Mind Your Language...

Viki, my flatmate from Hungary, speaks excellent English, but every so often she comes up with something that really makes me laugh (eg. "if someone says "can you get me flour?" how do you know if they mean for baking or a daffodil?").

However, a few days ago, she asked a question that I kind of begrudgingly admit was a good point...

It all stemmed from the fact that the Hungarian language doesn't have a "th" sound like we do, so it doesn't come naturally to her (I still like to get her to say "thistle" so I can giggle when she says "sissle" (sorry, Viki)), and one of the words she finds hardest is "booths".

Well, she came up with a new way to pluralise booth, following another rule. Her logic?

One tOOth, two tEEth
One gOOse, two gEEse
One fOOt, two fEEt

So... it's now...

One bOOth, two bEEth!

And I kinda had to admit she had a point!

Woah....

...it sure has been a long time since I've updated the blog, hasn't it?

Well, I guess this first new post should be to update you on what's happened in the last 4 months... So, here goes...

A Month Of... Taking A Few Months Off

Well, the daily videos were the first casualty - They might come back at some stage... I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Turtley New Arrivals

On 31st October, Viki & I welcomed a new member to the family - a yellow-bellied slider terrapin, who we named "Aristotle" (named after Telly Savalas, and so I could make the "Aris-turtle" pun). Here he is on the first day we had him...

And then, on the night before Christmas my brother gave to us (to be sung to the tune of "On The First Day Of Christmas")... not 2 turtle doves, but a map turtle who we christened "Atlas" (Atlas? Maps? See what we did there?)... Again, here's the new addition on day 1...

Now, Aristotle is much bigger than he was... Atlas is getting a wee bit bigger... and this is how the brothers like to sit in the tank...

(in fact, looking behind me, that's how they are sitting right at this moment).

I will admit I was a little unsure when we got Aristotle, mainly because I'd never had reptiles as pets before, or even handled them, but Viki kept them back home in Hungary. But now I love our little guys (er... we've decided in our own way that they are boys... We can't really tell for sure yet, cause they're too peedie, but we always refer to them as "he", and "brothers", so I guess we might be in for a bit of a red face if we discover in a year or two that one or both of them is/are female).

Oh, they've also got company in the tank... When we got Aristotle, Viki said that live food is good for terrapins, so we bought a peedie fish for him to catch and eat... except he decided that the fish is "friend" not "food" - so Findus (as he's been christened) lives happily (if a little warily at first) with them in the tank!

So, what else has been happening?


End Of An Era

After almost 15 years of working in the same building (10 years for one company, and then nearly 5 years for another), I am now in the position of being unemployed. My boss declared the firm insolvent, and we were closed down on 11th November. I'd known it was going to happen for a few months, and couldn't say anything to anybody, and I made the decision to hang on til the end and collect my wages as long as I could, and then my redundancy (15 years' worth, since when I started the last job, I was employed under TUPE legislation). However, there have been some problems getting the money I was entitled to, which are still ongoing to a certain extent - so the last few months have been hard financially, and very stressful. Now I'm back to claiming Job-Seekers Allowance and searching for a job, along with everyone else who has become a victim of the recession. I'm finding it very hard to keep motivated and upbeat, which is pretty much why the blog has been on ice for months.

Snow Longer Funny

Speaking of "on ice" - god, I am sick of this winter! Up here in Orkney, we seem to have had ice and snow and sleet and frost solidly since around Christmas time. Our last lot of snow was just starting to go yesterday, and this morning I looked out the window and saw big, white, wet flakes drifting down. Then, later this afternoon, and now again this evening, there have been showers of more sleety stuff, meaning that it's once again white outside! I am just so fed up of going slowly and carefully all the time, worrying that I'm going to fall and break an arm or a leg (bearing in mind that I still have a bandage on one leg to try and heal a peedie ulcer I have and, as a result, am having to wear shoes that are too big, and one had to be cut and has to be held on with micropore tape - and they've not got the best grips in the world for dealing with ice and snow). I swear I'm going to hibernate for the rest of winter if this is going to go on much longer!

