A typical atypical day: navigating life's little hiccoughs

Sunday musings

Sunday 9^th June

I’m currently in the Tesco carpark sitting in my car having loaded up an epic number of drinks into the boot, some of which have spilled onto the backseat of the car. In my defence we have 5 people to cater for and only a small car. I was about to head back in when I realised, I had 1.5hrs before I need to head to the ferry and really, I’m only getting the perishables & frozen. It doesn’t make sense to get them until the last minute and I have the last minute timed to almost perfection.

It's just after 3pm and if I’m in the shop for 3.30pm (ish) it’ll give me an hour to fill the trolley, browse, go to the loo and then panic at the checkout that I haven’t given myself enough time. After which I’ll peg it out of Kirkwall to Houton and arrive 20 minutes before the ferry is due to depart. Like I say, timed to perfection, I’ve done it before.

Normally you get an update of my week, but today seems to have been quite eventful, so I thought I would stick to a typical atypical day - a trip to Mainland.

6.30am

The alarm was set for 6.30am to leave enough time to get the last bits together and take the dog for a walk before heading down to the ferry at 8.25am. Mum’s influence growing up means that I like to give myself time in the morning, although this doesn’t mean I won’t be frantically rushing at the last minute to get ready, but being able to sit down for a cuddle with Kiki first thing is a must.

6.45am

My watch alarm vibrates, trying to rouse me out of my snooze, it almost works but it’s not until the next one at 6.52 that I finally don my dressing gown and slippers and release the beast from the confines of our very comfortable living rom. She has 3 beds to choose from, her actual bed (crate) the futon and the bucket chair. At night she usually takes herself off to her crate but I can usually here her a few minutes later emerge, shake it off and jump onto the futon for the night, far cosier.

7.10am

Throw on my joggers and fleece and head out the door with Kiki. We can’t walk her off lead, but I let her roam free in the garden, unless lambs are in view. This is a little riskier these days as we had to remove a gate post to get Colin in and it hasn’t quite gone back which means there is a very straight forward escape route in the shape of a wide open gate. Ever the challenger, Kiki likes to go just beyond the threshold to sniff and wee, knowing I won’t call her back until she’s finished when she comes running down the slope delighted with herself.

This morning, we decide to head to the cowshed, fairly safe in the knowledge there won’t be any escapees. We got caught out by a ewe and two lambs yesterday down the lane and we don’t need any extra excitement today as I am taking her on the ferry with me (which she hates), to the kennels (which she is not particularly enamoured with).

Erik’s parents & brother are visiting and I made the decision a few months ago that it would make more sense and be less stressful for everyone involved, dog included, if she went to the kennels for part of the trip. She is very reactive and easily becomes distressed and aggressive. On the last two occasions we’ve had visitors she’s become momentarily aggressive towards one of them and even though E’s folks aren’t staying at the house they will be around and 5 people in a teeny cottage with an arse of a dog is not a great combo, both of us will be permanently on edge, feeding each other’s anxieties and it could go horribly wrong. Hence the kennels.

8.23am

Kiki is curled up in her bed in my office, she knows something isn’t right and she can’t yet figure out if she’s going to come with me or if she gets to stay behind with E while I swan off somewhere. She’d prefer me to go and her to stay. I decide to finish my cup of tea on the floor next to her and stroke her under the chin as I have five minutes before we need to leave.

8.28am

Crap, the ferry leaves at 8.45am, I need to be there at 8.30am which means I didn’t have 5 minutes and now I have -3 minutes. Still, we make it there just as the ferry docks. The handy thing about where we are is that we can see the ferry coming in, so I knew that even though I was late, the Hoy Head had not yet come into dock.

On the ferry and I decided to take Kiki out to the top to have a look about, while she doesn’t like to be in the car, she wasn’t awfully keen to be out because it was blowing a hooley. So back in the car we go and she decided to sit at my feet for most of the journey

9.20am

Whenever we arrive in Houton I always take Kiki for a little walk, even if it’s only 5 minutes so she can release some of the adrenaline pumping through her veins. Today we had time for a 30 minute walk along the water with countless opportunities for her to sniff every pebble and bit of grass she could cast her little nose over.

10.40am

We’d been given directions to the kennels, but on my own I knew I’d get lost so I plugged it into Google maps. The journey itself wasn’t without it’s eventualities. It turns out that I am way out of practice with single lane etiquette and don’t pay enough attention to notice passing places or vehicles approaching. But after a few shamefaced sorry’s we arrived exactly where we needed to be.

Both Kiki and I were immediately put at ease, she was welcomed into the office and had a little sniff about. They also helped me unload her crate and all the paraphernalia that comes with her bed…two substandard mats that came with said crate, a feather pillow and soft home smelling blanket to lie on, then a throw that goes over the top to give it a sense of a little den, a safe spot.

