Daily Diary
Wednesday 15th October 2008
7:00am - Going to be a busy day for Sandra with Michael and Ted away, sheep to ship and me away to the doctors. Looks like I'll have to help get them on the boat and just hope I can keep clean. The timing is just all wrong, even the 2:00pm for the jab as it means I cannot get a fish supper whilst over either before or after the appointment. Might treat myself to a nice piece of Aberdeen angus fillet steak, maybe a piece of fillet and a piece of rump as well.
Tuesday 14th October 2008
Another day to start off with having to wear wellington boots but the wins doesn't sound quite as bad as what was forecast. Ted will be hoping that it will be better the morn as he his travelling South for the winter. --------------------------------- Had some unexplained computer problems but apart from the small computer that runs the ship plotter things are back to normal. For some reason two adapters for running ethernet connections over the mains to separate computers both simultaneously gave the same problem with loss of internet access. That was just the start of things going wrong but all is ok now and I am just re-installing windows on the small PC as a quick way of getting rid of all the junk that has accumulated due to trying various software programs. --------------------------- It has remained dry though it is still on the chilly side or my blood is getting a bit thin. Sandra and Michael have seventeen Shetland ewes to ship on tomorrows cargo boat and it looks like Sandra will be on her own with getting them down the pier and on to the boat. Michael is away and I will be dressed to go over to the doctors for the flue jab, though I will take my overalls and wellington boots down with me just in case things don't go as planned. I'll have to try and keep clean though as it looks like Bobby and I will have to find somewhere to rest after having the jabs and we are waiting for the boat home. That will be the boring part as there is little to do in Stromness at this time of the year but I am sure we will find something to do.
Monday 13th October 2008
7:00am -A dry and calm start to the day with a reasonably good forecast for the week at this time of the year. ----------------------------- 11:30am - Nice and sunny now though a bit on the cool side. Got a few goodies in the post this morning, 8gb USB pen that has taken 10 days to get here but it was from Guernsey. They were a pretty good buy at £10.99 each inluding postage so Ted and I got one each. Also got a serial to bluetooth adapter so the ship plotter may go on and off at times whilst I am playing. First thing will be to tidy the workshop up a bit as I was repairing a electric fencer down there yesterday and left the bench in a real mess. ------------------------------- 6:00pm - It has been a real mixture of weather today but has now settled on being wet with some real cold heavy showers. I got held up with the computer job I was doing and as it was sunshine at the time decided to go up to Windwalls to do their satellite system but no sooner were the tools sorted out than the rain was battering the workshop window. I thought I would do that job whilst thinking of the computer problem which was that windows vista doesn't have the hyper terminal program installed and I needed to use it for the job in hand. What I was thinking about I don't know as I had another three computers all running windows xp. Must be the cold weather slowing the brain down. Michael jnr got home for the night using the commuter boat which is handy as there is a car to go over the morn and the gates used for the animal race down the pier have been left in and will require removing. far better he does it than me as he is far bigger and also not as lazy as me.
Sunday 12th October 2008
Had a really lazy start to the day and didn't get up until after 10:30 even though I had been awake most of the time from 7:00am. Just feeling lazy and only got up then because I wanted to see 'Countryfile' on the television at 11:00. There was an interesting piece about an annual bellyboarding competition in Cornwall. It appears to be an early type of surfboarding where you just lay on a small slim board and ride in the waves. I could imagine the Graemsay Fat Cat's Club taking part in the competition and steaming in on a couple of barn doors. ------------------------------ Been trying to catch up with various jobs to do with the computer and slowly getting there but it is very slow mainly due to the fact that as I am tidying I come across items that take my interest and I have to have a play with them. 'Wowee' the robot was the one yesterday which developed into a hunt for ni-cad batteries and chargers. I will wait for young James to come in and see what he makes of him, Becky loves him but Katy is a little nervous of him. At least it is dry so the trips between the house and the workshop don't entail having to keep swapping from shoes to wellington boots.
Saturday 11th October 2008
9:00am - Very heavy rain this morning and I reckon that Max the dog will be waiting a good while before he gets anyone to take him for a walk. I was going to lay in bed and watch the news on TV but the rain is so heavy it has affected the dish and I could get no signals at all. That will require someone going outside with a can of WD40 spray but it will have to be later in the day. Michael jnr didn't go down to Invergordon in the end but went on one of the other tugs instead which must have been disapointing as he was looking forward to the trip down.
