Exexutive or executed?

Apologies for being away for so long.  But oh boy have I been busy.

As vice chair of the trustees of the Lighthouse Museum, since the 3rd January when the Museum reopened after the festive break, I have been in almost every day.  The departure of our Business Manager has left the chair and I at the helm.  

Wouldnt be so-o-o hard were I being paid an executive salary, but I get nowt other than job satisfaction........

  
This morning I had to make the decision to close down the Lighthouse tours.  This was after I had to use my mobile for someone to come out of the Museum and open my car door, allow me to hang on to them from car to Museum, then heft the doors open to let me in.  The wind was so strong.  

Bits of somebody's roof were all over the car park.  Which was asbestos so the staff went into a state of panic.  (I think you have to break it up then inhale the dust, or eat it,  before it becomes a danger....)  

It was picked up and put into our store  and now has large DANGER ASBESTOS signs everywhere.  I really can do without all this hysteria.....

Fortunately I still manage my painting therapy.

Although, once finished, it did remind me of the staff in a huddle building up for another panic attack about something... 

They are lovely really!!

Speedy Gonzales.

Wind speed recorded yesterday from the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses. 113mph.

The man holding on and measuring our very brave Business Manager.

Pretty scary.  What was more scary is that currently and for some weeks now we have had scaffolding around the Museum building while the roof is fixed.  Well the repairers appeared once.....  

Now I do believe we all knew this hurricane, tale end of albeit, was coming, and when.  It would have made sense for a check to be made of said scaffolding prior to this.  But no. 

 So come the Tail of the Hurricane Tuesday morning.

So we shut the cafe as the brave remaining staff, and (expendable) volunteers sipped coffee and watched......

Planks move like matches.
 

 Planks disappear.

Or make aim to hit anyone foolish enough to be beneath.
 

Do a jig,

 The cafe was closed.  

Then a plank fell off and shot across the car park.  The whole Museum was closed.

Then Superman appeared.

Or, more likely, an escapee from the lunatic asylum.

No helmet, no safety harness, just a ball of tape (string?)

That shadowy figure outside on the scaffolding in 113mph winds is wrestling with the planks and tying them together.  Scary or what.

After that I had to lie down in a darkened room.  Well, actually, I returned home, rather too quick with the wind behind me, and head for the shedudio.  In between painting I watched the cover over the logs head over the hedge, and branches snapping off, fortunately missing anything important.  Though Sith Cat, walking sideways, was an only just missed.

Do you think I can claim for Post Traumatic Stress?

Happy Birthday to the Dawn Patroller.

A very wet and windy day.  61-5 miles per hour winds and increasing.  High tides, lower down the coast Stonehaven flooded - again.

I was esconced in the lighthouse museum, hearing the rain on the roof and the wind whistling.  Just showing my face as the Chartless Rudderless thing was installed.  It took quite a while so I was just being 'available'.  Which meant I was in the cafe getting hyper on coffee and watching the sea from the window.

Well I can't move tons of chairs and cannot even get our sound system to work so - best sit and drink coffee.

 While the two people from Chartless Rudderless battled on the DP and I had a nice lunch for his birthday.  

The DP is now a volunteer guide taking people up the lighthouse.  So we both get staff discount!

He then went off to have fun taking photographs and as usual you couldnt move out there in the wind and rain for all the other photographers doing the same.  Anoraks.

 Now I know where he was stood to get this picture.  He is lucky to see his birthday out, I can tell you.  

The square edifice being bashed by waves is the Wine Tower, wherein he was recently giving the spiel.  And where lo-o-o-ng ago the ghost piper was drowned.  Followed by his lover throwing herself out of a window onto the rocks below and we still throw red paint on the rocks to commemorate this.  Bloody daft aren't we.

The above is one of the oil rig supply boats, sans container, heading off for Aberdeen.  Now here is some interesting information.  You cant just swan in to Aberdeen Harbour, you have to join a queue.  When the weather is like this all the boats hide up and get shelter to the left of the Lighthouse Museum.  So we look out and see masses of them and know the weather is going to be bad.  This boat has been told there is a berth ready so off it goes battling the wind and weather to get there.  Mad.

