Yap & Yarn

It's time!

Get your needles at the ready for Yap & Yarn, which starts again on Monday 28th September at the Warehouse Buildings, Stromness, from 5pm - 7pm.

Pop along with your knitting or crochet and enjoy a chat and a cup of tea with fellow yarn lovers. All ages and abilities welcome and there will be help on hand for beginners to get you started.

You may remember the fantastic knitted Christmas tree that the Kirkwall group produced last year, and we thought it would be nice to have one of our own for our lovely new building.

If you would like to help us with this project then we would be delighted to receive donations of squares up to a maximum size of 21cm x 21cm (8 inches) in any shade of green and in various weights of yarn and stitch patterns. We would also love any knitted/crochet decorations for the finished tree.

Let the knitting begin!

Advent Quiz - Day 24

Question 24

Which old Stromness custom, which came to an end in 1936, used to take place in the town on Christmas Eve? 

Post your answer as a comment below. 
Entries close on 31st December.
Answers will be published and the winner announced on 5th January 2015.

Answer: The Yule Tree, which was fought over between Northenders and Southenders in a tug-of-war.

Advent Book Quiz Day 25

Merry Christmas!

'A merry Christmas, Bob!' said Scrooge, with an earnestness that could not be mistake, as he clapped him on the back. 'A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, than I have given you, for many a year! I'll raise your salary, and endeavour to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon, over a Christmas bowl of smoking bishop, Bob! Make up the fires, and buy another coal scuttle before you dot another i, Bob Cratchit!' 

Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed; and that was quite enough for him. 

He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards; and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!

Advent Book Quiz Day 24

Christmas Eve!

Well here we are folks, only a day to go before our final festive book extract! 

Stromness library is open today from 1-4pm and then we will close for the holidays, opening again on Friday 3rd January at 2pm. 

We would like to wish all our readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

We hope you have enjoyed our advent quiz -  don't forget to submit your answers, by commenting on each day's post, by 1st January. Comments won't be published until we announce the answers, and winner, when the library re-opens on Friday 3rd January. 

Good Luck!

The tailor lay ill for three days and nights; and then it was Christmas Eve, and very late at night. The moon climbed up over the roofs and chimneys, and looked down over the gateway into College Court. There were no lights in the windows, nor any sound in the houses; all the city of Gloucester was fast asleep under the snow.   

And still Simpkin wanted his mice, he mewed as he stood beside the four-post bed. 

But it is in the old story that all the beasts can talk, in the night between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in the morning (though there are very few folk that can hear them, or know what it is that they say). 

When the Cathedral clock struck twelve there was an answer - like an echo of the chimes - and Simpkin heard it, and came out of the tailor's door, and wandered about in the snow. 

From all the roofs and gables and old wooden houses in Gloucester came a thousand merry voices singing the old Christmas rhymes - all the old songs that ever I heard of, and some that I don't know, like Whittington's bells. 

Advent Book Quiz - Day 23

Day twenty-three of our festive quiz

A non-fiction description of Christmas from a different country and century. 

Can you identify the author and title? Submit your answer as a comment below this post - comments won't be published until 3rd January when the answers and winner are revealed. Closing date for entries is 1st January. 

Good Luck!

The Christmas dinner bore a resemblance to the one that I remembered in Scotland except that instead of roast turkey there were geese stuffed with apples accompanied by partridges cooked in sour cream. At the end as a special gesture to her half-Scottish granddaughter, Babushka served a plum pudding. Inside were the usual trinkets, which surprised and delighted young and old. During the dinner, there were pauses when someone would stand up and offer a toast to Babushka and myself in recognition of our name-day, which gave me a delightful sense of importance. 

Towards the end of dinner Yura and Seryozha excused themselves and disappeared into the ballroom. Soon after, Babushka suggested we should leave the table and move towards the closed doors. There we stood waiting. There was an air of expectation. Then, at the tinkling of a bell, all the lights went out, plunging the rooms in darkness. The double-doors were flung wide open. 

And there, against the background of total darkness stood this glorious thing, stretching up to the ceiling, ablaze with lights. I had not seen before a Christmas tree of any kind. The sudden impact of this amazing sight overwhelmed me. 

Everything shimmered and trembled. The beautiful fairy standing on tiptoes, the snow queen on the sledge driving the silver reindeer to her ice castle with the little boy behind her, Red Riding Hood with her basket setting off to see her grandma, the little mermaid swaying gently on the edge of a branch, the princess in her gown and diamond coronet, the evil witch standing beside the cottage which is slowly circling on hens' feet, the gnomes and the little winged angels, the tinkling crystal icicles and the sparkling scattered frost. And over all the glitter, the characters out of fairy tales, the apples, sweets and golden walnuts, there was the brilliance of candles, each pointed flame surrounded by a golden halo encircling the tree, layer upon layer of them, and fusing together into one cascading light of dazzling splendour. 