Christmas & New Year

Even with no job and not much money, Christmas and New Year were pretty damn good this year. The house was decorated for the first time in years (I never bothered latterly... I just didn't see the point, and just wanted the "Festive" season to be over with as soon as possible). However, with Viki here, it was so different. We followed the Hungarian tradition, and put the tree and decorations up on Christmas Eve, and it was such fun. Then Christmas dinner was had at my brother's. We didn't go and see the Ba's on Christmas Day (both went up anyway, so least said about that, the better). Then, the day after Boxing Day, we (my brother, Viki & me) were all invited out to my sister's for tea.

New Year was good too. Viki & me went up to Broad Street for Midnight, and I don't really remember too much else, so I guess it was a good night (mind you, it was 2 months ago, and I'm getting on a bit now, so maybe it's just general old age that's made me forget). Had a spot of good news on New Year's Day, as the Mens Ba came doon for the first time in god knows how long, and Viki got to see it! I think her scream of "Yes!" as the ba went in the harbour was louder than everyone elses! Boys Ba still went up though, but it was a start! New Year's Day dinner was Hungarian Bean Soup... doesn't sound like much, but it was thick and warming and full of smokey ham. Delicious!

Other News

Not really too much other news, I don't think. Just celebrated Viki's *ahem* 29th birthday on Saturday. Friday night her & me went out for a meal, before David joined us for some drinks. Then Saturday night one of her workmates came through from Stromness and we went out drinking. Fun at the time, but I think I'm getting too old for serious drinking now!

So, I think that's enough to be going on with. I'm feeling a little light-headed after all this typing, so I think I might have to go lie down in a darkened room for a while. Promise it won't be so long til the next update, although I won't make any rash promises about when it'll appear.

Oh, and please feel free to comment, although I'm having to turn the comment moderation on again, because I'm getting a few spam comments being posted. I promise all genuine comments will be approved, whether positive or negative (although obviously I'd prefer positive). Or why not sign the guest book?

Okay... that really is all for now... Bye bye... x

What's Another Year?

A helluva lot, actually!

On this day a year ago, Viki got on a plane from Hungary, leaving behind her family, friends, and job, and took a flight into the unknown to move in with me (after being friends for a couple of years by email and msn, and a week holiday in August last year) and look for a job here... which she got after a few months.

And I just want to take this opportunity to say "Thank you" to her for what has been the best year of my life... Viki has been my strength and my shoulder to cry on through what has been a very hard year (with the bankruptcy, and my uncertainty over my job, and my leg woes), and on many days has been the only thing worth going home for. She has cheered me up when I needed it... given me a swift kick up the arse when I've been feeling sorry for myself... and given me a reason to go on when I've wondered what was the point...

She took an incredible risk and made a lot of sacrifices to come here, and I just hope she knows how much I love her, and how I will always be indebted to her for everything she has done for me.

I'm a different person this last year, and credit for that must go entirely to Viki.

Koszonom, draga... Szeretlek...

By The Time You Read This, I Will Be Gone...

... to spend the weekend at my sister's farm with my brother and Viki. (Did I have you worried there?).

My sister & brother-in-law are away on holiday for a couple of weeks, and my brother is farm-sitting, looking after the cats and their elderly dog... so Viki & I are tagging along for tonight, tomorrow and tomorrow night... returning Sunday night because we both have to go to work on Monday.

So, I've cunningly pre-prepared the music video posts for the next couple of days, as well as planting this to auto-publish at 11pm... by which time we should be sitting in the dark (and I mean DARK... their farm is down in a valley, away from the main road and any lights), with a flatulent dog (and probably a flatulent brother), and the cows outside, and watching the DVD of "Poltergeist", which I've not seen for years, and which Viki has never seen... so no phoning when you read this trying to give us a fright - the mobile will be on silent (if I can get a signal at all, which is unlikely... as I said, they're down in a valley)!

See you in a couple of days!

Lost In Translation?

HeeHee... I've got to grass Viki up...

We were down at my brother's a visit last night, and satellite music channel Bliss was playing a selection of '90's pop "classics" (I would have picked something with '80's music, but Viki keeps pointing out that she's younger than some of those songs), and on came R Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly"...

I was doing a crossword puzzle, and Viki was colouring in a "Hello Kitty" picture (don't ask!), when she suddenly said, "I can hear him singing something, but I don't think it can really be what he's singing"... so I asked her what she thought he was singing.

