Fletcher saga 27 Feb 2004

The northerly gales and snow began on Tuesday and have continued ever since. At least the Orkney Islands Council is prepared for bad weather so the gritters and ploughs have been working 24 hours a day since Tuesday. When I drove into Kirkwall on Thursday to stock up with provisions the main road was almost clear except for a few small drifts in some very exposed places alongside Scapa Flow. Even the minor road that goes past the track leading to our cottage has been ploughed clear although there is a thick layer of snow and ice. The track to the cottage has been kept clear by the owner so that he and his wife can get out to work each morning. How I have appreciated the four-wheel drive on the car.
In Kirkwall on Thursday there were no newspapers and only a limited amount of fresh bread because all the Wednesday ferries and flights were cancelled. However, I managed to get some basic provisions including bread-flour and yeast so that Maureen can continue making her own bread as she did when we were in Scarborough, how this turns out with an electric oven we have yet to find out. How we miss our big deep-freezer, the tiny freezer in the cottage's refrigerator barely holds a bit of mince and some chicken.
We have eaten well; Maureen performs absolute marvels in the tiny kitchen. On Friday we had suet pudding - delicious but not good for the waistline – and in the absence of “proper” basins Maureen used two coffee mugs.
The post is a bit erratic because of the cancelled ferries and flights, a first-class letter posted in Scarborough on Monday evening did not reach us until lunch-time on Thursday. We knew that we might have a bit of bad weather when we moved up here during the winter but this is ridiculous! However, we have plenty of food and the electricity supply has only dropped out a couple of times (the owners of the cottage tell us it is rare to lose the supply completely for any length of time). We have a full cylinder of gas for the portable fire, the two storage heaters charge up each night, the immersion heater supplies hot water and the two-bar electric fire helps top up the heat during the day when necessary. The cottage is fully double-glazed so it stays quite warm and draught-free but getting clothes dry is a problem as we have an automatic washer but no tumble drier. It would be impossible to get any washing to stay on the line even if I could stand up in the wind to get it on the line in the first place so Maureen has dug out the old-fashioned clothes horse from the cupboard. She sets it up overnight next to the storage heaters so we are warm and cosy even if it is a bit "fuggy" at times. We shall be very glad to get into our new home, with its two-foot thick stone walls and oil-fired central heating, on 31 March. I hope that the snow has disappeared by then and that the ferries are running normally.

Last updated 15 May 2004