Advent Book Quiz Day 15

Day fifteen of our festive quiz

Can you identify the author and title of the following extract? Submit your answer as a comment and you could win a fabulous prize! Closing date for entries is 1st January 2014 and all will be revealed on 3rd January!!

They sang 'The First Nowell' as their last carol; they made their farewells; they were out again in the snow and the crisp air, with Merriman's impassive polite smile disappearing behind the Manor doors. Will stood on the broad stone steps and gazed up at the stars. The clouds had cleared at last, and now the stars blazed like pinpricks of white fire in the black hollow of the night sky, in all the strange patterns that had been a complicated mystery to him all his life, but were endlessly significant now. 'See how bright the Pleiades are tonight,' he said softly, and Mary stared at  him in amazement and said, 'The what?' 

So Will brought his attention down out of the fiery black heavens, and in their own small, yellow, torchlit world the Stanton carollers trooped home.He walked among them speechless, as if in a dream. They thought him tired, but he was floating in wonder. He had three of the Signs of Power now. He had, too, the knowledge to use the Gift of Gramarye: a long lifetime of discovery and wisdom, given to him in a moment of suspended time. He was not the same Will Stanton that he had been a very few days before. Now and forever, he knew, he inhabited a different time-scale from that of everyone he had ever known or loved...But he managed to turn his thoughts away from all these things, even from the two invading, threatening figures of the Dark. For this was Christmas, which had always been a time of magic, to him and to all the world. This was a brightness, a shining festival, and while its enchantment was on the world the charmed circle of his family and home would be protected against any invasion from outside. 

Indoors, the tree glowed and glittered, and the music of Christmas was in the air, and spicy smells came from the kitchen, and in the broad hearth of the living-room the great twisted Yule root flickered and flamed as it gently burned down. 

Advent Book Quiz Day 14

Day fourteen of our festive quiz

Another Orkney non-fiction title and author for you today, with an extract about an old Yule tradition here in Stromness. 

If you know the author and title submit your answer as a comment below. Comments will be published and the answers, and winner, announced on 3rd January. You have until 1st January to enter, so plenty of time to identify any extracts you've missed so far.

A yearly tug-of-war, with the ultimate possession of a Yule tree as its object, took place in Stromness (O) each Christmas Eve until 1936. A tree of some kind - for trees are scarce in the islands - was taken from a garden without the owner's knowledge and carried to the middle of the town. Chains or ropes were attached to it and a trial of strength began. The old town of Stromness, like Kirkwall, consists of a narrow winding street, but there was a point of delimitation between Northenders and Southenders, and their ancient rivalry found expression in an attempt to drag the tree to a traditional goal well within the territory of the faction which proved most powerful. The contest was a robust, often a turbulent one. As the route was skirted by the sea, the tree invariably ended its journey in the water, followed now and then by an over-zealous player. 

Festive Knitting

Can you believe it is nearly the end of October already? Tonight the clocks go back, then the darkness will creep into the afternoons, and soon it will be time to think about preparing for Christmas. In fact here at the Library preparations are already under way, as the Yap & Yarn groups are busy knitting and crocheting squares to create their very own woolly Christmas tree for the Orkney Library and Archive. 

If any knitters/crocheters out there would like to help us with this project then we would be delighted to receive donations of squares up to a maximum size of 21cm x 21cm (8 inches) in any shade of green and in various weights of yarn and stitch patterns. We would also love any knitted/crochet  decorations for the finished tree. 

As you can see from the photo we will need plenty of squares to cover our improvised tree structure!

But first we have Hallowe'en to enjoy and we wonder if any of our Yap & Yarners will be bringing along Hallowe'en themed projects when we meet here in Stromness Library on Monday (28th) at 5pm-7pm? 

A quick search of the wonderful pattern resources on Ravelry revealed a multitude of spooky yarn creations, from the fun of Wanda the Witch:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/wanda-the-witch

the cuteness of the Sweet Pumpkin hat:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/0-966-sweet-pumpkin---pumpkin-hat-in-karisma

the whackiness of the Scare Isle tam:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/scare-isle

 

to the sheer wrongness of the Hallowe'en Horror Hand!:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/halloween-horror-hand

Whether you aspire to knit a square or a scare, come along and join us on Monday for Yap & Yarn. All abilities welcome, there will be experienced knitters and crocheters on hand to help even the newest beginners get started, and to offer advice and help, so don't be scared - unless of course you're planning to use your ball of yarn for a spot of Hallowe'en divination. 

Happy Birthday!

A certain member of the library staff has a special birthday today.

Happy 60th Birthday Christmas Carol!

Love from all your friends at the library
xxxxxxx

Christmas Day

Now Kings and shepherds have come.
A wintered hovel
Hides a glory
Whiter than snowflake or silver or star.

(From 'Christmas Poem' by George Mackay Brown)

Wood Engraving by John Lawrence

Advent - 24th December

Well here we are,  we've survived gales, floods and predictions of the end of the world. Today is your last chance to stock up on holiday reading/return your overdue books/ find the perfect mince pie recipe. 

