Tuesday, May 27, 2014, 15:16
Posted by Natalie
I went to see a neighbour yesterday (that is already one of the great things I will miss when we go back to Switzerland: visiting friends for a cuppa and a biscuit) and on the way back I was accompanied by storm, the dog and then went to say hello to the buffalos. Now, before we moved in next to the buffalo farmers I would never have believed how docile animals they are! Last week I saw our neighbour stroking Mr Bull and he just loved it! Closing his eyes and cuddling up to her and then trying to get more when she moved on to the next buffalos... Amazing!Posted by Natalie
So, as I was passing the field of the young buffalos, I went up to stroke one. As soon as the others saw what was going on, they all came close and tried to shove past the others to be next! Needless to say I stayed there for a long while just so all the buffalos got their portion of TLC before I moved on. But, I had not considered that the sheep in the next field would feel left out and also wanted to be stroked, so I did that too!
What a wonderful place we are living in!
Then today, cycling to the shop I was wooed by a Teeoo (Lapwing), scared off by an oyster catcher and then watched a rabbit while being pushed along by the wind! Life is just great!
Unfortunately the weather was not too good for when my in-laws were visiting and we went to see a lot of indoor places: Highland Park Distillery, Orkney Museum, the school, the Cathedral, St. Magnus Visitor’s centre (where I volunteer) but also the “normal tourist places as the Ring o’ Brodgar, the Standing Stones and Skara Brae.
One of the best days was our hike around Mull Head (a lovely hike around the cliffs on the east of our peninsula) and luckily someone had packed a huge picnic because - tadaa! - the sun came out and we made a day out of it!
We went down to one of Matt and Nanouk’s favourite geos and had a picnic down there! Heidi even took off her jacket and pullover - and it takes a lot for that to happen!
Nanouk and Maleah took off their shoes and wanted to paddle a little, but it didn’t last very long... And, of course, we had tea and hot chocolate from my favourite toy: the Kelly Kettle!
One of the highlights was Nanouk finding a message in a jam jar, which had travelled to Deerness from North Ronadlsay! It was from an elderly lady looking for a penfriend of about the same age - and telling us, if we did not fit the profile to pass the letter on to someone who does!
But, most of the time we just enjoyed having the grandparents here:
On Sunday we went to Birsay. This is where we’d seen the puffins up close nearly four years ago - and we were hoping for the same again, but unfortunately they were quite a lot lower down. Still, we did see them - and we had fun watching the gulls flying really close to us and trying to suss out if we were enemies or prey, lying on the floor like that!
Matt and his parents then went on to Yesnaby hoping to see a Primula Scottica for Oswald and Matt’s Flower Homepage, but unfortunately they didn’t succeed. But, of course, they were still awed by the cliffs and the scenery there!
And then, all too quickly, the week was over and it was time to say goodbye again. Luckily it will be less than two months before we see them again - and it is mainly our families and friends who are persuading us to go back home - and the promise we gave to Mim and Jeremy that we certainly would clear the house at the end of our six months...
Then, Monday evening, sitting in our living room with the sun shining in through the window we did feel a little cheated, but hopefully it will be back to normal (or even all sunshine!) for Mary and Dean, who arrive on Friday!
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Tuesday, May 20, 2014, 16:46
Posted by Natalie
As you might have realised our blogs are getting less frequent. This is partly because we are so busy with all our visitors but also because it is not quite as exciting to write about visiting the St. Magnus Cathedral for the seventh time! Although, I must admit, Maleah’s tour guide abilities are getting better by the day!Posted by Natalie
Last week was “godfather week” as Nanouk and Maleah’s godfathers (Ben and Martin) came to visit along with Lenny, my godson! We had a marvellous time, and spent two nights on Westray, one of our favourite islands!
After long considerations about logistics, I was lucky to find someone who rents out “cars for seven people” on Westray so we decided to bring back Ben’s rental car and just have the (what we thought would be a ) minivan in Westray. When I phoned back to confirm the rental the owner said: “Ah, no, it’s just a big five-seater, but there’s no police on the island, so the kids can sit in the boot.
With no other options we agreed, thinking it would be fun for the kids to sit in the boot, as we had loved that when we were small!
Of course, the godfathers took the plane as they wanted to be on the shortest flight, and we went with Lenny by ferry.
We were picked up at in Westray by two not so happy godfathers and one small estate car. Nobody had picked them up at the airport so luckily a local lady (with a knowing smile at the mention of the name of the people who should have picked them up with the huge rental car...) had given them a lift to the house. There they found out that the car was not only very small for seven people and even more suitcases and rucksacks but it also had a flat tyre.
The owner (quote by his wife: “He likes taking reservations, but then he doesn’t take responsibility.”) had left with “the good car” and so they were stuck with this one.
Apparently there was an engineer in town “who might be able to pump the tyre”, so we set off to find him - at 20mph, and the tyre getting flatter by the minute!
With no idea where to find this person we looked at the tyre again and realised that there was a nail in it!