She waited until the particular line came on again, and said "Here... he's singing, "I'm on a virgin king"".

I almost peed myself laughing and corrected her that what he was in fact singing was, "I'm on the verge of breaking down".

On the same theme, suddenly for me (for reasons I won't go into) Ronan Keating's song has become "You wear it best, when you wear nothing at all"...

It's Official

I am old.

Yep, today is the anniversary of that illustrious day that I first drew breath upon this planet, and it's a depressing one...

It's not quite a landmark one - not like I'm 40, or 50 (like my sister was a couple of weeks ago... hahahahahahaha!), but I'm 36 today... past the halfway mark of my "3 score year and 10" lifespan.

See, I had come on here intending to lie to you and say I'm only 32 today, but Julie and Viki both read my blog and both of them would take great delight in posting a comment telling the truth and exposing me (oo-er, missus) as the burnt-pants liar that I would be. Julie would grass me up because I'm now the same age as her for a few months before she becomes older than me again (I guess this means I've just divulged her age to everyone reading this... oops...) and Viki would take great delight telling everyone that I'm now 8 years older than her, instead of just the 7.5 that I was from February 'til now. Friends, I sure know how to pick 'em(!) *

And how am I spending this birthday? All alone at work, coming in an hour earlier than usual to open up, because the boss is away, and Flunky has the day off for a family funeral. So I'm in the office, while the rest of Orkney basks in a sub-tropical heatwave and doesn't come to buy cable.

However, I've managed to persuade the nurse to take off the compression bandage on my leg (which is on for a month or so because my little ulcer was getting worse again) for the weekend so Viki can take me out to a posh (well, posh for Orkney) hotel for a birthday dinner tomorrow night, and I got my ears syringed (well, one of them... the other needs the wax softened a bit yet), so I can hear again for the first time in about 20 years (you start to need to do things like this when you get to my age... stop laughing, Viki... it'll happen to you too!).

Well, better finish my lunch and get back to work, I guess...









* only joking, you guys... you know I'm teasing, right... er, right????

If You Don't Hear From Me Again...

I've run off to join this lot!

Continental Circus Berlin

Viki & I are going to see it tonight, and it's meant to be a good show.

Will tell you all about it (if we haven't run away with them)!

Quite excited about it... I only have vague memories (that might not even have really happened) of being at a circus here in the early to mid-70's... I know my older brother was taken, so I was possibly there too...

Just Call Me Red Adair!

"Whooooooooooooooooooo?", I hear you cry...

Red Adair

And then I hear you cry "Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?"... Well, pull up a comfy seat and I'll tell you about this morning's near-death-experience...

It all started as Viki was making Sunday breakfast as normal... her afore-mentioned wicked scrambled eggs, crumpets and (for the first time, since it was on offer in Tesco) smoked trout, with fresh orange juice...

I was in the sitting room, getting the table ready, when Viki came flying through from the kitchen, in a total panic, having temporarily lost her normally brilliant grasp of English (for those of you who haven't read my blog before, Viki is my Hungarian flatmate)... all I could make out was:

"Sorry... micro... fire... really!"

So I dashed into the kitchen, expecting there to be nothing more than something smoking a bit...

But, no, sure enough... there was an orange glow coming from inside the microwave (the door was slightly open, so at least it wasn't still going)... clearly flames!

Opened the door and found the culprit... a tub of butter (well, by this time it was half a tub, and half a melted, burning pool of butter and plastic). Wearing proper protective gear (oven gloves), I grabbed the turntable from the microwave and ran out the back door with it (thank god it was raining... and thank god I was dressed by this time). Viki chucked a jug of water over it, and the fire was out.

It turns out that, not unusually, she had put the hard butter in the microwave to soften it a bit before spreading on the crumpets... and when she does this, she sets the timer for a minute (being one of those horrible knob timers, not a fancy digital one), but takes the butter out after about 10 or 20 seconds, nicely softened...

This time, however, she decided she would start to open the smoked trout while the butter was softening... and the silver paint or whatever on a tub of Lurpack Lighter Spreadable must have been too much for the poor microwave to cope with!



Emergency over, I found a tiny bit of real butter left in the fridge (so we could still have our crumpets), and we had our breakfast.

