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Today is a sad day.......

An end of an Era.....

We have abandon the South wing of the building and are now installed in the North wing together with all the home comforts that we have been misssing for some time....

Like a Damp free Bedroom
A Dusty Draughty Lounge
and a Hall that wasn't big enough for poor Hooch to turn round in without getting stuck behind the front door

The downside is that we still have to put up with the lean to kitchen and bathroom but its a small price to pay until the whole building is covered in a new roof.

The bedroom is now finished and the heated floor is on and very snug indeed. The living room is upstairs for the time being and we have relegated the 3 seater sofa from its exile in the top store where it has been sat for the past 22 months, thankfully it was damp free and also not infested with mice.

Mr B has started to take the old plasterboard from the old rooms and pull down the ceiling. He had a small scare when he pulled out some fibre glass insulation to be greeted by falling dead mice, obviously nesting in the roof space. The poor chap was a little shaken but undeterred by his task. I dread to think what else we will find in the loft space !!!!



All we need now are a few days of sunshine for the Raft Race on Saturday and a few more so that we can remove the roof and start again with the lintels and wall plate to put the new trusses on.

As for Hooch I think hes a little confused by the whole process and can't wait till he gets a new room too

Friday Night

We arrived at the Green where the BBQ and Fund Raising Tent was to be erected on Friday Night... I was feeling a little under the weather due to a bug but managed to help out with the others to build three tents where the Bar and stalls were to be held the following day. The weather was fair and we were hopeful of a good day. With the tents built and secured down we all adjourned home. We were due to be back at the tents by 2[pm the following day.

Saturday

I had woken a few times thro the night to hear the rain on the roof and hoped that it would clear by the afternoon but no luck. Come 2pm the rain was still falling and to be honest there was no sight of a blue sky at all. We set up and a few people were mingling around on the pier in anticipation of the raft race. I had dropped Mr B at the Gas House where the race was due to start earlier. He had decided to wear his Speedos and a t shirt and I was sure that he would be blue by the time the race was finished.



The RNLI Lifeboat was due to pay a visit and help raise awareness of a very good cause.

It arrived on cue and looked very impressive pulling into the Shapinsay Harbour



The day was going rather well despite the weather.... But on to the Raft Race....

There were only 2 contestants this year but they both managed to keep us on the edge of our seats as to who would win, there were some rather dodgy tactics last year with eggs being thrown at other boats and underhand cheating all in the spirit of things and this year was no different. Mr B and his fellow rafters were in the lead as they came up tp the pier but they were being gained on by the other boat who was managing to cut the corner and gain an advantage, but the race was finished and Mr B and the others were victorious.



The day was a great success and to top it I managed to win a prize in the Raffle


Lets hope that both causes made some money for the charities

Hello Folks

Well in true Orkney tradition its been raining most of the weekend.. why is this you ask ....

This is why!!



Yes in a fit of rage Mr B called for the JCB and off came the roof. Together with the top of the gable end, chimney pot and various objects. So for the unforseable future yours truly and Mr B will be building it up again, although in a hopefully better way than before.

Hooch now has his bed under the stars and can't quite understand what all the commotion is about.

We appologise for the rain but until the roof is back on again you can expect imclemant weather

Hope that all you folks are well, I have been busy with building and entertaining the parents that have just arrived up from the rain drenched Sooth to visit us for a few weeks, so far the sun has shone on them and I hope that it continues.

It always amazes me how we think that we work hard. It wasn't until I was told a true story from a friend on the island that I realised how easy we have it nowadays. About 35 -40 years ago the boat used to go to Sanday and other isles carrying coal. The coal was dumped in the hold of the boat and was sailed to the island where 4 men would shovel all the coal from the hold into buckets to be hoisted ashore. Now there were approx 150 tons of coal and each man would get a bonus for shovelling all the coal off in one day. That bonus was 拢5. Do you think that a man would work that hard all day and then return home late at night and still have to tend to his beasts on the farm before retiring for the night.

The man who shovelled his coal was so grateful that when he returned home he found that his nephew had tended the beasts he paid the nephew the bonus because he was so grateful that he didn't have to start work again.

Men were real men back then. And I am sure that the women worked just as hard.

We think we have it hard but do we really?