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Jimmy Allan (Stronsay's answer to Bob the Builder) and his merry men have begun to replace our leaking flat roof. Jimmy is a busy man with a reputation for high quality work so we are indeed fortunate that we have managed to secure his services and get the roof repaired (replaced actually!) before the winter sets in. Maureen is quite delighted as she can now look forwards to turning the room into a "medieval hall" when the work is completed. Hence her eagerness to supply the workers with tea and meals so they don't have to break and go home for lunch thus wasting valuable work time. Jimmy must have some very influential friends in the weather department as the sun has shone from an almost cloudless sky ever since he started work on Wednesday (26 Sep), and this after several weeks of almost non-stop rain. The old roof was quickly stripped off, extra joists inserted and a layer of plywood laid on the joists. A layer of 2 inch thick plastic foam insulation in a mesh of 2x2 timber was laid on the plywood and another layer of plywood added. Before this top layer of plywood was add it was treated to allow the final coating of fibreglass to adhere more easily. By the evening of Monday 01 Oct the new roof was almost complete, . The next part of the renovation will involve replacing a large window with a sliding patio door and the old wooden door will be replaced by a doubled-glazed door. After that the walls and ceiling will be dry-lined with plasterboard, the electrics "modernised" and carpet tiles laid. Maureen's "Medieval Hall" will then be ready for occupation.

According to the a field walking project that took place on Stronsay earlier this year has helped increase knowledge of Stronsay's archeology. Some flint arrowheads that were found may date from a period that is over 5,000 years earlier than any of the archaeology known presently in Orkney.

The other day we were driving back to the house when we saw a family of seals on the beach at the Ayre of Myres so we stopped to admire them. These seals were not at all upset by cars stopping to admire them and obligingly waddled up and down the sandy beach whilst one lounged half-in and half-out of the water, on previous occasions when we had stopped there to watch any seals who had landed on the beach they had scampered into the sea and disappeared from sight almost before the car stopped.

There are two interesting websites operated by residents of the tiny island of Graemsay which lies between Stromness and the island of Hoy. There's and there's . Sian's site describes her arrival on Graemsay a few years ago and her escapades since then. Mick's site has lots of slide shows of activities on Graemsay, if you go to the "ship plotter" menu option on Mick's site you can see details of all the vessels in and around Orkney plotted on a map.

The MV Hamnavoe is the Northlink ferry which runs across the Pentland Firth between Scrabster and Stromness. She's 360 feet long, weighs 8,600 tons and can carry 600 passengers plus a large number of cars & heavy lorries. There's a .