MORE STORMY WEATHER

When people in Shetland, as, it is said, in the rest of the UK, meet, the first topic of conversation is usually the weather. This has certainly been the case this week, as the islands have been battered by a rapid succession of severe gales, occasionally reaching storm force. Yesterday afternoon it reached violent storm magnitude, which was a little scary at times. The wind, which, in a "normal" gale, howls, rumbles and whistles, took to shaking and buffeting in an alarming fashion. There has been damage, even before Saturday's tempest. Power supplies have been interrupted, and transport links have been badly affected. All Northlink ferries, which provide the "lifeline" service between these islands and the Scottish mainland, had their sailings cancelled on Friday and Saturday. My brother, who picked the wrong time to pay a visit north to the place of his birth and childhood, has been caught up in the disruption, and, as I write this, it is with sadness that I watch the ferry, on which he is a passenger, disappearing over the horizon through the weather window. His visit was all too short.

ARTWORK IN PROGRESS
Work has progressed much as normal. I finished my amendments to the picture of the old Aberdeen trawler "Headway" approaching Lerwick harbour in a gale (rather appropriate for this week!), and I think it will now pass muster. I have been making further progress, with the forthcoming Duff House exhibition in mind, on two more fishing vessel paintings. Both are of old Buckie seine-netters, one, the "Avoca", again approaching Lerwick harbour, but viewed from a completely different angle, with the Ness of Sound in the background. The other is of the "Sirius" leaving Aberdeen Harbour. This one requires quite a lot of detail in the background buildings, which is time-consuming and eye-straining, but, I believe, worth the extra time and effort. Actually, I find this kind of work easy and relaxing, in comparison with the difficulty of constructing sea waves.

OTHER ACTIVITIES
As is normally the case on his visits, my brother and I found ourselves doing some work at our mother's house at Whiteness. On Friday morning, he pruned back the roses, in the greenhouse, almost to the roots, and planted a couple of new yellow ones he had brought with him at my request. The greenhouse needs a touch of gold! There's plenty of red, pink, mauve and white, with the fuchsias, pelargoniums, geraniums and the established roses. I helped by bagging up the pruned material for disposal. In the afternoon, we loaded the boot of his hired car with as much of the rubbish, which had accumulated in the garage over the past two years, as it would hold, and made a trip to the Shetland Islands Council's state-of-the-art disposal unit at Rova Head, north of Lerwick. There's still a trailer-load of rubbish left in the garage, but at least we've made a start.

ADVERTISING!
Could it be the case that the financial constraints, which now have the country in their grasp, are driving advertising executives to desperate means to secure copy for the various publications they work for? In the run-up to Christmas, I am being offered all kinds of deals, and I am advertising in magazines, the cost of copy in which I would have thought completely beyond my means last year. Look out for Tait Gallery small ads, in monthlies with a nautical flavour, in the run-up to the festive season.


I observe, from the Met Office's website, that the weather is to be a bit quieter (and colder) this incoming week. I will find this a welcome change from the storms of the past week, and will keep you posted on this, work in progress, and events in the Shetland Islands.