Today got off to a bad start - was in the usual rush, up at 5.30am, gulp breakfast, walk dogs, deal with urgent emails, throw banana, tomatoes, cheese & oatcakes (Stockans Orkney of course, they're one of our supporters!) into lunch box, make flask of tea, pack site bag, lose phone, rush around trying to find same, realise packed it night before to save time, make thermos cup of coffee for on boat, tear out door with seconds to spare, drive over the Birsay peat hill to Tingwall for 8.20 ferry, fail to find parking space at pier so just leave Landy in random spot, leap on boat, collapse in usual corner to drink coffee, realise lovingly prepared thermos is still wedged in safe place between seats in Landy parked on pier and boat is now loading amazingly large array of vehicles and lorries so can't run back to fetch same, spend journey to Rousay sulking coffeless watching torrential rain falling and thinking dark caffeine-free thoughts.
Improved after picking up the Swandro Advance Team - Hollie, Hannah & Klaudia - who are unfailingly cheerful (and very young, I'm wearing an old rugby shirt to site which I bought before they were all born, which makes me feel very old especially when I've not had my coffee) and always start by telling me how good their tea was the night before - although they're in the hostel this week they're being fed by Carey at the Taversoe Hotel- so far it's included cheese burgers with bacon, lasagne with garlic bread & salad, sausage casserole tonight it's curry and tomorrow fish & chips - they're not looking forward to next week when they have to go self catering!
On site we're still doing endless raking up of grass left by the strimming so that the laser scanning & ground penetrating radar surveys can go ahead with obstruction.
Had yet another day of alternating scorching sunshine and torrential rain, from factor 50 to waterproofs yet again, and you have to admit that raking grass and dumping it is not the most exciting of pastimes, even if we do have pitchforks in fetching pastel shades - pastel pink & baby blue - reason being the pastel ones were £13.84 and the more 'macho' versions in boring brown were £30 each, so we're just having to put up with them! The rakes are dull colours though so we can salvage some pride
More raking tomorrow then hopefully time to get out all our of our signboards marking the way to site - praying for a day without downpours, plus also a day that starts with coffee!
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