The Week
that's Awa.
The
heading reminds me of a daft joke that did the rounds a while ago - Did
you hear the one about the man who fell in the cement mixer? He's awa. ( a
wall) Most of the week gone and although I haven't been idle, I have the
feeling of not having achieved much !
Sat.
19th.
The day started too early when the bright sunshine wakens me at about
05.30. Bird calls, sheep calls and vehicles going north to the boat tell
me that the world is up and doing, so I join in spending most of the day
in the Hall where the job is sanding the wooden floor. We quickly get the
hang of the 2 sanding machines and after that it's a case of walking
backwards and forwards along the grain of the wood till the floor was
stripped bare of old varnish and most of the blemishes of years of wear
and tear. Remove 99% of the dust with white spirit and give the clean
floor two coats of varnish. In between times I view a rather smelly hole
in the ground at the Hostel and help Ian to lift the creels we have set
east bye. The Houll windmill turns again and we all say "Keep up the
good work " to Ewen and Patrick.
Sun.
20th.
The workers break the Sabbath by applying more coats of varnish to the
Hall floor and our penance is sore knees for the rest of the day. Wall to
wall sunshine, so the place to relax was the sun porch watching for
passing ships or birdwatcher activity in case they find a special visitor
flown in from foreign parts. Dennis Coutts joins us for dinner and I think
we convinced him to try a Caribbean cruise, so if he goes missing this
winter, try Barbados, then Grenada, then Trinidad and kid him on there's a
two barred Greenish Warbler at the Ness !
Mon.
21st. Back
to the smelly hole at the Hostel and heard the story of the sewage well
that Kenny and Ian tapped into on Friday evening. The end of the story was
a new manhole and we obviously spent too much time looking down as we
missed the sea eagle that was glimpsed flying north over the island. At
Busta later and we made a start to the new heating installation. Anne may
not be too complimentary at the way we left her sitting room, but all will
be better in the long run. I've heard the saying "if looks could
kill" then cleaning tattie dreels would be easy ! Unfortunately it
doesn't seem to work that way and the hoe had to be applied while the
weather was dry.
Tues.22nd.
Van maintenance day. Repaired exhausts and changed oil, then reckoned we
would change the fuel filter as the van wasn't starting too well. Things
went downhill after that and totally frustrated, I phoned a garage in
Lerwick. The advice was to clean out the old filter and put it back on.
After a tow, success at last so we took the manhole lid up to the Obs. and
backfilled the earth. Hoed another dreel of tattles and just missed the
European crane that had landed near Steensi Stap.
Wed.23rd.
A hint of water on the path this morning and the new grass is washed clean
and almost looking lush. We spent the day investigating the ingress of
water about the rafters at each gable of the Chapel. High scaffold frames
were set up and roof ladders rigged, but we found nothing obvious, so the
trouble may lie with the slating job done 20 years ago. More weeds cleaned
and a restful evening spent watching the Champion's League football. All
goals scored from penalties but the Germans got or saved the one that
mattered. More good birds reported , but all I saw was a pied fly catcher.
Thurs.24th.
Not
a lot to report so here's a short poem I found when moving house.
DA TROOKER
Shu aye maks shur shu niver trips whin someen mighta
seen her,
Da perfect wife in every wye to dem at dusna keen her,
Nae witless wyes or fulish whids could come fae her direction,
For da laeks a her is herd to fin; da height a true perfection,
Sheik fjaarms ower you to your face,bit dan you hae to watch her
For at spaekin ill ahint your back dir very few to match her ;
An as lang as shu can mak hersel look guid in front o idders,
Shull cares no wha gengs to da waa be it da fremd or bridders,
Guid grant baith strent an patience to da poor bein at took her,
An help wis as to hadd wir towng wi dat ill - makkin trooker.
Fri.
25th.
An early phone call from John and the urgency in the voice along with
words like - boat down, and liferaft at the Skerry alerted me to the
serious situation. The Coastguard was informed and the helicopter was to
be scrambled. Grabbed the bins, mobile phone and VHF radio and made for
the South Light. John, Ian and Dennis already there so we were most
relieved to see flares being fired from the liferaft. Dennis used his
muckle telescope to confirm that two persons were in the liferaft, then a
further call to Shetland Coastguard told us that the helicopter was only
minutes away. The helicopter crew had no trouble spotting the bright
orange liferaft and went straight in to lift the occupants to safety.
Radio messages between Oscar Charlie and Shetland Coastguard confirmed
that the KADONA 3 had capsized near Fair Isle and both crew were showing
signs of mild hypothermia. Heard later that both had recovered and were
sending heartfelt thanks to Betty and John for acting so promptly. Endless
phonecalls from the media during the day and half of them couldn't believe
that we wouldn't be able to see the article in the newspapers tomorrow.
Must go - it's on radio Shetland.
Brian
TOP
