I'm hoping you like this as much as I do.

I carry your heart with me

by EE Cummings

I carry your heart with me (I carry it in my heart)

I am never without it (anywhere I go you go, my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling).
                                  

I fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) 

I want no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)

And it's you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing is you.

Here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart,
I carry your heart (I carry it in my heart)

We may hear it again, later this year, in broad scots, in, probably, gale force winds, on a beach, avec wellies, stripey socks (odd obviously) and possibly even a posh frock, who knows.............I've even bribed the cellist. Throw in a couple of ferries, a decent beach, a couple of cellists, a gaggle of wellies and woolly hats, gale force winds and add a bit of poetry, these all, probably, in my opinion, mix quite well. What could possibly go wrong?