Stonewalls , Sailing Ships & Sunburn

About 150 years after it was first built, a section of our back stone wall had started to collapse. This wall will be a real feature as we're installing a window that looks out onto it and the old area of the Lamby Shed.

Enter Alan our stonemason who's spent just over a week carefully dismantling it, laid a new foundation and then rebuilt it using the same techniques as when first built. I know you all must think its a bit sad loving stonewalls but , well, we just do. Here's the result of his hardwork which will still be standing in another 150 years.

Actually, the guys a bit of star ...

In 2008 Sue Hayward created a garden at the Chelsea Flower Show to raise awareness of the Motor Neurone Disease Association, and she wanted it to include an authentic Shetland crofthouse.

So, 1000 miles later, a crofthouse ruin was identified, dismantled, shipped from Yell to London, and rebuilt by Alan at Chelsea to create the "Shetland Croft House Garden for Motor Neurone Disease"

http://www.suehayward.co.uk/chelsea2008.htm

If we could grow a garden just a fraction as beautiful & natural ... well, come back in 10 years and see how we're progressing !

It won a Gold Medal (no mean feat) and the BBC Award for Best Small Garden.

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The hustle & bustle of Lerwick Harbour is growing in anticipation of the upcoming Tall Ships Race, when hundreds of sailing ships begin arriving into Shetland from all over the world. They start arriving next week bringing around 3000 people alone that make up the sailing crews let alone other visitors.

They're really going for it here and are organising hundreds of free events over the time they're here. As well as being able to board and look around the ships there are music events with world class acts. Boy ... did we pick the right year to move up here!

If you can't make it up here, don't worry, just click on one of the live Webcam links below to view to see whats going on in Lerwick town and in the harbour. And who knows, we may call YOU when we're down there and will wave to you!

http://visit.shetland.org/lerwick-town-centre-webcam

http://visit.shetland.org/lerwick-harbour-webcam

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Finally, we've been seeing more of this fella than we ever expected ...

Now, as my Ozzie buddy told me on more than one occaision you can never be too careful so slap it on ...

Unfortunately, none of us thought we'd need it up here so have been caught out and had a few burny bits recently - even Max posed in sympathy for the picture !!

MMMM .... what that I can smell ? Fish Pie - made with mackerel given to us this morning by Elsbeth our neighbour. Time to depart and tuck in ....

xxx

Simmer Dim & views of Lerwick

The daylight hours during the Midsummer period total 19 of proper daylight plus five hours of an ethereal twilight known up here as "simmer dim" (simmer being summer)

Although this is only our first full summer here, we're beginning to see just how Shetlanders get on and make the most of things. At the height of Midwinter there will be only 5-6 hours daylight  from around 9-10am to 3pm, so they really do seem to try cram loads into the evenings and weekends of summer.

Now, for those of you that like numbers & statistics, here are a few to give you a flavour of the islands:

19 hours of midsummer daylight
138 sandy beaches
567 square miles of islands
639 miles of good roads
1697 amazing miles of coastline
6,080 archaeological sites
6,000 years of history
22,000 people
54,000 gannets
200,000 puffins

Hold on ... can't mention puffins without this 

So, as some of you know I now have a part time job working in Lerwick (that's Sarah!) , the "capital" of Shetland. After I'm finished around 2pm , if I don't have to rush home I like to spend a bit of time soaking up the atmosphere in Lerwick. Here are a few views from around from the town :

Below is the main shopping street. Whilst there may be no John Lewis or M&S, there's a Boots and Ninian gift shop amongst others

http://www.ninianonline.co.uk/

View from Fort Charlotte - 17th century garrison - looking down over the town.

The very modern museum and archives with an excellent cafe inside !



Finally , I've recently come across Gary Buchan - his link is on the side of this blog, here's a couple from him and this is his link  http://www.garybuchan.biz/

Next time ? well ... more about the public halls and what goes on in them (you would be surprised) plus, you've heard our VERY biased view living here , we'll give you a few home truths about living on an island and some of compromises that have to be made.

S&S xx

Roads, Regatta's & a Wall with a Secret

Building work has continued well this week, blockwork now going up plus we've also welcomed  Alan Smiles our local stonemason (amongst other talents!) into the happy band of workers.

Not sure yet which Alan will turn out to be, but I know we definately have or have had a Sleepy, Grumpy, a Bashful and a Happy ....

Yes ... I wonder which he is . Usually "Dopey" according to Fred ! ("Go and play with your whisk Bakerboy" is the usual response from Fred when Steve says something stupid)

 Just thought you may like a look at a shot taken at 08:30am  on my drive to work (near Mossbank)

After a number of hard days without a break, this weekend was going to be 2 days of Rest & Relaxation. We drove down to Burravoe pier to watch the yoal regatta, the yoal being a traditional sort of wooden rowing boat. So we found a cliff top on which to perch and watch the event ...

The boats set off from Burravoe pier, rowing out into the open sea to the start line, then raced back to the pier. Seriously hard rowing by teams of men, women and under 16's. Teams from all over Shetland made their way up to Yell for this annual regatta. They breed 'em hard up here.

Oh yes, perched about 8 inches from the cliff edge, coastal erosion performed by Digger Thompson

Anyhow, leaving the cliffs, we made our way back to the pier for a drink and something from the barby; as we walked past an unassuming stone wall it appeared to be alive with tweeting. We peered into the darkness between the stones to find this ... awwwwww

Finally .... in case you're liking our sunset snaps, this is a nice one =)

Watch this space for a few lines about the "All Day Buffet" . Yes, more food.

