Let Your Nipple Show

One of my goals for this trip to the Orkneys was to find an Orkney wool sweater. So, today as we set off on a circular route from Finstown, I guess it was in the back of my mind, but not the front. We went east out of town running along the coast. The first stop was a doocot, (dove cote) which was built on a farm hundreds of years ago. It is a sort of beehive shaped building with an open top. Inside  there are recesses built into the walls where doves nest. The original intent was to eat the young doves. We went inside which was about a foot deep in dove droppings and very much still in use, by the doves. I don't think that the people still use it.

Then we moved on to the Broch of Guerness. This was an Iron age structure built on the sand dunes, It had been in use through the Iron age by the Picts, and then by the Vikings and then the Norse. It had a central Broch, surrounded by by several smaller living spaces.





Next, the nipple part comes in. As we moved up the coast, Sheelagh spotted The Wool Shed. This was to be a gallery of locally produced wool products. Inside we met Denise. She is small, iron grey haired lady with an acerbic wit. I had picked up a wool sweater and asked to try it on. She took a look and simply said, "I have a better one inside."
When she came out she indeed did have a better one. It too was grey, but of better wool and it fit better. I tried it on and decided on the spot not to take it off.  Sheelagh was examining a stitch on my chest when Denise asked, "It there a problem?"
Sheelagh said, "Just a loose stitch.?

"Oh," replies Denise, "You can let your nipple show." And then she burst out laughing. She is
wonderful.

We then crossed along the top of Mainland Island to Birsay where we found a wonderful tearoom . We sat watching the waves roll in and the cows and rabbits live their lives outside the window. After a wonderful lunch we strolled through the Earl's Palace built in the 16th century by Robert Stewert, illegitimate son of James V.It was a huge ruin very well maintained by Historic Scotland.

Leaving the Earl's Palace we wandered across country, stopping at a small, "Click Mill", naned for a lever that clicked and fed the grain down into the stones to be ground into flour. The mechanism was powered by a horizontal water wheel. From there we went home.