I get weak in the knees for any kind of wooden box.  Especially boxes with numerous compartments, secret drawers, locks, etc.   I found this replica 19th c. Travel Writing Box on eBay and bought it.   It is perfect for what I wanted it for—to hold all my pen holders, nibs, small bottles of inks, paper, sealing wax, sealing wax stamps, and more.

I absolutely love it!

NOTE: The board game Skerrobree is copyrighted and patented by ©2019 Olivier Dunrea.

In 1986 my book, Skara Brae: The Story of a Prehistoric Village, was published.   I did my field research in Northern Scotland, the Orkney and Shetland Islands, and the Outer Hebrides between 1978-98.   The archaeology, prehistory, and folklore of ancient Scotland fascinates me!

I love playing board games and have a large collection of them.  I also collect vintage Monopoly games from the 1930s, 40s, and 50s.

CLUE and RISK have always been two board game favorites.

As a researcher and illustrator I study and analyze a good number of plans for ancient sites and structures as well as maps.   The layout of Skara Brae has always fascinated me.

Last year I decided to see if I could design a board game using the Plan of Skara Brae for the game board.   In my research I had read that the archaic name for Skara Brae was Skerrobree by the local inhabitants.

The board game and how to play the game is a variation on CLUE—with a few more twists and turns.

RULES OF THE GAME

The year is 1947.   The Second World War is over and a team of archaeologists and graduate students are sent to the far-flung remote archipelago of the Orkney Islands in the North Sea to examine the ancient archaeological site called Skerrabree to see if any damage was sustained during the war.  The director of the expedition is Sir Angus Ian McPherson from the University of Edinburgh.

One night, after a week at the site, a ferocious and violent storm hits the islands.   Thunder rumbles throughout the night and streaks of lightning keep everyone huddled in their tents.  The next morning the body of Dr. Angus Ian McPherson is discovered.  WHO committed the murder?  WHAT weapon was used to commit the murder?  WHERE did the murder take place?  These are the three questions that must be answered.  AND the reason WHY he was murdered is randomly chosen to be secretly included in the Confidential dossier.

Two archaeologists, Dr. Bertram Standish and Dr. Euphemia McCrimmon, lead the team’s examination of the ancient Neolithic site.  Each archaeologist has a graduate student working under them: Maddy and Gabe.  Miss Bridey Finn is the photographer for the team. Two local laborers do the heavy work of digging and carting away dirt and stones:  Haggis McBride and Seamus Sinclair.  The final member of the team is the wife of Haggis McBride that cooks and makes tea during the expedition, Molly McBride.

Any one of the following could have been used to commit the murder:

Archaeologist’s hammer

Digging spade

Prehistoric pot

Bronze dagger

Small knife

Knitting needles

Axe

 

Here are some photos of the board game in play:

Easter is almost here and I thought it might be fun to post the layouts, sketches, and a few pieces of finished artwork and pages from the published book.

After all these many years John and I finally got married on 3 June 2017 in Provincetown, Massachusetts!   Only close friends and family attended the wedding on the private beach of the beautiful Ocean House that we had rented for the occasion.  For us the wedding could not have been more perfect!

Ruby & Rufus was officially published on 18 March 2019!

It’s been quite some time since I’ve posted anything on this blog.   A great deal has happened since my last post ages ago.  Most significantly…I had a massive heart attack in Iceland on our way to Scotland!

We were changing planes at the airport in Reykjavik when the massive heart attack happened.  We had only been on the ground for ten minutes changing planes on our way to Scotland.   The heart attack came out of the blue with no prior warning signs or indications that I might be at risk of having one.  Luckily, a pilot and flight crew from another Icelandair flight saw me collapse and immediately called their 911 before my head even hit the floor.

Two doctors happened to be passing by and immediately began performing CPR on me.  Most likely they saved my life.   I was brought back from the dead five times!   I was taken to the hospital in Reykjavik where I had a quadruple bypass.  I got THE BEST medical care you can imagine!   I was in ICU for one week; CCU for one week; and then spent the third week resting up in our AirBnB until my lungs were completely clear of any traces of pneumonia and we could fly back to the U.S.

I’m happy to report that six months later I’m doing just fine and am pretty much back to normal.  I am getting back into my work routine in the studio.  AND…John and I have started a new Etsy Shop where we’re selling my original artwork, sketches, drawings, colour studies, etc.  In time we will also be selling notecards of my artwork as well as John’s photographs.

I’ll try my best to keep this blog more up-to-date.

I’m having to relearn all the ins and outs of the website, the blog, Instagram, FaceBook, and Twitter!