Fletcher Saga 01 July 2006
Posted: Thursday, 06 July 2006 |
Just after I had sent the Saga for 15 June I went to the doctor's surgery to collect a prescription. On my way I saw smoke pouring from one of the wooden poles which carry the electricity supply to Rothiesholm. I asked Catrina, the doctor's receptionist, to inform the electricity board etc. The power soon went off and stayed off for about four hours until the repair team came over on the evening ferry with all the necessary equipment and spares to replace the damaged pole.
In the Saga for 01 June 2006 I mentioned the scratching post used by our white cat, Surrey. Thanks to Tracy, from Helmsley, Surrey now has another, grander, scratching post which is more akin to a cats "play station"; Surrey uses her old scratching post for "proper" scratching but spends part of the evening in her "play station". You may remember that Surrey has a passion for playing with dried peas. Well, the other day Maureen came into the kitchen and thought that we had an invasion of large, red beetles until she realised that Surrey had found some red kidney beans soaking in a basin and had decided that red kidney beans were much better playthings than plain old dried peas.
The sheep in the field behind our house were herded away to be shorn in mid-June. When they were returned to the field they looked very clean but very slim and appeared SO disconsolate. And the ewes and lambs who were trying to find one another after the shearing created a clamour of bleats and baas. At the end of June the sheep and lambs were moved and replaced by cows and calves who moved in to cacophony of mooing as young calves and older cows tried to keep up with the main body of cattle. Fortunately for us the cattle don't seem to wake up quite as early or as noisily as the sheep & lambs.
We often have to shout out of the kitchen window to scare away the seagulls that are intent on stealing scraps that are intended for the smaller birds. Maureen was doing this the other day when she noticed that all the cattle were purposefully strolling towards our garden wall. Perhaps Maureen has the "gift" of calling cattle?
On Monday 19 June the members of the regular Monday evening "singing class", tutored by Michael Lee at the Community Centre, unilaterally decided to play truant and attend a concert given by eight outstanding young performers from the Royal Scottish Academy Strings - the RSAMD's Alba and Cardo quartets. The concert, part of the St Magnus Festival, was held in the Stronsay kirk at 8 pm. It included Mendelssohn's Octet and attracted a large, appreciative audience. The musicians had spent the day at the Stronsay school helping and encouraging budding young musicians. The schoolchildren, some of whom had only had two or three lessons, were thrilled to be able to play their instruments with the two quartets in the final piece of the evening.
Malcolm's sheepdog Skye went into labour at 4 am on 20 June and produced seven puppies, five with normal collie markings, one white with two black spots over its eyes and one white with a single black spot on top of head. The puppies father, Rex, has had "the snip" and will not be fathering any more litters. More animal-related news - Jack and Dale, the ponies who grazed Bob Tateson's garden last year, took a trip to mainland in June and won numerous awards at a gymkhana.
The island had a big wedding in June when the daughter of a local farmer "tied the knot". This involved a blackening, a dance to which the whole island was invited, the wedding itself and a barbecue on the day after the wedding. Guests came from all parts of Britain and from abroad; a group from Central Scotland even travelled up in their own luxury coach.
Tue 27 Jun was a beautiful day - bright sunshine, clear blue skies and hardly any breeze at all so we were delighted when Father Nicholas from Golgotha Monastery on Papa Stronsay called in to invite us to a barbecue on Papa Stronsay that evening. It was rather short notice as we received the invitation at 4 pm and the first boat to Papa Stronsay left at 6 pm. However, it was a good thing as it gave Maureen no time to panic about the trip and we both turned up at the quayside at 6 pm. We got on the small boat thanks in no small measure to a helping hand from Bob Wilcox who was waiting on the quay for the arrival of the ferry from Kirkwall. The monk's small boat only takes about 7 people so it took several trips to bring everyone across although several people came over in their own small boats; in all there must have been 40 or 50 people as well as several youngsters. When Maureen and myself disembarked on Papa Stronsay we found some monks putting the finishing touches to an absolutely enormous bonfire. The bonfire was lit at around 7:30 pm and was soon sending flames and smoke shooting into the clear blue sky - what a blaze! Shortly after this one of the priests donned his ceremonial robes and held a short service for Our Lady Of Perpetual Succour. The monks soon had the barbecue going and commenced cooking sausages and beefburgers (including vegetarian sausages & burgers). The aroma of barbecued beef made us very hungry and everyone was soon devouring the delicious food which included fresh bread rolls, tomato, potato salad, grapes, plums and a wide variety of cheese - including the monk's own home-produced cheese. Finally the monks produced a huge sponge cake topped with at least an inch of thick, whipped cream - it was quite irresistable and absolutely delicious. The monks started ferrying us back to Stronsay at around 10 pm. Sue, the island's postmistress & her mother,Mary, came back to our house for drinks after the barbecue. They were astonished when they saw Surrey perform her latest party trick - retrieving a dried pea and placing it at the feet of the person who threw the pea; she will do this not once but several times until she tires of "performing".
