As the weather was fairly grotty and it was obviously not a day to ride, we took our visitor to Sumburgh Head to see the puffins.

I took a few photos, as ever, but having gone through my pics, I decided to choose only the comedic or unusual ones.

The first thing that struck me was the puffins’ inability to fly with any grace or beauty.  They resemble Thunderbird 5 or the Vogon Constructor Fleet – “they hung in the air in much the same way that bricks don’t” (Douglas Adams, my hero).

 

Aww, bless them for trying! And try they do, endlessly either throwing themselves at cliffs in the hope they will land or just hover waiting for an opportunity to drop to earth.  It is not elegant.

Serious Puffin

Professional Puffin

Clockwork Puffin

Yoga Puffin

Wind-Beneath-My-Wings Puffin

No-Beak Puffin

Open-Wide Puffin

Pretty Puffin

and best of all, Grubby Puffin!  He’d been diggin’ his burrow and was happily going back and forth enjoying the mud.  Everyone else was spotless but him.

Puffins are funny little guys and always make me smile.  For such a grotty weathered day, we struck gold with our puffins coz we are nuffin’ without a puffin!

 

 

Rebuilding a Safer Nepal is a very special project to me.  Run by my dear friend, Jackie Taylor, who has lived in Nepal for many years, I want to do my best to fundraise.  When we went, a few years back, we were made welcome and had the best time.  I will never forget.

So I have decided to offer up for grabs, what I consider to be, one of my best photos in all its full glory, without a watermark to everyone who donates any amount of money to Rebuilding a Safer Nepal. Any amount will help, small, big, middle-sized, just please help.  It will make a difference.  Once you have donated, feel free to download the photo.

For the blog, my photos are usually watermarked and in a much smaller version but you are getting the original in all its full glory.

(if you would prefer an original of some other photos I have taken, please email me at frances@fstaylor.co.uk and I will send it to you).  

Click here to download the photo.

and a huge Thank You x

❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

Meanwhile, we have had some lovely days playing with Bergli Stud’s foals.  They are enchanting and we are all very smitten.  Here are a few of my better photos.

     

I don’t think I can love foals enough.  They are so cuddly and very comical.

Also, Lambie is doing very well.  He is almost twice the size than he was and he has started to run about resembling a baked bean fired out of a baked-bean-sized canon!  He remains a sweetheart, still lying in my arms in the evening while we watch telly.

I wonder whether he will stop this when he is a full-grown sheep?  He will, of course, be known as Lambie!

We have a guest so we are doing the tourist routes for her, showing her the sites of Shetland.  I happened to mention the chance of seeing seals and was greeted with huge enthusiasm, so we set off to Little Bousta, Sandness after checking ponies and horses.

There was some quantity of seals all basking and sunbathing along the shoreline

They were fantastic, ungainly and every single one reminded us of our late lamented beloved cats, Fatsworth, who was the World’s Fattest Orange Cat in his day.

A Shetland ewe and her twin lambs were wandering along the shore eating seaweed.

The seals were not scared of us humans sitting in our car, taking photos, but to them the sheep and her offspring were too much and they fled or gallumphed into the sea.

I managed to make a short film – enjoy. I think the music is fitting.

Seals are not very good at ballet – just an observation!

Tomorrow …….. foals and bribery!

This has to be one of the best foal photos I have ever taken, if I do say so myself.

So……

Do you like this photo?
Would you like a copy of this photo?
For keeps, Forever?
No watermark, in all its full glory
Yours to do with whatever you want?

Watch this space (ok, tomorrow’s space actually)

Background and Need

On 12 May, an earthquake measuring 7.3 in magnitude struck Nepal at 12:50 p.m. local time near Chilankha Village in Dolakha District. A total of 32 districts were affected, including those still recovering from the 25 April 7.8 magnitude earthquake.

According to Jamie McGoldrick, Humanitarian Coordinator with the UN in Nepal, “If we don’t act quickly, the implications will be severe. We can only expect misery, a crippling loss of dignity and the real potential for more deaths especially in the rural and remote areas”.  According to the UN, the window of opportunity to provide vital relief to people in Nepal affected by the recent earthquakes is closing quickly, as urgent funding requirements remain unmet. To date, barely US$ 59.5 million, or 14 per cent, was received against the $423 million humanitarian appeal, launched by the United Nations and partners on 29 April.

http://un.org.np/sites/default/files/OCHANepalEarthquakeSituationReportNo.14(13May2015)_0.pdf for further information

It is vital, therefore, to keep the plight of Nepali people in the forefront of peoples’ minds and try to do more as soon as possible. While the news cameras find new stories from around the world and move on, for the people of Nepal there will be no “moving on” from their misery for months or years to come.