Microwave survived (albeit a little bit blackened inside til I cleaned it out), the breakfast was delicious (as usual), and the cats eventually calmed down.

If this was Viki's plan to not have to make breakfast again, I hate to disappoint her... I WILL let her cook in my kitchen again - just maybe I'll supervise her next time!

Get Me Coffee... NOW!!!

Urgh... it's 20 past 8, and I'm here at work already... all on my own, all day...

Boss is away at the moment, swinging on a rope somewhere off an oil rig, and our store flunky has taken his kid away to see The Tweenies or some other such freaky kids' show (at least, he SAYS it's for the kid, but I'm sure it's more for him... it's certainly about his intellectual level).

So I've had to come in at 8o'clock, and I can't go out at lunch time or anything. I'm here 'til 5.

And, as an insult, the radio is playing MIKA's "Relax, Take It Easy"... Bastards!

It's a miracle that either Viki or me got to work this morning... especially Viki. Neither of us heard our alarms. I just remember suddenly thinking "Oh, shit" and checking my watch - which said 07:00 (well, actually it said "the big hand is on the 12 and the little hand is on the 7", because I don't have a digital watch). Instant panic! Viki's bus leaves at 20 past 7!!!!!

I still don't know how, but I got a text at 22 minutes past 7, saying "I'm on the bus!"

Don't think either of us is awake yet, though.

*Gulps coffee*

It's going to be a looooooooooooooooooooooong day!

Lobster Carnage

Having a flatmate who works for a local shellfish producer (who just so happens to supply crab and all to the likes of Marks & Spencer ("This is not just any crab...")) has its uses sometimes (especially if, like me (but unlike Viki, which means even more for me), you like crab)...

Like today... when she texted me to inform me that the staff were being offered cheap lobsters and she had bought one... a whole lobster... for - wait for it - £2!!!!

I've never tried lobster before, and neither had she, so we decided we would take it down to my brother... and he could help us get into the thing, and let us know if there were any bits that were poisonous and shouldn't be eaten...

So, after work, he came and got us, and we went by Tesco to get some smoked mackeral (coz the lobster wasn't big enough between 3), and some nice crusty bread... and then down to his for a feast...

Viki had a taste of the claw and tail, but decided it was too much like crab... I had a bit more of the claw and half the tail, and decided that lobster is like most other shellfish for me (I like the good bits, like the claws, but any bits that look like stomach or organs or (as this lobster had) eggs (yeuch!) I will not touch)... and my brother happily got wired into the brown, mushy stuff and the afore-mentioned eggs...

So, here's Nippy before...


and after...

The Weekend...

What a lovely weekend we've just had... if you discount the fact that I was working on Saturday and Viki was working Saturday evening...

You already know we had a meal out on Friday night...

Well, my sister & brother-in-law were away for a few days, and my brother has been looking after their farm. They've got a house on the farm that they usually rent out, which is empty at the moment, so my brother suggested that Viki & I come out for Saturday night and Sunday (they were coming back Sunday evening).

So, I went out about half past 7 on Saturday evening, and then my brother went in to get Viki from her work after half past 9.

We all cheated for tea, coz we had microwave chicken tikka, and then we just had a laugh until about 3o'clock on Sunday morning. At that point Viki & I went round the corner to the guest house where we slept in the living room (one on the sofa, one on a couple of armchairs pulled together... there wasn't a big lot of furniture in the place since it's empty at the moment).

And, would you believe, because it's so quiet there in the middle of a valley in Holm, and there isn't traffic going zooming past 24 hours a day like our place, we didn't waken up til almost 12 noon?

And when we did waken up... Oh. My. God. What a beautiful day! My sister has a porch on the front of their house, and the temperature in there was reading about 40 degrees!

Had toast for breakfast (for once I had to miss out on Viki's scrambled eggs... she does wicked scrambled eggs), and then we came into the town to get some dead animals to barbecue for dinner / tea.

Returned with steaks (which were reduced... woo-hoo), a couple of gammon steaks, and some lamb kebabs. Sat in the concrete area in front of the farmhouse and my brother was in charge of the barbecue.

Viki, me, him... and my sister's elderly dog... all ate very well, before he took us back home... me with very slight sunburn on the one arm that was facing the sun.

It was a great day.

The Michael Jackson Songs...

