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Well I have decided to take Mjc's advice and take a break. Things have been hectic here for the last few weeks, Parents arriving, Step Son here to decide if he wants to live with us and work piling up and the weather taking a turn for the worse.

My parents flew back to Essex last night and hopefully were not put off by the wind and the rain, We had a few days where we were able to get out and they had a rest if nothing else, My Mum has problems with her memory and Dads a Diabetic so it was nice that they were pampered for the time they were here. It was difficult saying Goodbye but hopefully I will be visiting Essex before too long.

Mr B was called out last week on Fire Duty as the rain was in fear of flooding a house, All the fire fighters managed to get it under control and there were no injuries.

As I gathered from Hermits headlines the Sanday Show went ahead and a great time was had by the evidence of the pictures. Our show was cancelled unfortunately but the produce and crafts show will be going ahead.

Work on the house is slow due to the weather, it will be nice to see some progress. I havn't had time to keep up with the blogs apart from the odd glimpse to see if you are all ok and have tried to leave a few comments. I would hope that in a couple of weeks I will back to regular blogging and have some pictures to prove that we are working and not swinging the lead. And speaking about Lead, my Dad a keen fisherman brought enough lead up here in his baggage that the airport security made him empty his case as the xray machine couldn't identify the large mass in his case. They were very understanding and let him on his way.

Here is a picture of St Magnus Cathederal window that my Dad took whilst they were on their visit

For a while now a Question has been puzzling me.

Why is it that when I take Hooch for a walk along the tracks he attracts the cows like flies round a cow pat?

Now I know that cows are inquisitive beasts and quite intelligent, but as soon as they see the Hooch they all start to run along the fence line and get as close as they can and follow him along until they run out of field. We suggested to a neighbour who was having trouble with a heard of young bulls that kept him running to and fro when he was trying to move them into another field that perhaps he should let Hooch stand by the fence to attract them to the right field.

There has to be an explanation to this...........


It dawned on me this morning as I took Hooch down the track .... there standing in the field was the answer......




Was this a reincarnation or just a freak of nature

Was Hooch a cow in a previous life or just a cow trapped in a dogs body... Is Hooch the illegitimate offspring of a C.O.W.




YOU DECIDE..........................................

Yesterday was the Shapinsay Annual Horticultural Show. There are 9 catagories open to all with a variety of different sub classes.

1. Window and Greenhouse Plants (26 sections)
2.Cut Flowers (39 secton)
3. Fruit and Veg ( 48 sections)
4.Dairy Produce and Preserves ( 23 sections)
5. Bakery (25 sections)
6. Industrial Works ( 29 sections)
7. Arts and Crafts ( 8 sections)
8 Photography ( 11 sections)
9. School Children (19 sections)
and finally A Potato growing competition where 2 seed potatoes are to be grown in a 5 gall bucket and the winner is the one who yields the most tatties.

Here at Barebraes we havn't had a great lot of time to grow our own flowers or veg this year so I entered into the catagory 7 and 8.

To my suprise I managed 3 firsts and 1 second prize. This was the first time I had entered and would have been happy with just taking part, it is a great community based show and the atmosphere is one of good natured rivalry.

I received a first and a second for Landscape paintings and a first for Drawring head and shoulders



The other First prize was for the Photography section under flowers




All in all I would have been happy just to take part but it was nice to win.

I will have to get busy for next year.

Well as Hermit has already said it was a Beautiful Day in the islands on Wednesday.

Mr B had an electrical job which kept him busy and It was my day off from the shop. The sun was shining the skies were blue and the Hooch was ready with his ball to spend the day in his favourite place the beach.

Alas his dreams were shattered, instead I entered the barn fired up the cement mixer and made my first batch of muck. Hooch has a strange aversion to the wheelbarrow and whenever we get it out he bounds around trying to bite the front wheel. When you have a large amount of cement in it driving is hampered by the 10 stone dog. The wall needed to be raised level with the rest of the roof and that meant climbing a ladder with concrete blocks and buckets of mortar. I usually leave the blocks to Mr B and I normally concentrate on the rebuilding of the dry stone sections. But today I was ready for the task.

I spent several hours mixing and laying the blocks making sure that it was level. Mr B came home for lunch and we stopped and sat in the sun eating our sandwiches. Hooch by this time was snoring loudly on the grass and all the cats were sunning themselves on various walls. The 2 acre field was cut the other day and the golden grass laying in lines looked bonny.
Theres not a better place to be than in Orkney on a good day.

As Mr B had finished all the electrical work for the day we decided to treat ourselves and took the dog to Ness for a swim. I couldn't beleive that the beach was empty. We returned back home via the shop for a refreshing ice cream.

All in all it was a glorious day and the sunset wasn't that bad either.

Just as an after thought and to the enquiries about the sign in the window, I wanted to let you know what you are in for if you venture down the track towards Barebraes.

This is the sight that will greet you :



Hooch has a window with a view to the track and likes to say Hello to the odd wanderer, his fearsome barks can be heard from a distance. That is why we have to issue a warning to ramblers and visitors of what they are about to meet. You see in Orkney people dont knock and wait to be let in, our doors are always open whether we are in or out and its normal for people to just walk in.



There is another obstacle to get past when approaching the front door. At first you are not aware of it, but please look carefully because its not only cats that come out of our catflap


Happy Rambling In Shapinsay and do drop in to say Hello