So off we went, back to the house of the owner, who had returned with “the good car”, which was even smaller and did not have an open boot.
We still decided to take that car and spent the rest of our trip with children on our laps, who thought this was great fun - and with hindsight it was!
On a more positive note the self-catering accommodation was fabulous, with fresh scones and eggs waiting for us and the most lovely and romantic rooms!
And, of course, the highlight of the trip were the puffins, who came soo close and filled us all with awe and happiness!
We also enjoyed a picnic and hide and seek in an old castle, finding shells and a message in a bottle on the beach, amazing dunes and, of course, the famous fish and chips.
Then it was time to return to Mainland, this time all seven of us on the ferry:
We came back a day earlier as it was not only Norwegian Constitution Day, which is a big celebration in Kirkwall (with a procession for which the ambassador of Norway especially came up for from London) but also a big netball tournament for which Nanouk had be training for months. Any doubts about cutting our stay short for the tournament were eradicated by Nanouk who scored 20 of his team’s 32 scores - and this considering that he was only allowed to score in three of the nine matches! We were proud and happy to watch him!
Summer is so much busier here! There is always so much going on with school events, concerts, tournaments, athletics, cycle training, ... and the days are getting longer by the ... well, by the day!
Yesterday I cycled home at 11pm with no lights, and it went ok! I still saw all the bumps - and the cows watching me - and the farmer, still working on his tractor! And then, when I woke at five this morning, the sun was back!
Another fun experience we had before the godfathers arrived was Matt’s football game for the parish cup. Not only was it amazing to watch him play so well, but we were also slightly amused to realise that the spectators all sat in their cars to watch!
So we will keep you updated, of course, but we’re also trying to make the most of our last two months (aarrrgh! Who would have thought that time can fly so fast??) and of course, of our visitors who we want to show the bonny places of our “second home”!
(Some photos of our trip on our link on your left: Mostly photos with birds and not so many with our family :o)
Sunday, May 11, 2014, 13:45
Posted by Matthias
It already seems quite a long time ago, but last weekend we travelled to Aberdeen because our children had qualified for the North Scotland school’s chess final. Quick and direct travel to Aberdeen would have been quite expensive, so we decided to make a road trip of it. It was the first time we set foot on mainland Scotland for over 4 months. We visited some of the sights we had already visited three years ago when we travelled Scotland. Among them were the Whaligoe steps, castle Sinclair and Girnigoe and the mall in Inverness (if you can call that a sight). I have to say though, the closer we got to Inverness, the more we were overwhelmed with the masses of cars. And in those couple hours in the mall in Inverness we probably saw more people than we have seen in our whole past four months in Orkney. It’s amazing and somewhat frightening how fast you adapt to countryside life and everything that comes with it.Posted by Matthias
We had booked a very nice B&B in Portsoy with huge rooms. Unfortunately, the bathroom was not en-suite, but we had it all to ourselves. It was, however, so big that it more than made up for its un-en-suitedness. There was a huge portrait of a lady in there and a comfortable armchair you could sit on while brushing your teeth or for just enjoying the view of the toilet or shower ...
There was another 1.5h to travel to Aberdeen. We didn’t really see much of it though because we spent all of our time in the cafeteria of the school where the chess tournament took place. We were not allowed in the actual chess hall, so all we could do was wait for our children to come down with either a smile on their face or a face showing disappointment. Maleah’s face of disappointment was never on display. Nanouk had to play some strong opponents after winning the first two games and ended up winning and losing three each. We were all very proud about Maleah’s undefeated day. She qualified for the North UK final in Manchester, but unfortunately we can’t go because it’s just before we return to Switzerland.
On the way back to Orkney we stopped at the remains of Elgin cathedral which was very impressive. Especially the weather was almost too warm for us with sunshine, no wind and 16 degrees. The past week we’ve also had some very nice weather in Orkney. I spent quite a bit of time at the beach basking in the sun. Surprisingly even the water seemed quite warm because it is quite shallow at that beach and had been warmed up by the sun all day. So next time it might be swimming trunks ...
In other news I have joined the football team of the Deerness Parish cup. They were short of players and asked me to join them, so in a moment of madness I agreed to do it. It turned out that even with me they were still short of players so we ended up playing a friendly match instead of an official Parish cup game. It was still a lot of fun even though we lost quite high. Funnily enough I only realized when I looked at the photos Natalie took, that I was wearing the number 10 shirt ... So there will be another match in two weeks and then my temporary football comeback will come to an end and I will be able to concentrate on my running training again, providing I can get rid of my small aches and pains.
There was also another of our articles in the local newspaper. You can look at it here (only in German).
Friday, May 9, 2014, 11:08
Posted by Natalie
In many ways we think we are adapting very well:Posted by Natalie
I remember our first months, creeping behind a slow driver (or sitting in the car with them), wondering why he/she was only doing 45 when it was a 60 zone and there were no bends. Well, now, that’s (sometimes) me!
