Magellan Daisy - and whalers

Listening again to the interview with Mary-Ann Calder, they talk of Brotchie's steading in Dunnet. The roof supports were made of whale bone. You can see them today in the Seadrift Visitors Centre in Dunnet (I used them as a location to photograph some paper boats). They also talk about the monkey Brotchie kept. Click here to see a pic of the excavation by archaeologists.

I started to look for other things in the county which have a whalers connection. The Magellan Daisy is usually found in Chile and Argentina, but was brought back to Caithness by whalers. I photographed these ones last month - all within view of my house.

Only the leaves now - will have to wait till next year to get the flowers.

They are growing in a small fenced off area amongst the rushes. The croft next to it has a forsale sign, I hope the Magellan Daisy isn't lost.

Daisy to the front of the picture, and my house on the horizon - although it looks like a dot in this !

Click here to see a picture of the Magellan Daisy in Flower and click here to read more about it - in Ken Butlers article on Caithness.org

I had a few false starts looking for the Magellan Daisy- my first batch of photographs were not the real thing! I e-mailed Ken the pics above to check, and yep, these are Magellan Daisy's.

Thoughs now going back to Robert Dick, baker and botanist of Thurso (1811 - 1866).

Daisy - Whales - Monkeys

Flying fish whisky and string horses

'Flying fish, whisky and string horses'.

Baking

'Baking'

Superstitions - housewives causing hurricanes at sea if they blow on their baking.

pages from my sketches at Mary-Ann's cottage 2006/7

Drawings digitally printed onto Fabriano watercolour paper.

framed artwork - inspired by Mary-Ann's cottage and the Westland

16. Gardeners Garters. Digital print on handmade rhubarb paper. The rhubarb
is from Mary-Ann’s cottage. Frame size L:122cm x W35cm

17. Rushes. Digital print on handmade hosta paper. Frame Size L:122cm x W35cm


18. Montbretia. Digital Print on handmade paper coloured with aqueous
dispersed pigments. Frame size L:122cm x W35cm


19. Red hot poker. Digital print on handmade hosta paper.Frame size L:122cm x W35cm

20. Pampas grass. Digital print on handmade banana skin paper. Frame Size L:122cm x W35cm Sold

framed artwork - inspired by Mary-Ann's cottage and the Westland

13. Sailing home. Handmade paper coloured with aqueous dispersed
pigments, handstitched, kakishibu, string. Plastic. pen drawing. Frame size L: 116cm x W: 29cm Sold

14. Lessons in Navigation. Handmade paper coloured with aqueous dispersed
pigments, handstitched, kakishibu, cork. pen drawing. Frame size L: 116cm x W: 29cm Sold

15. Salmon and horse hair. Handmade paper coloured with aqueous dispersed
pigments, handstitched, kakishibu, fish hook, horse hair, salmon skin leather. Frame size L: 116cm x W: 29cm

framed artwork - inspired by Mary-Ann's cottage and the Westland

9. The seed sower. Handmade paper coloured with aqueous dispersed pigments, handstitched,driftwood, New Zealand flax . Frame size L: 82cm x 35cm

10. On the high shelf. Handmade paper coloured with aqueous dispersed
pigments, handstitched, wire, feather, kakishibu, dutch metal leaf. Pen drawing.

Frame size L: 82cm x 35cm

11. Casting the net. Handmade paper coloured with aqueous dispersed pigments, handstitched, driftwood,kakishibu, pen drawing. Frame size L: 116cm x W: Sold

12. The sail makers apprentice. Handmade paper coloured with aqueous dispersed
pigments, handstitched, kakishibu, string. frame size L: 116cm x W: 29cm

Framed artwork

5. Mending Handmade paper coloured with aqueous dispersed pigments.
Kakishibu, Driftwood, pen drawing. Handstitched. Frame size L: 49cm x W: 34cm

6. Rabbits and Fish salmon skin leather, driftwood, handstitched,
Handmade paper cloured with Aqueous dispersed pigments, Hessian. Frame size L: 82cm x 35cm

