So, that was a nice weekend....

... although I'm not sure how it as taken me until Thursday to blog about it!

We started off with a visit to the preview of the exhibition at The Loft Gallery. These change on a monthly basis through ten months of the year and when we're here, and if we remember, we like to go and show our faces to support the artists who show there.  The current exhibition is called Curious Beasts, which sounded promising, but the work was not to our taste sadly. It happens, and actually less often than you might think. There are some very talented artists, in all media,  who live and work in Orkney and we love their work much more often than not. 

(Incidentally a couple of weeks ago we went to an exhibition in The Old Library of the work of Kathy Pickles, whose website is here, and we enjoyed that enormously. The only reason that we didn't buy anything was because all the ones we really liked had gone before we got there - so, in about the first 40 minutes!)

After a quick lunch we scooted off to Skate Rumple Orkney Alpacas where we had a fabulous time. We saw, and fed, goats, pigs and the alpacas, also ducks by default as they stood around your feet waiting for all the stuff to drop out of the feeding scoops while the animals scarfed. Since hens make me feel uneasy, to put it mildly, I was pleased to see that there was only one hen in evidence and I was able to avoid her quite easily.

There are a few pictures, naturally

The pigs are called Chutney, Pickle and Ketchup!

Alpaca

Pygmy Goat

Angora Goat

More alpacas, the white one is called Moomin

Rather better view of an angora goat.

More goats

pretty ducks - although you can't really tell that from the pictures. 

The place has been open to the public for about nine years apparently so I don't know how it is that I have only become aware of them in the past six months or so, but anyway, we had a great time, despite the miserable weather. After we had fed the animals we got fed ourselves with a very fine home baked lemon drizzle cake, and coffee especially blended for them by The Orkney Roastery ( I know, surprising isn't it?) . We bought a bag of the beans to use in our new bean to cup coffee machine because it was really nice. We're now waiting for the Facebook announcement of their Christmas Sop opening times! and I expect we will go back again quite a lot, next year. 

On Sunday the weather brightened up no end and we went for a walk. Sadly the new walks book has gone and hidden itself somewhere so we just drove down to Burwick, which is more or less the most southern tip of South Ronaldsay, got out of the car and had a wander. 

I worry that I'm getting a bit obsessed with graveyards , but honestly they throw up the oddest and most photogenic of things

 yes, that really is an old bedframe round a grave

and as always, in Orkney, the view

And actually I know perfectly well why t has taken me so long to blog about it and that is because I have returned to my studies big-time. I had forgotten how long it takes to actually read stuff, especially stuff more challenging than a detective novel.