Diary of a Deckhand

The forecast for the end of the week is for snow, and apparently lots of it. Now the inner child of mine screams with glee, looks out her woolly underwear and wonders quite how fast you can go on a sledge pulled behind a quad bike. The inner babysitter then gives it a slap (oh hang on, are you allowed to do that anymore, probably not) and tells it no to be so silly, this could mean a lot of work. This impending few days of hardship are totally hidden from the sheep, lambs bounce as if made of springs around the sheds, their mothers with full mouths at the hay feeders. The sheep outside all have haylage and get oats each day, but I do feel sorry for them on the days when you realise sheep are not white, but actually a rather mucky yellow when the pure crisp white of snow engulfs the land.

The two pics below taken in the Alnwick Garden (back south).






Suddenly Orkney will become and island again. The strong winds and snow will undoubtedly delay the ferry sailings and possibly even the flights. A strange feeling of being alone, making sure we have prepared because if the snow is really bad, the farm itself will become an island of its own. Of course we are blessed with a tractor and quadbike. If the worst comes to the worst we can dig our way out (ohhh half of me says woooooooooo bring it on, the other half goes oooooooh gawd I hope not), but I suspect in these warm and wet days of global warming the tractor will stay firmly where it is now and my hopes and fears will melt just as the snow does.