Here at Keldaby we raise the beautiful, gentle and shyly friendly angora goats that provide Moonshine Design with the cloudsoft and highly lustrous mohair used in our fine selection of hand dyed, hand woven goods. Wrap yourself in a throw, toss a scarf or shawl around your shoulders or luxuriate in our fabulous ruanas. Step back to a more romantic era in a Western Isles hood. Discover the magic of mohair socks dyed in every color of the rainbow.
There are so many changes as we segue from Indian summer to late fall–standard time arrived early this morning and now it’s dark at 5, closing us in next to our trusty woodstove which is throwing out many, many BTUs, making us very happy. And now it is truly MOHAIR SEASON here at Moonshine Design and we are waiting for your visits either online or in person (masked, of course!) at the Crafts of Colrain Studio Tour, November 14th and 15th.
Just two weeks out and I’m trying to finish up several projects. Yesterday was a glorious fall day–we’ve had so many this year!–so I decided to work out in my dye studio. Also I had to finish up a special order hat. Aced it!!
Our annual studio tour here in Colrain Massachusetts will go mainly online this year, Saturday and Sunday, November 14th and 15th, from 10 am to 5 o’clock. And if you haven’t, be sure to go to the tour website at https://craftsofcolrain.com
HOWEVER, weather (and we’ve nearly always been lucky) and COVID restrictions permitting Moonshine Design at Keldaby Farm WILL BE OPEN for visitors. There will be baskets and baskets of socks set out under our tents!
A limited number of people will be allowed at a time into the studio to see the rest of our items. All the studio doors and windows will be open and everyone must be wearing a mask.
This morning we decide to make a real Scottish breakfast–minus the haggis and black sausage–and we sit around with cups of coffee enjoying our good cooking and scanning the sky for weather signs. It’s a cloudy grey but it looks like it will be just fine for our afternoon cruise up the western coast of Mainland on the Hamnavoe ferry. This is Nature Week and we’re already ticketholders for this trip.
At noon we head to the pier and are soon in line to join all our fellow travelers. We’ve never been on this ferry; it is more elegant than I expected, with lounges and bars and dining facilities. Exhibits have been set up by various nature groups and there are speakers discussing various aspects of island life. I listen to one from a birding society–she talks about the precipitous decline in the seabird populations–kittiwakes, skuas, fulmars, razorbills, guillemots and puffins–all of them have lost between 60 and 80 percent of their number. Climate change, of course, is the principal cause–from the bottom of the food chain (cold water plankton replaced by inappropriate warm water plankton) to the loss of other food sources which either no longer exist or appear too early in the season to be available when needed. We watch the birds dip and then soar above the water. It makes me sad. Everywhere as Neil Young sang “nature is on the run” and that was in the 1970s.
We pass Yesnaby and see the sea stacks, sail past the Bay of Skaill–Scara Brae just out of sight–around Marwick Head and the monument to Kitchener, then recognize the lighthouse on the Brough of Birsay. The boat about-faces at Eynhallow and we can glimpse Rousay not far off. I pay more attention to the shoreline on the way back trying to picture some of our drives along this coast. Without a decent camera I feel stymied but take many shots anyway–they are all terrible, unsurprisingly! As we head back into Hoy Sound however it is a perfect time to photograph Stromness for sketching later. We’ve never had the chance before to see the town from the water.
Near Yesnaby
Approaching Stromness
And to starboard, Graemsay
From the ferry
Back on land we buy Orkney ice creams, then head back to the cottage where we watch Four Weddings and a Funeral–still funny.
It’s a grey rainy day so we’re spending the morning knitting and drawing and then as the weather clears a bit we walk into town checking out a few stores, some of which we had never been in before.
After lunch, Jason Scott, Rosemary’s right hand man, renovation carpenter, fixer-upper and general manager, stops around so we invite him in for tea. We had met him two years ago during the clogged water pipe, drainage, no hot water crisis when he had twice performed miracles to get us back on track. He told us all about his trip last winter to stay with the Andersons at their home in South Africa and we learn a bit more about Rex (Orcadian) and Rosemary (Africaans, I think). He shows us photos and then tells us that Rosemary has bought another Stromness house that he will be re-doing. Although from the outside it looks very substantial and well-preserved he says it will take a lot of work to restore. No one has lived in it for years and before that it had suffered from neglect. Then he pulls out photos of the cottage we’re staying in so we can see what it had been like before the renovation. He’s definitely a talented guy!
