Wednesday 26 February 2014

mixed news

More bad news on the car front as the garage phoned to say the BSI unit (controls all the electrics) is completely knackered and that i will need a new one, so the cost has now gone up. Mind you its better that this is replaced now rather than when we move to Shetland. Hopefully the car should be ready Friday, a good job because the car I have borrowed is rubbish on fuel, only 19 mpg a Renault Scenic

With the move we have now received a number of detailed questions from our solicitor which have to be answered before the next stage can begin. Our problem is that they are asking for certificates for the boiler that was installed 12 years ago and the FENSA certificates for all the replacement double glazing, neither of which we can find.

A reply back from the solicitors indicate that this can all be covered by issuing an indemnity insurance certificate. Relief as it would be a problem.

Good news came the way of my certificate for the recent PTTL's  , distance learning course I have just passed, this is a level 4 qualification award in preparing to teach in lifelong learning sector (Adult education). I am already delivering four photography courses in Sheffield.

Looks like spring might have arrived with all the birds singing and displaying, the sun has at last come out after a very long period of wet weather, Saying this may be bad news as winter can come back with a bit.



We are just licking our lips with the anticipation of moving to Shetland next month

Saturday 15 February 2014

looking forward

The weather stills seems to be a problem in Shetland with the worse gales since 1993, making it very difficult to travel by ferry. These South easterly gales are a bit unusual, but it seems the Outer Hebrides are getting even worse winds as it circles around the isles. In Sheffield the wind does not really affect us alot, but occasionally we do get flooded. You have to feel sorry for those people in Somerset, cut off for weeks and little hope of something happening to lift the gloom. Several years ago I was cut off near Meadowhall when the river rose and broke its banks, I had to stop at work until the small hours. During its height the water was flowing up to 6 feet down the road, destroying cars etc, it was unbelievable really, Diane was sat at home unaffected as we live high up on a hill , watching the flooding on the TV. Several day later after the clean up it was hard to imagine that it had happened, our minds cut it out, and the same will happen in Shetland as the winds will drop back to normal, the birds start singing and the flowers slowly begin to grow. We might even be able to witness this.

This week has carried on from last week which proved expensive. No let up with the weather with 90 mph winds hitting Sheffield on Wednesday which caused roof damage to our house. The ridge tiles blown off, two landed on the garden next to the car while a third stuck in the gutter directly over the doorway. Our friend came out to sort out the dangerous one but could not actually repair the damage until yesterday.A roof was blown off one care home near us so we cannot complain.

More cost though as things still went wrong and added to this the car went on the blink, it looks like the BSI unit controlling all the electrics has gone. I took it into the local citeron garage on Wednesday and he ran a full check which seem to clear the faults - constantly running wipers, lights and warnings about brakes, seat belts, anti pollution filter and other things. No problem bringing it home then i looked out of the window to find the wipers going as well as the light being on, this is without the key being in the ignition.I disconnected the battery rather than having a flat.
                                                                                            Rain and more rain

Contacting the garage once more they put me onto an electrical specialist who said straight away that it has become a problem with all French cars. They said they could have the unit repaired and then reprogram the radio etc but it would be out of action a week. They may have a car I can borrow sometime next week . More expense that we could do without.Last night this all changed, I was out doing some portraits when the car started to make a odd sound, so I stopped it and took the key out only to find the engine was still running and there was a burning smell. I quickly disconnected the battery and it stopped. I then had to wait over an hour for a recovery truck which took me down to Aughton to the electrical specialist who waited for me. I then managed to get a lift home from Ron, who was good enough to come out in the wind and rain. It would have taken me about 2 hours by bus and would have to change buses three times.Looks like the car will be off the road for about a week.
                                                                                Could have done with some hot food

Back to the move well that's been on and off all week with no one being able to contact the buyers and their solicitors have only just been in contact today after being chased for three days by the estate agents. Fingers crossed and all that.

Saturday 8 February 2014

Bad week

Sometime things never go right and this week we have had several things go wrong. It started last weekend when the drier packed up needing a new belt, so we got that back yesterday. The gas cooker stopped working and we have just found out the the top needs replacing, so a few hundred pounds of work. Then our car suffered damaged to the rear when a car reversed into it and drove off without stopping, fortunately some one managed to get his registration number and this has been reported to the police.

We will have to look at our insurance to see what the excess is before reporting it. Then in addition the central heating boiler packed up, lucky we had some insurance on it so they have just been and repaired it. On top of this we had a water leak with water coming through the kitchen ceiling from the bathroom, still got to have this repaired.This morning we found out that one of our friends died in hospital after a long illness, so we wait for the funeral date, which should be next week

Diane  is having problems with her blood pressure tablets which are changing again as its too high. We know its finding the right balance but she is getting fed up with the whole thing and wants a break. She has been under the hospital and doctors for all her life so you can understand the concern. Test after test is just increasing her blood pressure
                                                                           Sumburgh a good place to lower your blood pressure

 Just as you think nothing else could happen the car starts acting up, not sure whether this is connected with the bump or not, but the wipers keep coming on , the lights have blown on the front passenger side and the display flashes up with warnings about the brakes, seat belts, anti pollution filter and other things.
All in all a very demanding week. This is nothing compared to the problems people are having down south with the flooding, so we have to be positive

Still not received any feedback from the house survey that was conducted two weeks ago, so that could be good news as it means the move date may be mid march instead of the start of the month.
Always good to see a variety of ships in Shetland

Monday 3 February 2014

Moving closer

The survey was conducted  just over a week ago and we are still awaiting the results

We now have met again with  Specialised movers, they are very professional and would recommend them to anyone. My sister in law has used them twice already with no problem. The other good news is that they are not increasing the cost. Also they have moved two people from Sheffield to Shetland in the past few years, including one of the ex Sheffield Wednesday groundsmen.

We thought that we had sorted out bungalow in the Sandwick but as it turns out they have increased the cost of the rent considerably since last year, this has become a problem because the Sullom Voe construction workers cannot find enough accommodation so are looking further south than Lerwick and are pushing the costs up. We were told that accommodation north of Lerwick is fetching between £1000-£5000 per week. One thing in our favor though is that alot of people have had problem with construction workers renting,  causing damage and even stealing things At least we can come with recommendations. Also if we relied on the estate agents we would be struggling as well as they only have one up for rent.

People are also keeping an ear open for any houses due to come up for sale. Only two we would be looking at so far which have both  been up for sale for about a year.

Our solicitors are moving the sale on and we have just reviewed the items to be left and confirmed some details about ground rent etc. Although the buyers are pushing for a move by the end of February we would prefer at least the fend of the first week in March as i have three WEA adult education photography courses to finish off and three other photography jobs taking place at the end of February and need time to process them.
 In Sheffield we seemed to be swamped with students with numbers increasing year by year. They too look for houses to rent but find the rate about £300- £450 per month

Phase One : sell house and move out to another property in Sheffield short term until we arrange the ferry
Phase two: move into the short term accommodation with all our belongings going into storage
Phase three travel up to Shetland and stay in rented bungalow
Phase four; Buy a house asap and request that our belonging are sent up from Sheffield
Phase five: get things sorted with the house

Well that's the plan, but the travel to Shetland will be dependent on the weather.