Sunshine , Sadness & Solar Power

Well we've had another mild and sunny week this week which has been good to work in. After a couple of days of helping Fred dig the foundations for the extension and porch, Steve & Digger set off for a short trip to Merseyside to visit parents and collect some bits and bobs needed for the building works.

We're lucky enough to have some stunning wildflowers here and it feels like we're completely surrounded by them - the sunshine has really brought out the blooms. We have fields of wild flag iris's which are just the green leaves at the moment, but this evening I spotted one of the first ones to emerge into the sun

There are also dozens of wild orchids.Much of the land has been untouched for generations, the main reason being that the some of the fields leading down to the beach have been a little bit wet for sheep to graze on (they get foot rot!) so the flowers haven't been eaten! So far I think I've spotted 3 or 4 varieties - not sure of their names but thought you may like to see a couple of pictures of them.

So , that's the "Sunshine" bit, now the "sadness" bit. 

You may remember that Fred parents are up in Shetland, seeing us and touring around. Well their dog Max1 - aged 13 - made his way to doggy heaven this week.

He'd spent last weekend with us all & Digger & Max2 (Freds dog) down at the beach, but as an old boy he'd not been right for a little while. He had a peaceful end & I'm told the vet was very good and let him go to sleep in his bed in the motor home. He's now resting - looking out to sea - behind our Lamby Shed, so there will always be a little corner of Yell that's his. RIP Max1, a handsome soft old boy.

Finally, the portable solar panel appeared today as Janet & Joe arrived to stay for the night on their way down to mainland Shetland. Thankfully, permament sunshine is not required, just daylight, so they should be ok for a bit of electric in the motor home for a while

Tourists for a day

After an early start this morning clipping sheep hooves, we returned for a quick wash and brush up although  it took a little longer to clean Digger after an hour spent down rabbit holes

As I mentioned, we're having a Royal Visit with Freds parents up here in Shetland at the moment, so today we spent the day being Yell tourists with them. With 5 adults and 3 dogs comfortably piled into the Discovery, our first stop was Aywick on the east of Yell to see the White Wife - a figurehead salvaged from a shipwreck off the coast of Yell about 95 years ago.

 "I see no ships ! ".

x Us x

Moving on, we  headed north to Winddog Cafe in Gutcher in the north of Yell for a bite to eat (lurvly food)



then onto the award winning Breckon Sands. My camera doesn't do the beach justice, but here are a few shots. Beautiful aqua blue sea and white sand. The cows looked on as the dogs had a complete ball below on the beach!

After a fond farewell , we returned home for a fry-up - earnt after all the walking and climbing we'd done !!

Last derelict pictures before we start to rebuild ...

So, with the old extension completely demolished now,

out came "Paddys Motorbike" (pneumatic drill) to break up

the old floor. Foundation laying begins next week.

This has to be one of the campest pictures ever taken of Mr Cheshire. Hope my Manchester mate Jon doesn't get an eyeful of this - Fred may get a bit of a following on Canal Street ... !

A view below of the back wall  most of which

(to the right of the scaffolding) will be coming

down to allow for the extenstion to be built.

Fred's standing where the new staircase will be installed

Gareth (next door neighbour) proves again that

he's a complete homewrecker after demolishing the

porch in about an hour. Looking at how he

handles his sledgehammer (yes, he has his own)

I somehow think I won't be arguing with

my neighbour .. =)

BBQ a la Building site (minus the roof & extension)

So , a week of dismantling before the digger & dumper arrives again next week and things start being built!

Below, next door neighbour Gareth helping out as the old roof trusses are removed

Hmm .... looking worse than derelict !

Internal view of of the now empty crofthouse ... plenty of daylight !

The 40 year old extension is finally flattened

All done for the day? yes ! Right, time for a BBQ !!

Oh yes, this week saw the arrival of Freds parents - his mum is fondly known as The Queen by Steve

And it was the lovely Janet & Joe that suggested an impromptu Building Site Barby - perfect !



