Natural highs and lows

As I write this, snowflakes are gently falling out of a sombre sky, carpeting the ground in fluffy mounds and making the garden look like it is having a duvet day. Eponymously, there are highs and lows to this state of affairs: vertically-falling snowflakes are much preferable to the horizontal hailstones we've been having for days now; whilst main roads are passable with care, side roads and tracks are treacherous; I am working from home today, so don't have to drive anywhere; because my car refused to start and is awaiting recovery to a local garage; for once, our garden looks as pretty as everyone else's. Instead, there's been some serious work admin-ing going on: invoices issued; bills paid; website updated; email folder looking slimmer than it has for ages (unlike me, after the feasting of the festive season); and, the navigation of an RAC online procedure that isn't really geared up for reporting a breakdown on a small Scottish island without a dedicated patro...

Well, there you go... or at least here's where I went. It's a week since I last posted, but that post only covered up to June 19th, so a bit of a catch up is required, methinks. The bridge at Kylesku (am I the only person to pronounce that Kyle-esk-yew?) The return journey to Orkney allowed for an afternoon's visit to a nature reserve at Invernaver on the north coast of Sutherland to look at flora on the site's dune systems. A couple of the highlights from the visit included the gorgeous Purple Oxytropis and some Six-spotted Burnet Moths (plus their cocoons). Several days after returning to Orkney, an evening walk at Yesnaby was a gentle slide back into local wildlife. Grass of Parnassus, Scottish Primrose and Sea Milkwort were in flower, Common Blue butterflies were on the wing (as were the midges), some Puffins were seen on a distant cliff ledge, and the subdued light engendered a mellow feeling of contentment after a fortnight's full-on wildlife watching through ...