Files and Records

Category: Random Wednesday

#RandomWednesday – Visitors descending once more.
Image via Wikipedia
Last Christmas was massive fun. My wife blogged about it over at the family blog. We had a full house, one family to a bedroom, and loads of fun was had by all. This weekend coming we’ve got my youngest’s Christening and another full house. Kids will be sleeping in tents in the garden, mattresses on the floor in our bedroom, guests scattered between our house and the lighthouse down at Sumburgh head (top tip for visitors to Shetland, the lighthouses are all automated now so the accommodation has been refurbished and you can book it through http://www.shetlandlighthouse.com). This time of year, the puffins are nesting at Sumburgh on the cliffs, it’s light all night and, touch wood, the weather will be good for our visitors.
The week before (probably should’ve done this sooner, I know) and we’re planning recipes, cakes, outings to far-flung islands. As I write this, I’ve made the cake and it’s baking, the whole house smells of mixed spice and it’s lovely. We have done some forward planning – I’ve been brewing beer and cider since the visitors drained the cellars at Christmas. And a glass of white wine for the ladies.
So, for the rest of the week we’ll be heading to and from the airport to collect our visitors, herding ~~cats~~ kids and making the curries we’re going to be dining on this Sunday. Breakfasts will be the usual huge affair – my dad’s a fan of the full English, including mushrooms, tomatoes, fried bread and black pudding. The second one person in the house is having that little lot, everyone else thinks it’s a good idea! Fortunately, he’s bringing in the black pudding supplies as Scotland goes completely overboard on the white pepper. The Orkney stuff is good, but it’s not as good as the one dad brings up from Yorkshire. It’s amazing how much black pudding the kids will eat! Local kippers will be on offer, assuming our fish shops don’t run out.
Friday’s Unst day, Saturday afternoon’s the Nesting Regatta (the Gulberwick & Quarff Yoal team now have a time to beat!), Sunday’s the Christening and curry buffet. If you’re up on your rowing, all the results are on the Bigton website.
The visitors are here with us all weekend, start leaving on Monday morning back to the mainland and normality.
Then we’ve only got 5 birthdays and a wedding and that’s June.
June 8, 2011
Row, row, row your boat… #RandomWednesday
Here on Shetland, we have a class of boat. The Yoal. It takes 7 to crew – 6 with an oar each and 1 to shout instructions – and last week I became secretary of the Gulberwick and Quarff Yoal Club. Last night was the first time this year our (y’see, I’ve been in the club a week and it’s already ‘our’) boat got into the water.
There was a light wind down in Wester Quarff, blue skies, calm seas. The boat seemed (to my untutored eye) to be in good form. About 20 of us, men and women, turned up to put our backs to the oars. Some of them have been doing this for years, most of them (like me) hadn’t done anything like this before. Until recently, the smallest boat I’d spent most time on was a Northlink ferry. I’ve been on boats about this size before, but they’ve usually had outboard motors and I’ve been wearing diving kit. Last time I had to row anything was on the Zambezi river, white-water rafting!
Once we’d been given some basic instructions, reassured that everyone gets things wrong on their first time out and doubly reassured when the “experts” spent some time getting their oar properly mounted, we were off. A short jaunt out and back. And it’s complicated! I was at the back on the right-hand side, looking forward to make sure my oar didn’t collide with the man in front whilst simultaneously working out where the sea level was so my oar actually went in and trying to avoid both punching the guy in front of me in the back and whacking my knees with the oar on the return stroke! Aaaargh!
But despite the complications, the difference in rowing stroke between the boat on the water and the rowing machine in my bedroom, the team work, it was fantastic fun! The men’s team – and GQYC hasn’t had a men’s team for over 10 years – meets for the first time on Thursday night. Can’t wait!
June 1, 2011
Random Wednesday – The Miles Just Flew By
I have just become the proud owner of, amongst other things, a table. It’s about 180cm x 100cm, average height, medium-dark stained wood. It extends by another 80cm or so thanks to two panels that store underneath. It’s not that special to the average person, but it was my parents’ dining table throughout my life. Until it was replaced by the thick oak one they have now. Of recent years, it’s not been used, it’s just sat in storage. So last weekend, my eldest son and I went to collect it.
I outlined the journey we’d be taking last week (Getting there is half the fun). And it all went according to plan. The car was fixed by the wonderful folks of Arnold Clarke Renault in Dundee. My son has discovered a taste for black coffee (and latte but not cappuccino, strangely). He’s also demonstrated excellent skills at reading road signs, keeping us on the right path and estimating the journey time from point A to B. His biggest contribution to the trip was the choice of music.
Normally, before a long journey, we’ll rake through the CDs and mp3s and produce a few discs to keep us all entertained. Some music for everyone in the car. But there was only the two of us and we never got around to making the discs.
“Let’s listen to some stories,” he suggested. So we went to the library and got a couple of books on CD. “Jeremy Brown, Secret Agent” was one, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” the other. Yes, it’s a long journey (but not that long, as it turned out).
When we started off from Dundee, Jeremy Brown kicked in and I remembered why I used to listen to audiobooks on long drives before. Your mind gets caught up in the story. Each disc gives you about an hour in this zone and the miles do just fly by, carried along by the story. We can heartily recommend Jeremy Brown for anyone with kids aged between about 6 and 10 – and any adults who just happen to be listening. I know we spent a time crawling through the endless roadworks between Stirling and Glasgow, just because I know the works are happening and I remember seeing them again on the way north. But I don’t remember them being a chore.
As the kids grow older, I can see this happening more often. We’ll replace the music discs with episodes of Blackadder, Elvenquest, The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and other stories. We’ll be accompanied by the dulcet tones of Stephen Fry reading the complete Harry Potter (we only made it to disc 5 this time).
One last thing. Our final stop heading north was the Cairn O’Mohr winery. Since we moved to Shetland and first saw their road sign (“How can you have a winery round here? There aren’t any grapes!” “I don’t know, let’s find out”) we’ve stopped there whenever we’ve had a chance. They’ve always had a fantastic selection of their own fruit wines – watch out for the specials, Berry Up and Accidental Rhubarb have both been top quality drinkies – and local unusual beers for sale. They’ve also got some wonderful carved wooden heads. Since we first went there, they’ve added something new pretty much every time we’ve been. This time was the first time we’d had a chance to sample the delights of “Fort Bob”, their cafe.
This is the review my son gave the place:
“Can we go there again, dad? That latte was brilliant. And I’m having a chicken and chutney sandwich just like that one when we get home.”
Word of warning, though, don’t go there if you’re on a diet. The cakes are top-notch. I had a blue cheese and cherry tipsy scone. Most excellent, even if the first thought is “blue cheese and cherry? Really?” Fort Bob is well worth a detour to get to, just as is the organic cafe at the Pillars of Hercules further south in the Kingdom of Fife (go when the pick-your-own fruit is under way. Trust me.)
So. The next time you get in the car, give the music a break for a change. Stick on a story and see how far it takes you. And, out of interest, what do you listen to in the car? That’s what the comments here are for!
May 25, 2011