Peedie Kirkwall - Help Oot The Polis!

Nobody has been visiting Peedie Kirkwall (my virtual city) for a long time, but finally I've got enough of a population to do something about security in the town.

So, come on, click here and help beef up security... Together we can beat the ill-anserin' whalps and hoodies!

There's also a link to it down on the right... Remember, this is an on-going fight, so come and click daily please!

Busy Doing Nothing

Got a text from my brother (who lives round the corner from me, opposite the harbour) at around 11am today to say that there were a couple of seals on the Corn Slip again (he'd seen them there last week, but Viki & I missed them). Neither of the two of us were up out of our beds yet, but after 40 minutes or so deliberating, we got up, put our clothes on over our pyjamas (juj), and went round to the slipway to see if they were still there... And they were...

Viki saying "Szia"...



A wider view, showing where they were sitting... on a little slipway, just by a road and roundabout...



Came back later, as it got dark, and they were still there...



We were informed by a local seal expert that they are Common Seal pups, born about June or July of last year.

You can see more of the photos on my Flickr Photostream.

Ba!

The Ba' Report...

Both went Up again... and I say "Bugger".

Boys Ba' won by Alex Kansour, and Mens Ba' (after a long struggle which Viki & I saw the end of when we were out for a walk about half past 5 while our roast beef was cooking, not expecting the Ba' to still be going on) was won by Mark Kemp.

Come on, Doonies... plenty of porridge & protein before next Christmas!

BA' Humbug!

Yesterday saw the first 2 Ba's of the 2008/09 season in Kirkwall.

Unfortunately (for this Doonie, anyway, and for honorary Doonie Viki, who I took to see the annual rampage for the first time), both the Boys Ba' and the Mens Ba' went Up.

Boys Ba' was won by Kyle Robb, and the Mens Ba' by Neil Stevenson.

Here are one or two photos (the rest can be seen on my Flickr photostream), and 2 of the four bursts of video I took... I'll put the other 2 videos on my Photo Blog.

Boys Ba in Junction Road... it had been heading Doon at this point, before it turned around and headed back Up the way:

Mens Ba still in Broad Street, not long after being thrown up... check out the steam already!

Mens Ba all but over... and is that Santa on the edge of the pack? I didn't know he was an Uppie!

Boys Ba video... pretty close to the action:



Mens Ba video:

The Viking Invasion Of Orkney!

Last night, Kirkwall City Pipe Band and over 40 members of Shetland's 2008 Up Helly Aa squad held a torchlight parade and burning of a replica viking galley as a "thank you" from the Guizers for the part the Pipe Band played during their Up Helly Aa celebrations in Lerwick in January of this year, where KCPB were invited to join with the Lerwick Pipe Band to play during the festivities.

It had been a cold, miserable, rainy day, but that amazingly held off during the parade (which lasted a good couple of hours)... and the parade was amazing! Here's a few photos that Viki & I took (I think it's fair to say she enjoyed it!)...

The Pipe Band...

The Vikings have come! Lock up your daughters!


The torches are lit in a darkened Broad Street:




The galley burning at The Peedie Sea:


More pictures will be appearing soon on my Photo Blog, and the full set (or at least the ones that came out) are on my Flickr photostream.

Not Your Everyday Roadsign...

Took this yesterday to show Viki, and to test out my new digital camera... well, actually, my new new digital camera... I bought a £30 one from our new Tesco a couple of weeks ago, a 5mp one, compared to my old one that was 3.2mp. Spotted this new new one in a leaflet thing that came to work on Monday. Ordered it, and it arrived yesterday (how's that for service?).

New one is 6.1mp, has 3x optical zoom, automatic flash (Tesco one had a flash, but not auto), has a 2.5" lcd screen, metal body, and is really good... and the main bonus being, because it's ordered through work, I can put it on my account and forget about paying for it for a while! :^D

So, anyway, the story of the road sign... this is by the Peedie / Peerie Sea (there's some (ahem) "debate" about what is the proper spelling) in Kirkwall. It's not very often you see any of the otters around there, but occasionally they are spotted...

ps. That road sign should really be taken down and metricised! It's a wonder the Big Cheeses at Brussels haven't complained before now...

Gauntlet Number One...

Thrown by Julie and picked up by me...

Photo looking down my street from the front gate...

(Not taken tonight... there's no sunset like that tonight...)

A Peedie Bit O' Orkney...

Kirkwall is very lucky to have the ruins of not 1, but 2 impressive palaces across the road from each other, and across another road from the side of the Cathedral.

First, The Earl's Palace, started in 1600... which must have been beautiful in its day, but hides a bloody and cruel history.

Read about it here: Orkneyjar: Earl's Palace

Then, the older of the two - The Bishop's Palace, built in the mid-12th century for Bishop William the Old...

Orkneyjar.com have a wonderful history you can read here: Orkneyjar: Bishop's Palace

The picture above shows the interior of the palace, with the spire of the Cathedral visible over the walls.

Set into the exterior wall of the palace is a closed archway, which at one time stood across the street between the 2 palaces, and which gave the street its name - Watergate.