A few leftovers

Here are a few leftover shots of Stromness and some accompanying comments.  These weren't included in the previous "carpe diem" post, but may be of interest to those considering their own sojourn to Orkney's second city.  

We took a number of photos while ambling around Stromness, including this blue door and lion knocker.  

In Scotland, owners of homes and businesses are not exactly reserved when it comes to putting up bold color schemes.  That is equally true for Scotland's wooden fishing fleet.

In Stromness, buildings are mostly faced in sandstone.  Without the splash of color, the view-shed would be one of industrial drab, an ordinary Henry Ford Puritanical color scheme of sameness.   Given the oft gray weather in these climes, bold colors may be a kind of therapy of sorts.  Much like using lights to "extend" the winter day hours in Nordic countries near the Arctic.

This riotous seaside of bold colors, often primary colors, was certainly apparent in Tobermory on Mull when we visited in 2018.  Anyhow, viva the splash of color.

March 28, 2018  Tobermory on Isle of Mull 

During our 2022 Easter Tour, many sites in Orkney were under renovation.  In particular, Maes Howe on Mainland Orkney (even though, surprise surprise its gift shop alone was open).  The medieval church ruins on the isles of Wyre and Egilsay were also barricaded.  It seems Orkney made use of its Covid shutdown "respite" to improve or preserve its stock of historical buildings.  This was true for many places in Scotland, including Inverness Castle--no entrance.

April 9, 2022  Inverness Castle under remodeling

In Stromness, remodeling was also being done on the steeple tower of their "free church" wrapped in green construction cladding.  Here, the term "free church" originally referred to a Christian denomination that is separate from the government, and thus not making public law.  The Free Church has undergone a number of unions, schisms, legal actions and divorces, so to speak.  The term litigious comes to mind.

In Scotland, Free Kirk refers to a distinct Presbyterian Church that remained outside the Union of Presbyterian Churches which occurred in 1900.  The Free Kirk has somewhat dismissively been called "The Wee Fees" because its congregation is substantially smaller than that of the United Free Kirk.  The finer distinctions are lost on me.  I am aware, in terms of unnecessary divisiveness in a church, that were the body is there buzzards unfortunately gather.  That is not said with malice.  It's merely an observation of divisiveness over minutia.         

The photo shows a curious "cut away" at the foot of the alley's steps.  It seems that earlier builders sought to maintain the width of the alley for trade carts perhaps.  Apparently that could not be done without "whittling" (or "knapping") off the corner of the building on the main street.  In any case, it's an oddity not often seen.

As to our bench in Stromness square, I'm sitting on it.  It can be seen behind the cattle-footed planter against the Lifeboats Hall.  Though it may not look like it, the planter is in the middle of a street at a T-intersection.  This was an active traffic square.  So much so, we anticipated several times that we'd be witness to a fender bender. 

Some drivers, clearly non-locals, followed the dockside road around the corner and ended up in this square at this planter.  Many seemed unsure of what to do.  Left?  Right?  Back up? The worst of the bunch were those with what might be called camper vans.  They tied up everything, mostly because of their inability to back up, or their doubt about their ability to make the turn at the T-intersection and what was around the corner. 

In a kind of quirky type thing, rocks with some word hand painted on them sort of show up in random places around Orkney.  Some of these are marketed as folk art in a few stores.  Not exactly sure why one would do so, but art is in the eye of the beholder, perhaps.

This rock was left at a Royal Post mailbox in Stromness.  It has a coating, probably polyurethane to protect it, and a vine design of some sort with the hand painted word "Adventure".  

It was left upside down at the top of the mailbox. To read these, they need to be turned over.  Another oddity, but okay.  Some people collect garden gnomes.  Others leave craft-painted word rocks here and there.  I guess it is an adventure after all.