Our Christmas Eve opening hours are 1pm - 4pm 

After that we're off to peel the sprouts! 

We'll be back on Thursday 3rd January at our usual times of 2pm-7pm.

Wishing you all a very happy and peaceful Christmas!

Advent - 23rd December

Festive spirits may be somewhat dampened as the weather continues to make festive preparations difficult - from those trying to get home for the holidays to those looking for last minute presents or needing to stock up on essentials.

For our northerly neighbours in Shetland the dreadful weather had led to cancelled ferry sailings, and with fresh food supplies running low and increasingly empty shelves, it looked like it might be a sprout-less Christmas for many. However a certain supermarket chain, who have a store in Lerwick, came to the rescue by chartering a Hercules to fly in supplies.

photo from https://www.facebook.com/shetlandwildlife?fref=ts

Advent of course is a time of journeys, and we hope however and wherever you are travelling you will reach your destination safely. 

T.S. Eliot's poem "Journey of the Magi" seems appropriate for all travellers in this season.

‘A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.’ 

Advent - 22nd December

Ah well we seem to still be here after all, despite those ancient apocalyptic predictions. We particularly liked the following explanation.

Anyway this means you can carry on with the festive preparations and this seemed like a good time to remind you of our holiday arrangements.

We are open today from 11am until 5pm and then on Monday 24th Christmas Eve from 1pm until 4pm after which we will be off doing lots of exciting festive things until 3rd January when we will return bright eyed and bushy tailed (you don't see them under the issue desk) at our usual opening times of 2pm - 7pm. 

The weather is pretty awful, so if you are venturing out pop by the library to make sure you have plenty of good books to keep you going through the holidays. But do wrap up warm, and make sure you're wearing heavy boots!

Advent - 16th December

We usually suggest folk get their books for free by visiting us at the library, but for those of you stuck for last minute gift ideas a book, or if you're really not sure what to choose then a book token, may solve your dilemma.

There are of course lots of Orkney related titles to choose from but we noticed that the 3rd edition of Gregor Lamb's The Orkney Wordbook is due out this week, with a striking new cover designed by Stromness artist Alex Leonard of Tambo Illustrations.

Alex is perhaps best known for his weekly comic strip 'The Giddy Limit' which appears in The Orcadian newspaper, with the characters also appearing in another popular calendar for 2013.

For those of you unfamiliar with the antics of  Cheemo, Sandy, Liz, Davo  and Ivy there is an archive of past strips available online. Here is a seasonal example, illustrating the minefield of Christmas gift giving.

http://www.giddy-limit.com/Year2Archive/no.68.html

Advent - 15th December

If your festive spirit needs a boost then get along to the Stromness Town Hall tonight at 7.30pm

Advent - 14th December

In the inn of December,  a fire, 

A loaf, a bottle of wine.

     Travellers, rich and poor, are on the roads.

(From 'Dance of the Months' in Christmas Poems by George Mackay Brown)

Wood engravings by John Lawrence in Christmas Poems

Advent - 13th December

Sometimes amidst the seasonal joy there are darker moments - when the heightened emotions and symbolism, combined with dark cold days, the frantic preparations for a fast approaching deadline and the pressure to remain jolly can all start to become overwhelming. 

When this happens we find a dose of irreverent humour usually does the trick. So in this spirit we share with you the 42 Worst Nativity Sets.

You'll have to follow the link to enjoy the full horror but we just had to share a few of our favourites here. 

For cuteness we give you the Penguin Nativity: 

For the sheer wonderment of 'Why?' we give you the Nativity Snow Globe - where the baby Jesus appears to be in a goldfish bowl:

For managing to be disturbing, sacrilegious and funny we had to share the Godzilla Nativity:

For cleverness, oddness and edibleness we have the Food Nativity:

And finally, for being wrong on every kind of level, we could not help ourselves but share the Meat Nativity:

Enjoy! 

Advent - 12th December

Many thanks to one of our blog readers for drawing our attention to a fabulous online advent quiz for book lovers.

Vintage Books are posting the first line of a Vintage Classic edition every day during advent for you to identify - a lucky winner, chosen from the correct entries, will win a copy of the book in question. Test your literary knowledge and do let us know if you are one of the lucky winners!

Advent - 10th December

Another favourite story of ours for Christmas is Lucy M. Boston's The Children of Green Knowe. Like The Box Delights  this was also adapted as a children's drama by the BBC, and was also pretty creepy.

Unfortunately not available on DVD but we did find the episodes on YouTube, below is a link to the first part of episode one.

While looking on line for more information about the book we came across this very interesting article about the house upon which Green Knowe was based, Hemingford Grey in Cambridgeshire, which is now run by Lucy Boston's daughter-in-law Diana Boston. Diana's late husband Peter provided the illustrations for his mother's novels, some of which can be seen below.

Advent - 9th December

Stromness during advent is the place to be to see lots of exciting local artworks on display  - today's exhibition is the Pier Art Centre's Christmas Open Exhibition. Packed with local talent it is well worth a visit.