Gotcha!

 It was a bit chill yesterday but we still went out for a walk. 

First we went over to Yesnaby ( WW2 Archaeology, spectacular cliffs, wildflowers and birds)

Then we went to Happy Valley which we have been promising ourselves a visit to at bluebell time for a few years now without ever getting around to it - busy in other directions and not always knowing when the bluebells were out. 

Driving from Yesnaby to Happy Valley takes you past Geri's Ice Cream Parlour (no it really does, there aren't that many roads on Orkney!) and mine was a double waffle cone with Orkney Fudge and Vanilla Honeycomb. The OH had lemon curd and mint choc chip. They are his favourite flavours, but I don;t know that they go all that well together. 

But the main reason for going to Yesnaby just now was to look for this:- 

Primula Scotica. Found only in Orkney and Caithness, tiny, flowers in May and July. Every Orcadian jeweller and artist you have ever heard of  features a primula scotica in one of their collections, with the honourable exception of Karen Duncan 

We've been here sixteen years now and we've never actually gone looking for it before, so I was very impressed that we found it first go. Although we did have  help from some passing tourists from south who had seen them first and told us roughly where we would find some. I'm not saying we wouldn't have found them ourselves but honestly it was a bit needle, haystack. Easier to find next time though, as the leaves are a dead giveaway, once you know what you're looking for.