i am writing in lower case because i am typing with two fingers of my right hand only. very e.e. cummings. yesterday i had a nasty fall. now i am sporting a fractured hand and a wrist with bone splintered off; a black eye which would rival a champion boxer's; a bruised shoulder - the shape of the bruise is strangely reminiscent of iona - is this a sign; and damaged right knee - tissue and bruising has caused the knee to swell and makes me feel as though i am walking on molten lava shock absorbers. i feel i got off lightly though. i tripped on uneven paving between wards where i work as a volunteer chaplain. it must have caused quite a stir when the ambulance arrived to pick up an employee as it were. colleagues were brilliant. i felt very well looked after, but it was quite a shock. once i'd fallen i was sure i had really badly messed up my already smashed up right knee. i had a serious road traffic accident in the mid 1980s which has left me with the knee of an 80 year old. hence my reluctance to kneel to pray or genuflect. this morning i thought my right knee was permanently stuck - it got going though - and i am so relieved that the damage to that part of my body at least is mostly bruising.
i am officially slowed down - the swelling in my hand is amazingly impressive - and i have painkillers that look like rhino knock out drops - no comments please.
on tuesday we went over to orkney as planned.
it was a perfect day to visit a future potential home because it was cold - wax jacket, scarf and gloves while the south of england baked. it rained or drizzled much of the day - and the sun shone for a minute or two - long enough though for me to plead with it to go in again because, as i watched the light dance on the water, there was an increasing danger i would become utterly smitten with the island and throw all caution to the wind and become a woman possessed. c.s. lewis said 'beware a woman with a mission'.
before i say much about the property i need to mention that the last e-mail from the owner suggests that she might be about to receive a cash offer from an american-orcadian on a site unseen basis - so what i am about to write could well be kicked into touch by the ebullience of a trans-atlantic bidder.
i know the family at the house need to move swiftly so i can only wish them well whilst still needing to explore further from our community experience perspective what we need and whether roeberry, south ronaldsay could work with us and for us. by comparison we must seem to them like terrible slow tops - but this is a big decision for us - and we really don't want to be faffed with moving again or to make a mistake which impacts on the dreams of our brothers and sisters - thus aborting the embryonic aspirations of shared community.
orkney - i adored. it must be love that i'm feelin'.
it is very different - the lack of trees is startling but it makes the place distinctive too. no traffic lights on the island; no foxes; the lowest crime rate in britain. some cultural and ethnic mix with asian, chinese, polish and other european folks settling - first and second generations. kirkwall, the capital is like a small english market town fifty years ago. contemporary shops in minature with old fashioned values of politeness and friendliness. very beguiling and safe-feeling. people work hard to get on together.
roeberry is about a twenty-five minute drive from the capital and a five minute drive from the village of st margaret hope. the village, on the shore, of the pentland firth provides the ferry 'terminal' for the hour crossing to gills bay - the scottish mainland - six miles away. for those who have spent time with us here - a useful image to hold in mind is the view from the garden across to the black isle. the moray firth is about four miles across where we are. the distance from gills bay to south ronaldsay where the ferry lands is about six miles. the house - five minutes up the hill. the scottish mainland visible from the house.
the pentland firth is renown for some cross currents - our crossing was murky but uneventful - going was slow in places because of current - but it didn't feel too choppy - but this is june. the vessel carries cars, lorries and people - so is pretty substantial. the crossing took about one hour fifteen and you have to queue for half an hour at least before you are loaded onto the ferry - and it takes a few minutes to get everyone off once you arrive on the island. you need to be a confident driver - there's backing involved.
st margaret hope has an intimate fishing village feeling with post office, grocery store and general store. there's an inn, backpacker hostel, old-fashioned telephone box, gallery and a scattering of bed and breakfast establishments.
we did our recce of the village and headed off to kirkwall.
kirkwall surpassed expectations - offering all the ammenities and steeped in history. i was caught by the relaxed style of the place and the sense of openness and trust. st. magnus cathedral dominates. i was only sorry we didn't have time to explore it.
we drove back and viewed roeberry. there was masses to take in.
the grounds are magical. a coppice of sycamore with blubells took my breath away. it had a magical quality and a delightful atmosphere. apparently various family pets are buried there from the previous owner's era. the property remained with the family that built it in 1861 until it was sold a couple of years ago. there are masonic symbols on pinnacles at roof level on the house. it was also used for interring prisoners of war.
the property has 4.2 acres divided into a series of walled rooms with some open pastureland and the coppice. there are two stables, various stores, two garages, a loft which has outline planning permission, and a semi-derelict summer house.
the garden is beautifully planted but a little neglected - it would need very little love to breath life back into it.
chickens and a feral cat come with the house.
the house is another matter. it is substantial - 7 bedrooms - 2 with en suite, 1 with a shower room and all the rest with washbasins. there's a substatial drawing room, dining room, library, snug, sitting room, large kitchen with a stanley and large cooking range, cloakroom, downstairs bathroom, laundry room and downstairs bedroom with en suite. huge.
part of the house offers a small flat with a tiny kitchen - the former staff quarters but this doesn't have independent access.
it's a quirky house. there's a sense in which it's a fur coat and no knickers property - with a lot of gorgeous original features in the public rooms and a rather less embellished first floor. a surprising kitchen BUT it is very individual - and i can imagine community being founded and created here. sustained there - that's the question.
finding the property has been wonderful - just when i was beginning to think we would never find a place we could afford and do what we needed to it - roeberry appeared.
where it initially caught me proved not to be significant in the end which is interesting. occasionally i have visions. with some earthed and pragmatic spiritual direction over the years i have ceased to see these as disturbing but as windows into a possible future reality. possible is the keyword - there can be a strong element of wish-fulfilment or even need manifestation. for these reasons i take visions seriously. i saw my foster daughter and my son - long before they were physically manifest in my life. i saw myself doing a particular job - which came to be - although at the time of the vision i didn't know the place or recognise quite what i was doing there.
in one vision i saw the outline of part of a garden. the community is founded. i am an elderly woman walking with sticks. i can hear voices and see the plants and a high stone wall with an arched opening. there is a large wooden door with old fashioned furnishings. since then houses with high stone walls with wooden gates...
...i take houses with these appendages seriously whilst also remembering they may represent just one potential reality. the atmosphere in the walled garden wasn't the same as in the vision... roeberry can be explored on it's own merits therefore without additional intuition/interference.
the gardens at roeberry are glorious but untamed.
the house ticks many boxes.
with additional rented pasture it would be possible to offer sanctuary for animals.
the flat although not self-contained could offer a haven home.
the stores would convert to make the sanctuary.
some land could be used for a further build.
big questions are:
would people come
is the psychological gap of the pentland firth just a step or perhaps a paddle too far
the facilities for care, disabled people, special needs etc... are impressive on the island as are the cultural pursuits, but what would we miss
would we always be incomers
i believe god's call is to create and found community - i long for a distinctive place for this to happen. lindisfarne, iona, could it be orkney - or do we all feel at a heart level that mainland uk is where we need to be - or perhaps another island...
i know some of us have a huge attachment for mull. i am nervous about building community there because of the proximity to iona and the inevitable confusion that would result, but i would be very interested to reflect further on what it is about mull which feels good and positive.
so much.
anyone free on 18th june - 19th/20th for a trip to orkney.
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