91热爆

I have been awfy busy o` late. Got a wee ducky dilemma.....twa oot o` oor nesting ducks have hatched their bairns, one has a clutch o` five, she is roond the back o` the byres and doing fine, mainly because at the first sign o` gulls or crows she herds her bairns intae the byre and hides in the stall whar she hatched the eggs.
The other one, though, is roond the front o` us, just in front o` the livingroom window. She hatched seven bairns, and so far is being a good mam tae them, unusual in ducks, wha have been known tae trample their ain young tae death tae get tae a feed!
However, the day afore yesterday, I heard a tremendous racket frae the geese, wha` also get let oot o` a wee enclosure ootside the kitchen every morning. Looking oot the window, there were three o` me geese, going hell for leather at me wee ducklings! It wasnae just a mild but noisy warning they were giving the creatures either....they intended tae kill them, going full tilt they were, mammy duck was panicking and trying tae attack the lead goose and herd her wee ones awa` at the same time, and the wee ones were running aroond peeping madly like...well...heidless chickens...
so oot runs me and the son, and lifting a handy washing pole I chased the geese back intae the enclosure and son shut them in, then we had tae roond up the ducklings and herd them back tae mam.
Luckily, at the time, nane o` them were injured. But we have had tae keep the geese enclosed. Geese are awfy territorial....last year they tried tae dae the same tae the newly hatched chicks, and we`d tae pen the chicks wi` the mammy hen.
How and ever, due tae the recent storms we had only one hutch and whole run repaired, and that hooses a cockerel and his hens wha are nesting.
So himself has been busily repairing the other runs, so tonight we will have tae catch the mam and ducklings and pen them for their ain safety. Easier said than done mind you....
then we`ll can let the geese back oot and a` should be well, and a` manner o` things should be well tae....;-)
Also, as of this morning, one o` the ducklings is lame...there`s a reason for that `lame duck` saying...I can see the ruddy gulls wheeling above the garden....

Aside frae that I have been up to me neck in sheepskin and coo hide tanning, there are frames ootside drying in oor gentle Orkney air (which is a polite term for saying, it`s never ruddy dry here!!) and have mair skins needing worked in the workshop, so me days are busy...

How and ever though, I still found time tae shoot me new bow, and meself and a friend spent a guidly time the other day wi` the target set up in the garage (I have nae wish tae rake the long wet grass after rain for me arrows if we miss) and atween us, we massacred the enemy and the odd sheep or twa (really. I have an auld sheepskin pinned up on the door, it got killed quite a few times...)
and it was a guid fun time.
Then himself got his new compound bow through the post and it was like watching a wee laddie at Jul!
Full o` grins and itching tae play, oot he went, tae try it oot on the target in the garage, which is a guid few yards set back frae the door, one end tae the other it is....
His bow is a 55lb pull which equates tae me favourite crossbow in actual power...that is, it equals a 150lb crossbow.
Only, he didnae ken that at the time. So looses the arrow, a swift and brief whoosh and an almighty thud took place and he went tae inspect and retrieve the arrow. It had went through me high impact target, specially made for me crossbows so nae lightweight....and the backing board the target was on...AND the half inch thick garage door..........

So I have forbidden him frae firing the bow indoors...he can set up his ain target ootdoors, whar he can stand back apace and no` wreck the arrows or any nearby doors. Oh aye, I also told him no` tae have the target in front o` the field o` coos.....

I hope everbody is having a fine week. It`s only just occured tae me, there is only four weeks until me visitors come and tae the medieval feast and games! Eek! I have sae much tae dae.......

Me friend is going tae tak some pictures tae post here, me ain camera is dying on me and has nae zoom, so each time I try tae tak a picture o` the wee merganser (who sleeps owernight just in front o` the bedroom window in the remains o` the daffodils) he just looks like a wee speck! And I hope tae be able tae post some pics o` the ducklings and ony geese that hatch, and o` me new bows (oh aye, forgot tae mention, I splurged and bought another bow as well.....*need therapy*)

