Thursday 19 December 2013

Christmas Cheer ?

As Christmas draws ever near, we have been surprised to find that the Estate Agents had booked three viewing this week. The first one came and we never got any feedback, the second one never turned up and the third one decided that she couldn't get back by bus to the area she was currently living.

Normally people usually look at the area , buses and shops before they come to view a house, it saves everybody the hassle.Or- we would, we always check out as much as possible before considering anything, especially moving house its such a big commitment.

We didn't expect to be spending Christmas in Sheffield this year, but things never work out the way you want them to. We will start the process off again next year, just hoping that we will get an early buyer so that we can move in Spring, that would be great. It's just down to patience at present
                                                                                       Our new house in Shetland?

How are you spending Christmas this year ? Its good to be around family but many people don't have anyone, some don't even have a home to spend it in. In Sheffield over 2,000 people now live on the streets in the freezing cold and wet. I have also come across another person who actually sleeps in a cave in Derbyshire because he lost his job, car, wife walked out and then his house was repossessed, this was all in a 6 month period, we are just so luck, never take anything for granted. !!!!

I don't know the situation in Shetland, its a smaller but more caring community so lets hope no one has to spend Christmas on the street. Many Church's open there doors on this special day and make so much difference

Any way, hope you all have a great Christmas and a good new year and i will be back on air soon. Thanks for viewing over these past month

                                                                                                 Sheffield City centre

Monday 9 December 2013

Christmas present please

What would you like for Christmas, this is what we have been asked a few days ago. We have no need to think about it, we both said to sell our house and move to Shetland !!! whether it is wrapped or not.

No luck again from those viewers last week, and in fact one due on Monday never turned up. So whats the solution 1. we could reduce the price again but we will wait another few weeks before considering that 2. we could rent - but we really need the money to move up to Shetland 3. we could stay put but our heart and minds are set on the move 4. We could pray for someone looking for this type of property in this area with a small garden across the road from a pub  to put an offer in- Yep this is what we are going to do.
Have you any ideas?

Its not been too good weather wise both in Shetland and in Sheffield although we never got affected by last weeks gales. Plenty of snow in Shetland , while in Sheffield it was fine and clear all day, much needed for lifting our spirits, so hope to go out photographing in Derbyshire tonight

Working hard at the new WEA (adult education courses) I am delivering, great group of people all with mixed photography skills. Hope to start a new course this week, also will be out photographing a school, two nurseries, a couple of dogs, a 6 week old baby so will be spending a good deal of time in front of the computer. Also just been asked to do a talk on Shetland flowers to another gardening group and a talk on Skuas to a local wildlife group.

Also just finished printing all the photos from the schools and nurseries i have photographed over the past couple of weeks. I even managed to squeeze in a night time photography course, it was very festive in the town centre.

Wednesday 20 November 2013

No Change

Not much change over the past week or so, just one couple came over to view the house and they have yet to give feedback, but we know that if they were due to make an offer it would have been within a couple of days.

The estate agents have told us to expect less viewings as at this time of year people are looking more to Christmas. Its odd that when we first put the house up for sale we were sure that we would have settled in Shetland before Christmas, you can take nothing for granted. While our friends and family are happy that we are staying a while longer our thoughts are always on Shetland and what is happening.

With snow hitting Shetland this week, together with strong winds we are glad we are not making the move at this time, even the ferry is not stopping off in Orkney with storm force winds imminent. In Sheffield we have only had rain and plenty of it, but these last few days are very cold. We are surprised that most of the trees are only just changing colour, it seems to get later each year. I am sure that they turned in late September about 20 years ago, or is my mind going?

I have been doing Photography courses for the adult education and are working on developing others for later on, both current courses are full and the students are very eager. The other night I finally made it out to give a 1:1 Night Sky course to someone who came all the way up from Leicester to Sheffield. The forecasts are never very good down here but it does seem more reliable in Shetland, especially needed when living on an island.

We have just started to write the Christmas cards, starting with the ones which will be sent to Australia and America. This is early for us so we must be well prepared and have got plenty of cards in hand.
This is the only snow I have seen so far- A Snow bunting on Fetlar

Saturday 26 October 2013

Thanks

Over 1000 hits, thanks very much, didn't think it would be so popular.