I'm ashamed to say that whilst Steve tried his best to be polite in front of Her Majesty

...he couldn't avoid the inevitable. The picture below shows his reaction

to the sound effects of performing the first metallic wheelbarrow echo-sound bottom pump.

All Digger wanted was his flipping burger !

Good Times !

Ouch ...that hurt

Working in a confined roofspace using a crowbar turned out to be a bit hazardous. Suffice to say the picture does no justice to the egg sized lump on't forehead.

Love the pirate impression Mr Cheshire =) .... OOO ARRRR

As for Bakerboy , slipping up a slope with a pile of tiles (that was poetic!) in his hands resulted in them ending up in a heap on top of him. Fat lip and facial grazing later, he winced when the TCP went on !!!

Not a bad Health & Safety record considering whats gone on here in 6 weeks !

Cobwebs & Carnivals

Well , you know how it is. A 5 day week is something we left behind in Lancashire although Steve & I are making sure we have at least one day off a week.

As a girl, I have to admit that the final stripping out of the old croft was scariest. When we removed all the interior of the roof we got covered in 40 years of dust and grime ... and cobwebs. (see previous blog entry for pix) Thank the lord I only saw one baby spider; I can only imagine that to the lovely Emma T, that roofspace would have been as frightening as her recent trips to the dentist as she's something of an arachnaphobe too.



So after a quick hose down with the pressure washer, we made our way down to Burravoe for 7pm where the newly instated Burravoe Carnival was starting. Even though it's only in its second year now they put on a great show and the floats (or "flotts" as it's pronounced locally) were really well done - each collecting for their own charity.

This was the float from Burravoe Primary School all saying "hello" in languages and dress of different countries of the world

The crowds walked a slow pace to accompany the procession as it made its way back to Burravoe Hall along a stretch of road closed by the police (the first we'd seen in 6 weeks) Our roadside path was an abundance of wild flowers including hundreds of early purple orchids.

So the "flotts" were judged and prizes awarded, tasty barbecue visited (frequently by the Builder & Baker) we all mingled outside enjoying the warm dry summers evening.

This was the winning float "Steve's Superstars",  Steve was a young 26year old local lad who died last year from heart related problems. In memory of him, and for the British Heart Foundation all his pals dressed up as different superstars (including Spiderman for those of you who remember Sams party!) and danced away to their theme tunes like Tom & Jerry & Whacky Races . They won £100 to donate to their charity along with everything else they collected in the buckets.

The Vikings were present with the West Yell Jarl Squad there singing us the odd manly song too. At first sight, you might think that you really wouldn't want to meet one of these gents down a dark alley, but the ones we spoke to were big softies .... all ending up rather drunk at the end of the evening.

Oh yes, the bar. £4.50 for a round of 3 drinks. Say no more .

So after being some of the first to leave (only the parents with youngsters had left about 12), we wended our way home at 01:15am. We were a trio of Larry Lightweights compared to our hosts for the evening with many of the remaining crowds being over 60! Once again, a very friendly bunch of people and a fun but relaxing wind down at the end of the week.

As they say , we work hard and we play hard. I would like to say there were 2 sore heads on Sunday, only 1 though (Fred's unfortunately) ... as for Steve? up at 7:30 on a sunny morning to go up to the croft to mend fences. He's hardcore !

Time for a pic of Sarah looking FILTHY !!

Last weeks job for me was removing the interior cladding from the roofspace, using brute force I had to force all the panelling down ... and  yes folks , thats a crowbar in my hand =)

This space - when converted - will be an upstairs bathroom and one of the guest bedrooms. We promise to ensure we have not a cobweb in sight when finished! (thats what a lot of the black is in the picture)


Dirty Dirty Dirty

The joke was I didn't realise just how filthy I was so I had no qualms about going into the shop on the way home to pick up bread & milk. No wonder I was getting funny looks !