Friday 10th October 2008
7:00am - A dark and wet morning but hopefully the wind isn't as bad as yesterday when I ended up chasing my cap outside Ramray. ------------------------------- 11:00am - It has dried up outside and looks a good bit more cheery compared with this morning. The lighthouse engineers are here this morning just to do some routine work and apart from Ted having a bad cold there is nothing much else happening. John of Gorn was saying that weather permitting there were just four coo's to go on the cargo boat so I may just go over for the afternoon and get the flue jab whilst there. The district nurse was going to let Mary know if she was coming over on the 4:00pm boat and we have heard nothing as yet so I reckon she will not be coming. Pat went to the docs yesterday and got the results from tests done the previous week and all is clear. Pat did say that the doctor told her she was a bit deaf, now I wondered if she didn't hear that right and it was a bit daft that the doctor said. She has been blaming me for not speaking properly when she gets things wrong, but that's what women do and just blame the men.
Thursday 9th October 2008
Didn't go for the flue jab but Pat is going to the doctors before her and Irene go swimming and will ask if the nurse is coming out to see big John the morn would it be possible for her to bring a jab out for me as well. We had the meeting last night in the Hall to discuss coming events and everything is more or less organised except for the Harvest Home date which will be dependant on the musicians. It was a nice sky this morning with orangey red to the East and a pink glow to the West but it is now just gray and dismal looking. ----------------------------------------- Managed to get some overdue paperwork done but I still have not caught up with things since I came back from holiday. Pat asked about the flue jab being brought out with the district nurse but it is not certain that she is coming out so I reckon I'll just have to wash both arms in the morning just in case. Irene was complimented on the boat this morning on her complexion which is really good after her skin conditioning treatment on Tuesday. Seems the product was 'cow sht*' but she says it was pure as she got it direct from its source and it didn't get handled by any middle men. That was due to getting too close to a coo that was waiting to go on the cargo boat when she was returning from town. ----------------------------- Michael jnr starts his two weeks on working at sea and is away down to Invergordon the morn to join his boat which is currently working down there. They are driving down but he is not sure as yet which ferry they will be on.
Wednesday 8th October 2008
11:00am - It started off a wet and miserable day but it is a nice sunny day now. I did think of going over to get the flue jab whilst there is some still available as it is first come first served. Just not really feeling like going over two days in succession so I might just leave it until Friday.
Tuesday 7th October 2008
7:00am - A dark and dismal morning which seems to match the talk on the radio of the financial state of Europe. Some folk say that it is best to turn the cash into goods before the bubble bursts, which is alright but where would I store all the bottles? -------------------- 6:00pm Pat and I went over on the cargo boat where we bumped into Albert and Fay who run the North Hoy post office. They were also going over to go to Kirkwall so we all travelled together to Lidls where we met up with Mary from Windywalls who was waiting for us and ready to do some shopping. Aren't women just slow when shopping? backwards and forwards on some aisles until I felt dizzy just watching. Then into the street in town for a little job that Pat was doing for Sandra. Where's the place I asked, right up the street said Pat. Now I took it that meant right up at the other end of the street from where we were, wrong. That obviously means right up the street away from the end where we are not stood. By the time we had finished there and nipped into Tesco's then Birsay Farmers store we ended up in Stromness at 4:11pm, just 11 minutes after the boat had gone. We had the 5:45pm boat booked in case we were late so there was no problem and I had to see the infamous Terry Todd.
Monday 6th October 2008
7:00am - Everybody seems to be going down with colds this last week. Ted and Michael J seem to be the latest two to catch it rather badly but it is maybe just that they moan more than the others. It looks like it's dry outside and there is no sound of wind but it feels a little on the cool side. --------------------- 3:00pm - Pat and I visited John and Mary at Windywalls to discuss the details for going to Kirkwall this week to do the shopping. It was decided that all being well we would go tomorrow afternoon and book the late boat back as going on the cargo boat doesn't leave much spare time especially as kye are also being shipped.
Sunday 5th October 2008
A beautiful sunny day with the winds having dropped well away and I am busy working at sorting out the workshop which entails a lot of lifting and moving. That should maybe get a few ounces off the belly, though a few pounds would be far better. It certainly blew late last night and through into the early hours with gusts of 60 knots being recorded which is above what the forecast said to expect. Only a strong breeze for Orkney standards but the direction funnelled it down the lighthouse courtyard and frightened Max the dog. He started to bark with the one that says he is not personally happy so I went out just before midnight to see if all was well but found nothing amiss. He was quite happy when I left the outside light on for him and he retired quietly to bed. Sandra had heard him barking and then saw the flash of the torch I was using and came in to see us as she thought it was possibly someone else on the island that had come down for some reason, possibly requiring assistance due to the wind blowing things about. It ended up with coffee and a dram with me having just one or two extra so as to help me sleep. Michael jnr arrived back on the island this morning though he doesn't know when he will be away again. Keeps telling me of the fish suppers he can get at the chippy whilst over the other side, he knows it is the one thing I miss on Graemsay.