Here’s a photo of the new house Jason will be redoing this year
At 3 o’clock we walk down to the little restaurant near the ferry terminal, Julia’s, to meet Jen and Jill’s friends from Vermont, another Anderson couple–no relation–Rosamund and Julius. We had met them at Jen’s for lunch before our first trip in 2014 when they had given us much information about places to go, where to buy supplies, good restaurants. They have owned for a number of years, maybe 20 or so, a house and forty acres on Egilsay where they spend a good portion of the year. Now they have finally acquired an old pick-up which they leave in Tingwall so they have transportation for Mainland shopping. We could actually see (we think!) their house when we took the ferry to Rousay. We discuss the persistence of the Pictish body and facial type in Scotland and even on Orkney while we drink our coffees and enjoy the pastries.
It’s too early when we leave Julia’s to pick up our dinner of fish and chips from the Peedie Chippie van parked right next door on Saturdays (Fridays it’s in Finston where we had bought our dinners on our last trip) so we head back to the cottage for a bit of knitting, then drive back to pick up our dinners later. It’s official, at least to me, that we are now on the downhill slide toward the end of our adventure. I’m trying not to indulge in premature nostalgia! I finish the scaruffle I’ve been knitting, we watch Bucket List with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicolson…and so ends the evening.
Jen has once again found something new for us. (We keep telling her that she would make a terrific tour guide for her own company–thorough, organized, enthusiastic, people-oriented, reliable–in a word or two creatively professional. She isn’t tempted!) Today we will return to the Tomb of the Eagles because there will be a guide there who does story-telling. The site is at the south end of South Ronaldsay, the most southerly of the Orkney archipelago and connected by way of Burray to Mainland via a couple of bridges and the Churchill Barriers. Our storyteller is a young German woman who is okay but not totally scintillating. Perhaps the story she tells isn’t one of the better ones. We skip the milelong walk out to the tomb (we were there just two years ago) and have our lunch on the beach followed by a bit of beach-combing. http://www.tomboftheeagles.co.uk
Then it’s up to St Margaret’s Hope at the north end of the island and a visit to The Workshop and Loft Gallery. www.workshopandloftgallery.co.uk I have sworn off buying any more Orcadian sweaters and so of course immediately find one I want. So does Lynn. We buy them and then head to Robertson’s (where last trip we couldn’t have a dessert while others were eating lunch–“That’s not how it’s done here” she had said.) Fortunately that waitress was not on hand and we happily had our cappuccinos and beers. https://www.orkneyfoodanddrink.com
Next on the agenda is Kirkwall, not easily achieved as there is a stretch of road with construction happening–no sign of this when we had headed out this morning. Slow going and so unusual–generally it’s sheep in the road that tie us up. Lynn had ordered a thumb ring at Aurora and we pick it up now and then Lynn and I find a shop that sells real flags–heavy-duty, double-stitched, not printed Orkney flags for home. We each buy one; our first ones are tattered and faded after two New England winters. There is nothing on the notice board at the Reel to suggest our musician acquaintances we met in Rousay would be performing that weekend.
Here’s one of the new flags behind a very serious Lynn
Back at the cottage I make Jazz Chops, porkchops that have been browned in a salted cast iron skillet then braised in white wine with sliced apples, sliced onion, garlic, honey, and nutmeg until tender. After dinner we stroll down to the Ferry Inn where we think, we hope, there may be live music. The bar is packed with regulars but no music. We have beer or soda, Jill enjoys a mild flirtation and then we head back home feeding all the cats we encounter from our stashes of kitty treats.
