5th June – Took the ferry over to Thurso this morning to meet up with cousin Jane and her family. The day started rather drizzly but brightened up through the afternoon. We did a tour along the north coast, taking in Dunnet Head, the Castle of Mey and (of course) John O’ Groats.
8th June – Saturday evening in Stromness Town Hall and we were entertained by the Budapest Cafe Orchestra from Haringey ( geddit? Haringey/Hungary! ).
We’ve seen these guys a few times now and they never fail to entertain. Their mixture of traditional folk and gypsy music is always delivered with great style and panache.
11th June – A cultural evening for H and her friends Kate and Cary. They went to see a performance of the ballet, Romeo and Juliet, broadcast live from the Royal Opera House. I’m told it was excellent. If only I could’ve gone too….!
13th June – Just been to see a terrifically quirky Icelandic film, “Woman at War”. We both thoroughly enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it.
14th June – H took tonights ferry to Aberdeen, en route to see her Dad in Kettering. She booked one of the sleeping pods for the overnighter but didn’t find it very comfortable.
18th June – Still discovering what’s in the garden here. I thought this was an ornamental grass, then it produced lots of white flowers. After a bit of research, I found it’s called New Zealand Satin Flower (Libertia Grandiflora). It seems very hardy and salt tolerant and I’m now seeing it in many gardens.
20th June – A very busy day in Stromness Museum. On the eve of the anniversary of the German scuttling, we had two TV news teams in to film some of our exhibits, one from ARD in Germany and the other from the BBC.
Stromness is buzzing and the town is packed with visitors. It’s so busy that the ARD crew could only get accomodation in a caravan!
21st June – Today marks the 100th anniversary of the scuttling of the German High Seas Fleet in Scapa Flow. At the end of the First World War seventy four German warships were interned in Scapa Flow awaiting the resolution of the Treaty of Versailles.
Not wanting his ships shared amongst the allies as spoils of war, at 10:00am on this day in 1919, the German admiral in charge ordered the entire fleet to be scuttled. Out of the 74 ships interned, 52 went to the bottom, 22 were beached and divided amongst the allied navies. The majority were susequently salvaged but seven remain and are visited by recreational divers.
Scapa Views 
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