Fine That: 

an Orkney island life

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©Julia Welstead 2006

Many years ago I was standing at the school gates on one of those bitingly cold Edinburgh days, waiting for the bell to shrill and for my wee boys to come running out to me. To distract myself from the icy chill running up my spine I got chatting to the woman next to me. I prattled on about my dreams of islands and beaches, animals and land, space and freedom. As the bell rang she looked me in the eye and said, “you should write”  –  a somewhat enigmatic statement, but I went home and did just that.

By the following year I had bought my idyll – a house near the beach with a bit of land for a horse and some sheep – on one of Orkney’s smaller islands, and was living the dream of that day and loving every minute of it. But the biggest surprise to me is that, having had that first piece of writing accepted by The Scotsman for their Weekend glossy, I was asked to continue….every week for the following six years…it was only my move to Australia (another story!) that sadly put an end to my column.

Here you’ll find the first two years of articles, covering 2001-2003. Enjoy the read and please bear with me as I give each a quick dusting off and upload it.