The Weeping Window

Orkney is going to be the main site for the national commemoration of the Battle of Jutland later this month, partly because it was home to the Grand Fleet during World War 1. This means a load of military and political bigwigs flying in for a service in the Cathedral and then flying out again leaving us to our own devices...I am not as chagrined about this as it might seem from that comment, as generally I feel the less Orkney has to do with Westminster politics, royalty and the military, the better. I note that places in the Cathedral for the National Service of Commemoration will not all go to strangers, as the Council was at pains to reserve seats for locals, who could apply for tickets. So that's something. We didn't apply, partly  because these days we never know where we're going to be when, although you can bet the farm on us being here for the Scottish Elections tomorrow.

That said,  as soon as we are back from the polling station  the OH is back off south - part maternal family crisis, part trip to Cardiff to get  Son No 2 to  an audition. He comes back from that trip on Monday, and on Wednesday I am off to Glasgow, mainly for the ''joys'' of a meeting with my Ph D supervisor on Thursday. OH joins me Friday night and we see Scottish Opera's Mikado on Saturday night and come back to Orkney on Sunday.

But I digress.

As part of the commemoration Orkney is hosting an art installation based on the one that was on the Tower of London back in 2014. It's the first place in Scotland to be allowed it and it's called The Weeping Window.  It's been quite exciting watching it progress from scaffolding and wire to the finished piece.

Here are a couple of pictures of it that I took

There are plenty of others, mostly better than these! on line;  just put Weeping Window Orkney in your search engine.

Some of the shop windows opposite the Cathedral are decorated in complementary fashion.

I noted with wry amusement that in the publicity leaflet surrounding all this stuff the Battle of Jutland is referred to as 'the most decisive naval engagement of World War One.' Military historians generally regard Jutland as totally indecisive since both sides claimed victory, with as much or as little justification for that on either side. Personally I think the only way in which Jutland can be described as 'decisive' is that it meant that the fleets of Britain and Germany remained totally against the idea of engaging one another again for the rest of the war. The only sure thing about Jutland, as far as I can see, is that lots of good men died. British and German both.