As I write this edition of the Saga it is just before 5 pm on Tuesday 02 February and it is not yet dark outside. The long, dark winter nights can be a little wearisome at times but they do give us an opportunity to indulge in our hobbies.

On Monday 17 January I started going to the evening classes in "Singing Technique". They were supposed to be held in the Fish Mart but it was closed for a couple of weeks after suffering some damage during the recent storms (it re-opened on 29 January). The singing classes were moved to the Community Centre at short notice.The instructor, Michael Lee, travels over from Kirkwall on the afternoon ferry arriving at 5:30 pm, takes the evening class from 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm then stays in the Stronsay Hotel before catching the 7 am ferry back to Kirkwall. It was heartening to see at least ten students of all ages and abilities turn up for few of the ten lessons despite the bitterly cold weather. There is a choir on Sanday, tutored by Michael, and an orchestra who are hoping to put on a performance of Handel's "Messiah" in December this year; it may be that some members of the singing class will volunteer to augment the Sanday choir. There will only be one or possibly two rehearsals because travel to and from Sanday in a single evening is not a regular occurrence.

We had snow on the evenings of Monday and Tuesday 17/18 January but nowhere near as much as Central Scotland which had over ten inches of snow overnight. It is bitterly cold though and we went out only when it was absolutely necessary to do a bit of shopping.

Last week I went to Kirkwall to take the kitten for its final innoculation, to get some work done on the car at the garage in Stromness, visit Balfour hospital's chiropody department to get my feet "done" and drop off some clean clothes for the brother of Matilda's owners then, finally, do one or two bits of shopping for Maureen. Whilst in Balfour hospital I also dropped off some clean clothes for the brother of Matilda's owner; apparently he had been blown over by the high winds and had broken his leg which meant a trip to Aberdeen for surgery. It was only a day or two before I was due to go to Kirkwall that we realised that Morrison's supermarket in Kirkwall was closing at 3 pm on Saturday so that it could be transformed into a Somerfield supermarket, the staff must be quite dizzy as it was only a few months ago that it changed from Safeway's to Morrison's.

Over the next 10 weeks all three of our ferries will go in, one at a time, for their annual refit. Because there are only two boats they run to an amended timetable and the 1.5 hour journey to/from Kirkwall now takes 2.5 hours. Fortunately return trip was made in company of two monks from Papa Stronsay - we discussed a wide range of topics including transubstantiation, original sin, etc., and I discovered that the monk's Highland bull was badly injured during the recent storms and had to be put down.

When Matilda's owner brought the clean clothes that I was to deliver to his brother in Balfour hospital he told me that Matilda is still roosting on the chair spindles but now she stays until it is dark. Because hens have poor night vision Matilda's owner then has to carry her all the way back to the new henhouse and pop her through the entrance.

Last updated 02 February 2005