Jean Says: Arts and crafts are quite a big thing here in the Orkneys. The unadulturated beauty of this natural environment would inspire even an economist to reach for a paintbrush. I pointed this out to Bob, and he said that they had to create things because there was nothing else to do, and why didn't they watch more television.
The artists and craftspeople in The Orkneys are very prolific, and some are obviously very successful, exporting what they make all over the world. Some of it is very familiar for this reason. Knitwear is a big thing, as is silver jewellery, with designs based on all things connected to the sea. There are endless watercolours featuring sea views and vibrant expressive oil paintings featuring sea views. A lot of the pottery produced has images of fish. It all makes complete sense, given that it's almost impossible not to see the sea without having your eyes shut. It would be odd if they concentrated on the urban landscape.
Having few other distractions must really help them focus, and so when I get back, I'm going to rent a tiny house on the water so that I can focus on something creative, like writing a blog or doing some iPad paintings. Why didn't I think of this before?
The land in the Orkneys is apparently very fertile, but trees struggle to grow here because of the fierce winds. There are some oak trees tucked into the dips and usually in private gardens, but otherwise, it's quite bare.
Tourism is an important part of the economy here, but in an unpretentious way. People who visit the Orkneys come to see the wildlife, the many Neolithic sites, and The Scapa Flow, which played a significant part in World War Two and has a dedicated visitor centre.
The Neolithic village of Skara Brae has probably been one of the most exciting archaeological finds in Britain this century. It's an amazingly well preserved settlement of houses and stone furniture that was found by chance in the 1920's. There are many sites of standing stones, the most well known one being The Standing Stones of Stenness, which is a circle a bit like Stonehenge, but smaller and not crowded out with Druids.
When we first arrived in the Orkneys, we thought that there wasn't much to see, but we loved it, and would happily have stayed for longer.