Orkney Sights and Sounds, Part 5

Orkney Sights and Sounds, Part 5

The first thing we did the following morning was to rent a car as we rarely followed any schedule of places to visit. The drive to Outbrecks was about 2 miles and we enjoyed every minute of the view. We had called ahead and found that we could rent a cottage within sight of the sea. (However in Orkney it is almost impossible to avoid it). Actually in all of our travels we have managed to spend most of our time with such a an outlook from Cornwall to Criccieth, Wales and from Normandy to Brittany. And Orkney had one thing in common with the others ... the sea.

The countryside was beautiful ... but I guess that this pretty much applies to our overall impression of Mainland. The drive had been a short one (about 2 1/2 miles) and we were welcomed graciously by our hostess, Ruth Laidlaw, and installed in the small convenient cottage. The view of the sea was fantastic. On the first morning when we began to get ready for our adventure we found a very large cat sitting at the door holding a dead rabbit in his mouth. Apparently the welcoming committee. As would be expected we did not have any cat rewards but gave her/him all the snacks we could find. Obviously this would not go over to well with the cat breeders association however we were not expecting such largesse .

The walk was great and we enjoyed the brisk weather ... not cold but cool enough to wear a jacket. There was a wind and we could appreciate the stories about the Orkney winds. As we walked we came to fenced farmland where we were observed by five cows and one disinterested horse. The cows followed us closely down the road until they came to the their boundary line and then stopped and stared. They seemed very friendly although I was convinced there was one with an attitude. Something like, "And what are you looking at!"

We stopped when we came to an area with wildflowers and a very old sandstone wall undoubtedly the boundary of the farmhouse we could see in the distance. Although I have spent some time in past years painting I knew that it would be impossible to paint all of the scenes that we found so beautiful and serene. Time has clouded memory but somewhere in the area we found a farmer's wife who made her own cheese, which of course we had to try.

As we neared the sea we saw equipment that boggled my mind but Glenn thought to be a winch used to gather seaweed. Different kinds of kelp were used for various endeavors. The kelp was then dried on the beach and later burning began. Finally a liquid was produced, cut,stacked and shielded from the weather. These ingredients were much in demand for glass making, soap and alum. To this day I appreciate kelp as it is one of the ingredients in a luxurious sea salt mineral soak.

When we came to the beach we began wandering and appreciating the surroundings until we came to some salvage which intrigued us. Broken pottery, lamp fixtures, batteries and other debris all of which intrigued us. Our imaginations took over and we fantasized these items were from shipwrecks or even war. In fact we were so taken with our findings that we brought some of the choice pieces of china and the like home with us. It reminded us of a previous experience in Mousehole, Cornwall when Glenn and I were picking up pieces on the shore. A very proper Englishman stopped and asked what we were doing and Glenn said, off the top of his head, "Looking for Roman artifacts". The gentleman smiled a most superior smile and said, "Well you won't find them here". Glenn responded, "You don't think it will keep us from looking, do you?"