7. In the milkhouse. Handmade paper coloured with Aqueous dispersed
pigments.Handstitched, pen drawing, driftwood. Frame size L: 82cm x W35cm

8. The tool bench. Handmade paper coloured with peat, handstitched,
pen drawing, driftwood horsehair, New Zealand flax string. Frame Size L: 82cm x 35cm

Framed artwork - Boats and Ropes series inspired by Mary-Ann's cottage and the Westland

1. Boats and Ropes Salmon skin leather, Handmade paper, Kakishibu, Driftwood,

Fish hook , pen drawing, Handstitched frame size L: 49cm x W:34cm

2. Boats and Ropes Salmon skin leather, Handmade hosta paper, Dutch metal leaf,
Handstitched, Hessian, Pen drawing. Frame size L: 49cm x W: 34cm

3. Boats and Ropes Pen drawing, Handmade paper coloured with aqueous dispersed pigments.Handstitched Driftwood, Frame size L: 49cm x W: 34cm

4. Boats and Ropes Driftwood Handmade hosta paper
Handmade paper coloured with Aqueous dispersed pigments Handstitched, Pen drawing, Dutch metal leaf, hessian Frame size L: 49cm x W: 34cm

Storm force 10

Sea area Fair Isle.

Storm force 10 now backed northwesterly, veering northerly and decreasing severe gale force 9 imminent.

Well it does mean the solid fuel (peat) rayburn is burning well - hot enough to make cake and have a bath!

New Zealand TV interview

The same TV interview as before, but easier to find this time as the specific section has been isolated! http://www.ch9.co.nz/content/lynn-taylor-:-artist

Lynn's log book in Scotland

Here's a few pictures of Lynn's Log book I took yesterday.

I've been enjoying reading it - and comparing our log entries for each day!

And both our log books together.

Caithness Horizons Westland exhibition - more pics!

Remember these? They are the 4 chairs my parents bought soon after they got married.

I've had them for a few years in my studio. Now they are transformed for the exhibition!One chair each for:

William Young (Mary-Ann's father)

James (Mary-Ann's husband)

Dan (Mary-Ann's son)

And Mary-Ann.

If you stood by Mary-Ann's chair you could hear the interview Iain Sutherland recorded in 1989 with her at home.

Paper boat fundraiser!!

Top Secret!!

Lots of bids came in at the last minute to Caithness Horizons!
This is just fantasitic!!

This does mean it will take a few days to work it all out!!

Beki Pope, manager of Caithness Horizons is sorting it all out for me!

It will be Monday at the earliest before we contact the successful bidders and get to grips with this fantastic armada!

So check back soon!!!!!!!!!

We are going to wait until all money is in before letting you know the grand total raised from Mary-Ann's Cottage.

All bids are now in - bidding is now closed!!

A big thank you to everyone for joining in the paper boat fundraiser fun!
All bids are now in and bidding is now closed!

If your bid for a boat was the highest - we'll be in touch with your over the next few days!
I am delighted to be able to tell you that ALL paper boats will have new homes.

It will take us a few days to do the final count, so check back soon to find out how much money we raised for the Caithness Heritage Trust to help them keep Mary-Ann's Cottage open for future generations.

Brilliant!!

A few pics taken on the opening night by Sheila Moir - Thanks Sheila

1 hour left to bid for a boat!!

1 hour left to get your bids in!!

Paper Boat Auction
Get your bids in before 18:00 GMT on Thursday 24th Sept.
in Caithness Horizons, Thurso and on-line.

see all boats here:

http://www.joannebkaarpaperboats.blogspot.com/

Boats are listed by lot number. Some lots consist of more than one boat. If you are bidding on a lot number with more than one boat and are successful, you get all the boats in that lot number!

Start bidding from Friday 4th September at 18:00 GMT.
Bids will be reviewed after the exhibition has closed, at 18:00 GMT on Thursday 24th September.