The Northern Isles Sports were held on the sports field at Stronsay Junior High School yesterday (Friday 30 June). We had forgotten all about it until around 9:30 am when Maureen noticed that all 3 ferries (Varagen, Earl Thorfinn and Earl Sigurd) were in sight and heading for the island. The ferries docked, one by one, at Stronsay quayside bringing competitors from Westray, Sanday and Eday. It is a pity that the weather was not as good as it has been all week. The ferries returned in the early evening to take the competitors back to their own island and the results of the various competitions are, courtesy of Bob Tateson and Stronsay Junior High School, at
In the Saga for 01 June 2006 I mentioned the scratching post used by our white cat, Surrey. Thanks to Tracy, from Helmsley, Surrey now has another, grander, scratching post which is more akin to a cats "play station"; Surrey uses her old scratching post for "proper" scratching but spends part of the evening in her "play station". You may remember that Surrey has a passion for playing with dried peas. Well, the other day Maureen came into the kitchen and thought that we had an invasion of large, red beetles until she realised that Surrey had found some red kidney beans soaking in a basin and had decided that red kidney beans were much better playthings than plain old dried peas.
The sheep in the field behind our house were herded away to be shorn in mid-June. When they were returned to the field they looked very clean but very slim and appeared SO disconsolate. And the ewes and lambs who were trying to find one another after the shearing created a clamour of bleats and baas. At the end of June the sheep and lambs were moved and replaced by cows and calves who moved in to cacophony of mooing as young calves and older cows tried to keep up with the main body of cattle. Fortunately for us the cattle don't seem to wake up quite as early or as noisily as the sheep & lambs.
We often have to shout out of the kitchen window to scare away the seagulls that are intent on stealing scraps that are intended for the smaller birds. Maureen was doing this the other day when she noticed that all the cattle were purposefully strolling towards our garden wall. Perhaps Maureen has the "gift" of calling cattle?
On Monday 19 June the members of the regular Monday evening "singing class", tutored by Michael Lee at the Community Centre, unilaterally decided to play truant and attend a concert given by eight outstanding young performers from the Royal Scottish Academy Strings - the RSAMD's Alba and Cardo quartets. The concert, part of the St Magnus Festival, was held in the Stronsay kirk at 8 pm. It included Mendelssohn's Octet and attracted a large, appreciative audience. The musicians had spent the day at the Stronsay school helping and encouraging budding young musicians. The schoolchildren, some of whom had only had two or three lessons, were thrilled to be able to play their instruments with the two quartets in the final piece of the evening.
Malcolm's sheepdog Skye went into labour at 4 am on 20 June and produced seven puppies, five with normal collie markings, one white with two black spots over its eyes and one white with a single black spot on top of head. The puppies father, Rex, has had "the snip" and will not be fathering any more litters. More animal-related news - Jack and Dale, the ponies who grazed Bob Tateson's garden last year, took a trip to mainland in June and won numerous awards at a gymkhana.
The island had a big wedding in June when the daughter of a local farmer "tied the knot". This involved a blackening, a dance to which the whole island was invited, the wedding itself and a barbecue on the day after the wedding. Guests came from all parts of Britain and from abroad; a group from Central Scotland even travelled up in their own luxury coach.
Tue 27 Jun was a beautiful day - bright sunshine, clear blue skies and hardly any breeze at all so we were delighted when Father Nicholas from Golgotha Monastery on Papa Stronsay called in to invite us to a barbecue on Papa Stronsay that evening. It was rather short notice as we received the invitation at 4 pm and the first boat to Papa Stronsay left at 6 pm. However, it was a good thing as it gave Maureen no time to panic about the trip and we both turned up at the quayside at 6 pm. We got on the small boat thanks in no small measure to a helping hand from Bob Wilcox who was waiting on the quay for the arrival of the ferry from Kirkwall. The monk's small boat only takes about 7 people so it took several trips to bring everyone across although several people came over in their own small boats; in all there must have been 40 or 50 people as well as several youngsters. When Maureen and myself disembarked on Papa Stronsay we found some monks putting the finishing touches to an absolutely enormous bonfire. The bonfire was lit at around 7:30 pm and was soon sending flames and smoke shooting into the clear blue sky - what a blaze! Shortly after this one of the priests donned his ceremonial robes and held a short service for Our Lady Of Perpetual Succour. The monks soon had the barbecue going and commenced cooking sausages and beefburgers (including vegetarian sausages & burgers). The aroma of barbecued beef made us very hungry and everyone was soon devouring the delicious food which included fresh bread rolls, tomato, potato salad, grapes, plums and a wide variety of cheese - including the monk's own home-produced cheese. Finally the monks produced a huge sponge cake topped with at least an inch of thick, whipped cream - it was quite irresistable and absolutely delicious. The monks started ferrying us back to Stronsay at around 10 pm. Sue, the island's postmistress & her mother,Mary, came back to our house for drinks after the barbecue. They were astonished when they saw Surrey perform her latest party trick - retrieving a dried pea and placing it at the feet of the person who threw the pea; she will do this not once but several times until she tires of "performing".
The Northern Isles Sports were held on the sports field at Stronsay Junior High School yesterday (Friday 30 June). We had forgotten all about it until around 9:30 am when Maureen noticed that all 3 ferries (Varagen, Earl Thorfinn and Earl Sigurd) were in sight and heading for the island. The ferries docked, one by one, at Stronsay quayside bringing competitors from Westray, Sanday and Eday. It is a pity that the weather was not as good as it has been all week. The ferries returned in the early evening to take the competitors back to their own island and the results of the various competitions are, courtesy of Bob Tateson and Stronsay Junior High School, at
Posted on Claremont at 12:02
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