Happy, Happy Spring! There has been a change in the air this week. Last night's frost hasn't been quite as thick, and the sky is already getting lighter, signs of another beautiful day ahead. I'm taking a break from here, but if you need me, I'm sure you can find me elsewhere. #TheBeaufortReport

And so, winter comes to a close in a blaze of sunshine and glory. The children were leaving school in short sleeves and laughing all the way home, just with the sheer unbridled joy of it all. The tractor was ploughing the hill, and the firth offered a quiet and calm reflection. #TheBeaufortReport

The firth this morning was bathed in subtle purples, the kind you get on cold and clear mornings, promising a glorious day ahead. It reminded me of another early morning overlooking Stenness Loch almost exactly nine years ago (pictured). #TheBeaufortReport #BlackIsle #Highlands #Orkney #Scotland

It has been a golden sort of day, with blue skies and occasional contrails and mostly-fluffy clouds. A very precise, boxy cloud hovered just shy of the mountain peak for a while, making it look for all the world like Ben Wyvis was wearing a pillbox hat. #TheBeaufortReport

I got to play at being in Labyrinth this weekend, and captured dreams and daffodils in my crystal ball. 💚🔮💚 #Spring #Caithness #Scotland

Last night's rugby was just a bit too much for some. #Scotland #SixNations

This week, I ordered a second-hand copy of "French Provincial Cooking" by Elizabeth David, and I have become a little bit obsessed with what I found written by the book's previous owner inside the cover. #books #cookery

Last month, @joannechocolat.bsky.social invited subscribers to her newsletter to submit their poems on the theme of chocolate. Here's what I drafted - a light-hearted reflection on what chocolate has meant to me and my family over the years. It was good fun drafting this! A walk down memory lane.

The Unwonted Fatigue of Being Online. A mostly raw stream of consciousness about digital lives, priorities, and running with things. And, as it turns out, an accidental brief insight into having a brain that Just. Won't. Switch. Off.

There is a magical light this morning. A golden glow that hasn't disappeared with the fledgling day, but has stayed to make sure that everyone knows that anything can happen. #TheBeaufortReport

The weather is on the up again. There is more snow on the mountains, but more sunshine and warmth too, and less of the bitter wind. The trees are budding quickly now, you can almost see the growth from one day to the next. There is everything to play for. #TheBeaufortReport

Say hello to Honoria Hare, who I made friends with this morning. She was entirely not bothered about me! 💚 #Stempster #Caithness #Scotland #NaturePhotography #Nature #Spring #MadMarchHare

This photo essay by Lynn Fraser about Kumpo, a figure in Jola mythology, is excellent. Stunning photography. #FolkloreThursday

My Scribbles and Sketches notebook this month is focussed on snippets from the library of books I've collected over the years: Commonplace Folklore. Recent posts have included the words of "Ambrose Merton" and Alan Dundes, and passages about gremlins and the Nuckelavee. #FolkloreThursday

The mountains aren't there at all this morning. A solitary beacon-white wind turbine dances furiously in front of a moody petrol blue and greying sky on top of one of the hills, twisting to see Wyvis somewhere in the gloom beyond. #TheBeaufortReport

After a somewhat middling at times day, the sun pulled it out of the bag just before sunset to grace us with some piercingly beautiful attention from the western hills. Now, night has fallen, and there's a chance of snow. #TheBeaufortReport

There has been a dip in temperature today after the comparatively balmy weekend. A fresh covering of snow on the mountains. The sun finally broke through mid-afternoon, and made a point of hanging about as if to apologise for her absence this morning. #TheBeaufortReport

More haar, more sunshine. A certain type of warmth, promising spring. The sun has changed colour for the season, and is already spilling over more of the garden by midday. #TheBeaufortReport

The haar over the firth has crept up the hill to the end of the garden, leaving us floating above the world. There is a perfect raindrop on the tip of every branch of the Japanese Maple. #TheBeaufortReport

The firth was so still today. No sign of movement from a distance, just blurred reflections merging into one another. #TheBeaufortReport

Every now and then, I get an overwhelming urge to disappear. Sometimes digitally, sometimes physically. I know it is just how I am wired, and I've spent more than forty years adapting to this, but yeesh! It is exhausting being me, sometimes. Today is one of those days.

Heard my first skylark of the year this morning, pelting out its arias from a hundred feet up or so; the song that lifts the heart as it falls.

Every three months, I share a daily notebook on Substack, each with a different theme. This month's theme is Commonplace Folklore, featuring excerpts from the library of books I've collected over the years. #folklore #FolkloreThursday

We went into Auri's school today to take part in some #WorldBookDay activities. We took the "build something based on a book from the library" task very seriously.

