The Hedgerows Have It

With mist and general murk cloaking the land, I decided it was biped exercise this morning. The lanes and bye ways were deserted as I strode round the back of Brinkie’s Brae to emerge at the North End of Stromness. There’s a certain meditative quality to walking along a well trodden path with only a sheep or two and some inquisitive calves to wonder at your presence.

The hedgerows which seemed quite barren when I arrived a month ago are getting into their stride now, but the buttercups are the most obvious . Whereas down south, the paths and roads were outlined in daffodils earlier in the year, here it is a riot of buttercups which stretch as far as the eye can see and spread to cover the fields in a mantle of yellow.

The misty drizzle stopped as I walked and the roads were dry as I stopped for a coffee in the town and paid a visit to the library and then to admire local silver work in a shop I have never been in during all the years I’ve been coming to Orkney.

It’s a restful afternoon now, watching tennis before I meet up with Northener for a walk at Yesnaby this evening.