Only successful bidders will be contacted.

The minimum bid is only £2.00

All bids must be made in pounds sterling.
Payment will only be requested from successful bidders, and could be cash, cheque, card or Paypal.

Please make sure you leave your postal address as well as an e-mail and telephone contact.

E-mail your bids to: paperboats@caithnesshorizons.co.uk

Name:
Postal Address:
E-mail:
Telephone number:
Date and time of bid:
Boat No: Bid Amount: £
Boat No: Bid Amount: £
Boat No: Bid Amount: £

You can bid for as many boats as you like!! - Help me find a new home for them all.

George Gunn reviews our exhibition.

Last week, writer George Gunn visited our exhibition in Caithness Horizons.

Click here to read his review which was published in the John O'Groat Journal and now on Hi-Arts website.

Some details from the N Z exhibition at the Anchorage

'The Westland' is getting a very positive response in Dunedin. Some of the 'descendants' came to the opening which was a pleasure. (Maud even travelled up from Gore - a long drive.) The ship's biscuits sustained our visitors.

One of these images shows my log book displayed on the wall, page by page, - a solution I thought up since the focus here was more condensed to the log books and I wanted people to be able to read the entries without having to wait a turn. (Thanks to Julie, Marion, Kate, Sarah and Petra who actually rigged this all up for me)

In November the exhibition will tour up to the North Otago Museum in Oamaru (where Moscrop and the Matthews families settled) -opening November 13th. The show will run for about a month and will also be part of the Victorian Heritage Week. Towards the end of the exhibition I will take some short classes in cyanotype - where people can bring along old large format family photos to print and reveal the secrets of.

Caithness Horizons Westland exhibition photos

NEWS FLASH!!!

BBC Alba filmed the exhibition and paper boat fundraiser today.

Watch on-line if you live in the UK.

It will be broadcast on Wednesday 9th September.
You can watch live and then only 24 after first being broadcast.

Here's what to do!

Go to this website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/alba/ then go to the box headed Naidheachdan (its on the lefthand side )and click on the link for An La (It's on the righthand side). There are two programme options available, one is for watching live (8pm - 8.30pm) and the other is for the most recent programme played. An La is Gaelic for The Day. An La is a news programme. Our paper boat fundraiser is one of many news items broadcast.

Exhibition - Caithness Horizons - private view tonight

And if you want to bid for a boat, click here for more info.

Bidding starts at 18:00 GMT on Friday 4th September.

Last bids accepted at 18:00 GMT on Thursday 24th September.

BBC Alba to film the exhibition .

BBC Alba travelled north and filmed the launch of the paper boat fundraiser on a cold day outside Mary-Ann's Cottage in January!

BBC Alba are to return...........and will be filming the exhibition in Caithness Horizons during the first week it is open. I'll be adding links so you can watch it online tooooooooo........

The Anchorage Gallery - New Zealand

Click on the poster to read!

Paper boat Fundraiser - Caithness Horizons

Caithness Horizons are setting up a special e-mail for you to place your bids if you can't make it to the exhibition!!!

Details coming soooooon........

See all boats here:

http://www.joannebkaarpaperboats.blogspot.com/

Caithness Horizons

Click on the poster to read!

http://www.caithnesshorizons.co.uk/

William Young's navigation books

You can just make out William Young written on his copy of

Navigation and Nautical Astronomy.

Dr Jim Calder (Mary-Ann's grandson) visited his families croft a few weeks ago.

There are a few things he has inherited from William Young (his great grandfather

Jim e-mailed photos.

I wonder if the model and ship-in-a-bottle are of the Westland?

This also belonged to William Young. Is it a Sextant or Octant, I'm not sure what the difference is?

Log book binding

I have started binding my log books together...after a little disaster with the printer today the journey is 5 pages short but hopefully that challenge will be overcome swiftly! The image in the foreground is of part of David De Maus grave - he was the Port Chalmers photographer who has left us with a wealth of images. In the background you can see a string ball - I have sent one to Joanne - it is the length of the Westland, marked out in foot measurements.

