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Tales From The North20. Season 2: Episode 10 - JANUARY FROSTThe morning is cold. A light sparkly dusting of frost covers the ground and the clear blue sky reveals the stars and waning slice of moon above. It is 8:30 and it is already getting lighter out, a rosy orange glow graces the horizon- evidence of the days getting longer.
I find the matchbox and notice there is only one match left, so I decide to use it to light a candle and bring some feeling of warmth to my indoor surroundings.
The last match in the box reminds me of my time of teacher training in a...
2022-01-2807 minTales From The North19. Season 2: Episode 9 - THE MOON OF WINTERTIMEAt this late and magical hour, I decided to go out for a walk - something I used to do quite often when the moon was full and shining bright. I would go out without a lantern, my eyes easily adjusting to see the way ahead and much more besides.
There was a rustling in the bushes as I walked past the house, a creature scuttling to a safer place. Then a flutter of wings sounded from the tree branches.
Turning back to look at the house, I can see the indoor warmth through the wind...
2022-01-1408 minTales From The North18. Season 2: Episode 8 - A CHRISTMAS SPECIAL - 3 KINGSHello to all of you who are listening
This is a special short episode, different from the others,
for this Christmas Day.
I hope everyone is having a lovely time, whether with family
and friends, or if you’re self-isolating, or wherever you are.
For those of you who, like me, were unable to get back to have
Christmas with the family, I hope it is still a special time for you.
It’s Christmas Day afternoon now, and I’m sitting here all cozy
...
2021-12-2505 minTales From The North17. Season 2: Episode 7 - AMONGST THE PINESBefore the windstorms recently, we had the good sense (or the tree surgeon had the good sense!) to come and cut the tops of some of the trees near the bungalow here. They were growing too close to the electricity wires.
So the guys came in with their visor jackets and chainsaws, and gradually cut away the necessary branches. They chopped up the logs and stacked them in the shed for future use, and the branches were put in a separate pile underneath one of the trees. At the time I was not sure what they would be u...
2021-12-1608 minTales From The North16. Season 2: Episode 6 - AN OXFORD POEMIt’s early. A pigeon coos loudly outside my open window, bringing me to some level of consciousness. As I struggle to open my sleepy eyes, I nestle under the warm covers and my mind slowly wanders from dream to practical thoughts about the day ahead. I remember that I’ll be going into town later this morning, which spurs me into sudden movement and with hardly a second thought, I throw back the covers. Shivering in the chill air, I put on some woolly socks beautifully knitted by my aunt, and shuffle over to the kitchen across the hall to boil...
2021-12-0913 minTales From The North15. Season 2: Episode 5 - TOWARDS ADVENT SKIESYesterday afternoon, at around 3:00, just before sunset, a friend and I made a spur-of-the-moment decision to drive up to the most northerly point on the UK mainland, Dunnet Head. It was such a beautiful, crisp, bright day, it seemed a shame not to get out somewhere before dark.
Many are under the illusion that John O’Groats is the most northerly point, as it is at the ‘end of the road’ from Land’s End and host to many charity walks, runs and cycles. However, it is this more dramatic and high moorland a number of miles further...
2021-11-3009 minTales From The North14. Season 2: Episode 4 - THE WINDIf ever one needed to clear one’s head, the northeast of Scotland is a good place to come. The wind will clear the cobwebs in no time!
This week I went down to Inverness to get an MOT (annual roadworthiness certificate) on the car as some things needed looking at and fixing. It meant spending a day in the city, but I didn’t mind. There was plenty to do. Later in the evening, on returning to the northeast, the wind started to pick up and the rain was falling heavily. By the time I got home and s...
2021-11-1907 minTales From The North13. Season 2: Episode 3 - THE RUSHING BURNIt’s morning. I wake up slowly to the pitter patter of rain against the windows and slate rooftop and eventually make my way down the hall to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. As I wait for the kettle to boil I notice that the rain has eased up and there is a small shaft of light coming through the thick cloud in the distance which lights up the winding burn, flowing at a full pace.
I go over to the front door and step out for a moment, enjoying the post-rain smell and the soun...
2021-11-0906 minTales From The North12. Season 2: Episode 2 - AN AUTUMN MEDLEYLate morning’s pale blue sky is painted with sweeps of bright white cloud. Or as Vermeer said, white is never really white if you look hard enough. There are faint signs of yellow, magenta, blue, and violet that come through.
It’s a clear day. A silent day.
Or is it so silent?
A caravan drives along on the top road. I can see and hear it in the stillness of the autumn air, the sound traveling across the open landscape. An airplane joins in the passing noise as it flies overhead.
The long ru...
2021-11-0411 minTales From The North11. Season 2: Episode 1 - INTO THE UNKNOWNIt’s the end of October and the weather is turning. I stepped out and felt the blustery autumn wind on my face, still warm for this time of year, the rain was beginning to fall lightly on my cheeks. I walked down past the castle to the beach. The tide was out and the water was crashing against the rocks on the lower shore, spilling over the shiny black surfaces, swirling and dancing amongst the kelp and wrack seaweeds.
Today is the day, 20 years ago, that I made my way over to Scotland for the first time...
