What a day!

I am not very good at visiting I keep intending to but rarely have the courage even with friends. So two weeks ago my brother who I get the local paper sent to asked me if the picture was of Dauvit's uncle and aunt, I do not get the paper now so I had to go hunting for a neighbour with an old copy. Sure enough there was their picture showing them being presented with flowers for their diamond wedding.

I made a card and worked out if I had enough money to buy a small gift. Of course I had still not got round to an actual visit so when I spoke to my brother on Saturday morning I decided to take my courage in both hands and get on the phone. I might put it of till another day if I think about it but if I make a promise it will be done so by phoning and telling them I would come on Sunday I could not talk myself out of it.

The reason Roy had not initially recognised them was that they were all done up fancy and he had never seen Uncle George in anything but dungarees or old working denims, slack as you like and plenty of pockets for nails and small tools.

Any way yesterday was absolutely glorious weather so I set of for the hour long drive to the other end of Mainland (The local name for the main island of the Orkney archipelago. What a delight smiling daffodils along the roadside and lambs taking their first bold explorations of the world. The water of Scapa flow looked like it had been liberally sprinkled with glitter as it sparkled in the sunlight.

They were out the door to greet me even before I got pulled into their drive. They are what I would describe as Auld Orkney folks. Not in age (though they are in their eighties) Guests are important and must be given food and drink as soon as they are in the door so I had barely got lowered onto the couch before Netty called us through for "a bite o dinner" I had deliberately chosen 2pm to allow them to have dinner in peace (This being the main meal of the day for farm folk). I should have known better, they had deferred their meal till they could share it with me.

Plain fairin is the order of the day farm soup (I guess ye kin tak the fowk oot o the fairm but ye canny tak the fairm ooto the fowks.). There is plain soup, usually lots of whatever vegetables that grew in the farm garden, carrots, onions, swedes (Possibly rutabaga for our us cousins.)with the addition of stock and barley or dried peas and lentils. Special days soup is basically the same but has bits of the hen or beef left in. The farms animals were in the old days a valuable source of income especially hens so it had to be a fairly special occasion before one was killed. Well it must have been a special day for the hen was served up it is boiled with the vegetables to give the soup flavour then served with stuffing(Skirlie, a mix of oatmeal onions and suet cooked .) and tatties boiled in their skins. It may seem strange to modern ears but a family treat would have been something like a rhubarb pie and custard but for special guests it was ice-cream and tinned fruit. Why was that so special? Well if you think of it everything else could be provided by farm and garden but the ice-cream and tinned fruit had to be bought which would have entailed a journey probably of several miles usually on foot to the local shop.

The meal past we settled to watch a video they had been sent of their grandsons wedding. George had just undergone chemo before it and had not felt up to the long drive south so the family made sure they could share in the day. I am sure many of you will have heard the conversation from older relatives whether watching a video or looking at photographs.

G: "That's Nicholas the grooms brother."
Followed several moments later when the scene had changed by
N: "That's Nicholas the grooms brother."
G: "No it's not that's cousin (insert name)"
And so on rapidly descending into a comedy as memories are just not quite fast enough to keep up with the film.

Any way it was a lovely day with lots of memories and friendship with two very special people.