Nick Hand - Soundslides

Nick's soundslides are brilliant - click on the photo to hear my interview and see inside Mary-Ann's cottage!

Nick stayed here earlier this week, a really nice bloke on an amazing journey. Let him catch his breath to edit and upload the latest batch of interviews ............I took him down to Mary-Ann's cottage to check out William Young's Sea-Chest and told him all about the paper boat fundraiser.

".............Nick Hand is currently on a bicycle tour around the coast of Great Britain to raise money for Parkinson's Disease Society. As he travels, he is making short documentary films using still photography about local artisans and makers. These are called Soundslides.....

You can find out all about the trip at http://www.slowcoast.co.uk ."

Mary-Ann - interview 20 years ago

Local historian, Iain Sutherland has recorded over 100 interviews. He donated all of these tapes to the Caithness Family History Society for the public to access.

In 1989 Iain interviewed Mary-Ann in her cottage.

Lasting over an hour, the interview is a fascinating insight to crofting life.

With many thanks to the CFHS chair, Anne Dunnett, Sandy Gunn who has recorded the tapes to CD, Iain Sutherland and also the trustees of Mary-Ann's cottage, you will be able to hear the interview in New Zealand at the Anchorage art gallery and also in Scotland at Caithness Horizons, as part of our exhibitions in September 09.

If you want to know more about the Caithness Family History Society, visit their website:

http://www.caithnessfhs.org.uk/

T V interview - you can watch Lynn on-line now!

Click on the photo to go to NZ TV channel 9!

It is available to view online from Sunday 26th for one week!

Lynn's interview is about 10minutes into the programme.

Here is a photo of part of an old wreck on Quarantine Island - where we stayed for my daughters birthday. Joanne, if you can get a residency in New Zealand I think this would be an ideal site ideal for you to work on!

This Wednesday - July 22 at 5 pm Lynn will be on television - Channel 9 in New Zealand - live! It is a five minute interview and I was asked to send in 6 images of my art - so I have sent one of the beginning of the project showing the big brainstorm I did, 4 images from my log and one of paper boats so I can talk about Mary Ann's Cottage and the paper boats project.

Apparently this can be viewed from Sunday (for a week) on their website ch9.co.nz under Dunedin Diary. Charlotte from Channel 9 said it can be tricky to find but hopefully you can find the podcast. Already nervous.

Cargo docked in Scotland

Lynn chose small things to post to me for our exhibition in Caithness Horizons!

Cargo docked in New Zealand

Boxes of Joanne's work for the Anchorage Exhibition have been arriving at my doorstep. I am not opening them until I have finished printing off my log book - a reward to keep in mind. (Incidentally my log book is happening! A few delays as I come to grips with a new publishing programme: InDesign. I needed a programme that published text and photos clearly but one forgets how learning a new programme can be like a foreign language at times.)

paper empherema etc

Hi! This is a photo from my log and I have posted the envelopes and 'photos' to you for display in the exhibition - imagining that they are set up as a pile that people can touch and look through. They are like archive material relating to the project and include some photos of people who were on the Westland. Showing is Fanny Matthews, such a beautiful photo! Included is an original envelope posted from the Cape of Good Hope to Scotland in 1879! I am printing off a second copy of these items to display here as the "ships mail". Also I have sent the oar over, I will display the matching one here (Ha ha we will be able to row in circles) - both oars were coated with a layer of paint everyday while I was doing the log - recording the colour which most made an impression on me that day. Yes 83 layers of paint. Obsessive. I have not sent over any labels for these pieces yet, so am thinking maybe I should type some notes up and email them to you a bit later on and the gallery can format them into there template?

