Island Girl

So after Andy departed from this grand island--to return to the drudgery of work (yep, rubbing it in a little), I continued with my October Holiday, with a visit to another island, Orkney.
--in case you did not appreciate the intensity of my feeling--October Holiday ROCKS!  really.  It ranks up there with the 20-minute coffee break and one-hour lunch break of my daily life.  Return to normalcy does not sound appealing from this perspective.

I learned today, that the October holiday used to be called the Tatie Holiday.  (Tatie is the local word for potato).
In days not that long gone by, this was a holiday from school so that pupils could earn a few shillings by helping to bring in the potato crop.

Okay, back to Orkney...which, according to my friend Dewitt, is a funny sounding name.  I will blog another time on the delights of the town names in Scotland. . .

Orkney is an island north of Scotland.  It is actually made up of some 70 islands.  The "mainland," confusing, I know, is Orkney.  Seventeen islands, I think, are uninhabited.  There is some 5500 years of history on these islands--living and farming!  They were once a Norwegian colony.  The Vikings played a huge role in their history.  The neolithic sights are amazing...but here the histories overlap so beautifully.  There is Viking graffiti marks left in some of the neolithic sites..

People have not changed much, by the way...some of the graffiti is just about a beautiful women left behind, another was a quick picture of a dragon, another is bragging about being the best ruin writer!  The fact that I got to see these markings with my own eyes, was pretty amazing...even more so, that I was standing in a neolithic tomb at the time.  

So, yea, Orkney...I loved every moment.

Lots of water and boating history associated with an
island, not surprisingly.  This is from a small dock in

Stromness.

I really liked the use of tiny yard space...plus this
reminded me of my Babka's back yard, a terraced,
childhood wonderland.  It had a tall retaining wall,
too, but MUCH narrower stairs--and flowers, a riot
of flowers.  I imagine this garden has flowers, too,
in the spring.

I found that the constant of the water was very appealing to me.  I feel

a contentment and peace looking out over the surf.

This is a doorway to the inner "street" of the neolithic
village of Skara Brae.  All the houses open off of the

covered street to help cut the wind and the chill.  The 

people in 3100 BC were not tiny, the low ceilings also 

reduced the space for the elements to get in.  Average 

heights?  5'2" and 5'7".  

Every house had the exact same layout, suggesting that these people

     shared a believe in community harmony through sameness.  The 

     cubbyhole structure is a dresser, possibly for displaying one's best 

     possessions or for easy access to the items one needed in every day life.

     Left and right there are two bed spaces. These people used stones to create

     either a bedframe or a sense of privacy.  The central hearth is in the middle

     of the room, located in the bottom middle of the picture.  I am standing 

     above the door way.  Interesting point:  there are three stone boxes and

     one stone seat in front of the dresser.  The boxes are waterproof and 

     used to keep fish or shellfish alive before preparing or to use as bait.  

Thistle and field grass near the Ring of Brodgar

One of the standing stones at the Ring of Brodgar, a large and impressive

henge.

These are standing stones at the Ring of Stenness.

This is a similar, but less developed site than the one at Skara Brae.
This is site is called Barnhouse.

This is the front view of the Italian Chapel.  It is on the Island of Lamb Holm and was built by Italian prisoners of war.  The POWs were made to build the Churchill Barriers--to block the water passage of the Scapa Flow.  The church was constructed out of two Nissen huts joined end-to-end and is charmingly painted inside to resemble an old church.

Closer

Interior

Exterior

Deliberately sunken ships in Scapa Flow

Building Materials and the foundation of the Churchill Barriers.  The signs

before you cross warn that you do so at your own danger.

Tomb of the Eagles.  You can either crawl in (knee
pads provided in container at left) or lie on the big
skateboard and pull yourself through using the rope.
Pretty cool, eh?  I used the board and rope pulling entry.

Close up

This is a neolithic dove cot (pronounced doo coh).  There are still doves

living inside.  

Closer

Interior

The Cairn of Unstan

Interior looking out

I had to walk with my butt on my heels to get through

the low passage. I am inside the close passage here.

This was once a famed Viking hall (the Earl's Hall or Bu) near Orphir. Drinking,

singing, and playing, both foul and fair, occurred here according to the sagas.  This 

is a view cross the bu, a long view.  

I was introduced to the writer and poet George MacKay Brown.
Here is one of his poems: 

A Work for Poets 

---

To have carved on the days of our vanity A sun A ship A star A cornstalk Also a few marks From an ancient forgotten time A child may read That not far from the stone A well Might open for wayfarers Here is a work for poets - Carve the runes Then be content with silence.

Other random Orkney facts.
North Ronaldsay sheep only eat seaweed.  They are virtually fat free.  I ate lamb while on island--and it was delicious--but I do not know if it was of the seaweed variety.

On the mainland Island (love the irony of this) of Orkney there is a parish named Harray.  In this parish there is a man who creates pottery.  Wait for it...

He calls his shop Harray Potter.

Orkney shares some similarities in burials and structures with Caitness in northern Scotland, just across the water.  It is said the ancient people sailed from Caithness with their cattle to avail themselves of the excellent farmland in Orkney.  The must have been very good sailors, as well.  The weather was 2 degrees (Celsius) warmer in the neolithic age...making for productive and enticing farming conditions on Orkney.

I was surveyed at the dock before my ferry departed.  In the pleasant conversation, I was informed that Orkney has two seasons:  9 months of winter and three months of severe weather.  But I think he was exaggerating a bit.

I think that I am a bit enamored of the island and will return, at the very least to see the puffins who nest there in the early part of summer.

And I treated myself to this little gift.  The colors and shapes reminds me of the light and water of my holiday in Orkney.