Because it looks like it`s finally here at last on Sunny Sanday, all the whole week o` it!
Sun, heat, more sun, bring it on, love it!
This week saw oor roond bale o` straw turn up...aka...the target for oor archery practice. So oot I went wi` one o` me new bows, the very pretty one wi` the wooden riser, and got tae shooting, and it`s addictive! Only the wind drove me back indoors, no` that it was a gale or onything, just strong enough tae deflect the arrows.
It`s a big deal different frae shooting the crossbow...for one thing, ye need tae remember tae bend your arm holding the bow at the elbow. This is because if ye dinnae, ye get the maist painful "twang" o` the string across the inner elbow as it shoots the arrow.
So yours truly has twa o` the maist horrendous bruises there...and did it put me off? Och no, not one wee bit! I LOVE archery! And am utterly hooked.
Noo, if I could just persuade something other than a bale o` straw tae be a target.....(just kidding folks, honest!)
I hae some pictures tae put on here, me friend frae the sooth end o` Sanday took them wi` her digicam which is better than my ain, being as mine is still at me daughters and has nae zoom. So there is a pic o` the merganser and some o` me ducklings plus one wee wild one wha` managed tae get stuck in one o` the hens runs. No` very bright, ducks.....
And I am off intae toon tomorrow on the ferry, which might be a bonny day seeing as there is nae great wind forecast. So if a gale turns up tomorrow, I`ll ken something is just picking on me.....
And the first coat o` paint is on the room for the medieval feast, and me outfit is all ready for it, the recipes sorted oot...thankfully the same friend wi` the digicam, a lovely lassie, is helping me oot wi` the cookery there, and wi` only aroond three weeks tae go it`s a guid job tae!
All the beasts are doing just fine, the sun shines, and yours truly is happy. Keeping life simple is a guid recipe for that.....guid food, guid company, plenty o` sunshine and I would say the peace and quiet o` the countryside but the birds have been cheeping, chirrupping and whistling a` the day long....plus, I have seven cockerels still (including twa we are babysitting at the minute) and a wheen o` ducks and noisy geese so earplugs are sometimes a guid idea here....

See now, some wifies have pictures, some have shelves o` nicknacks. I like bows! The more the merrier! *big grin*
here is a pic o` me wall, it has me three crossbows on it plus some o` me new archery bows (wi` me favourite one, of course, at the top, unstrung, isn`t he pretty though?)
Sorry about the sofa but I`d tae stand weel back tae fit the whole lot in.
Yesterdays trip tae toon was fine, the sun shone brilliantly all day until we got on the Varagen back tae Sanday and ran intae a wall o` mist. Well, when I say `ran intae` I dinnae mean literally, ye understand....it just gave that impressions, sae thick the fog was. But the toon was as hectic as ever...is it me or does the traffic there get worse wi` each passing year? All o the tourists were there sightseeing and sitting in the sun ootside the cathedral, and browsing the shops. There is a grand buzz tae Orkney this time o` year, but me being a hermit was awfy glad tae step in me ain wee front door (well, we only have the one door, but it counts as `front` just the same) and put me feet up wi` a hot cup o` coffee and watch the mist swirl ootside the window.
And listen tae the silence...nae traffic...nae screaming schoolkids....nae babbling folks....just peace and quiet and the chuckling o` me ain ducks and the peeping o` their weans.

I have a surplus o` goats milk, mair than we can drink. So I`m freezing it and will mak cheese wi` it soon. I`m also freezing the eggs (seperately, yolks and whites) tae have enough for baking and cooking when the hens stop laying. There are three hens sitting on nests at the moment so we hope tae have peedie chickens sometime soon.

The other day me friends frae the sooth o` Sanday were up visiting. Just as they were getting ready tae gaun hame, the lassie spotted something flapping on the fence o` the field ahind the hoose. Me, being blind as a bat, thought it was only a piece o` paper caught there, but it wasnae, there were three other oystercatchers whirling aroond, quite distressed judging by the soond they made, and the `paper` was an unfortunate oystercatcher caught on the barbed wire o` the fence by the leg. Can I just say, I HATE barbed wire. I have seen bulls determined tae come oot o` a field just walk right through it withoot a second thought, so it cannae be tae keep beasts in....
onyway, there was the peedie bird, so I took off me shirt and wrapped it aroond it tae haud it still, and had tae send for himself, having only twa hands. He got the leg off the wire but it was badly mangled...the bird had tried tae free itself, but the foot had been pinned on the barbs and twisted, then in its flapping aroond it had broken its ain leg and the bone was clean oot o` the skin. No` a pretty sight, tae be sure.
So we took it hame and himself took the leg off just above the break whilst I held it still. One no` verra happy wee oystercatcher later, we put him in a quiet box I use for injured beasts, wi` food, water and straw and left him be. I dinnae like tae overhandle injured wild beasts, see, for when I have tae let them go again I reckon it`s no sae guid for them tae have the smell of folks all ower them.
We kept it for twa days and wasnae sure it would mak` it, but he perked up this morning so we let him go...he`ll no be able tae walk again but he flew just fine, and seemed in fairly guid spirits. Wi` luck he`ll mak` it. If I spot him aroond the place I`ll record it here, it would be guid tae see him thriving.