Jen has noticed that there will be a guided tour of the standing stones and Barnhouse village this morning so we head out for Stenness because although we’ve been there numerous times we figure there’s more to learn. Good call! Eleanor MacLeod, who hales originally from Lewis (in the Hebrides), is an excellent enthusiastic guide, full of stories and folk traditions. She also clarifies for us what a henge is; many think it is the ring of stones, but no, it is the ditch and earthworks which may or may not include standing stones. For more on the village check out this link: http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/barnhouse/
Jen has also checked the tide times and so we then head to Birsay, It’s low tide, there is hardly any water at all and so no seals appear and we quickly walk across to the Brough and stay for a while though we don’t make the trek up to the lighthouse and cliffs beyond.
In Dounby we find the butcher shop open and are truly relieved. We had worried that perhaps it had closed. She’s the same bubbly person we’ve met before and we buy lambchops, porkchops, a shoulder of lamb and of course home-raised bacon. Back at No. 10 Jill makes lambchops for dinner accompanied by new potatoes and butter, peas and homemade mint sauce. Yum indeed! I make a sort of tomato-garlic melange. The weather has been beautiful for days now but in the afternoon the wind picks up, it’s cooler and the water in the bay is very choppy. Tomorrow we’re off to Hoy.
Jill sleeps in again (that stubborn cold–or perhaps she is secretly watching BTS videos!) so the rest of us head downtown, checking out what interesting clothing is available at the Cat Protection Society and Red Cross consignment shops. And of course, armed with kitty treats, we feed every cat we encounter.
First one, then two, then three kitties show up for snacks
We catch a glimpse of Moxie hanging out on his favorite corner and learn that in fact while he loves to hang out either on his corner or across the street at the CPS shop, he actually has a loving home and is very well cared for!
Near lunchtime we run into Jill. She and Jen can’t face another BLT so they buy sausage pasties–Lynn and I have BLTs of course–and we head back to #10 and a quick lunch before driving south through Burray to a strange (IMHO) place apparently called Eastside which has a seemingly ancient standing stone but with clearly modern carving on it, a ruined church, an enigmatic stone structure and a foul smelling beach which we comb. Everyone except me finds at least one cowrie shell so Jen gives me one of hers. That’s good–we all need the good luck they bring.
We’re on our ongoing quest to find Minehowe burial site which is supposed to be not far but once again we are not successful. It is not open often, or perhaps never in May. Photos in our guidebooks show it having a precarious entrance down very sketchy steps; it’s just as well we can’t tempt fate on this one. Here’s a link with terrific photos and a bit more history. https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/eastmainland/minehowe/index.html.
So turning east toward Tankerness we decide to have a mid afternoon coffee and dessert at jeweller Sheila Fleet’s new Kirk Gallery and Cafe, located of course in a desanctified church. It’s an elaborate place, very trendy, the dishes impressive to look at but a bit underwhelming. The gallery upstairs is lovely.
And finally we head west and north to Dounby for a second trip to the Harray Potter where more new mugs are purchased and Jen and I each acquire perfect little cups for our single malt. In town we stop at the Dounby Butcher but the shop is closed and something about the signage leads us to the disturbing possibility that the shop is closed for good.
Jen makes a shepherd’s pie for dinner and then it’s off to have some Orkney ice cream and a bit more beach combing. We knit for a while, watch an episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race, root for our favorite contestant and comment that our viewing taste has lost all pretense of intellectual pursuit. Jill is completely immersed in her BTS videos, a beatific smile on her lips.
It’s a miracle–another gorgeous day! We drive up to Tingwall to catch the ferry to Rousay, a half-hour trip northeast across Eynhallow Sound from Mainland. There are a lot of sites, over 100, on this small island–its nickname is Egypt of the north–but first it’s scones, clotted cream, strawberry-rhubarb jam and excellent coffee at the Crafthub in Trumland before our 14-mile trip along the island’s only road. Clearly the Crafthub is a social hub for the whole island’s 200 or so residents. We head off clockwise, exploring Taversoe Tuick burial cairn and Blackhammer Cairn.
We don’t walk up the long hill to the Knowe of Yarso but drive on to Midhowe cairn and broch, the most visited site on this island. The original roof of the cairn is gone but this 90 foot long, chambered burial site has been totally enclosed within a hangar-like building with walkways around and over it. Because we can see everything from above and don’t have to crawl about on our knees we really get a good picture of a chambered cairn.