This week has been dominated by poor weather, with heavy rain throughout. Similar to that in Shetland. Tonight I am giving an illustrated talk on Shetland down at the other side of Sheffield near Endcliffe park an area we know well as we lived there for 15 years after getting married. I also lived there for over 40 years in total, man and boy ! before we both moved to the south side of Sheffield.

One thing that has happened both in Shetland and Sheffield is that the small shops have disappeared. As a lad I remember that on our road we had two corner shops which seem to sell everything. It was more than a shop really as it was a place to share information and where people cared for each other. The shops even delivered food to the house bound and would get items that they wouldn't normally sell.
                                                                                          Two supermarkets in Lerwick

In  Shetland we have seen the biggest change on Unst, with all the shops closing at Haroldswick and Uyeasound, leaving only the ones at Baltasound. Overall the problem is that around 1/2 the population left the island when the RAF decided enough was enough and now around 500 people are left. Its far worse on other islands but on Fetlar the shop/ cafe is still running have been taken over twice in recent years.
                                                                                                 Cafe with a difference

Every shop has to be diverse to survive now that Supermarkets control things. If fuel was cheaper in Shetland i think that even more people would travel to Lerwick to shop in either the Co-op or Tesco.

                                                                                   Shop at Uyeasound Unst now long gone

Of cause if you can think up something original then you might just survive the onslaught

Saturday 19 October 2013

Changing times

Having now reduced our price by another £5000 we have had 4 more couples round, but the same old problem still crops up, the small garden.. That's one of the reasons we reduced the price yet again. Another one said they would have to replace the carpets to something they liked.

Today, the younger ones don't seem to grasp that they can do what ever they like once they have bought the house, they expect everything perfect, without doing anything to it. We Diane and I got married we had to save for every thing, having second hand things and other handouts from family and friends got us through some difficult times, even had the killer 15% interest rates to cope with. How times have changed !

The weather has taken a turn for the worse with rain most of the week and strong winds. We have talked about when the move will happen and we are agreed that any time of year would be good as we are getting a bit frustrated with the viewers, Of course winter is always going to be the worse time with the weather a major factor, but we would cope with this.

Had a problem with the starter motor on the Citeron this week and twice had to bump start it. Good job Sheffield is hilly. The AA managed to get us to a garage but we were ripped off when they said it was something else, despite me saying it was the starter motor, and yes it broke down again a day later. This time we managed to get it to a reliable garage which we have used before and got a new starter motor.The first garage didn't know what to say when i returned but they wouldn't give me any money back even after heated words , certainly wont be recommending them to any one.

Would have considered this when we moved to Shetland, a great little hut at Grutness, a great spot. Now this has been demolished- very sad.

Friday 11 October 2013

Changing Times.

It now feels more like winter has come, the rain falling, foggy and cold days arrive in force. But even though Shetland is considered to have a harsh climate it is often has better weather than down in England, check out last winter for instance. We do have compensations, the leaves on the trees have just started turning, it seems to get later each year, at one time September was thought to be the best month but now November has the better colours. I think this is going to be one of the things I will miss.

Everyone who has been on the Autumn colours photography course I run, always goes away loving trees

This week we tried to move things on a bit , as we reduced the price of out house having had no viewings for three weeks. Now we have three couples coming to view tomorrow, we keep our fingers crossed. If things happen then we would be looking at a move around Christmas.

With the Power companies increasing fuel costs again it makes you wonder how many more people will not be able to afford to have the heating on this winter. Its only going to get worse !

Another reason to get out of a large city such as Sheffield is the crime, new figures have just been published for the April - August period in South Yorkshire which has had 2523 burglaries and 5054 vehicle crimes and its getting worse. Also Fire arms were used 30 times over a year in one area of Sheffield. Most of this drug related.

Tickets are going well for my talk on `Shetland' on the 26 October in Sheffield, over 30 sold and more hopefully this weekend. All proceeds to St Augustine Church. The Power point presentation has been finished and will include many images from this years visit.
                                                                    Shetland has the best `White House'

Friday 4 October 2013

Island Travel

Did you see the Grand tour of Scotland programme on BBC Scotland the other week it featured Foula and Fair Isle, neither have we been to.We did try once but as Foula was fog bound we never made the trip. On one occasion we talked to a couple who had been to Foula the previous year and had set off from Tingwall on a small plane, how ever as the day progressed the fog came in and the plane was unable to land. At the same time the sea was rough and they couldn't even get the boat in either, so for three days they were stranded on the island and missed the ferry home !

