July 2026

Wow! It's July, it's North Ronaldsay Sheep Festival!

 

with around 40 volunteers coming to the island from far and wide to rebuild part of the 13-mile stone dyke that surrounds the island

they built 172 metres of wall, 5 foot high !

(above photos thanks to North Ronaldsay Sheep Festival Facebook page)

At the weekend there is the volunteers vs islanders football match, watch out for Malcolm No 6, his highlight of the weekend and the year !

A great afternoon followed by a bbq

and then a fabulous ceilidh 

~~~~~

After the festival, then comes the punding (gathering) of the sheep ready for the shearing

With Billy the lighthouse keeper and the island's own shearers and some trainee shearers

the job gets done.

~~~~~

With tourists coming on to the island again we have been giving lighthouse tours and it's great that there are always new ways at looking at the wonderful rotating Fresnel lens.

This season 8 small cruise ships, each carrying around 100 passengers, have come onto North Ronaldsay. As part of their visit they can be part of bird watching tours, wool mill and lighthouse tours.

It's a great pleasure to be part of the lighthouse team with our Lighthouse Keeper Billy Muir 

(look him up on the internet !)

~~~~~

Quote of the month

" With freedom, books, flowers and the moon,   who could not be happy "

Oscar Wilde

~~~~~

Maybe I should add "a dog" to that list 😊

Molly has realised that I enjoy taking photos and is always happy to be available for photo shoots

~~~~~

Recommendation of the month

Our little Wilma dog who we lost last December lived until she was 17, so we must have been doing something right but over time ideas change and it's good to know up to date thinking.

 So I have been following Cam, "The Dog Nutritionist" and Molly is loving it ! and I get great pleasure in finding new foods to make life more interesting.

www.thedognutritionist.com

~~~~~

Talking of food, Zara thinks that glaring at me through the back door means that she will get more food, usually works !

~~~~~

So from Malcolm & June and the gang we wish you  a happy August,

 stay cool

💛💙💛💙💛💙

June 2026

Welcome everyone, hope you are keeping cool. The heat wave hasn't reached Orkney yet and not looking as though it will ! A blessing perhaps.

~~~~~

Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit.

"Oh let it be

A blessed day for me,

Oh yes say we"

Upon the first day of July, I greet you and I wish you well.

Little words by Athey Thompson

Art by Alison Barry

~~~~~

Even though the daylight hours are even longer at this time of year, I'm not sure where the time goes, it could just possibly be that I'm spending a lot of time with our new friend Molly the collie !

 

Molly is doing great, a lot of fun .

" sheep ? what sheep ? I see no sheep" 😂

Our old girl Zara still thinks it's a great idea to roll in the mud after the rain.

Mr Blonde on the other hand thinks he looks rather fine in the evening sun

At this time of year the night sky doesn't get dark, you just don't realise what time it is.

It always amazes me how even in the most unlikely places nature still finds a way to blossom.

~~~~~

Wishing you happy July days

from Malcolm & June

💙 💛 🐾 🐾 🐴 🐴

🍦 🍦 🍦 🍦 🍦 🍦 🍦

May 2026

 Hello everyone, welcome to a selection of our photos for May.

Some of this season's lambs are already being introduced to living on the shore and their diet of seaweed

The greenhouse is providing a plentiful supply of my favourite raspberries for breakfast

Eight small cruise ships, each with around 120 passengers and the crew, are booked to visit the island this season, weather permitting.

The passengers are ferried from the ships moored about two miles out at sea via Zodiac ribs and are helped to come ashore on Bewan Pier, not for the faint-hearted !

The passengers are then grouped depending on what interests them, the birds and wildlife, lighthouse tours or the wool mill.

~~~~~

We don't very often leave the island but this month has been an exception!

With a 70th birthday party in Harrow combined with meeting up with longtime-no-see friends and my big bruvver it has been a wonderfully exciting and social month.

~~~~~~

Love you Rosie 💖

Love you Bruvver  💕

Love you Elaine and Colin 💜💙

Love you Maria and Sergio 💛💙

On our travels we got to spend a morning in sunny Aberdeen

a city filled with some wonderful murals

to brighten up some not so bright streets

and alfresco dining, a rare thing in Orkney !

serving vase-sized smoothies !

and a fairground, shame it wasn't open at the time, do love a fairground !!

      Lots of travel on trains (King's Cross Station)

                                                 ferries

and wonderful impromptu folk music from talented young musicians from Edinburgh

Always lovely to spot North Ronaldsay Lighthouse from the plane though after some time away

~~~~~~

Books of the month

oooh ! three lovely books this month

~~~~

~~~~~

~~~~~

Miss Molly the collie

 is now officially part of our family 😊

Molly's purpose in life is

 to love 💖 and to be loved 💖,

her instinct to herd sheep is non-existent and she finds rabbits a bit boring,

she keeps her distance from Zara and Mr Blond,

Tilly cat is something to stare at and

her aim in life is to be a couch potato !

~~~~~

To our friends who have birthdays this month,

June (TY), Kelly M, Gill V, Charlotte and Mr Blonde we send you birthday wishes

and 

wish you all a warm, sun-shining month of June 

with love from June and Malcolm

🌞💛🌞💛🌞💛🌞💛🌞