Festive frolics

One of the downsides to being self-employed and a sole trader (apart from all the usual ones) is that organising the staff Christmas function is a bit... well... pointless. Dinner for one isn't quite the thing, and the drunken conga line is just a... drunk. Happily, now that the global pandemic is less of a threat, this year the obvious solution presented itself. Megan is also a self-employed sole trader, so we went for lunch together as our respective businesses. Very wisely, the organisation of the event was not left to me, although I was allowed to choose the venue (which I suspect is code for "You ring and book it!").

The day's excitement began with a trip on public transport. Yes, really! It was the inaugural outing of my bus pass, which had been festering away, unused, in my wallet for a year. The fare wouldn't have been prohibitive, mind, but the saving was put to good use later in the day when ordering aperitifs.

Once in the sprawling megatropolis of Kirkwall, we visited the Post Office to consign several presents destined for south to the good auspices of the Royal Mail. There wasn't a queue, which was a pleasant surprise, but who knows when deliveries will be made?

After a cuppa at the Sound Archive, we headed to the Orkney Museum to view an exhibition by local wildlife artist and birder, Tim Wootton. 

Here are the first few paintings of the exhibition...

and here are the rest.

Later that day, Tim was going to be painting live to show visitors his technique, but sadly we had other arrangements and couldn't hang around.

We had already dodged a few wintry showers, but now had to walk a mile to the restaurant. Fortunately, our luck held as we ambled uphill to our destination, stopping occasionally to identify birds in gardens adjacent to the road. In fact, we even took a mini detour through a housing estate which offered the possibility of a Waxwing. But, nope, not this time.

Aperitifs ordered, we thawed out on a comfy sofa to study the menu. Other establishments were fully booked, so we weren't anticipating having the restaurant to ourselves, but that's what happened. In the dining room, the attentive staff showed us to a table with a view out across the burgh, the low Winter sunlight picking out the features of the distant green hills, and a clear blue sky troubled now and again by an icy squall. It was an introvert's delight.

Megan's starter of Smoked Beef Carpaccio... (Photo: MT)

and dessert, a Mulled Wine and Pear Jelly with Vanilla Pannacotta (Photo: MT)

As the afternoon light faded, we pottered slowly back down the hill into town, briefly calling in at a delicatessen to purchase some speciality cheeses for later, before catching the bus home.

St Magnus Cathedral (Photo: MT)

Back home, the fire was lit, the tree was decorated and the cheeses were accompanied by a medley of Christmas hits of yore.

The following day, we needed to burn off some calories, so it was back to bird surveys around the bay, WeBS for the living ones and HPAI mortality for the sadly departed ones.