But one thing we are only getting used to very slowly is that people live on a slightly different time frame than us. Even for Swiss standards we go to bed quite early, but since we’ve arrived it is very slowly getting later, which means going to bed around 9.30ish or even 10pm, on rare occasions... But more than once we have been phoned around 10pm - by people who just want to tell us something, not emergencies at all, things which could easily wait till the next day. This would never happen in Switzerland, but at least, now we don’t jump out of bed and think “What has happened???” when we hear the phone so late!
On the other hand, getting up before 7.30am, is considered very early - and we all agree fully with that part!
Also, when entering the mall at Inverness, Matt and I just looked at each other and we both knew, that this was too loud and there were way too many people for us - although there were probably less than any given Saturday in our Supermarket at home!
And (and this one slightly caught me off guard...) when we were on the ferry back from Aberdeen and saw Mainland, we both felt that we were coming home!
(Matt will (hopefully) tell you more about our successful chess journey and road trip to Aberdeen, or you can read about it in the German blog I’m supposed to be writing).
Also we now enjoy chatting to people a lot more, no matter if it's at the front of a long queue or in the middle of the road. When we came here we were always very conscious of people waiting behind us or somewhere we had to be when someone started talking to us at the cash registrar, or on the road, at the post office or wherever, but now we think it’s lovely that people take the time to chatter, enjoying the encounter and not worrying about having to be somewhere else. Everything else can easily wait!
Ah, and I’ve just remembered something else we have not (yet) quite adapted to: The variable understanding of time. People are often late - and nobody cares. Only we Swiss (and in this we still feel very Swiss...) we are normally at least 5 minutes early - and then we wait for half an hour, for the Orcadians to turn up. But, luckily this doesn’t bother us anymore. Nanouk said last time: “Did you forget again, that we are in Orkney?” when we were somewhere “much too early” :o)
The the lesson behind the most of these things is the principle of “taking things as they are”, in which we are getting better, but are not quite there yet. If we get to a coffee shop or the museum, which should be open but is not, we are still slightly frustrated, but not as much as we were at the beginning and we can more and more just shrug our shoulders and look for an alternative!
And, of course, it’s great to know so many people here, whether they are Orcadian or not, but all such lovely people who make our life so much more pleasant!
Wednesday, April 30, 2014, 12:08
Posted by Natalie
I’ve just had a couple of wonderful days! As some of you might know I’ve just past the milestone of leaving my thirties and starting my forties, but if I had had any doubts about it, they all vanished!Posted by Natalie
My parents came and we had a wonderful party on Sunday with many of our new friends! It was wonderful for us to realise how many great people we have already met - and some of them we can even call friends!
Then on Monday it was the most glorious day! 16 degrees, sunny, no wind! Amazing! Perfect for showing off “our island” to my parents! I took them to Skara Brae, “a tomb” (just behind Finstown, can’t remember the name, but it’s one of my favourite, because there are no signs and it’s very untouristy, but very nice!) and the Broch of Birsay, which we weren’t allowed on. I had hoped to show them some puffins, but I’m not sure they are there yet...
Then, on Tuesday we had another highlight:
There was only one island left, which is inhabited (not counting the ones with less than ten inhabitants), we had not visited: Shapinsay. We were not too sure about going there, as there is not that much to see, apart from Balfour Castle. Unfortunately it is no longer open to the public.
A while back I had found an email address for the castle and thought I’d give it a try. I wrote to them, asking if we could come and see the gardens - and we got a yes. So on Tuesday morning, we got the very early ferry (leaving our children at our neighbours for a rainbow pancakes breakfast (we are soo lucky to have such great neighbours!!)) and set off to Shapinsay.
Our two men were slightly nervous, as there were signs forbidding trespassing, but we found our way to the service entrance and confirmed our permission to see the gardens. We also had a few lovely chats with John the gardener.
I’ve just gone through our photos, to put one or two on our flickr page. But there are too many, so I’ve decided to put them on here instead, and Matt will have to choose the best for flickr:
It was magical and amazing, especially for us, who had been in Orkney for 4 months and have not seen that many amazing gardens!
Then I had to leave on the next ferry, to go and do my volunteering at the St. Magnus Centre and Matt and my parents enjoyed a stroll through the village and a delicious dinner on Shapinsay before returning to Mainland for some shopping on main street.
Today is a lazier day, replying to birthday messages and catching up with my emails, before we head out to the school, to join the assembly (invited by Maleah, who will be playing the tambourines :o)
It is lovely to have my parents here and introduce them to our friends and “our island” and they understand now, why we have fallen in love with this place and these people!
I have just reread my title and have noticed that I have not mentioned tea at the beach: One of my birthday presents was a Kelly Kettle. It allows us to make hot water anywhere - including the beach. So on my birthday, after supper, we all went to the beach, and enjoyed a sunny evening drinking tea and hot chocolate - and being together!
I can't imagine a better way to end a day!
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