91热爆

Well, we seem to be getting on top of oor rat problem....for three nights all the dishes of poison were emptied...I just dread tae think how many rats there were! Cunning wee blighters, that dinnae let themselves be seen.
And their nesting site was found in one o` the outbuildings and destroyed and baited. So, fingers crossed, that is it. I had tae put me work on hold for those few days so as no` tae risk having ony mair skins eaten. But tomorrow, I`ll be back in me workshop, hopefully rat-proof and withoot me being sae nervous I keep casting edgy glances at the shadowy corners o` the room waiting tae see beady wee eyes ravenously watching til I leave the place so they can come oot and eat me work!
In the meantime, I took delivery o` a parcel o` quails eggs, bound for incubation in me wee incubator. Noo, I dinnae see at a`, why thon rich folks pay ower the odds for a half dozen quails eggs...they only taste like peedier chicken eggs! But I didnae get them tae breed tae sell, I got them tae keep for oor ain selves. Besides, they`re thon wee button quail, wi` chicks the size o` bumble bees, and eggs like wrens eggs, so I figure it wid tak aboot a dozen o` them tae mak a decent fried egg!
Into the incubator they went, where they are `ticking` awa` merrily, and hopefully in some 18 tae 20 days I`ll hae a clutch o` tiny quail for the brooder box.
And seeing as this is tae be me first time keeping such birds, onto the internet I went tae look for extra information on them. So I found oot, if they get startled, they shoot right up intae the air and can literally kill themselves if the roof o` their box is solid!
No` verra bright birds then, quail...so I am having the other half mak me a box for them wi` fine mesh for a roof, wi` some give in it, so if they do what is apparently called `bonking`....they`ll no` knock themselves oot.
I also found oot that the males crow like cockerels. I am having a hard time imagining what like something the size of half o` me hand will sound like, crowing....
Noisy birds, I am used tae...there are three cockerels left in me ain flock of chickens, we have tae keep them seperated so they are in different areas, all wi` their ain wee harem, but ye should hear them during the summer nichts! Wha said cockerels only crow at dawn? They lie! They can crow a` nicht long! They have competitions at it! How they dinnae gie themselves hen hernias wi` the strain o` seeing who can crow loudest and longest, I dinnae ken.
Most o` oor spare cockerels go into the soup pot, and these three are the last ones left oot o` last years batch. Any mair of the all-nicht racket, and we might just be having lots o` chicken soup again soon.

Also this year I am going to try hatching pheasant eggs. They have pheasant on mainland Orkney, but nane oot here on Sanday. I was brought up by me dad, an old time poacher, who poached for oor ain table. So I got used tae eating pheasant, venison, and the odd coo and sheep, wi` rabbit and hare and salmon. And I mind me and me sister wid complain tae me mam..."Och mam, can we no` have thon beefburgers and fish fingers like the other bairns have?" and me dad wid gie us this `look` and say "One day you`ll think yourself lucky ye were sae well fed".
He was right!
I miss the taste o` pheasant and venison and cannae afford thon shop and butcher prices they charge for the bland tasting farmed stuff...nae comparism.
Sometimes me son in law, a farmer on mainland, sends me ower some hare he has shot. I tan the skins and eat the meat in a game pie wi` wild Sanday rabbit and the occasional pigeon.
Nooadays, though, youngsters turn their noses up at this kind o` fare. I even ken some youngsters who`ve never tasted real mutton!
So anyway, I am going to try to hatch pheasant eggs, and keep us in a supply o` pheasant. We have some fine pheasant recipes, handed doon frae me granny.

We never did get ony snow. So I think that has been it then, as far as winter goes, on Sanday. Me lassie phoned one day fae mainland tae say they had a dusting o` it ower there. I was fair jealous! All we get is winds and rain, and plenty o` both! The past twa days were calm and sunny...me son went ower tae mainland on the ferry tae pick up some shopping there. He is fine on even the roughest ferry crossing. I get seasick on a puddle! I have gotten onto the ferry some days, and watched the crew batten down the doors, and turn and say tae us passengers, "mind yer bags, it`s a wee bit bumpy the day."
"Wee bit BUMPY"!? It`s a howling gale, the boat is doing that `rolling` thing where it`s sole purpose is tae mak it`s passengers heave and puke ower the sides....ye can sit in the upper salon and watch the sea rise up tae meet the portholes and then wait til your belly gets that `no` there ony mair` feeling as the front o the boat thumps back doon intae the water, leaving what wis left o` your stomach up in the air somewhere.
Oh aye, the joys o` interisland excursions....
So noo, though, I reckon I have the sea sussed....white caps, well, they are no` too bad..they look rougher than they are, but the journey tae mainland and back will be bearable, wi` only thon wee stretch o` water just past Eday being mebbe a bitty rough.
It`s the swell ye want tae watch for...when it`s got a swell on it, where the tops o the waves are smooth but rolling...then ye are guaranteed, it`ll be rough and heaving and pitching fae side tae side. Along wi` yer breakfast.
I admit, the running o` Orkney Isles Ferry service is a mystery tae me...I have seen them run the boat in seas I wouldnae send a duck onto! But seen it be cancelled on a forecast o` gales when the sun is shining and the wind is nae where tae be seen.
But praise tae the boats when it`s due...they almost always run on time, and they are a bonnier, nicer way tae travel than on a bus. Mind you, buses widnae go verra far on the water......