Norq From Ork

My sister and nephew have been over visiting from  Colorado America this week so it’s been great to catch up and visit places with renewed enthusiasm.  Ann (or The Backcracker as she’s known due to her being a physio and able to sort out our backs with remarkable speed and technique) is fascinated by all the neolithic sights like the Ring of Brodgar and Standing Stones of Stenness……..places I drive past daily on my way to work. The Standing Stones I was able to snap on a frosty morning recently. These ancient stones have seen the sun rise and set for thousands of years. If only they could talk of the sights they have seen and tell us how they got here.

 

 

 

 

A couple of miles further along the road is the Ring of Brodgar.  An ancient stone circle which precedes Stonehenge. Backcracker sis took this amazing photo today.

 

Colorado has seen temperatures of -20 in the Winter so my saying how cold it was this week is a bit pathetic by comparison.  However I’m still going to say it was mighty cold this week and at times felt raw outside.  There were loads of wintery pictures taken including this one by my friend LibrarianLousie.

 

Yesterday we went to Stromness.  A beautiful old fishing town which hasn’t lost its charm in all these years.  It’s celebrating 200 years as burgh this year and there will be lots of events going on. The Winter light didn’t disappoint and the calm air made the sea look like a millpond.  We caught the Hamnavoe leaving on another of her journeys which made for a bonnie view.

 

We raced round in the car then to Warbeth, just in time to see the boat heading off into the sunset.

 

Conversation was lively on Saturday evening as we sought to connect the family across the globe but how to do it?  Pay attention as I’ll only explain this once.

I Facetimed Miss Lashes in Edinburgh

BackCracker sis Facetimed her daughter BeccaBoo in Colorado

My Nephew Facetimed his wife also in Colorado

Whilst on the FT to MIss Lashes we held up the phones so she could say hi to her cousin in America and her aunt Orkney at the same time.  It was noisy but we managed to get everyone to say hi to everyone else before the Wifi collapsed with exhaustion.

 

There are very few trees in Orkney and something I miss, especially in Autumn when the colours change.  However, we managed a wintery walk in Binsgarth Woods today.  There were loads of snowdrops and in a few weeks there will be bluebells.  It was muddy and fun and a lovely end to time with my sister which as always was all too short.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One final happy pic as we warmed up in a cafe yesterday, and Orkney Beef was able to join us.

 

Another busy week lies ahead but hopefully there will be lots of smiles and things to be thankful for along the way.  Have a good one folks!