                                                           Ferry to Fair Isle anyone- must have good sea legs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Living on an island, well small island is totally governed by the weather what ever the time of year. Looking back to last Christmas the ferry couldn't get into Lerwick for several days so Tesco hired a Hercules transporter and flew food in time for Christmas, that's what I call service.

We all complain about the weather but normally living on mainland Britain its not that much of an inconvenience unless it snows heavy, then for the odd day we may be without our cars. Island life is not straight forward, with power cuts sometimes for days, gale force winds to knock you off your feet, horizontal rain it is going to be completely different but that's what we are looking forward to. Yet the good things about Shetland far out weigh the bad points.

The people are very friendly and we have already struck up friendships with a few people, we look forward to hearing alot of live music, which we love, yes the dark nights as well as we want to see the Aurora and photograph the night sky. That's not forgetting the superb scenery, the sunrise and sunsets, the tremendous wildlife, peace and quite, great tasty food and fresh air to fall asleep to, and much more.

Talking about food, well done to Frankie's fish and chip shop at Brae they won the best chip shop in Scotland the other day

All we have to do is sell our house, you would think that someone would buy it, but for the last two weeks we have had no viewers and are feeling a bit frustrated, but we just get on with life as it is now and dream about the day it all happens , when ever that is. It must be the same for others in the same boat, none of the other houses in our area have sold as well during recent weeks and one house has been up for sale for the same period as ours. Anyone know a buyer please !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday 14 September 2013

Feeling Flat

Two more viewers this week, one a builder who seemed quite disappointed that our house was in such good condition. The other came over from Hull as she is wanting to move closer to her daughter, we will wait and see
A further two houses nearby have sold which reduces the competition and with no new ones coming on it may give us a better chance.

Its always difficult deciding how far in advance you can make plans in and around Sheffield. You cannot just stop as you can ever tell when the move will happen, but on the other hand we don't like letting people down, a tricky one. I have taken bookings for later this year based on a normal three month period to when a house is sold, which keeps moving along , so now it would be December sometime if it sold this week.

Supporting Sheffield Wednesday is never easy, and we have had many lows since i started supporting them back in 1967. A week ago last Saturday we played Yeovil a team that has just been promoted, they went down to 10 men and this couldn't even inspire us to a victory. It is going to be a long hard season , unless our manager gets to funds to bring in at least 4 players quick.Now we have also lost to Birmingham and just managed a draw last night at Brighton
                                                   











 This Owl would be in my team any week - A Barn Owl

I will never stop supporting them but it leaves you very deflated after a match. What we need is to see a Shetland Landscape or sunset, or go out photographing the fantastic wildlife which never leaves you feeling flat.Come on you Shetland !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We as we are not yet in Shetland I have had to make do with visiting some ponds to visit Dragonflies, one of my favourite and most challenging insects, Still quiet active in the warm sun, with about 10 around on pond in Chesterfield

Saturday 7 September 2013

Derbyshire

Well this week we have already had three couples round to view the house, with one spending 35 mins looking round we thought they might be interested but all three came back with a no. Its proving frustrating as we want to move to Shetland asap and there is a couple of houses in the southern mainland we would have gone for

Others are trying to sell their houses in the area, with two having reduced the price, one by £10,000. No movement on any houses in the area as the school holidays have ended now and people are getting back to a normal routine.


With the weather being so good decided to get out into Derbyshire and get some photos near to Fox House, which has some interesting rock formations. With the kids back at school it wasn't as busy as last week when I was running a landscape photography course for someone who had come all the way up from Cardiff.  It was good to get some blue sky but also some more stormy clouds as rained threatened later on.
                                                                                             Sunrise in the Peaks

The nights are drawing in now and there has been some good sunsets in Sheffield, but nothing to rival the ones in Shetland, and if you add the superb scenery where else is better.

I am doing an Illustrated talk on `Shetland' next month down at St Augustine's Church, Brocco Bank, Sheffield 11, tickets are £3 which includes cheese and wine, available from Christine Markham on 0114 2360200 or 07429 269304. All the talks I do for the RSPB, Wildlife Trust, Natural History Groups, Probus and Women Institute, etc are always well received and very well attended, such is the interest in the isles. A bit far to come from Shetland but will interest others closer to Sheffield.

