Fletcher saga 14 Mar 2004

One thing that I had forgotten about is the Scottish currency, specifically the multitude of banknote types. There are the usual £5, £10 and £20 notes issued by the Bank of England. But there also notes of similar denomination issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Clydesdale Bank; just to confuse the issue these two banks still issue £1 notes which, to my colour deficient vision, look very much like the £5 notes. I believe that there are also £50 notes in circulation but I have yet to see one.
Today I attended the Church of Scotland, Kirkwall East Church. The congregation numbered about 80 with about 15 children. The church itself is about 100 years old but much updated, very light and airy. Hymns were varied - "At the name of Jesus", "Colours of the day", "The Servant Song" but the choir (unrobed) was quite good; there is a nice two-manual pipe organ. The minister was not present because he was taking a service elsewhere. It was a special service to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Fairtrade, complete with a cake bearing 10 candles (which was carted off for consumption by the Junior Church when they left half-way through the service). There was also a sketch performed by members of the Breakfast Club (not sure what that entails) on the topic of Fairtrade and how it helps producers of bananas, tea and cocoa in developing countries. Over the last 5 or 6 Sundays I've attended services at the Episcopalian church, the cathedral and the Kirk but the only place where anybody actually came up and greeted me was the Episcopalian church. I'll try the Kirk again next Sunday and introduce myself this time; when we get to Stronsay it's the Kirk or nothing!
Our house purchase crawls along thanks to the new money-laundering laws but we should hear something in the next few days. Last week the owners of our new home told us that they are unable to take Rocky - their pet sheep - with them because of lack of space at their new home in Caithness. I think I mentioned before that Rocky lives in the garden of the house next to our new home. It saves the homeowner from having to buy a lawnmower and he has taken over responsibility for looking after Rocky. But we shall feel morally bound to keep a maternal eye on him.
The weather has been very mixed - last week began with lovely bright skies and no gales but by Friday it was back to the usual cold winds, dull skies and pouring rain. Today (Sunday) began reasonably well but by the time I came out of church the rain was coming down like stair rods and the temperature had dropped back to near-freezing.

Last updated 15 May 2004