Maiden voyage

'Maiden Voyage'. An accordion fold book 2m x 17cm. Bringing together the stories of passenger Jonathan Moscrop and crew member William Young.

tying the knot

I've made two variations on the theme 'tying the knot'. Each book box is lined with image from the family photos at Mary-Ann's. And I've included some wedding dates. The books inside are different for each box. One set will be sent to NZ. These are very large boxes! When closed the boxes each measure: L 70cm x W 21cm x D 6cm.

log books - Scotland

My log books are now inside made to measure book boxes. I've printed my log in an edition of 4. I've opened two book boxes for you to see inside.

I'll be posting one edition to New Zealand.

more string!

I finshed all of the barley straw, it was easy to use. I did give up on the oats straw (smaller ball on the floor) as the shorter lengths of straw made it harder to twist to hold it together. I did make a small ball though!! The rest of the straw I will give to my mother for her hens!

The oats straw is more of a golden yellow colour.

Click here to check out the amazing work of Anugus MacPhee weaver of grass.

And here's a great book if you want to know more about making simmans (rope).

Here's another interesting image, click here to see making rope from heather. This is what I will look like in a few years!

Oamaru in 1879

Do you wonder where the immigrants on the Westland ended up? We know some went to Oamaru (Jonathan and the Matthews family, but probably others went there too, being a coastal area with a nice climate). As luck would have it a photographer set up his camera in 1879 and took a panoramic shot by taking lots of shots in sequence - here is one image (number 210 North Otago Museum). I will compile them together and print them out in a strip - so you can see more if you come to our exhibitions! Thanks Shanann and Rowan at the North Otago museum for giving permission for use of this series.

string

Last night we collected as much barley and oat straw that would fit into our car, from local farmer, Hamish Pottinger. So today, I'm sat outside making string........Chip is listening to every word I say!
More photos later today as the string grows!

After a hot day, we had 30mins of thundrestorms and heavy rain. The black clouds have now moved on and are over Orkney (behind me!). The sun is out again so time for a quick photo of my string making. This is barley straw. I still have a bit left, so tomorrow it will be even longer!

Then I'll make a start on the oat straw.

sending by slow post

Hi, today I have posted you, by surface mail, these balls to be part of the exhibition. (Postage goes up here on the 7th so thought I would get in early) The large string ball is marked out in foot intervals which equal up to the lenght of the Westland, the fishing line one is just fishing line and the silk organza ball has been hand dyed and is swirling out of an old quart bottle to represent a third of the daily water ration per adult. I am flexible as to how they are displayed, they work as a group of 3 on a plinth - but I liked this photo looking down on them rather than my mock up one!

Solargraphy images Scotland

They worked!

Here are the two images from the solargraphy pinhole cameras which were put up on the shortest day and taken down on the longest day - (last week). I then posted the cameras back to Tarja Trygg - Senior lecturer at the University of Art and Design, Helsinki to develop. She e-mailed me the results!

Camera one - fixed to my house in Dunnet - pointing south.

Camera 2 - fixed to my parents house in Brough - pointing East.

Mail from the Antipodes

Today's mail came with an interesting parcel from Joanne -some great things to archive and share at the New Zealand parallel exhibition.... fantastic! Thanks too Jo, for the lovely little biscuit stamp. My first batch of ships biscuits ended up being used as board game pieces...but after getting this stamp I have a better recipe in mind for my next ones.

Dunedin Harbour

I have seen so many mouth watering scenes of Dunnet that I thought I better try a landscape photo myself - here is Dunedin Harbour today. I have marked Port Chalmers with a red X. (hopefully visible) The green bit you can see in the water is a sandbank - the Harbour is quite shallow in places and before the channels were dredged it was sometimes referred to as the river.

Tea party

One of the interesting things about keeping a log book for me has been the focus that the daily photo ritual demanded. At the start I was responding mainly to Moscrop's diary, but then as I learnt more about the voyage I began starting to respond to my own photos as well. For example on 26th March there was a tea party on board the Westland. In Dunedin a ferry used to come into Portobello Bay and to this day there are ceramic shards in the mud flats from where, apparently, people off the ferry threw their cups and plates. On the 26th I spent an afternoon collecting shards and photographed them on site - but wasn't so happy with the photo. I have come up with another idea since - see which you like the best! (P.S. the ship is photographed on the beach, despite looking as if it is in a conventional concrete! Maybe I have to take another photo.......)

solargraphy

Today is the longest day, so we took down the two pinhole cameras which have been fixed to the walls outside - one at my house (pointing south) and the other at my parents house (pointing East). They've been outside since the shortest day - six months ago. Now I'm posting them back to Tarja at the university in Finland to see if any of them have worked!