Usually, ye see, when I come on injured birds like that, I put them oot o` their misery. I`m no` entirely sure what made me sort this one, but I`m glad we did. I dinnae ken sae much aboot wild birds (beyond what mak`s guid eating!) but the other oystercatchers stuck aroond for the time we had him in the box tae. I wonder if they were siblings, or parents? I`ll never ken onyway.

Ok, that was a reference to the one legged oystercatcher, no` sure why, but he just maks me think o Long John Silver....ahem....
onyway, we saw him today, perched on top o a fencepost, giein us the beady eye, afore he took off and another oystercatcher joined him. He can fly just fine! Yours truly is chuffed tae bits he made it and is thriving.
Birds, eh? Who`d hae them?
This morning, one o` the ducks nesting in the back byre got off her nest in a hurry tae get tae the grain. In her haste, she knocked one o` the eggs oot o` the stall and on tae the floor. It broke and we thought, "oh damn, what a shame tae get sae far and no` mak it" on seeing the wee duckling on the slabstane floor.
But it blinked, so we realised it was alive. The eggs arenae due tae hatch properly for another twa days or so, but at the moment, the wee duckling is in front o` me oven (it was shivering) and in a quiet box wi` hay wrapped in paper towels. It`s peeping awa` fine style so seems tae be lively enough, but is no` very strong on its feet.
Tae be honest, I`m a bit wary on what tae dae wi` it....the mam duck doesnae seem interested in it at a`, and I dinnae want tae put it in wi` ony o` the other ducks and their broods as they`re a` older than this one, and besides, sometimes the mam doesnae tak tae the incomer and kills them.
So for the time being, it`s a `hoose duck` in the box. Sae long as it survives, we`ll figure oot what tae dae later on.
Given the amount o` mishaps ducks and their eggs have, it`s a wonder ony survive at a`!!
Oh, other bird news...the mandarin that used tae be a merganser is still here but gaun bald!! It`s moulting, I think...certainly its lost its fine orange crest and looks a peedie bit weird.....but seems healthy enough, he certainly comes quick enough for the barley at feeding time onyway.....
And the herons are back on the pond aside the track, patient, auld men-like fisherman birds, I see them standing aside the bank o` the water every morning noo, still as statues, watching and waiting, then they dip their heids and come up wi` a tasty morsel and get right back tae waiting again....what a life, eh?
Yours truly`s other half was oot at his ain archery practice yesterday. He has the power bow, ye see. And I kenned fine he was gaun tae miss the target by the way he was aiming, but no, oh no, men always ken better...then he overshot the target and had tae gaun find the arrow. TWA FIELDS AWA` it was! I told him he`d miss, but dae men ever listen tae their womenfolks? No, no` at a`, daft besoms.....
And it`s aboot thon time o` year again...we need tae sheer the sheep. We only have the one sheep, which is probably guid news for oor backs. But he`s an auld, big sheep and no` awfy partial tae having his coat clipped. I will post afore and after pics o` it, he does look awfy funny when it`s done, and usually looks embarrassed aboot his new look. That could be due tae the odd wee tufts o` wool sticking oot at various angles. We usually end up wi` a punk sheep.

And congratulations tae Carol! :D

See noo, this is how tae spend a Sunday *grins*....archery! So here is some pics o` me and himself.
Though, himself is no` awfy guid right noo, we heard the chickens in the byre mak`ing an awfy racket and went intae see what was what. On the byre floor was a wee sparra fledgling, fell oot the nest. So himself was under strict orders tae pop it back in, the one in the rafters this was.
And he stood on a shelf thingy tae reach up and the whole thing gave way under him and oh man, ye should see the big hole in his leg and the bruise the size o` an apple!!
Still, the sparra is back wi` mam and happy enough. Though, himself, no` sae much.....