Saturday 4th October 2008
A bit late in updating the diary today, no excuse just feeling lazy. I reckon that will be due to eating too much last night. Pat and I had a bit of a special meal with me having fillet steak and her having scampi with all the trimmings. I had lots of veg with plenty of roast garlic that had been stored in oil with chilli. A ate so much I could hardly even drink the red wine and though I normally have no problem finishing a bottle I drank less than a third in the entire evening. -------------------- Michael jnr got back this morning but has to return to the boat this evening as the tanker will require all three tugs as she leaves her berth in the early hours of the morning. He is on his two weeks standby at the moment so has to travel backward and forward as required but he is enjoying the work which gives him more overall time at home than the four weeks on/ four weeks off he had with his previous post.
Friday 3rd October 2008
A bit breezy this morning and Neil is shipping lambs at lunch time on the cargo boat providing it is ok at the pier. The skipper is bringing the appropriate equipment and they will review the situation at the time. Michael jnr was called back to work yesterday as the tanker 'Arafura Sea' was due in this morning at 8:00am but I have just looked on the harbours website and it is now due this afternoon so it looks like he will not be getting home tonight. ------------------------------------ Usual kind of day so far with Ethel telling me more stories of the bee in a sheepskin coat and other stories including a few about animals she has seen over the years whilst out tending to the kye in the dark. One was described as looking like a pure white puma but she though it may have been something that came up from the sea. I'll have to try not to think about it when out in the dark on my own during stormy weather. ---------------------------------- 3:00pm - Went down to the cargo boat at lunchtime with Sandra to help Neil loading his lambs on to the boat and then went to Ramray for the obligatory dram which is the usual thing to do after shipping livestock . It ended up with three cups of coffee and even more glasses of drink so I don't think I will get much more done today.
Thursday 2nd October 2008
Well we got no wind to speak of though they are forecasting gale force 8 tonight with severe gale 9 for a time so the aerial pole still hasn't been tested. I will have to try to remember to tighten up the television aerial bracket as it blows around a little in very strong winds. I am always wary of tightening them up too much though as I have often broken the brackets or stripped the screw threads. ------------------------------------- Someone mentioned at the pier this morning that the ladies weren't going swimming today, I thought there's a coincidence neither is Pat and Irene. It's been a beautiful sunny morning though wet underfoot so Pat and I are going to visit John and Mary at Windywalls. Michael and Sandra have taken the kids with them and gone over for visiting and shopping so it will be a quiet day hopefully. ---------------------------------------- 2:30pm - I told Pat that it was going to rain but she left out the washing whilst we went out only to return and find it wet through and laid out all over the garden. It was logical to think that with a bad forecast plus dark storm clouds approaching from the North it wasn't safe to leave out the washing but logic and women don't seem to quite go together. Still we had a pleasant afternoon chatting over a cup or two of coffee to John and Mary. The temperature has started to drop a good bit and it gives the impression that winter is just around the corner. The aerial pole down on the workshop is bending to almost 40% but is still working ok though I am not betting on it staying that way. Just tried to get an update on the weather using the Orkney harbours site but it seems very slow to load. Perhaps it is the security settings on my computer and I'll make a phone call to check with another user before addressing the problem.
Wednesday 1st October 2008
It sounds calm outside but they are talking of the gales still to arrive so I just hope that the winds are from the North as forecast as I only got two guy wires on the aerial and they are on the appropriate side. Might get round to finishing it off today depending on how quick the winds arrive. ---------------------- Ethel from the 'Western Horn' found some old negatives and I have had just a quick go at scanning some of them and will put them on the site as soon as I get them all done.----------------------------3:30:pm - Not done too much today apart from picking Ethel up from the pier at lunchtime and running her home with her shopping. Fitted a dedicated AIS receiver for then ship plotter so that the present set can be left free for listening to the marine short wave frequencies through the winter. I have a few vhf scanners for listening to the vhf marine channels which might pass a bit of time on a night when there is nothing on the television. I also got an adapter for the laptop computer which didn't have an ethernet port, so fitted that and brought 'Kaspersky' anti virus up to date. Michael jnr just phoned to see if I was ready to go chasing sheep but they postponed it when I told them Becky will need picking up from the pier at 4:15pm on her way home from school.

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