The oil platform workers get transported to and from the oil rigs  there and back on a helicopter.  But not in this weather.  This is a coast guard helicopter.

Meanwhile back inside the Museum.

Right, theres this perspex box which appears to have dancers inside it.  But also on the wall....
 

Then they all seem to be everywhere.

 

Spooooooooky.

 Due to the Council doing stuff in the exhibition area where we normally have our Kids Activities, we will be doing the kids activities in the school holidays, in the same room.

I see many traumatised kids, or at the very least, some very confused volunteer crafters.

But, so far, the DP has had a most enjoyable day taking photographs, which is what he likes.

In the bleak mid winter.

We are used to the wind here in the North East of Scotland.  But every so often we get a big wind.

At just after 6a.m. I could hear the wind pick up.   As was forecast.  Not forecasted was the crash of thunder, the sheet lightning which preceded the crash.  It was very like a Musical Performance by one of the late, great composers, first the overture and then.....

Not long after all that came the polka, as the electric went off, on, off, on and then....off.  Just as I had showered.  Hair dripping, one get so used to the blast of the hair dryer....Putting make up on and nail varnish in the dark is not a good idea.  

The electric company said they had no idea when we would be back on, could be tomorrow.  

So I went to where it was warm and I could get a cappucino.

 View from the Lighthouse Museum Cafe.  Windspeed 104mph.

Our stalwart regulars in the cafe.  Coffee and toast every day.  

And, every day, its a check of the obituary columns........Great fun.

Elsewhere the winds did their damage.  Bringing along hail stone white outs.

Cairnbulg Harbour.  The owners should have taken heed of the weather forecast and removed their boats.  Smashed or sunk will be the outcome.

 This boat above has been swept onto the slipway.

The wreck of the Sovereign.  This boat has been off the harbour wedged onto rocks for many years.  The last big storm, a year ago, it moved and there was talk of it being removed from the sea, as it was more accessible.  It has today moved again.

I returned home and spent the daylight h0urs remaining and the heat from the woodburner to wrap up Christmas gifts, ready for posting.  

I wrapped up warmly and went to see if the shedudio was surviving.  Warmed by a candle, well actually not being warmed by anything, I suddenly noticed the house across the field had light!  On went Pavarotti singing Christmas songs and on went the electric fire.  

3p.m. the brave people who go up poles and refix the wires had done their job.  Thank you to all.  

The last time I had phoned the emergency line it was, " 80,000 homes are without electricity.  If you are to be disconnected overnight we will inform you."  

I had the oil lamps ready, candles, Scrabble, hummed a few carols. Got the soup ready to put on top of the stove, fingerless gloves, nose dripping imagined, a proper old fashioned evening.  

Huh .

Here comes the wind - again.

Just had to check the date again, 23rd May.  Snow on the hills.  Hail and rain and the ****** wind.  40 mph yesterday 60 mph gusts today.

Today.  The above and below,  is the Golden Horn at the entrance to Fraserburgh Harbour, still waiting for good weather to repair the damage done by the Perfect Storm, earlier in the year.

One wonders when the weather will allow any repairs to be carried out.

The one below is the view from the Lighthouse Museum, the village is Broadsea.  The swell on the waves clearly visible.

Where we live, out in the country,  seems even windier.  Howling round the house, the cat door doesn't shut as a cat comes in, but sticks in horizontal mode and whistles, the chimney roars, the bird feeders are all on the ground.

I was at the Lighthouse Museum this afternoon and could not open my door to get out of the car.  I had to exit through the passenger door.  (I should have turned the car round, I know, but the brain wasn't working.)

My day today was a whirl wind, with some peaceful lulls.  I spent the morning honing up my lecture, ha ha, now there''s a surprise, you didn't know I did that as well, did you?

One p.m.  was first my Thursday afternoon Art Group.  Well, fast becoming, an Art very few of us group.
I spent the first hour on my own with the caretaker huffing and puffing, 
"So when can we go home?"  
Me, "If no-one else comes by 2 we will go."  
Five to 2 along comes on other. 
 At half past another.  That was my lull.  