2021-10-2811 min
Tales From The North10. Season 1: Episode 10 - SWALLOWS RETURNThe air is still this morning, as though waiting with baited breath. There are shoots of growth popping up and the days are welcoming in more warmth and light.
It is Easter time - a moveable feast based on the lunisolar calendar which reflects the ongoing cycles in our world.
Soon there will be a burst of bright colour and a flurry of activity as lambs are born, rabbits scoot across to their holes in the ground, seabirds populate the cliffs, and the swallows swoop down after their epic flight. Meanwhile, the thrush is now...
2021-04-2105 minTales From The North9. Season 1: Episode 9 - SPRINGI just finished doing some morning stretches for the first time in a while! Oof. My muscles are certainly tight. To be honest, they are the complete opposite of flexible. However, doing the exercises and full breathing felt good and made me wonder why I had not gone back to doing that on a regular basis much sooner! I guess there is a new start for everything, even if we lapse. Is Winter a time for lapsing? I don’t know, but I seem to do it, despite best intentions and resolutions made in January (resolutions that only seem to last...
2021-04-1309 minTales From The North8. Season 1: Episode 8 - THE FORESTThe north of Scotland is generally very sparse when it comes to trees. Being so close to the sea make this a landscape that cannot sustain their growth so easily due to the wild winds and salty air. However, I am fortunate to have a few trees outside my study window where I often sit and watch the birds flitting to and fro.
March seems to be a month of birthdays for lots of my friends, which reminds me of a celebratory hike though a wooded glen near Edinburgh for a friend’s 60. I had never been out...
2021-03-3106 minTales From The North7. Season 1: Episode 7 - SEA SWELLThe Pentland Firth in the far north of Scotland is known to be one of the roughest stretches of tide in the world. There have been many a shipwreck in these terrifying cross currents, with very few unable to survive the frigid waters.
I remember a trip across the Firth once. It was to the mainland from the island of Stroma in a fishing boat called ‘Boy James’. The person driving the boat was experienced and familiar with that passage of water, having made the trip many times, and suggested that we would have to take the long ro...
2021-03-2408 minTales From The North6. Season 1: Episode 6 - GREENIt is 25 years ago today that my friend and colleague confirmed the purchase of the historic Freswick Castle in the far north of Scotland, the place where the Wayfarer Trust was born and my life took on a whole new trajectory.
And it was supposedly on this day in the 5th Century that Saint Patrick of Ireland died.
Today, while in lockdown, Ireland is celebrating virtually. Families and communities around Ireland and abroad improvised their own parades, some of them indoors using toy tractors and cars and any old musical instrument lying around the house...
2021-03-1705 minTales From The North5. Season 1: Episode 5 - THE SAND TRUCKA small orange yellow light blinks it’s way along the top road, across the open view of the living room window, distinctly noticeable in the blackness of the early morning.
The sand truck.
It must be icy out there.
I’m certainly feeling the chill in getting up, and have wrapped myself in the Icelandic wool blanket some friends gave a few years back.
Geese clamour their way through the dark sky. I can’t see them, I can only hear them. I wonder what they are thinking right now. Maybe tha...
2021-03-1004 minTales From The North4. Season 1: Episode 4 - FEET OFF THE GROUNDOn the plane at London Gatwick, I mentally prepared myself for the long flight ahead, sending final texts to people in the UK, and making a call before putting the phone into flight mode. A woman came and dropped down in the seat beside me, shoving her full rucksack into the space in front of her. She seemed agitated, hasty, as she rummaged around for her headphones. We settled into our seats, me by the window, she in the middle, and a Chinese man in the aisle. She immediately directed her attention to the screen in front to look...
2021-03-0307 minTales From The North3. Season 1: Episode 3 - AT HOMEIt’s a new week and the beginning of a new month.
As I sit here and write, I have a clear view out of a large window onto a frosty landscape. The sky is bright blue and the sun is spreading a golden light over the frozen earth. The tree branches in front of the window are soaking up the suns rays and some birds are fluttering back and forth, nibbling at the seeds I put out this morning. My robin friend has had some competition lately, with a blackbird and sparrow having discovered the seed, pl...
2021-02-2408 minTales From The North2. Season 1: Episode 2 - DAY MOONSome snow has finally fallen - enough to satisfy this Canadian-born woman’s heart for now. The distant homes look like house-shaped igloos against the horizon, their roofs blanketed by the white sparkling powder.
We’ve gone through a range of weathers in the last few days — a bit like my emotions lately.
A few times this week I stepped out to get a blast of air after full hours of taxes and figures, needing to clear my head. Numbers and I are not close friends, as I told my sister. If anything, we are more like...
2021-02-1706 minTales From The North1. Season 1: Episode 1 - BLOW OUTI was travelling to Thurso with a friend (we’re in the same bubble), to pick up a prescription. It was a nice enough day. No wind, no rain. Clear and cold. The drive to town seemed normal enough, though I sensed something felt different about the car. I wondered if there was a problem with the steering, but quickly dismissed my concerns. My friend was driving and I didn’t want to bother him.
We managed to pick up the prescription and drove back through Castletown, stopping at a shop on the way.
However, as we he...
2021-02-1006 min