Lynn did one last year in NZ. Her cameras worked, you can see the results here:

www.solargraphy.com

Ships Biscuits

Label design for my tin of Ships Biscuits!

The small print says:

"For long walks and sea voyages."

"Will stay fresh for more than 40 years"

Some ships biscuits were said to be more than 40 years old before they were even issued to a ship. Delicious! Robert Dick was a baker and botanist from Thurso. He set up his bakery in 1830. He is famous for his long walks observing plants, particularly ferns. He took ships biscuits with him to eat on his walks. I guess he'd made them himself. The Robert Dick collection is in Caithness Horizons, Thurso.

William Young's retun voyage from NZ to Scotland

Captain Thomas Wood signed William Young's discharge papers on the 23rd April 1879 in Dunedin. William was then on the next boat home.......leaving Port Chalmers, Dunedin on the 24th April 1879 on the Taranaki. I've found the ships departure reported in the Otago Daily Witness issue dated 3rd May 1879 (it was a weekly newpaper). It's linked, so click to read it! More info about the cargo in the Timaru Herald 9th May 1879 which suggests the Taranaki set sail on the 8th May. And info also in the Otago Witness 12th April 1879.

I've spent the afternoon in the Castletown Heritage Centre with Angela Lewis (one of the Caithness Heritage trust board members who look after Mary-Ann's cottage). All the archives for Mary-Ann's cottage are now stored here. Documents are being slowly archived and filed so info can easily be accessed in the future.

A lot of research had been done in the past by Eric Voice (now passed away). In one folder are 33 of William Young's original discharge papers from his voyages around the world. 10 other originals are held with the Wick Heritage Society. Eric has listed in detailed chronological order William's voyages. Eric summaries that William must have been on many more voyages, but the discharge pages are unaccounted for.

It's from this info that I discovered that William returned home the very next day on the Taranaki with Captain H.P Wight, who recommended William for promotion to Second Mate at the end of the voyage at East India Dock in London (discharge papers signed by Captain Wight on the 23rd July 1879.)

Taranaki discharge papers and note of conduct for Captain Wight:

1879 original diary found!!!!!

Chris Lloyd writes in today's Northern Echo about meeting descendants of Jonathan Moscrop, and seeing his original on-board diary written on the Westlands maiden voyage in 1879 !

Click here to see pics and read the article!

Jonathan signs his diary 'Mousetrap', not Moscrop!

Maybe this is a reference to the number of vermin on the voyage?!

With thanks to Jean Porter (current keeper of the diary), Chris Lloyd at the Echo is making a copy of the diary for our exhibitions in NZ and Scotland.

Snow in New Zealand

When I saw Joanne's images of snow on the boats I was soooo jealous! I wanted snow in New Zealand! Well, it is here now - this is the back of my studio and house and the Dunedin harbour all looking pretty (although in real life the horizon line is straight!) . Unfortunately it was too dangerous to go and drive anywhere to take photos. Some University students featured on the news - travelling down a hill on a lounge suite!

Jonathan Moscrops original diary

UK to NZ and back again!

Chris Lloyd from the Northern Echo Newpaper, has been helping us track down Jonathan Moscrops original diary.........last week he wrote a feature for Echo Memories..........Click here to read it.......soon I'll be able to reveal if he has found it ............! You'll just have to wait and see!

whisky

Click on the images to read!

