Well that was a nice day

The weather was lovely yesterday , warm, sunny, no wind. I'd arranged to drop off my pile of no longer wanted jigsaw puzzles at the library, which seemed very grateful at the prospect and the OH suggested that, as we were going to town we could do our not-quite-daily- walk somewhere on West Mainland. It seemed like a good idea, so off we set. 

We started off at the Broch of Gurness, which is where I fell in love with Orkney, twenty odd years ago. (I;ve since rather fallen out of love with it, but Gurness remans one of my favourite places ) so I've got dozens of picture of it already. I was restrained  yesterday but u I took a few at the broch itself. 

I don't  normally take a picture from this angle, but the flowers were pretty

The inside stair of the broch

Way back in early spring  I took a picture of this self same nest  and I assume the self same fulmar although that's open to doubt I suppose

We then drove back along the road that leads to the Broch a little way and got out and scrambled down to a beach which, in sixteen years of living here, we have never visited before. It was wide and long and sandy and nice to walk on, but  I wouldn't rush back because it was also very smelly. 

The OH improving the view

Yachts on the Sound

Lok at all that sand - also how blue the sea is!

Razor clam shell, known locally as spoots. I  didn't take  a photo of the dead crabs.

Sandy Ripples

After we'd walked the breadth and half the length of the beach we went to a place called Fern Gully. This is mainly  famous for housing meerkats which we passed on, but we went to the tea room where I had a late lunch of a cream tea. It was very nice and I was impressed by their scone. Not often I  say that. 

        

Also courtesy of Fern Gully we welcomed a new member of the family. 

I call  him - what else? - Stark.He even howls.