Have a good week

S&S&F

xxxx

Hammers,Holes, Piles & a New Man About The House

We don't feel strongly about many things when it comes to building materials however in the case of pebble-dash (or "harling" as its known up here) we utterly hate the stuff. Sincere apologies to those that have & love it but its just not our thing.That said, for years it was the only practical insulation available for use on stone walls up here, so in that sense its served its purpose. In the 21st we're now installing insulation on the inside, and its made of millions of glass bubbles (made by the Pyrex company). More of that on a later entry. (bet you can't wait!!!)

Anyhow, after 4 hours of brandishing a lump hammer yesterday

Me and Gareth managed to smash off most of the pebble-dash from the front of the house. The picture below shows some remaining harling on the right .... but the lovely original stone face appears for the first time in many many decades.

Both Steve & I had been dreading this job as it could have taken much much longer than it did, certainly not the few hours it did so consider ourselves very lucky. Just the 2 gable ends to go and a little at the back of the house and we're done !

Another milestone day tomorrow begins with the arrival of Robbie Readimix and his 38 tonne concrete wagon - its coming to offload a few cubic metres to create our foundations or footings.

Sadly (for Fred) he loses the hired digger and dumper tomorrow as all the digging & major earth moving is now complete. He loves his toys, but he's also been using them to level off the drive and surrounding ground, create some new steps up the side of the new extension and shifting more of the big boulders around.

Just to give you an idea of the amount of earth we've had to move, the shot above show the Cuppaster Quarry that we as crofters have access to. We've been allowed to put some in there, quite a bit actually. This can now be re-used by other local crofters who need earth to lay a track or fill holes for example.

Colour Charts ...

Now, with Steve down in Merseyside over the last week, Fred was in the wrong place at the wrong time and ended up drawing the short and only straw to stand in as my surrogate "Man About The House" . As all ladies reading this will know, a woman always needs someone in the vacinity to whom they can witter onto don't they? (even if it is only the dog ... although she's not here either!)

Under the circumstances - and to be fair - Mr Cheshire been a gem of a stand-in and has made me a fair few cuppas which has been impressive. However, in Chapter 1 of the important manual for all new couples "A Husbands Role" it clearly states that a husbands job is to listen intently, appear engaged and lend an interested ear as their wives twitter on about paint and colour charts.

I'm very disappointed to report that Mr Cheshire has clearly not read the manual and failed miserably on this task scoring "nil point"

by glazing over after a measly  9 seconds =(

Did I glaze when over he started talking about mortar plasticiser or bat straps? No !

Well, I was also sadly lacking in the Spiderman department yesterday ... (yep, thats Steve!)

What was 15inches from my feet in the bath MID SHOWER causing me to scream the house down?

Yep and it had 8 legs. Fred to the resuce again (previous glazing over forgiven at this point)

Well SOMEONE had to get the flaming thing out & it sure wasn't gonna be me ...

Hurry Home Spiderman ... the spiders have started appearing ... aaargh !!!



64 pizza's later ...

A successful evening was had by all at the Burravoe Hall this evening with around £150 raised for the public hall funds (pays for the upkeep and improvement of the hall). Alan & his wife Jackie organised the evening and I was the extra pair of hands.

As there's no proper restaurant on Yell, the 4 public halls on the island  regularly organise different "food" evenings. Anyone can then go along to buy the food, either eat-in or take home, but all freshly made to order. As all the halls have licensed bars, its a nice social event to get out and meet up with folk. Even the elderly ladies from the sheltered housing were getting a delivery tonight as they couldn't make it out!

The blurry picture shows me in the excellent kitchen with Alan (a professional catering facility) although I spent most of my time after 1830 taking orders in the bar and getting to chat with my new neighbours.Alans a passionate and very capable amateur who made all the pizza bases - if only Viviana could have been there to give us her opinion! She'd have loved them I know.

The Yell summer social calendar's really kicked off here now, next Saturday is the Burravoe Regatta with the barbecue and beer tent opening at 12noon. I suspect our crew will be drawing straws to see who's driving. Personally, I think Fred should think of his health as I'm not convinced his liver's recovered yet from 2 weeks ago ... is looking a little yellow !! (plus its becoming a bit of a habit him getting drunk each time he visits the Burravoe Hall.) Looking forward to a good day though - bring it on !

Its late, I can't sleep ...

I don't know about you guys and how you would be feeling, but after living and working with my husband for 7 weeks solid, it seems very strange not to have him around.

Nothing would normally disrupt my healthy sleep pattern, but clearly tonights an exception. It's daylight outside (or Simmer Dim as they call it) and I can't sleep ...

Even the hot water bottle's not helping :-(

The recently borrowed book from the community library is  starting to get a bit gorey, so I've put that down.

So, I've got to thinking ... mainly about how many times - over the last couple of years - my memory has deserted me - in fact not just deserted me, but squarely mislead me into thinking something happened when it actually didn't. I fear for my old age. I fear for poor old Steve getting the blame every time I can't find something.... there's only so many times you can carry the can for your wifes absent-mindedness :=(

At 47, this is how I feel (Sarah in Hebrew means "princess"? so the tiara is very appropriate!)

But you know me ... well,  most of you do ... and I'm never low for long - even at 12:50am . Tomorrow I'll be doing my bit to raise funds for the local public hall in Burravoe (these halls really are the heart of the community) ... what will I be doing?

Yes , chopping and prepping food for a Pizza Night, organised by our local stonemason who - I have to say - is a very gifted amateur cook, and I'm one of the helpers. Shame none of you are up here to taste the output of our hardwork as I can vouch for his abilities in making very nice Italian food.  I'll let you know tomorrow how it went, hopefully quite a few should come along to eat - or maybe takeaway a pizza. I know one customer who will be waiting there with his knife and fork. Yes, Mr Cheshire.

Uh oh .... its now 01:00 and I'm talking about food.... time to try and sleep again I think.

Nite x

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