Thursday Art Group is really a joke.  Wednesday morning the minimum turning up is 10, one day I might just tell you why there is this vast difference, but for now I will hold my tongue.

At 3p.m. I shot off to my picture framer to sort out which day his art groups exhibition was to be put up into the Lighthouse.  Fortuitously the partner of the person currently exhibiting was also there so we negotiated the dates for one coming down and t'other going up.  
And said partner was threatened that he actually remained on site, taking down, removing, etc. unlike when he delivered and then swanned off....leaving me and one other to do it all.

3.30p.m. saw me turn into

Aye well, lass, you retired.  But during your working life you had a variety of jobs, experiences, all of which we can tap into.  Its called Giving Back.

I dont mind really, its just dredging up those experiences is a bit traumatic, like can I still do it?

Twenty years ago I lectured on Child Development to GCSE students, 16 year olds.  Not sure what the equivalent is in other countries.   I also trained Child carers which covered a variety of subjects, food hygiene, child development, etc.

So today I did a presentation/teaching/lecture on Customer Care, Food Hygiene, etc.  Lots of etceteras, (thats where the wind comes in!  )

Well, a variety of ages, and experience in the audience. 

"Who is the most important person in the Museum?"

Answers ranged from, mainly, the Manager, then Trustees, which was basically creeping. 
As the manager was present, and a trustee, me, was leading.

Eventually we got - the Customer. Allelulia.  

From then on hopefully the message got across.

With a lot of laughs.  I do think you learn more if its fun.

And then - when will I ever learn, I announced the next training session would be on First Aid, and I hoped they would not be as bad as I.

When presented with a scenario of a person with bleeding varicose veins, while I and my partner discussed, for about five minutes, what we should do the examiner said, 

"Right  - shes dead."

But I still passed, and hope I passed all the challenges of today, despite the wind.

Its Sandy, no - its Tuesday,

Sorry - a family joke, many years ago one of the children said, "Its sandy!"  and a wee girl from the South of England said, "Its not Sanday its Tuesday."  (They speak funny down there.)

Today it was SANDY.  Strong winds from a different direction to the normal (not so cold)  have whipped up the sand from the beaches on the Moray Coast, which includes Fraserburgh.

See the orange haze?  This is from the top of Kinnaird Head Lighthouse (The Museum of Scottish Lighthouses.)

This below, is Tesco's car park, not far from the beach.

More sand in Tesco's car park!

The sand was carried inland in great clouds.

The above were taken from the front of our house.

Sitting down the shed, doing yet another hen painting..... I could hear bits of sand hitting the windows.  The wind has eased a wee bit and the sheep have come out from their huddle, backs to the wind, and are tangoing in the sun shine.

Its exciting int it.

Last Weather Report - for this year,, heres hoping.

Environment Minister Paul Wheelhouse described the conditions as a "perfect storm" of south easterly gales, low pressure and high tides. Richard Lochhead, Rural Affairs Secretary, will visit Lossiemouth, Peterhead and Fraserburgh harbours on Monday to asses the damage.

 Paul Rattray photograph.

John Cardno photograph.

Whilst the Shags and Cormorants kept well out the way!

How the Golden Horn looked before the storm.

What the storm did, no idea what its like from the other side where the waves were actually coming from.

Inland we had no idea what was occurring just a few miles away.

Homes were evacuated at Peterhead where the old fishermens cottages are near the shore line and in other fishing villages around.

Men in yellow jackets are everywhere trying to clear up the debris and make everything safe.  We just hope the Golden Horn can shine again.

Weather Report.

Quite a lot of strong winds on the north east coast.

The Four Corners sheltered quite a number of sightseers.

Nobody as daft at Sandhaven just north of Fraserburgh.

photo courtesy of Eric Watt.

Back in Fraserburgh harbour this is an 'old' photograph, so not quite as bad as this.

Or as bad as this time last year when my shed's roof was removed.  The telephone wire went too and the sky dish.

The roof was fixed, eventually.....

Nature deals us some blows on occasion.

But we forgive her when she also provides this.