For the past three days we`ve been stripping in the bedroom. Wallpaper stripping that is! We`re repainting it as some o` oor visitors will be using the room whilst they`re here. I wouldnae mind, but we didnae have three or four layers o` paper on the wa` like they used tae have in the auld days. Nope. This was one measly layer. But thon paper was thon thick, embossed kind that must have been put on wi` superglue, no` paste!
So there I was, up a stepladder (and still no` able tae reach the top o` the wa`s, being a five foot ruddy dwarf!!) scoring the paper wi` the stripper, then soaking it wi` hot soapy water, then doon tae the stripping. And does it come off wi` ease? Och no`, no` at a`. It comes off in tiny wee inch long bits, sticky wee pieces that get a` ower the floor and stick tae the bottom o` your shoes so that ye cart the stuff a` throughoot the hoose!

I have just seen, on the news, a village in County Durham where the men ootnumber the women ten tae one!! Noo I am wondering, what happened tae a` the women then? Hmmmm....is something shifty afoot in the County Durham village.....?

The room for the medieval feast is a` but finished noo...a` I need tae dae is clean up the flagstanes and dress the room itself.

Oh, and noo on the news is the story o` Dr Christine Bradshaw wha` helped on the lifeboat rescue in the Pentland Firth. A brave woman, thon....speaking as somebody wha` gets seasick on a puddle.....

The wee sparra in the byre is doing fine, though the mandarin that was a merganser continues tae moult, he is a` drab and broon looking noo, wi` only one bright orange wing feather left! Maybe he is preparing tae grow fancier plumage yet, in order tae attract lady mandarins in the near future? They fellas in thon County Durham village could take note......;-)
Some o` oor ducks that hatched their broods in various places along the track and doon by the pond have been up at the hoose wi` the bairns, looking for grain and acquainting the young ones wi` the etiquette o` the duck/chicken/goose mob. I think we noo have aroond forty odd ducks, though how many o` the wee ones will mak it I dinnae ken, we usually lose at least some tae gulls, crows and the weather.

Och weel, back tae work, sheepskins first then bedroom stripping! Only one mair wa` tae dae, and I will be right glad when it`s done and finished! I`ll never put up wa` paper again, never! I dinnae care what fancy patterns they show me, I will steadfastly resist the lure o` the paper. It`s paint and paint alone from noo on, for me. It`ll likely tak me weeks tae get the peedier bits o` paper oot the carpet. Aye, I ken...I should have put doon dust sheets or newspaper......

Since Carol mentioned stories...I wrote this one a fair while ago, during winter. Winter in the isles always tak`s it`s toll on the peedie birds. This one is a `true story`. ;-)


Starling

Every morning she would sit on the clothes
line, twittering in the thin winter sun, whistling and singing in the clever way of starlings. Her feathers would puff out, and with her beak she would preen herself clean and tidy. When the woman laid out the food scraps on the drying lawn for the chickens (tame domestic can鈥檛-fly birds) she would flutter down from the line. a wee ways off, she鈥檇 dance towards the food, hop forward, oh-is-something-coming-hop back, hop forward, till, sure of her safety....here be cats!!!...she鈥檇 nip in quickly to grab a scrap of tattie or leaf of cabbage, and take it off a bit away from the big ugly can鈥檛 fly birds.
Sometimes the woman would hang clothing on the line with bright plastic storm pegs; she would always wait for the woman to go into the stone hut again before she鈥檇 fly onto the line and mark the clothing with her waste, little white droppings, "look! I was here and I鈥檓 not afraid of this!" The snows came, and she sought shelter. In the rafters of a byre, above the can鈥檛-fly birds and goats and sheep, she found a niche in the stones holding the rafters up. An old nest had been left here, long ago, by a summer鈥檚 blackbird, so she made use of it, extra warmth in the cold night.
Life was simple...a cycle of food searching (and the woman helped with that) and finding water and shelter. The byre became her home, and often the woman would come in to throw grain on the floor and into bowls, and would catch her scolding-chattering at the can鈥檛-fly birds and the goats, who ignored her regardless.
All night the wind howled. The snow fell thick and fast, and the cold bit hard with teeth and probing fingers. Trapped under the low, bare bushes in the woman鈥檚 garden, she tried, many times, to fly against the wind and make it back into the byre. But each time, she was buffeted back down to the ground. The night wore on, an eternity of dark and frost and soon, lady winter lifted her up in a dream of white pain, and blew gently upon her face, her beak. Softly, the pain receded, darkness drifted behind her eyes, into her mind, and quietly, sleep came.....
The woman found the dead starling under her rose bushes, stiff and cold, feathers still puffed against the snow.
Lifting her gently, she scraped away a frozen patch of earth next to the old dog, and the cat, and placed the bird inside the hollow. No greenery grew now, so she broke apart some tiny twigs from the rose bush she鈥檇 died under and placed them on her breast.
A small mound is there, which will soon settle, she knows. And in the chill of the morning air, she felt the cool passing of lady winter.