Joanne's studio

I did tidy my studio last night, but this always seems to happen (it was in a similar state yesterday!)! Not a clear work surface in sight. I'm making 'things' to go in frames, as well as everything else. This means I must have every sheet of paper I ever made available to grab, all string and fibre, bookbinding stuff, an assortment of Chinese inks and brushes, finished work and my sketchbooks to look at for inspiration and to confirm ideas in my head...........then I have to try and clear a space to see the collection for a frame (mix of stitch/drawing/found objects/handmade paper) in the frame mount..........this is where I have now started to take things downstairs and take over the dining table..................it will get a lot worse before it gets better, and hopefully some inspiring artwork at the end of it!?!

Now, what was I working on..........

This made me smile!

Log entry for 13th Feb 2009 - On this day in 1879 on the Westland, children are having a fun time running about barefoot on deck. In the evening there is a concert. Diarist and passenger, Jonathan Moscrop notes he enjoyed the singing.

To the amusement of others

I thought it might be quite fun to reveal which photo session caused the most interest from passersby! Stamping in the sand with an iron should have won, but there were less people round that day. The most laughs I got was for trying to clean the beach - to coincide with the day Jonathan and the passengers had to clean out the ship ready for inspection. So, how about you?

Log Book Draft

A rather boring photo! But proof of my log book taking shape in New Zealand. After some weeks away looking after my mum I have returned to the task of typing up and printing everything out on A4 paper through a lazer printer to check spelling and see what photo works the best. (Because each day I would take many photos of my scene/object in the hope of success!) I have not printed large format before and realised I needed a bigger printer for this job - so ordered one about a month ago. It takes a while for things for things to get out to our wee colony here - it just arrived yesterday. Bigger than a bread bin. So I am looking forward to driving it and hopefully my next photo of logs books will be more stunning!

Moko

Here I am showing my photos before the exhibition, but I couldn't resist with this one. I had a gap on one page of my log book, I needed a tattoo picture. I was getting to the point where I thought I might have to get one myself!! I wanted a tattoo image because they are a big part of sailor tradition and when the Westlanders arrived many of the Maori people would have tattoos. It is rare to see the facial tattoo's or moko's today, especially down in the South Island. Well, I have been spending a lot of time at hospitals lately as my mother had a fall but today good luck fell in my hands! Jill Karetai was at the hospital today and agreed to be my model. The top part of the design represents the whale coming up from Southland and the four corners represent her family. Her lips are inked too, which is a very painful process. Ka Pai Jill.

pages from my sketchbook

I'm working through my sketchbook of Mary-Ann's cottage to make a series of long accordion fold books. The order of images are the same as in my sketchbook. Each book will be 2m x 17cm when opened out flat. I've printed out one successfully, then paper stuck in the printer! Time to put the kettle on!! Here are the 7 layouts - now I have to give my printer a talking to!

cooking at Mary-Ann's cottage today

Cottage volunteer, Kath Finlayson cooks bannocks on the open peat fire.

I think this may be the first time they have been made in the cottage since Mary-Ann left.

Pots, kettle and gridle hang over the fire from hooks on a metal bar (swey).

They're done!

Click here for the traditional recipe!

Nugget's Lighthouse

On April 19th 1879 Moscrop wrote that he "sat up until 2am and saw the light from the lighthouse." I thought I was pretty clever at identifying this as the Cape Saunders Lighthouse, but now, in the publishing stage of my log book I am checking things with a fine toothed comb.  This  lighthouse sighting is published in the 1879 ODT report as at 3am but the big thing was that the Westland got into Port Chalmers early evening later that same day. There was more distance travelled, yet they were past the Dog Island Lighthouse so it seems the lighthouse they saw was the one at the Nuggets. Any excuse for a road trip - off to the Nuggets- a couple of hours from Port Chalmers by car. Wish they still had a lighthouse keepers job there! P.S This lighthouse kept calling me to go and see it again, and this time I found a cliff to climb up to get a better view.(so am adding image on blog today!)  I sat and looked for a long time and could imagine the excitement of the Westlanders coming up the coast.

