(I wrote this on 1st March but then weddingy stuff took over my life. However, in the interests of continuity - and because this is a personal diary as well as a way of keeping in touch with yo'all, my much-missed chums - I'm posting it anyway. Besides, it's the last thing I wrote (apart from such enlightening works of literature as "Where's your homework?") as a single woman.)
While I remain a happy bunny, February had several lows. A Virulent Virus has been doing the rounds of Orkney and so it was inevitable that, with the majority of the kids on Stronsay dying by inches, that I'd get it too. We picked the NEW CAR, I drove it to the ferry carpark and didn't see it again for the best part of a fortnight, as I was home ill.
The day I returned to work, I got stuck on Stronsay - no planes owing to fog. I had always feared I'd get stuck on that bleak, godforsaken island, though the school had always assured me that, should such a thing occur, I'd be well taken care of. Ha! If it hadn't been for the kindness of Julie, the taxi driver, I'd have frozen to death. There was nowhere to stay: the hotel and the B&B were both full (of workmen, not masochistic holidaymakers.) Julie persuaded a lady to put me up for the night so, after a meal in the dismal hotel, I had a warm bed. I got to work the next day by early afternoon, wearing the clothes I'd slept in and having been in transit for five and a half hours.
The following Monday, lo! the same thing happened again. It was foggy at the airport in the morning, so why on earth they flew everyone out to the isles in the first place I can't imagine. This time I stayed with the new Headteacher, a lady whose idea of comfort is clearly different from mine. She'd moved into the schoolhouse a few days previously and was living out of boxes. The vast old house, situated nearly on the beach, was cold and damp and smelt strongly of a previous owner who was clearly a heavy smoker. I woke at 3am with an asthma attack and never got back to sleep. This time I came back on the 7am ferry, so I didn't even get any breakfast and again went straight to work. The Head on Hoy was effusive in her gratitude for my dedication and commitment, she lied. Actually, she was eager to tell me what a marvellous job she'd made of teaching the classes I'd been forced to miss. (I beg to differ.) The next day, my line manager at the Council was on Stronsay and I took up the issue of the amount of time I'd wasted. His response was 'you knew what you were taking on when you accepted the job.' My response has been to start looking for another job.
But there's been high points too: Bill and I drove (in the NEW CAR, henceforth known as Persephone) down to Dundee and got most of the rest of the stuff for the wedding. We stayed in a nice little hotel with its own Italian restaurant in the basement, and had really fantastic food for two days. We were very lucky with the weather, as Northern Scotland was covered in snow the previous week, but it had all gone, except for the mountain tops of the Cairngorms, so we had the beauty without the driving problems. The journey through the dawn as we belted up to Scrabster for the midday ferry was so beautiful - I've travelled a lot, but this was among the best mornings I've ever seen. Sadly, no photos of the clear pale turquoise sky with a few lines of smudgy white cloud as if drawn by a minimalist artist, as we were in danger of missing the ferry and arrived with only 9 minutes to spare. In fact, as soon as we arrived, they loaded the boat and left early, as the weather was expected to worsen...
(That's as far as I got. I came very close to applying for a new job, but with the wedding on the way, it all seemed too much. Have spent SIX HOURS of today trying to upload some wedding photos, hence still no Nuptial blog, but in the meantime, here's a few shots of my journey home on Valentine's Day plus our new pals on Flotta and their wee cousin on Hoy.)