Wednesday 28 August 2013

Notable events

While we are waiting to move to Shetland we have had some notable events recently. In June we joined our friends, Christine & Keith for their 25th wedding anniversary.  In July, we celebrated our 30th Wedding anniversary.

Earlier this month we managed to get down to Shrewsbury to visit family, which we only see occasionally, family that was originally living in and around Sheffield. Then on Monday we had the pleasure in joining in the celebrations on the 50th wedding anniversary of our good friends Wendy and John Linton Smith at the Fulwood Inn. I have alot to thank John for, having be inspired by his wildlife photography and both of us joined his wildlife adult education class back in the early 1980's. Since then we have shared alot of other interests and I know for one that they don't want us to move to Shetland.
Another thing is that Diane sings in the Church choir with Wendy and they cannot afford to loose anyone else.

We all set targets to achieve certain things, our was to move to Shetland by autumn, that doesn't seem to be on the cards, but we will just have to be content with what we have for now, hoping the the move comes off soon.

Around us another house has come on the market but is £25,000 dearer than ours, while none of the others have sold. Its generally a quite time until the kids go back to school in early September. Diane is keen to break away from our current doctors as they always seem to be sending her for tests of some sort and never giving the results. We are sure that when we move that this wont happen, we have had some good reports of the doctor at Levenswick, one we hope to register with.
                                                                     Levenswick beach

As for the dentist it appears that it is a 5 year waiting list to join the NHS practice in Lerwick. Emergency treatment is available if you go and wait. With our current Dentist insisting that you visit every six months it will be interesting to see how long it is till we have to go for treatment. Its no wonder that our current dentist can afford a villa in the Bahamas, runs a vintage car along with a Range Rover and a Jaguar with the amount of money he receives. If you work it out , his earnings amount to over £1000 per day even if he did just check ups. Now that's the career you would want to get into, with a never ending supply of guinea pigs, sorry i mean people.

We are missing some good things in Shetland , especially the music. Our friend Maurice, pictured here with Diane is keen to get the Ness accordion and fiddle group started for the coming year. Maurice is a very talented musician. Shetland has many very young talented musicians, wish I could play an instrument !


Saturday 24 August 2013

New hope

It has been 14 days since we gave notice to our previous Estate agents, so the new ones can officially take over now. The brochure is in place and they have done more photos and have better wording than the last one.

We are keeping our removal firm and solicitors up to-date with proceedings, no doubt the removal costs will increase if we don't get to move this year, but with the cost of the estate agents coming down we have a little extra to play with. Our first viewer with the new estate agent has come and gone today and we are no further on,. The viewing was done by the estate agent so we had to disappear for a while, even taking our cat for  a trip, much to his annoyance. How on earth will he survive the 7+ hour trip to Aberdeen and then on the ferry ???

Another property in Shetland has come and gone in the area we are looking for , but that's life, its all about the waiting game. I am sure others will come up once we have moved into rented accommodation in Shetland. We will be better placed to look at properties as they come up, although looking at last winter very few came onto the market.

Its interesting that a few people are now going over to air heating, a cheaper option and one we intend to look at closely. With the price of fuel again set to rise by around 20% other alternatives are looking good. Another one is solar panels, but you have to be facing south.

The football season has started, but our team Sheffield Wednesday has yet to win, with defeats in the first three games, but a draw against Leeds Utd which is encouraging.. It will seem strange not going to the matches, having had a season ticket since 1967 , Diane has had one since 1987, we have only missed a few home matches over the years.

I have a passion for photography, especially  for wildlife and landscape and cannot wait to take up the many photo opportunities Shetland has to offer. For now, we are reliving the past visits in the illustrated talks I am giving to the RSPB, wildlife groups, Probus and women institutes.

We have joined a number of  Shetland groups on face-book, to keep in touch and see photographs taken by others. Its not hard to tell that everyone has fallen in love with the place, such is the passion and enthusiasm shown in the wording.

Very sad to hear about the people who have died in the helicopter crash of Sumburgh yesterday, our thoughts and prayers are with the families

Thursday 15 August 2013

New agents

Well this week has been dominated by our new paintwork job, which was completed in one day and has certainly brightened the hall and landing. Need sunglasses to cope with it. Also we have had Hunters estate agents to give us a valuation, a new description, and how they will sell the house, and also what there costs are.It will also be interesting to see what interest they can generate.

