April 2022

1st April – A chilly night and another fall of snow gave a picturesque homecoming for the Hamnavoe as it arrived in Hoy Sound.

Temperatures fell below zero last night, which is unusual for here. Even the redshank was wary of putting a toe in the icy water.

7th April – We were hit by a wild and stormy day yesterday, so we didn’t venture out all day.

But today has been more promising, albeit cold. I managed to do some Shorewatching today, didn’t record any cetaceans but did well with other marine mammals, including two otters.

We don’t record birdlife but some are definitely worth a photo, such as this beautiful Mute Swan gliding by.

12th April – For anyone with an interest in George Mackay Brown, the Orkney Arts Society have established a self-guided tour through Stromness to celebrate his life. The tour includes the Memorial Garden next to our house, shown as No.8 on the map.

https://www.orkney.com/news/gmb-trail

14th April – Feeling rather pleased this morning after receiving a phone call from a neighbour telling me I’d had a photo selected by the Orcadian newspaper, to be used on their Christmas cards for 2022.

I posted the photo here in February and sent it in to the newspaper for a bit of fun, thinking I’d hear no more about it. I suppose we’ll have to buy the cards later in the year.

21st April – Caution: This post contains disturbing imagery.

Today we went south to St Margaret’s Hope village to see an exhibition:
“A View from Orkney: Beautiful Lies and Ugly Truths” by Robinson RR (Ralph) in the Loft Gallery at the moment. Ralph and his wife, Patti, have exhibited in Stromness a few times and we are thrilled to have some of their work on our walls.

Much of Ralph’s work highlights the human tragedy of the refugee crisis that has impacted the countries around the Mediterranean.

“The full horror of the human tragedy unfolding on the shores of Europe was brought home on Wednesday as images of the lifeless body of a young boy encapsulated the extraordinary risks refugees are taking to reach the west.  The picture depicted the dark haired toddler, wearing a bright red T-shirt and shorts, washed up on a beach, lying face down in the surf not far from Turkey’s fashionable resort of Bodrum.”
Helena Smith (Guardian Newspaper, 2nd September 2015)

” Driftwood Toybox is a response to the heartbreaking photograph of this poor child lying dead on the beach.
I imagined a toybox dashed to pieces by the tides and rocks of a foreign coast and its precious contents spilled, spoiled and scattered along the shore.  Its cargo of memories, careless laughter, joyous imaginings and dreams of fantastic voyages; puzzles, toys and games and gifts from loved ones, once stowed safely away, now broken, shattered, shivered and pitched up by a cold, cruel sea.”   Robinson RR