Urgh...

*Whispers* Morning...

It's 20 to 10, I've been at work 40 minutes, and already I've got a coffee beside me, and I've eaten the slice of fresh cream sponge I bought yesterday to have as a treat last night... but more of why it wasn't eaten last night in a bit.

I'm so sleepy, but it was worth it! Last night from 10pm til almost 2o'clock this morning, Viki & I were at one of the concerts that are part of the Orkney Folk Festival that's on this weekend. It started with Jeana Leslie & Siobhan Miller, who were very good, but (and this is just a personal thing) I don't know if they really got the crowd "going" enough... their performance was very melodic, and featured ballads strongly.

Then there was the reason we went... The Jani Lang Band. Jani is Hungarian and, after hearing on Radio Scotland that they were going to be playing, I came straight home and booked tickets. Viki got the chance to speak to Jani (I think it surprised him slightly to be greeted in Hungarian while in Orkney!), and also was given a CD by Aly Salam, their Egyptian percussionist, when she met him outside as she sloped off for a smoke after they'd finished playing (I guess sometimes smoking isn't entirely bad... lol). They were brilliant, and really got the crowd dancing (albeit with some spectacular displays of "dad dancing"... I don't think Orcadians know how to dance to traditional Hungarian gypsy music!). They've promised they'll be back in Orkney... and we'll be there if they are!

Then the main act... local band, The Chair. What can I say? Loud, energetic, funny, and sooooo good. They even got Jani and his band back on stage again with them for a bit of Hungarian / Orcadian fusion music.

Came out of there at nearly 2am, and straight to the burger van that was standing outside. A hot dog and chips were purchased each (we hadn't really eaten before going out, but more of that in a minute), and then my brother (who had kindly taken us to Stromness, and come back for us) drove us to a lovely spot beside the Standing Stones of Stenness to eat them... as we could look out to the North on a still-half light sky, with hardly any clouds, and coloured a sublime shade of orange and pinky-purple. On a bonny night, there truly is no more beautiful place than Orkney in midsummer. And, to think, there's about a month to go before the longest day, when it's possible to read a newspaper outside at midnight, and to play golf.

Came home and fell into bed... tired but happy. Until I woke up this morning, that is... now I'm just tired.



There was a time yesterday though that we thought we weren't going to get to the thing in Stromness... and now to recount the sorry tale...

After work we had to go to Tescos for some shopping, including something quick to eat before we went out. Came home with plenty of time to get ready, and that's when we made the wrong decision...

We decided, as it was only just after 7pm, and the thing didn't start until half past 10, that we had time for a short sleep before having food and getting ready. And that would have been okay... except we didn't waken up until half past 8! And we still had to get ready, eat, and get through to Stromness (a half-hour or so drive away)! Didn't really manage to eat... certainly not the relaxed affair that our tea was going to be. But we made it down to my brother's and then to Stromness in time (albeit not looking as beautiful (lol) as we intended... had to forego the make-up and hair-straightening, for example).

The moral of this tale: Time Is Short... especially when you're getting ready to go out.

Oh, and a message to those of you who left a message on my Facebook... there was not an aran jumper in sight last night! Maybe there might have been one or two weirdy-beardies, however...

That Was The Weekend, That Was...

And what a great weekend... for a start, my 3rd Saturday off in a row.

But first, Friday night... which involved a nice bar supper at a local pub with Viki, then we met a guy that she speaks to on the bus some days, as we were standing outside waiting for a taxi, and we discovered that he was heading to the same pub as us... so we offered him a lift... and spent the rest of the evening (til 1o'clock in the morning) in his company. Spent the last hour as his guests in a local members-only club just talking about life, the universe and everything, and having a laugh over a quiet drink, before leaving him to go home.

Woke up Saturday morning with a slightly fuzzy head, but with a mission for some retail therapy. Brunch was had at a cafe, and we left feeling a bit more human after some food and coffee. Spent all the afternoon (until Viki had to go to work at about 5pm) wandering about the shops, checking our favourite charity shops for bargains, and window shopping... only slightly marred by the fact that the bonny weather of the last few days had broken and it was dull and rainy. Hired a DVD for watching at night but, for some reason, we didn't manage to get it seen.

Today (Sunday) dawned a bit cold and dull still, but by about 1pm it was sunny and dry again. Spent the morning (after a breakfast of Viki's scrambled eggs and bacon... it's great having a flatmate who can cook) surfing YouTube for silly music videos, before we headed out about 3pm to see some of the parade for Norway Constitution Day (Orkney, having strong Viking / Scandanavian links, usually has some sort of thing on for this). Stood outside the cathedral and listened to the speeches, then there was music and some traditional dance displays, and then (Viki's favourite) the Kirkwall City Pipe Band played a couple of tunes.

After that, took a wander up the street for some ice cream, before heading to my brother's to get ready for our Sunday run.

Headed out East again (but not to The Hup again... not risking that again - David's just had his tyre repaired after last week)... This time we stopped the car at The Gloup, and then walked along the cliffs to the Broch Of Deerness. Me, being a coward, didn't cross to the broch (it being reached by a path that was altogether too close to the cliffedge for my liking)... so I braved the Terns and Kittiwakes that were less than pleased that I was so close to their nests - until they started flying close enough that I could see the whites of their eyes... then I retreated a bit. When David and Viki came back across from the Broch, we walked back to the car before driving somewhere to stop and have some sandwiches and coffee just after sunset (about 9:30pm).

Didn't get a chance to watch our DVD again tonight, and it has to be returned tomorrow... so that's £3.50 "wasted", but it's a small price to pay, considering the rest of the weekend was so good.

Working next Saturday, but we are going to a concert on Friday night as part of our local Orkney Folk Festival... we were listening to Radio Scotland as were eating our sandwiches in the car, and there was something about a Hungarian violinist who is going to be playing as part of the festival... so we've booked tickets for next Friday night to see his band (The Jani Lang Band), a local band called The Chair, and a couple of other artists, at 10pm through in Stromness. Funny that Viki comes to Orkney to see Hungarian music played! Really looking forward to it!