Just a few yards away is the broch from a later period, complete up to a height of about 10, 12 feet.
“Midhowe Broch is one of at least nine brochs that stand along the banks of narrow, dangerous Eynhallow Sound in Orkney. It’s in an excellent state of preservation, especially its stone internal fittings. A water tank, fireplace and room partitions are all visible.” (from Historic Environment)
From there we walk along the beach to the several iron age and medieval sites–a church, the remains of a hall. The link above describes these ruins well as well as giving good photographs. From here we can see Eynhallow (Holy Island) and to the south the broch of Gurness on Mainland.
The church on Eynhallow
After eating our BLTs back at our car we complete the circuit of the island. We watch seals cavorting on the Saviskaill Beach and arrive back at the ferry slip with enough time to visit the Rousay Cultural Centre, do a bit of beach-combing and watch a large sailboat dock with 14 musicians on board. They have been traveling around the islands for several weeks and will be playing this evening at the Crafthub, but unfortunately we can’t stay. We’re told they will be playing at the Reel in Kirkwall on the weekend so we’ll try then.
We catch the ferry at 5:30, pick up a few things for tonight’s dinner (fresh tagliatelle and homemade sauce), Jen and I break open the bottle of single malt I bought yesterday and we all watch Queer Eye before heading off to bed.
We’ve packed and repacked for days! The anticipation has kept us happy for months. Finally we assemble at Jill’s, check to insure we all have our passports, tickets, money, Gussie takes a couple of final photos us crowding into the car and we’re off to Bradley Airport. Bob is sad and wistful but Sally and LJ will be arriving later in the afternoon so I am sure all will go well.
At Roncari’s where we are leaving the car Lynn is mysteriously handed an envelope with a $100 bill in it and the brief message: Enjoy! Lynn phones her daughters but they both deny knowing anything about it. It has to be them we all agree though we momentarily think perhaps Roncari is rewarding us. We have given ourselves a lot of time for check-in and security, way too much time as everything goes remarkably smoothly. At six o’clock we’re on our Aer Lingus flight to Dublin. The food, not memorable, and wine no longer complimentary, I immerse myself in a Beatles documentary, 8 Days a Week, and then watch Rami Malek play Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody. At five in the morning we touch down in Dublin.
As we have had, finally, the good sense to check our bags straight through to Aberdeen, we have only to find the gate for the next leg of our journey and we’re there before nine o’clock. Here we have a long, long layover but we are too weary to drag our suitcases into town and there’s no way to check them in yet. We have seven, yes, seven deadly hours to kill and it nearly kills us and this is because a flight we had booked to Kirkwall has been cancelled. Our airport breakfast–at last–is good and the airport shops are somewhat entertaining. I read the titles of every possible book in the bookstore before burdening myself with a Hilary Mantel and an Ann Cleeves. We play a very long game of Spite and Malice. The wait is interminable–during which I decide to take some pictures. No camera! I empty my backpack to no avail, my small Bagolini isn’t hiding it. No camera. I remember handing it to Gussie for the requisite departure shots and I remember getting it back from him. The luggage has already been checked in and I pray that I stowed it in my rollerbag.
Finally around four, dazed with boredom and too much sitting, (and worrying about the camera, which isn’t even mine, but Joanie’s) we are finally airborne and heading for Kirkwall, a 40-minute flight away. Hurray, it is beautiful, warm, windless and sunny. Can this really be Orkney! We get our car, a large, very square Peugeot Tepec and head into town where all the shops are closed but we have an excellent dinner at Lucano (putanesca for me) and then drive to our Button-Ben Guest House in Stenness. www.buttonbenguesthouseorkney.com
We are too tired for a card game (it’s been 40 hours since I’ve slept) and try as we might we have a hard time enjoying the tea and cakes our friendly host May brings us in the sitting area. Worst of all, the camera is not to be found; I’ve turned out every pocket, nook and zippered compartment. I shoot off an email to Roncari’s just asking them to look in our car and let me know if it’s there. Fraught with anxiety and depressed that I have no way to record our trip, I fall asleep in the luxuriant double bed with a dozen pillows.
