What is this Life…….

……if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare…….

I had a very entertaining evening yesterday when I had supper with The Edinburgh Visiting Selkie and her family. The meal was delicious and the family such good company, it was hard to leave, but unfortunately not everyone is on holiday like me.

The thing with Orkney or for that matter the whole of Scotland is that sunshine and warmth are  rare commodities. If we have both at the same time, then one needs to be outdoors if at all possible and not miss even one ray of sunshine. After yesterday’s bad weather, the sun shone from the get go this morning making it impossible not to get up and go. Six of us gathered at the slip at 8am and with eyes peeled on the look out for jelly fish and only seeing one we deemed it ok to proceed with our swim without being suited and booted. A marvellous time was had again.

Once back on dry land I had an arrangement to meet a friend of a friend’s friend who is up in the town for 3 days. Having never met her before, it could have been touch and go whether we found each other or even got on, but we did both and it was lovely to sit and chat in the sun outside Julia’s take away café.

The wind picked up after lunch but it was still very sunny and warm enough to sit in the garden with my book and listen to the waves slapping  the other side of the wall at high tide and watch the restless baby white horses on a bouncy aquamarine sea. It’s a view I wish I could bottle. I wonder if these special glasses that technology has come up with that allow you to see all sorts of wondrous things that seem real when you wear them  might be the answer. Then I could sit in my Edinburgh flat and be transported to the Stromness garden.