I picked yesterday were met with a "OMG... Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuj!" by Viki (hint... she wasn't impressed)... so I'm being made to post a more acceptable selection of videos:

Earth Song (1995)
Billie Jean (1983)
Dirty Diana (1988)
Black Or White (1991)
Beat It (1983)
Blame It On The Boogie (as The Jackson 5) (1978)

The only one of my choices that she approved of was "Thriller"!

Hope that's better, draga!

I've Got To Stop...

going out on a Friday night when I'm working on Saturday!

moar funny pictures

Viki and I went out for a bar meal last night (it's our Friday night thing... neither of us wants to cook) and then for a couple of drinks.

Then, when the pubs closed at 1am this morning, it was such a beautiful night that we went a walk along the harbour front and sat on a bench just talking for a while, while Viki had a cigarette or 3 (that'll really help her cold(!)). It was dead quiet... for some reason there wasn't the usual lot of drunken layabouts looking for taxis and folks just hanging around... and the sky wasn't properly dark (I love Orkney around mid-summer)... and there wasn't a breath of wind...

Came home about half past 2 and I collapsed into bed... pleasantly tiddly.

Woke up this morning at 20 to 8... unpleasantly hungover. lol.

Now I'm at work. Had a cup of coffee, so I'm feeling a wee bit more human, but I'm still struggling.

I'm Feeling Really Guilty...

I started this week off with a cold... a real stinker of a cold...

By Wednesday I had given it to Viki... and to my brother.

It has to be said, I'm not really feeling guilty about giving it to my brother... every time I get a cold he takes the piss and complains that I can't just die quietly... so when he texted me to say "Thanks... you've given me your scabbie cold", part of me went "Hee, hee".

But now poor Viki's got it... and worse than I have / had it. She went through about 4 little packets of tissues yesterday, and the day before, she came home from work and spent the rest of the night asleep on the sofa. And last night / this morning, she was coughing so bad she was nearly sick.

So... I'm sorry, my poor draga... I promise to keep my germies to myself in future (or at least, give them all to David instead).

Puszak!

Bleurgh!

It really, really isn't a good idea to go out on a Friday night when you're working the next day!

Viki & I went out for a meal last night, and then for "a couple of drinks" - Aye, right(!) - There were probably more like 5 or 6... and I took it easier than Viki, because I only had this really good rum that I've been introduced to, called Sailor Jerry's (which you drink with coke and lime, so at least I won't get scurvy, I guess)... Viki was drinking Budweiser AND straight whisky!

So my one consolation today is that however bad I was feeling when I got up this morning, she was feeling a lot worse!

Met her for lunch and, sure enough, she looked a little bit green around the gills... hee, hee... er... I mean... Poor baba...

Sheep With A Deathwish

Viki & I were out a run with my brother today in the beautiful sunshine (even if we started too late to get the best of it)...

Headed out to the headland at the Brough O' Birsay (probably my favourite bit of the Orkney Mainland) and, as it was low tide, we could even go across to the Brough. There for a wee while, and came in via the Brough Of Gurness (although we couldn't get to it as it is a Historic Scotland visitor attraction, so you have to pay... and it was shut anyway...

But we had a real laugh on the way out, near Stenness... We were driving along, and there was a car in front of us which had to stop because there was a lamb on the road, and it kept ducking back and fore in front of the car. The driver got out, picked the lamb up, and very kindly deposited it back in a field among a lot of other sheep, standing on a wall astride the barbed wire in order to set it down gently...

... And it turned around and came straight out through the fence again!

So the guy managed to get it again... and tried at the other side of the road. There there was a little grassy field surrounded by a wall about 4 or 5 foot tall, so he put it in there... and the peedie lamb tried desperately to get back out again... it was NOT keen on staying there.

The driver took off, and my brother, Viki & I were watching the lamb as (we presume) the farmer appeared on the scene. He got the lamb and explained that it was a caddy lamb (orphaned or rejected by its mother, and bottle-fed), and that was why it was so tame and had no fear of humans (which at least made it easy to catch). Both Viki & I got to pet it, and it had a suckle of my brother's peedie finger (that would have been a disappointment for it).

Left the farmer cursing for it, and we carried on to Birsay.

But here it is in the second field we tried to leave it in:

We've decided it should be called Houdini.