Moving to Shetland may end up being in the middle of winter, not what we expected. The journey up from Aberdeen would be interesting, thinking back to last year when the ferry didn't run for several days and Tesco even had to arrange for a Hercules transporter to bring the Christmas food to Shetland. The housing market is virtually non existent at this time so it would mean a longer stay in rented accommodation , which is dearer. Another option would be to rent down in Sheffield and move up say in Spring, but for me this is less likely as we want to start our Shetland experience asap.
                                                                                             Lerwick town centre

People say the winters are long, constant dark days with only a few hours daylight. It can be similar here in Sheffield although with the light pollution it is never very dark . The bright lights of Meadowhall we can do without but the night skies of Shetland we look forward to seeing, as there is always a chance of an aurora, and the stars are alot more evident.

Add to this the superb sunsets and you can see the attraction

                                                                               

We are starting to dream again, but something has to happen down here, we must have someone to buy or house. Two houses that were taken off the market, close by, are now back on with different estate agents, they are playing our game !

Sunday 4 August 2013

Rip Off !

Just plodding on with no one coming to see our house this week. Looking round the area,  one has been taken off the market just up the road, while one down the road has just gone back on the market after 6 weeks off. Don't know whether its because they have had some work done on the property.

On Wednesday we are due to have our hall way and landing painted, just to freshen things up , this should be completed in one day. As it stands its a good time to do things as most people with children have gone away, being the beginning of the school holidays.

I was photographing a wedding yesterday and got talking about houses. The groom had just sold his house, which had been up for sale for two years, He accepted a bid that was £30,000 less than the asking price and the buyer demanded that he left all the furniture and TV's etc in the house otherwise he would back out. Blackmail I think !!!

He had moved into his wives house and didn't need the furniture really , but that's not the point. Its not the first house we have heard that has had to take such a drop. We are still considering moving to another estate agents and will give our current one a few more weeks.

Looks like Shetland has finally come out of the fog to produce some great sunsets.Here is one I took a few years ago at the Wind House on Yell. Now that's got me thinking, that has been empty for some years - is it because of the ghosts ?


Friday 26 July 2013

Well the last person didn't turn up as arranged. Its so annoying when this happens and the least they could have done was it inform the estate agents.

One of the houses round the corner which was sold subject to contract, is back on the market. It seems one of the people who came to our house put a bid in for theirs and was accepted. It sounds like the person who had sold her house recently but was some £50,000 short and failed to get a mortgage being over 65 it would have been difficult. Its not worth getting stressed out over this, I believe it will happen eventually
                                                                                                              Keep calm
Our friends who are selling their apartment are having worse problems than us, as they live three flights up the stairs are putting people off, and several viewings have been cancelled , presumably by people coming to look earlier to get a feel of the place. They have just reduced the price a second time to try and move it.

                                                                                         Sheffield - we want the piece and quiet

We have decided to freshen up our landing and hallway with a new paint job. Unfortunately all the painters who we have contacted are booked up for at least the next two months, so we will have to continue our search and hope a painter can come i the next week or so , one has said that if he had any cancelled work we would come first. Had a bit of luck yesterday with a painter who only lives 20 houses away, he came to give us an estimate and said he could start the job within the next 10 days, thanks Kevin Bradshaw.

Its been a bit too hot for our liking, being over 30 degrees on several days, although these last few days we have had some spectacular storms. Last week while coming back up the A1 from an airshow at Duxford we ran into a storm which forced us to lower our speed to 20 mph as we couldn't see much due to the heavy rain and also we aquaplaned a few times, lucky nothing else near us.

One thing this weather has done is to make the flowers come up in abundance, although late they do look superb at the moment. Lots of wild orchids in the Peak District.
                                                                           Early Purple orchid
                                                                              Bee Orchid

Just read that Sheffield, Doncaster and Barnsley have been included in the worst 100 places to live by the produces of the book Crap Town.


Just started another blog on the Skies in Shetland, please take a look at

shetlandsky.blogspot.co.uk  see right hand side for direct link

Tuesday 16 July 2013

We are now onto our 13th couple who are due to look round our house tomorrow evening.We never expect very much from the younger couples as they always want larger gardens. I may have said before we have a very tiny garden which would possibly suit someone older or who has a very busy life.

