Is it me ?

I was lost but now I have been found, or that's how I feel . Since my passport expired last July I haven't had any photo ID, so rather than waste money on a new passport I went for  photo ID driving licence and it came on Friday. So as I didn't know who I was until it came and other people refused to believe who i claimed to be, all is well as the photo looks like me. But is the mirror telling me the truth ?

This will now satisfy the solicitors and all we need to do is take our proof down, however we are still waiting for a letter from our builders to verify / guarantee some work we previously had done. So the wait continues.

The snowy weather does not help, or encourage people to come a view houses. Other than a viewing last weekend from a very rude family who couldn't be bothered to answer any of our questions and continually spoke in their own language despite all speaking English when we first met them, we have decided to wait until after Easter before we place our last paid advert in the Sheffield Telegraph.

                                                                                                  Sheffield snow bound

Despite the lack of movement on our house I did see another house close by had just sold subject to contract after 18 months. Hope we don't have to wait that long. To keep us going we have just booked a trip to Shetland  in a few months, ferry and cottage all confirmed. It will be good to see our good friends, Beryl and Maurice who have been very good at keeping us supplied with information

                                                                             
                                                                                              Maurice and my wife Diane

BBC drama on Shetland

Well last weekend saw the above programme drama on Shetland, and while I thought the plot was slow and showed many inaccuracies i hope at least some of the points came over. It was a shame that more Shetland ascents were not used, but Shetland does have a large number of people speaking in other Scottish dialects. Also I was disappointed that as it was set in January, that the weather was not more stormy. As the main detective went back and forth over to Bressay, stood out on the back of the ferry, would he have done this on a true January day?

The filming possibly took place in July when filming could be done for 11 hours not the 3-4 hours actually present on a January day, and when generally the weather is drier.

For anyone knowing Shetland some of the locations used were not accurate, but never the less it did show off some of the spectacular scenery found in the isles.

Also it did highlight the 'Shetland Bus' story, which I am sure would not really be known outside Shetland. The brave Norwegian fishermen going back and forth bringing people from occupied Norway to Shetland and taking supplies etc back over during the winter months.

                                                                                                          Lunna House

                                                                                                     Flemington House (Kergord)

The original location for the Shetland bus headquarters was up at Lunna House, later moving to Flemington
( Kergord) and finally ending up on the east coast at Dinapore house in Scalloway.

                                                                                                    Dinapore House , Scalloway

 Many local people still have strong memories of the conflict and a few years ago a memorial was erected in Scalloway for the 44 crew members who died. The new museum in Scalloway is the best place to find out about the Shetland Bus and of course you can read Peter Howarth's book on the story, he was part of the Royal Navy who organised the 198 trips to Norway bringing back 373 refugees and sending out 193 Agents the other way.

Don't think they will have used this Shetland bus stop in Baltasound, Unst

As regards our move, not much happened recently, had another two couples viewing the house, but still no offers. It's a waiting game.

I see that the BBC drama on Shetland has been programmed for the 10 & 11 March at 9 pm, so please keep an eye out for this.

Shetland like so many places is undergoing massive cuts, with the library just announcing cuts to hours and purchases of books. I have used this facility many times when we have visited on holiday, as they have an excellent collection of Shetland books and a superb computer suite which I use to keep up to-date with things in Sheffield.  In Sheffield  up to 14 out of 27 libraries are set to close, and 1/2 the mobile libraries will go.

                                                                                              Sheffield central library

When we move up to Shetland this will be very important to us as I cannot see a rented accommodation having internet access. So is it a good time for us to move to Shetland? the answer is still a definite YES.

Massive cuts are happening everywhere, prices are going up, but what Shetland has far outweighs the negatives. The wildlife, land & seascapes, the sky and the numerous photo opportunities are all FREE so bring them on.

                                                                                                         Sumburgh Head

This all depends on our house selling  and so far , although a month on the market , we have had no bids. We didn't think it would sell quickly, with most taking around  year to sell, we just need that one person to say yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When this happens we will get the fireworks out to celebrate