They remind
me of Hounds of Love.
When Caithness based multi-talented artist Joanne B Kaar invited me for a collaborative venture (that rhymes with ADVENTURE!) I just could not resist the idea of canines globe trotting in the name of art.  Newton and Stewart arrived on my latitude on the eve of my Birthday. Haha, what a coincidence – little did I know they loved cake and anything sweet! As gales were raging, I kept them home and fed them with love. They watched this Nordic world – high flying gulls, crows and horizontal rain, hail and snow – behind the safety of double glass. They made friends with Tystie & Peewit, my two felines, and wove patience as a treasure.
 But as today proved much more gentle to their taste, we all needed to burn all those fancies and cake, porridge and other Shetland sweetness that keep us warm at heart during the harshness of Imbolc. February so commonly  gripped by ice & icicles that feel like blades. This early morning did not feel otherwise.
Tystie and Peewit are oblivious to time or concept of weekend when it comes to food. They woke me in their feline 
way, and, since light turns increasingly precocious, first light kept me out of bed. So crystalline, I thought. I fed my two cheeky companions and peeped through the window. Icicles clad every grass blade, roof from June’s shed, blue deck and stones. In anticipation to starlings, wrens and sparrows’ advertisement for survival, I put on my padded coverall and sheepskin boots and braved late dawn for a moment of joy. I love sunrises. Grass blades felt like cardboard. Although I adorned my trees with netted energy foodballs, the very first sunbeams diverted eyes and lens. I broke the ice with a new day… Rainwater trapped in flower pots dormant under thick ice.
The great celestial show could then begin in earnest. Sunrise would define the rest of the day. As blueness filled with light, I knew a shameless sky would allow us, Newton, Stewart and I, to go play at Ninian, and all around the Ness! I kept my fingers crossed, as I knotted food to bare branches.
first sun rays on Levenwick
ice takes no prisoner.
the old school at sunrise
sunrise on iced water
les oies / geese inside nordic blue
And greylag geese added to the magic of this unfolding morning!
They flew above the tiles of my hut’s roof in a blueness that proved awesome – so crisp and deep inside my Nordic sky. The South End (the very southern tip of my island, where da Roost – that translates as the “tidal race” – kisses rocks and tides, would look a casket of sapphires. But first, we all needed breakfast –  and what better than a bowl of porridge to warm us up! Newton and Stewart grew very impatient.Â
the blue
At last, they could leave the cosiness of my Shetland hut (as I call my home so affectionately) and begins their adventure in earnest! Ninian alone would not suffice, so we pushed it to the great peninsula of Sumburgh – my favourite headland and Sir Walter Scott’s most northerly country.
To Sumburgh, and then Ninian!
awesome sun, sand and sky!
Newton & Stewart flew the flag!
face to face with the magic of Ninian
By the time we hit da beach, Newton and Stewart knew they were about to tread onto canine bridge to paradise! Haha, time to burn all those excessive calories they accumulated during that dreadful week of hail and horizontal rain, sprinkled with snowflakes in between gales. They came to close to the edge of my dear north Atlantic, they waded on the fringe of pleasure đ Local dog walkers kept at bay. Even the crofter’s scruffy border colley I call “Beach Boy” did not pay us a visit… Hmmm, Joanne’s two adventurers reluctantly returned to the carpark with me. Now they set foot for the first time on 60N, their journey must continue.Â
Where, you may ask? Well, you can follow their adventures at Spring Fling Open Studios and Joanne’s Flicker Page Â
In the meantime, we shall share more cake  before you leave Arcania!
nordicblackbird 