My Week in Pictures – Searching For Snowdrops

My week started with ripping off the next page of my desk calendar, with its wisdom perhaps pointing to what kind of week I was going to have.

I reach this time in January every year when my patience with the weather has well and truly gone. All the life drains out of me and I find myself sick of snow, ice, wind, rain and mud. We had all of these in Orkney this week and it’s no secret I was well and truly fed up. Last night the wind rattled the roof and made the beams in the attic creak, this morning we went out to inspect what had survived. I’m reminded that sometimes in the dark winter days we have to go looking for the good things, as they are there, just waiting to be found.

No matter the weather I always love the old stone buildings and architecture of Orkney. Like for instance in these crowstep gables on the rooftops in St Margaret’s Hope. A small town in the South Island’s of Orkney. (Photos used with permission)

And while I loathe driving in snowy and icy conditions, there’s no denying, it looks pretty. I love the light on these crispy cold days.

More patience was needed when I had a phone call to say my son couldn’t sit his driving test because the instructor’s car had gone on fire due to an electrical fault! I was about ready to bang my head off the desk. Why is nothing every straightforward? However, if you read A Short (True) Story About A Boy you’ll discover things were sorted in record time, and against all the odds, he passed. My son is given the blog name Tech Support and he’s as cool as a cucumber….unlike me when I was chauffeured around by him on Saturday. I’m proud of him, but I’m sure all parents who have gone before will know there’s no fear like a child who has just passed their test. I’ve lectured and lectured about all the pitfalls. I’m wondering how much is too much. He would probably say I’m well past that stage by now.

Tech Support takes me for a drive (in hideously scruffy jeans)

Flat packed furniture would test the patience of any man. I decided it would be a good idea to have a sideboard in the sitting room and Orkney Beef went along with my plan, being better at this sort of thing than I would ever be. Before long he was embarking on an afternoon’s assembling. I helped by staying out of the way, it’s best for everyone.

The instructions suggested it would take one man half an hour. I can confirm, the instructions were wrong. However, Orkney Beef worked diligently and constantly and finally, he arrived from this, to this.

I’ve said many times how much I love snowdrops. The first signs of life after a long dark winter always give me renewed hope that things will improve and once again life will break through. I went in search of them in my own garden but they are yet to arrive. An online friend shared her first sightings though, and it’s a delight to know they are around. If all else fails I have a lovely felted picture of snowdrops so I can enjoy them all year round.