Past sunset and well into the grimlins, a thin wave of pink stretched across the sky from the west. It lasted a scant handful of minutes before it faded to palest lemon before dissipating into the blue-grey. #TheBeaufortReport

PS: Actual thing that just happened to me when I tried to leave a comment correcting the article at Guitarworld:

Happy #WorldBookDay! Auri chose 'Matilda' for her 'Bring Your Book to Life' display at school. Instead of dressing up as a character today, her school are suggesting children wear some clothes with words on, so she has chosen her 'Practically Perfect' Mary Poppins top. She loves the original books.

It's #WorldBookDay tomorrow (Thursday 6th March) so don't forget that if you need any last minute dressing up clothes we've loads on the rails at Orkney Library and they're all FREE. Just take what you need and returning whenever you want. 📚 #LoveLibraries

I’ve lived in #Sheffield for 20+ years and know the streets extremely well. Carrying a camera makes me notice the things I didn’t see the last 100 times, and I love that. Since taking on more architectural #photography work I’ve found myself fascinated by glass/windows/reflections…

It's here! We are so excited to reveal the cover for Doorway to the Sunset, Book Two of the @clemencycrow.bsky.social's Feather Down Trilogy. Isn't it gorgeous? Please share this with anyone you know who loves #MGLIt adventure! [Released on 4th July] #KidsLit #BookSky #CoverReveal #ComingSoon

The morning's rain cleared by lunchtime, making way for light skies and sunshine. The wind was warm, and spirits lifted along with the clouds. #TheBeaufortReport

Yeesh, I'll be on my tenth #SimplyThis post tomorrow already. This year is flying by.

Pancakes this evening (because, of course). I had a delicious garlic mushroom with bacon and cheese topping on my first, but it just isn't #PancakeDay if I don't have one with golden syrup.

Bouts of sunshine today, but mostly just grey and windy. The firth was full of white horses, rolling, galloping. Dowdy clouds skimmed the top of the mountains, which have only flecks of snow now, the brightness of the world dimmed. #TheBeaufortReport

A day of moods. Wild moods, gentle moods, furious moods, and reconciliation. The sun can't make up its mind, and the wind is throwing its weight around. It is deliciously March. #TheBeaufortReport

Silver winter light in the northern corries of the Cairngorms yesterday. And look at that fabulous expanse of pine forest lapping the feet of the big hills. Pulls my heart northwards… (Images by my parents, who were up in Coire an Lochan)

When you are married to a puppeteer, you never know who will suddenly turn up in the living room.

A finger-chilling day, with a bitter wind. The clouds got moodier towards sunset, low over the mountains. Everything is promising rain. #TheBeaufortReport

March already! I start my latest seasonal notebook this evening. It is strange to think this will be my seventh #ScribblesAndSketches notebook. This season's theme is Commonplace Folklore: some quotes from some of the books I've collected over the years. #folklore #landscape #Orkney #place

Blue skies today, with white clouds being encouraged along by a brisk breeze. Daylight is stretching out, and seems noticeably longer every day. There may still be a chill, but the sun is warm and the trees are budding. Crocus everywhere, muscling in next to the snowdrops. #TheBeaufortReport

Honestly, arguing online is almost never fun anymore and I made the choice when I came to Bluesky not to do it here. Choosing not to argue doesn't mean one can't have conversations. It does mean that after 30+years online, my experience is that "arguing" online results in little but annoyance.

There is a specific colour to some days of late winter, a type of sunshine somewhere between lemon and gold. It is that colour today. The firth is full, and the snow on the mountains is retreating. #TheBeaufortReport

This sounds like something straight out of Orcadian folklore. The nuckelavee "appeared like raw and living flesh, from which the skin had been stripped. You could see the black blood flowing through his veins, and every movement of his muscles..." - Walter Traill Dennison #folklore #Orkney

The firth at low tide at sunset, sands reflecting shades of the day. It has been glorious - cold, but beautiful - and there's a promise of spring, nearly within reach. #TheBeaufortReport

Poetry and wisdom courtesy of Auri (6) this morning: Auri: I know how high the sky is. Me: How high is it? Auri: A little bit higher than the eagle flies.

In the UK, it is hard to understand the full extent of the Conservative Christian machinery in the US. This is a remarkable account for many reasons, but the things that most stand out to me are the depth of compassion and the seering honesty: an urgent attempt at reconciliation of love and belief.

This looks fascinating. I need to read more, but I hope such developments help change the discourse relating to the more traditionally rigid concept of #HigherEd. It is hoped that anything that challenges, in content or method, will contribute to more varied and robust sector analysis and approach.

Past sunset now, just a sky of silhouetted mountains across the firth and graduated lemon through green to deepening blue, after a day of frost and warmth. #TheBeaufortReport

I am not one for unfounded sweeping statements of national identity, but there does seem to be something endearingly and heartwarmingly English about sharing a well-constructed joke and then debating how best to gently let people who missed the joke part know they have done so.

A strange day, with the wind whipping up to a bitter rant, only to change its mind minutes later and relax into sunshine and calm. #TheBeaufortReport