Visitors from New Zealand today

Heather and Jim are friends of Lynn Taylor in New Zealand. I met them at Mary-Ann's cottage today. Here they are having a blether with Dunnet local, George Douglas.

Swapping stories from NZ and Caithness ..........George retuned later with a gift of local oatcakes and butter, for Heather and Jim ........Cheers George , a nice welcome to Caithness.

Heather getting her photo taken with George at Mary-Ann's cottage.

2004 reunion 125 years

Roger Pollet (Australia) sent me this article from the Otago Daily Times (12 Oct 2004) - I hadn't seen it before so here it is! Jane Matthews married William Thomas Gray (featuring in an earlier photo on the blog) and migrated to Sydney.

Mary-Ann's Cottage

Mary-Ann's Cottage is now open for the season.
Open - daily 2pm - 4.30pm
Usually closed on Mondays.
Click on the cottage for more info and directions.

3 whisky bottles on Dunnet Beach

Episoads of an Emigrants Journey by Steve Dales

Sit back and enjoy this short animation made by Steve Dales from Semi Precious'

"This is an animation which forms part of an exhibition at Killhope North Of England Lead Mining museum. The project looked at 19th century migration stories. Working with primary schools in the area (Weardale, Co.Durham, North East England) we made video and animation using StopMotion. I liked the spontaneity of the kids work, using old fashioned 'dippy pens' so I did the same - no lights, pen and ink on paper. But the whole piece is brought to life by Emily Portman's soundtrack"

click on the ship to start the voyage.And if you missed the animation they did with local school children based on the on-board diaries of John Hillary in 1879 (the Westlands second voyage to NZ) ...........click on the sea-chest to watch that too..............

And if you want to see more of their work...........click here!

Salty Tongues

Likewise I have been beach combing in Dunedin but found no whisky bottles, only old milk ones! I kept these for months, wondering how to photograph them for my log book. Through reading diary extracts it seemed that sometimes the whole meal or water supply could be ruined with sea water coming on board in a storm - which must have been devastating when everything was rationed. So my finds became encrusted with salt. 

Whisky labels

Click on pics to read!

fish whisky and horse hair

Horse Hair I've made into string.

Salmon from the bothy at Dunnet.


Salt herring from Thurso Harbour fish shop - I had to take the photo quickly, with one eye on Chip our spaniel! She was drooling!

This is from Mary-Ann's cottage along with fish hooks. I think it's horse hair, as it look similar to my string. They used to use horse hair to attach the fish hook to the line.

I'm designing my whisky labels, all of these inspire.................

Ditty Bags.......again!

Here then are my two ditty bags!

After stitching I gave them another coat of kakishibu.

Ditty Bags

Nice work on the ditty bags! I thought you might be interested in the eyelet edging on this sailors bag - recovered from the French Barque - the Marguerite Mirabaud - which shipwrecked off the Akatore Coast,(close to where I grew up) New Zealand, 1907.

Sea Area Fair Isle

Sea area Fair Isle

Gale warning today

Wind- Southwest gale 8 to storm 10.
Sea State - High or very high becoming very rough later.
Weather - Rain or squally showers.
Visibility - Moderate or good becoming poor for a time.

Paper ditty bag

Paper ditty bag inspired by the basic traditional shape. There are many variations - as each sailor would have personalised their own. Mine is made from my own handmade papers, digitally printed with info about the Westland voyage, then waterproofed with the fermented persimmon juice (kakishibu). The waterproofing technique give the papers added strength too, as you crumple it up when wet, the hundreds of small folds in the paper stay. The more it is coated with the juice, and repeatedly crumpled and unfolded, the softer the paper is. This ditty bag feels like soft leather. I used chunky string made from montbretia leaves for the drawstring. I've not used any of the traditinal sail makers stitches in the construction of my ditty bag.........that's next on my list!

Following on-line instructions -

My apprenticeship............. I've managed to do the flat stitch on the side seams, the tabling and am now working on the patches then sticking stitch!

Working inside-out for some stitches.........