High and Dry

So ashamed were we, that having been in Stromness for almost a month and having never been up Brinkie's Brae, the hill behind the town, and which gave its name to the book 'Under Brinkie's Brae by George Mackay Brown, that we rectified things this morning before the rains came.

And I'm glad we did for there was a fine view to be had at the top of Hamnavoe and the surrounding countryside.

Then it was off across the Churchill barriers for coffee with Poppy in her idyllic hideaway cottage on the shore of South Ronaldsay, with the sea almost lapping the front garden and a view over the water to Hoxa and the Sands o' Wright.

Ollie graced us with his presence as did his Lordship and latterly Postie, and there was much laughter and chat and genuine admiration for the wonderful job of building their cottage extension unaided.

And the rains did come as promised and the clouds closed in, and our route home was through a diminished landscape.