The ten days of February

Can you count on the weather in February?

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The old folk used to say you’d get ten ‘taekin’ days in February. They meant still, clear days when crofting families would get the chance to renew the heather thatch or ‘taek’ on the roof before the men went off to the whaling in March. It’s surprising how often the saying works out – a February series of bonny, sunny days when the winter-blue water is mirror-calm, and the hills fawn with old grass. Ideal for giving the engine a run!

Last February, on the first ‘taeking day’, off I went. It had been cold, so there was a bit of crunching under prow as my Karima temporarily became an ice-breaker, leaving a snail-trail across the marina behind her, but then we were out into the voe, with the engine putt-putting away happily, with the occasional snorting gurgle, and the ripples spreading out behind us.

It fairly did my head good to be out on the water. Winter is always manic up here, with the dark-night activities: sport in the leisure centres, evening classes in the school and, in my case, drama. Our local panto (January) had segued seamlessly into rehearsals for the County Drama Festival in March. I was involved in four shows, and my head was beginning to spin.