Its hard to think about our move to Shetland sometimes especially when you cannot pin a date down. As time goes on it moves our move further down into the winter months as you can nearly always expect around a 3 month gap from agreeing to sell to actually moving. You have to get on with life and plan ahead, I have even got talks booked by the RSPB into next year so i cannot afford to turn down any work. If the moves comes sooner, then things will have to change quickly. We  have even stopped looking at houses for sale in Shetland as we may fall in love with one that we have no hope of getting.
                                                                               Otters - Fetlar is a great place to see them
You have to be realistic, we cannot afford to rent our house as some people have suggested as we will have to use some money from the house sale to move and store our belongings, we estimate over £10,000 in total to actually cover the move.  Not cheap but we are fully committed to going to Shetland.

In the meantime I can live the dream through the illustrated talks I will be giving on Shetland, I have several booked for the rest of the year and people are always interested in hearing about the history and natural history of the islands.

On Sunday night  BBC Countryfile covered the life on Fetlar, coverage from the TV has been very good over these past few years. Fetlar is always a place we love to visit, its not always clear and sunny but the wildlife never fails to impress with the Red necked Phalaropes and red throated Divers on the Lock of Funzie and the numerous waders.



For us, talking to Bobby Tullock and Bill Oddie a number of years ago down at the hide at the Mires of Funzie, just highlight again how much people enjoy the natural world and all that goes into it. Shetland is blessed with an abundance of wildlife, superb countryside, a closeness to the sea we are looking forward to and a people with an interest in what happens to the wildlife

We got talking to a couple of people who had moved to Fetlar, they said it was the best thing they had done. They too had to move into rented accommodation for a year and had just bought a house in the middle of the island, where most of the 80 + people live. Living in a small community you have to get involved and that's our plan too

Tuesday 2 July 2013

A dream so far away

No matter what your dream you always seem to be reliant on other people, in our case a buyer for our house. Just the other day someone e-mailed the estate agent wanting to come and view our house. I said straight away that this was a time waster and it proved so, with the estate agent trying to make contact several times without success.

With several houses now having been sold in our area it just leaves three up for sale including ours, which is the cheapest. Our main problem is the very small garden which seems to be putting people off, but they all liked the large conservatory which is more use in our climate. Nothing we can do about the garden, but I believe that ever house has its price.

Two we have seen recently in other parts of Sheffield, have been on a main road which is busy all the time and very difficult to get in and out of the parking area. The other, lots of steps from the front door, straight onto the pavement, with very small garden- both have just sold. We need to be patient and it will come.

I always love the fish and chips in Shetland with the Happy Haddock winning our vote in Lerwick. The chips are very tasty and with a whole fish and a half it make it a great meal, combine this with eating them in the car down at the harbour and you cannot beat the combination.



No such luck in Sheffield, there seems to be no taste to either the fish or chips.

We didn't have chance to have Fish and chips at Frankie's, but everyone recommends them, look forward to the next time we are in Shetland, or better still when we have moved up there.

We will have tears of joy when this happens, much like this ship that called into Lerwick harbour

Wednesday 19 June 2013

At last some one who looked genuinely interested in our house, even said they will phone to come back again. This was even before we put our last free advert in the Sheffield Telegraph. She will have to put her house up for sale, but as she has friends in the area and would like a smaller garden and somewhere on the flat it seems that this might be the one, hope so anyway. That was on Saturday, yesterday she decided it wasn't for her so 10 down.

Listening out the other night when we got back home at 11.30 pm we couldn't help but notice that we could still hear traffic from the bypass which is a couple of miles away. Up in Shetland we both commented that at the same time of night we couldn't hear any sound what so ever, something we have never experienced here. In the morning we were always greeted by Oystercatchers passing over the cottage, or Curlews which is magic.


One sound we also enjoy hearing is fiddle music, a trip to the Lounge in Lerwick is a must with some great musicians playing. On the first Wednesday no less than 14 musicians gave a superb sound, with a good mix of instruments. Even if they didn't bring their own they could take one down off the wall to play. Slightly less musicians the following Wednesday but still great and you couldn't have got anyone else into the room, it was packed.

Else where we went to the Aith Lifeboat gala when several different musicians played including some drummers at the pier head. Also down at Sandwick Junior High school gala day when local school children played a variety of music throughout the afternoon, a fitting end to our holiday.