Then, later on, after we'd been back at my brother's (who lives just a bit around the corner from me, down by the harbour) for a while and had left to come home... accompanied by my brother, he suddenly said "Hey, we've got company". We looked down to the side of us to see...

Leia... looking at us with a very "Oh, hi! Fancy meeting you here!" look on her face! Turns out she had made her way down from the communal area at the back of our house, down across the main road (which we've told her in no uncertain terms that she is NOT meant to go near), and into the oil tanks that are between us and my brother's... which is a bit of a cat hot-spot after hours. So, she'd been out partying!

I Can Has Kitteh?

moar funny pictures

Today's been one of those days...

As you can see, I slept in to start with... that's to say, I got up, then sat on the sofa "for 10 minutes" - and fell asleep there!

Then I had to wrestle with the rubbish bags (which had been out at the back in the rain so were wet and yucky) to get them out so we wouldn't be over-run completely by next week.

Luckily, since I worked on Saturday, and had only had half a day off so far in lieu, I could come in at 10am.

Work's been okay, I guess... but still had to endure the radio going on about the Bank Holiday.

Then, at about 20 to 5, it suddenly registered that I hadn't taken my handbag to work with me this morning (choosing instead to just shove my purse, phone and (house) keys into my pocket. Why is it relevant that I said "(house) keys"? Well, it dawned on me that I was the only one left at work (Flunky stops at 4pm), and the keys for locking up the 2 main entrance doors were... yes, you guessed it... in my handbag! At home!

Flunky lives a half hour or so drive away from the office, and he would have been home by that time, so I sheepishly phoned my flatmate (who was on her way to me from her job by bus) and asked her if she could stay on the bus to the Travel Centre, and go home (a 5-minute walk from there) to get my key, then come back to me (a 20-minute or so walk in the dull, cold weather) with it. Thankfully, she didn't mind... and didn't call me a Muppet (even though it's what I felt like).

I hate Mondays.

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...

Live By The Sword(fish)...

Die By The Evil Little Fuckwits We Saw Last Night.

First, a recommendation... tonight we tried swordfish for the first time ever, and it is absolutely delicious!

Bought 2 steaks (cost just under a tenner for 2 bits, but they were good big steaks) from our local fishmonger today as a treat, as we've been making the most of the bonny evenings this last week or so, and have been out runs with my brother... so we hadn't really had a relaxed evening at home since last week sometime.

Baked them in the oven for half an hour or so... very simply... didn't even add salt or pepper, and had them with cauliflower & cheese sauce, and potatoes. And they were so good... like tuna, but not quite so "meaty"... more "fishy" flavoured (if that makes any sense), and not quite so firm as tuna. And had a glass of wine with them.

Really... try swordfish if you ever see it in your fish shop... you won't regret it.

Oh, and we made the fatal error of giving each of the cats just a tiny bit to try it... and they really rather liked it, thank you very much! But if they think that we're going to start feeding them swordfish instead of Felix cat food and cat biscuits, they've got another think coming!

And then on to my other fishy story... which is a bit of a rant...

Last night was quite bonny, so Viki, my brother & I bought some chips and drove out to Scapa pier to eat them.

When we got there, there were 6 or 7 "kids" (14 - 15 year olds) fishing for mackeral off the pier... and they were catching a few. But it was what they were doing once they caught them that made me and Viki feel so mad...

When they landed a fish, they got it off the hook and then, instead of either:

1. killing it cleanly and humanely so that they could take it home to eat

or

2. removing the hook without hurting the fish too much, and then letting it go again

which are the only 2 acceptable things to do, they left the poor thing flapping around on the pier for ages, kicking them, half standing on them, throwing them at each other, "fencing" with them, and hitting them with bits of wood (but not a clean blow to kill them).

Then, when the poor fish must have been dead, one of the boys jumped into the sea, and some of the others were throwing the fish at him. What's the point in throwing them back into the sea when you've tortured them to the point that they are dead?

My brother was out of the car, and we were hoping that he'd go and give them a skelp, but he didn't seem to see the situation the same way we did.

I wonder how the little thugs would like if someone did that to them?

I'm not a vegetarian, and I eat fish, but there are ways to kill your food... and that wasn't right.

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!