It’s the best drop off I’ve ever had and her tail was up as I was sorting things out. She did of course look dolefully at me as I locked her in and said goodbye, but I felt safe in the knowledge she’s in good hands.

We’ll be taking her again in a few weeks’ time as we head South to visit my family, so this is a good practice as if anything happens or she can’t cope, I can easily go and fetch her. Although, the people at the kennels are marvellous and I don’t anticipate any problems.

How is it only 11am?!

Well onwards to the Bay of Skaill and then Kirkwall via the fabulous Ring of Brodgar.

Bay of Skaill

These are serious pinch me moments. It’s my first trip to the Bay of Skaill and it’s wild out there. It’s windy and the tide definitely feels a bit angry, it is the Atlantic after all. I stand there with nothing between me and Canada, feeling unreal. I’d love to swim here, but it is not a day to be getting in the water. Certainly not for a novice like me.

Next stop is the Ring of Brodgar. It blows my tiny mind that over 5000 years ago humans dragged these stones to this spot and stood them up. It is believed that they were built for religious ceremonies, astronomical observations, social gatherings and as a symbol of political power.

Ring of Brodgar

My best fact about the standing stones of Orkney is that they are likely older than Stonehenge, it’s believed the stone circle trend in the UK started here at this very spot. Like I say, it blows my tiny mind.

The first stone circle is in Egypt, how that translated up to Orkney then down through the UK I have no idea. Unless they were created independently of each other which is probably more realistic.

Being here, spending time on my own, with my own thoughts puts me in mind of the book I am furiously writing in my head. The ideas never stop flowing and I’m determined to get them out of my head and onto paper, of a sort, for fear of losing them.

So far, I have the bones of 4 of the 6 stories I’d like to write and a couple of ways how I can weave them together. What I can tell you is that it is the story of 6 women across time, with a common theme running through them. In my head not only could it be an amazing book, but I see a Netflix series out of it too. Girl’s gotta dream right and think of ways to bolster her measley pension!

12.15pm Town. Kirkwall.

This is where the serious stuff happens. First stop is the garage to attempt to hoover as much of Kiki’s hairs up as possible so that our visitors don’t feel dirty after sitting in the car and give it a dust. One of our tyres always runs low no matter how often we pump it up, so I thought I would use the free air to top it up.

What. A. Mistake.

It wasn’t one of those modern things where you tap in the pressure you want and it does it all automatically for you. No, the dial was on the handle, half depression deflates tyres and full inflates. I couldn’t get a handle on reading the dial or the bloody handle either and ended up pumping an excessive amount of air in which I managed with my own little compressor, bringing it down from an overinflated 60 to 30.

Still. Onwards to town to succumb to my indulgence, my addiction to nail varnish. Three new bottles bought, two are 80% plant based and one is 100% chemical based. Although I’m not sure if I’ve been green washed or not here. A few months ago (?) I started using 3 colours on my nails and it’s kind of stuck, today I’ve chosen a deep red, a metallic pink and a gorgeous purply, chocolate colour, it’s hard to explain, so here’s a pic.

The nails + Kiki

As you can see, I’m shit at applying nail varnish & take zero care of my hands or nails, but I like the pretty colours.

Next, I try and find somewhere for lunch, but everything is jimmy jam packed. As I wonder down Victoria Street in the hopes of coming across a lesser spotted café, I see a tiny shop front and door, Sunbeam Café. I am the only customer and order myself a slice, scone and pot of tea. It’s such a relief. Suddenly it gets busy and there’s 8 of us snuggly sipping on hot drinks feeling grateful to take the weight off for a few minutes. I order a tea to go because tea is life. FACT.

Plus, I have A LOT of shopping to do.

Refreshments

2.00pm

It is definitely a low-level car disaster day because as I try to park in Tesco, another problem finds me in the shape of a reversing car. I was about to pull into a spot and noticed the car in the spot next to it was reversing out. In my attempt to move out of the way, I managed to stall. Mon dieu! And then instead of turning the engine back on and moving out of the way, I remained paralysed, watching their reverse lights approach me without a care in the world.

A slight nudge and scraping sound told me we’d made contact. I wasn’t sure what would happen next. The last thing I needed was a discussion on the tiny incident and thankfully, they put their car into first and drove off. We are now left with a slight scratch and flash of red over the wheel arch.

Discussion averted and off I trotted to get the drinks.

And so that brings us up to date.

Except now it is exactly a week later, and I have run out of steam talking about this day. Add to that I have started a Bridgerthon, so I am way to distracted by Daphne and Simon to continue.

To end … I filled up the car with food, made it back on the 5.15pm ferry home to be greeted by E’s family, which was an utter delight. But more on that next time.

Take care,

Han 🌱

PS. Kiki survived her stay at the kennel.

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