Just wanted tae wish everybody a Happy Solstice (whether or no` some grumpier folks appreciate it! ;-) )
Whether or no` ye are pagan, oor ancestors appreciated this as a special day, so it`s worth remembering.
Me, I will be glad enough when the darker nights start coming back tae thon happy medium where we get bonny, sunny days o` a decent length (I can dream) and proper dark nights so we can get tae sleep withoot the use o` blackoot curtains!

Seeing as I noticed the comment on the dearth o` dogs here on IB, here is a wee pic o` mine, Lassie (named when we got her and nothing like the tv dog, well, she doesnae speak tae me and tell me wee Jimmy is stuck doon the well...or was that Skippy?) on the beach. :-)

Me gander, that is.....
for the second year on the trot, no goslings...of the four geese we had broody, not one egg has hatched.
Noo....when we first got the gosling, he gave us a clutch o` eight wee bairns...so I ken he USED to do the business just fine...so cannae figure oot what has gone wrong the past couple o` years.
So noo I hae tae mak a decision....if he is firing blanks, is he for the oven? Or dae I gie him another chance next year...?
I love me beasts, I do indeed..but am a pragmatist...they are here primarily for meat or milk and eventually, hides (except the birds of course!) and we cannae really afford tae be keeping them that dinnae earn their keep.
So I will hae tae mak me mind up soon...or at least, some time afore Jul.

And who knew (for I never!) the beeb did music on cd? See what a sheltered life I hae led?
I bought a cd o` music for the upcoming medieval feast, called "Food, wine and music..five centuries of seasonal songs on feasting and merriment".
It is fu` o` fine ditties wi` alluring titles like `Nowell, nowell, the boares head`, and `In taberna quando sumus`...so I hae nae idea what the titles actually mean, but the melodies themselves are a heady mixture o` the soothing (for, I presume, sitting at table and needing something soothing tae cope wi` me cooking) and the boisterous , which hae tae say, just mak me think o` the ancient Bacchanalian `do`s` the Romans used tae enjoy sae much....*winks*
but the whole thing, ower an hoor lang, is bound for the feast and will nae doubt see the festivities along nicely.
And yet mair o` the beeb`s musical contributions...I also got the soundtrack for the series the bbc did, "The Virgin Queen", aboot the life and loves o` Elizabeth the First. Noo, being a proud Scot, and no` exactly a royalist, I hae no` seen the series though am assured it was pretty guid. How and ever, the soundtrack is, quite simply, the bees knees! Terrific, wonderful stuff it is, and that`ll also be getting played on the night...

The one legged oystercatcher still thrives and is staying aroond the place...he perches on one o` the fenceposts alongside oor track, often waiting til he sees oor car coming up the drive, afore flying off across the field in front o` the hoose. Along wi` him, the mandarin that used tae be a merganser also sticks aroond, though he is still looking awfy drab but has managed tae haud ontae one solitary orange wing feather, a sad reminder o` his former splendour. He did get a fright this morning when I went oot tae chase the geese back intae their pen as they were trying tae massacre the peedie ducklings. But he`ll be back, he`s always aroond for feeding time.
Oor first clutch o` chickens have hatched, and are in the hutch and run tae keep them safe til they`re auld enough tae survive rampaging blackbacks and greedy crows. They are awfy cute and I`ll be adding pics when I can get the time.

For I am snowed under wi` work the noo, wi` a wheen o` skins needing softened and sanded and primped and combed and twa coohides needing worked and bunnyskins ditto, plus dressing the room for the feast and archery practice which I refuse tae quit even under work pressure as all work and no play mak`s yours truly awfy crabbit!

I just want tae say thank you tae me food historian friend...she kindly sent me an authentic spice mix, oh ye should smell this, it is gorgeous! Real medieval feasts must hae been sumptious indeed, and redolent wi` exotic scents and sights. A far cry fae the days o` tv dinners eh?