Adventures with Dad

Saturday saw me making the 90 mile (4 ferry) round trip to Lerwick to stock up on the supplies that are hard to come by in our 3 local shops. I returned home 10 hours later exhausted and desperate for my bed.

The kids were still full of energy having spent a wonderful adventure packed day with Dad exploring their new island home.

Every day is like a holiday when you live on 'The island above all others'!

Things that made me smile today

I realised today that I am probably the luckiest person I know. I have twice had the opportunity to live my dream, firstly on Papa Westray & now here and I shall hold that thought in my heart and use it when the wind is tearing at the roof and the sea spray is hitting the windows.

 

Today, me and the Peerie Man took the camera and went onto the pebble beach across from the house and then a little way up the road, not only did we see lots of things that made us smile but I realised that I am not too bad a photographer.

 

Elegance that money just can't buy

Shag in Haroldswick Bay

 

This guy (or girl) is a regular visitor to Haroldswick bay and was just too beautiful not to share.

Simmer dim

It was remiss of me not to take a photograph of simmer dim on the night of the summer solstice (21st June 2014) so I took one last night instead at about 23:30. It still looks like daytime and we can trot around the house without any lights on - even with the curtains drawn & blackout blinds down! It's easy to see why they are referred to as Scandinavian 'white nights'.



Simmer dim is the twilight of a Shetland summer evening when the sun dips below the horizon for only a few hours a day. Due to the position of our house we have stunning views of the sun rising from the living room and of it setting from the kitchen.

Any translations of Shetland dialect that appear in my blog are courtesy of the online dictionary at http://www.shetlanddialect.org.uk/dictionaries.

To find out more about the climate in Shetland visit http://visit.shetland.org/climate.

Wild & free...

My husband is a natural born forager, if it's wild & free & edible, then he'll eat it. He'd kept telling me about his foraged mussels whilst I was south & today he brought some home for me to try. They were enormous & absolutely delicious with the most glorious coral coloured flesh.

I must warn you that you really should NEVER eat seafood when there isn't an R in the month but we took some expert advice & checked the biotoxin report at www.food.gov.uk and our waters are still at safe levels - these will be the last we will have until September.

Aran to Orkney to Shetland

Sometimes there are things that hold us back and I felt this Aran sweater was one of those things.

I started it in late 2002 in Yorkshire but put it on hold when I moved to Orkney in 2003 while I renovated a cott (cream aran yarn & building dust DO NOT mix). It was still in the same bag when I left and over the next 11 years I occasionally took it out & did an odd few rows on the sleeve but having 2 babies it never got finished. When I decided I was coming to Shetland house hunting I was determined to finish it as I felt I wouldn't be able to move on until I had - and finish it I did, half a sleeve & the front in about 2 weeks! I wore it during my week in Shetland & went home with an accepted offer on the new house.

Please forgive the photography, my 6 year old daughter took it for me.

In the beginning ....

About 10 years ago, I lived on Papa Westray in Orkney, a much smaller isle than I live on now. After returning to my native Yorkshire I never lost the bug to live on a remote island so after lots of disappointments and failings and plus 2 children I am now re-living my dream.

We arrived in Shetland on Friday 13th June (what a day to start a new life!) and were reunited with hubby/dad who has already been here for 3 months whilst I sold the house south. The kids started nursery / school on Monday & I started unpacking the boxes, then stopped unpacking the boxes to sort out email, Facebook and my long awaited blog. So here it is & here we are and I hope you will follow us on our new and exciting life.



The road to school goes up & over the hill, we can see the school bus coming.

View across the voe. Next stop Bergen, Norway