The need is great, ranging from food and medical treatment to shelter and safe spaces for children. It’s so hard for anyone, whether in Nepal experiencing this first hand or sitting at home reading about it on the internet and in newspapers, to know where to start.

Emergency Responses

Thankfully, there are organisations, NGOs, groups, and communities who are tackling different aspects of this humanitarian crises. And I would like to introduce you to two.

I am supporting these linked organisations – To Da Loo and Helter Shelter – and would ask you to do the same.

To Da Loo has been building latrines and toilets in temporary camps and in communities where many (or all) homes have been destroyed or make inhabitable. This is particularly vital for girls and women who find it hard to relieve themselves in open spaces.

Helter Shelter has provided tarpaulins and tents to families who are homeless for immediate shelter from the sun and rain. With the monsoon imminent, Helter Shelter is about to upscale its effort into something more permanent. .

The Way Forward

The needs of women will be met by the expansion of the latrine/toilet building projects of To Da Loo, particularly relevant in a patriarchal culture where women’s needs are very often ignored or not even realised. What I want to do is link the distribution of sanitary napkins and underpants to women and girls who have lost their homes and the ability to have access to water for washing the cloth napkins used in the majority of the country during menstruation.

The needs of families will be met by the introduction of earthbag technology in rebuilding people’s homes. Earthbag buildings have proven to be more resistant to damage during an earthquake and are simple, cost effective and easy to construct. The Helter Shelter team is undergoing training in this technology, which they will pass on to the communities they are working in.

What Your Money Can Achieve

£12 – two months supply of sanitary napkins and one pair of underpants each for four girls or women (the average extended family size in Nepal)

£400 – one family earth bag house (size and materials will vary from area to area and family to family)

£95 – one set of hardware tools (such as shovel, saws etc) for one community to work together building earth bag houses

£75 – to outfit one small earth bag house with bedding, a mosquito net and cooking facilities

http://www.gofundme.com/usv8jd5

About the Organisations

I’m a Scottish woman and have lived in Nepal for 20 years. I’m a freelance writer/editor for NGOs as well as the owner of a small training company. In the past I have worked in tourism running a small jungle safari hotel in the west of the country. I have travelled extensively around Nepal, including several remote areas.

Both To Da Loo (www.facebook.com/todaloo) and Helter Shelter (www.facebook.com/heltershelter) have been formed by proactive people living in Nepal. In their team, they have a film maker, a hotelier, IT people, social activists and lovers of Nepal coming from as far afield as Denmark, UK and of course, Nepal itself. All of the To Da Loo and Helter Shelter core team are personal friends of mine who I have known over a period of years.

I am devastated and deeply saddened by what has happened but overwhelmed and grateful of the hard work of the To Da Loo and Helter Shelter teams, as well as the countless of other teams of rescuers and rebuilders brought together by this terrible event. Please give whatever you can and together we can help build a safer Nepal.

Thank you.

Jackie Taylor

http://www.gofundme.com/usv8jd5

❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

Nepal is very close to my heart.  Through Jackie, I sponsor a wonderful girl and a few years back OH and I went to meet them in person.

I want to share with you a few of my photos from that time so you can see the magic of what Nepal was.  I will return there. I have promised myself this.  Nepal and its people have a place in my heart.  I have always wanted to help a real project rather than a nameless faceless charity and that is how I met Jackie and can personally vouch for her.

  

Lyra’s best friend is finally home.

Daisy has finished at St Snotter’s University and came home on the boat arriving this morning.

After saying hello to her Bimble (aka Iacs) who was loafing in his field by the house, we drove to Sandness to see Lyra who was thrilled to see her.  Lyra tolerates other people but she loves Daisy.  She always has.

I don’t know what it is or why it is but that is the way it has always been.

Lyra and Daisy are the best of friends and this uncomplicated relationship is based entirely on trust in each other.

Ever since she was a foal, Lyra has always chosen Daisy and vice versa.

Meanwhile, Lyra’s mother, Vitamin looked on, happy that her daughter has someone who loves her as much as she does.

Vitamin is a wise old mare.  She has always known what is best for her little girl.