Monday 11 January 2021

Archive in a Pandemic A-Z: N is for...

 NEW YEAR


Happy New Year lovely readers! Some of you will be going through your third lockdown and are probably sick of the sight of your own home/spouse/fridge. We do hope that you are all managing and send you our good wishes and virtual embraces. (For those of you who are not huggers, we send you a firm and hearty handshake through the ether. No virtual air kisses though... we don't like those... )

Orkney is currently on level 3 restrictions which means that we cannot enter private homes to socialise but non-essential shops and the library and archive are permitted to remain open. We are very thankful to be able to continue working but, as the schools are currently closed, this makes life tricky for those of us with tiny little archivers. Some of us may be attempting to work from home again but, fear not, no precious documents shall be taken back to our pits of jam covered mayhem. 

We are also losing a member of staff to retirement so the archives will be a rather depleted place for the next few weeks. Sob! 

Still, the days are slowly getting longer and the sun now sets at a thrilling 3.43pm. Soon the wonderful day when we leave work at a bright and perhaps sunny 5pm will arrive. Always a day of great jubilation.

We leave you with some delightful images of lupins and puffins in anticipation of Spring. It's fun to say isn't it? Lupins and puffins, lupins and puffins, lupins and puffins... this may well be my mantra from now when things seem grim... lupins and puffins , lupins and puffins, can't wait to see some lupins and puffins...

Taken by Tom Kent. Negative no. TK 1067

Also by Tom Kent. Negative no. TK 1079

'the path through the wild lupins' - negative no. L150/2

Puffins (Tammie Nories) on the rocks at the back of Rousay. Negative L2367/1




..and why not look at this photo of a Dunlin taken at Scapa on the 2nd of September 1930 while you're at it??

Negative no. L10,293/3


All images are part of the Orkney Photographic Archive.

1 comment:

  1. Belated happy new year to you, too! I hope that 2021 brings good health and happiness to us all. Puffins and lupins, lupins and puffins! Here in Texas, blue lupins are called Texas Bluebonnets, and there is a sweet Native American story associated with them. It's long, so I won't put it here, but you can find it if you search for "the story of the Texas Bluebonnet."

    ReplyDelete

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