February 2019

1st February – Whiteout! Lost sight of the harbour. This is probably the heaviest snowfall we’ve had since coming here. It has turned a bit slushy on the roads but looks nice on the high ground.

2nd February – Let winter do it’s worst, we have the technology to overcome it’s icy onslaught!

Stromness’ very own satellite positioned, laser guided transit pick-up gritter.

3rd February – The winter brings a large scale invasion in the shape of hundreds of Greylag geese. The, normally, clear fields provide fodder for them but they can do a lot of damage to the emerging shoots of the cereal crops.

H has spent the weekend attending a stone cutting course in Kirkwall. Run by an artist from Westray, the students are taught the techniques to produce relief carvings. This is the class and below is Helen’s Shag with Outstretched Wings.

5th February – Enjoyed a beautiful golden sunrise this morning. As the year progresses the sunrise gets earlier and earlier, so we have to make the most of them while we can.

8th February – Went to see the Deerness Drama Group’s production of Swallows and Amazons.

We all thoroughly enjoyed it (Jeanne Rose came along too). An imaginative production and true to the book, it’s not easy to enact a story set in boats, on a lake, in a community hall! With some catchy songs thrown in, it was great fun. Congratulations to all involved.

19th February – You can spend a fortune on binoculars but the best thing for spotting wildlife is a labrador.

….and there is something about this pic that makes me think about Eric Cantona and sardines….!

20th February – The super moon has produced some exceptionally tides in Stromness. Over six hours between low and high tides, the sea rises 3.8m.

Fortunately the weather was fine and we didn’t have any surges causing flooding. Even so, the cottage at the upper right had water lapping at its wall. The pics below are looking back towards Well Park.

24th February – Last night we went to see Harry Dean Stanton’s last film, “Lucky”, at the West Side Cinema. A beautiful and very poignant portrayal of old age. Well worth seeing.

This afternoon we went for a run out to the beach at Evie, looked for groatie buckies but no luck. En route we passed this cottage in Sandwick with an impressive mural of Kirkwall on its side. Apparently it was created by the Australian artist Guido Van Helten.