It seemed odd that we only had to travel for 20 mins until we hit the port in Lerwick. We got stopped just after getting our tickets as security wanted to check whether we had any illegals in the back of the car. We quickly pointed out, why would anyone want to leave Shetland permanently !
The crossing was calm and as we entered Aberdeen we found it was fog bound. It wasn't long until we hit our first traffic jam just before the main road. I can understand why some Shetland folk don't want to drive on the Scottish mainland, after all there are traffic jams, lots of traffic lights, pothole, air pollution, roundabouts and people cutting you up + roadworks- its much better being on the Shetland roads.
After stopping in busy Jedburgh we continued past Newcastle down the A1 then the M1 into more roadworks where they are creating smart motorways - one without cars we don't think so ! Only held up by two crashes so it took around 8 hours including breaks before arriving at Diane's sisters.
We had to create a timetable of who we were visiting when, careful not to miss anyone out. That meant two visits per day in the afternoon and evening, but one full day down in Shrewsbury and a day shopping.
In between I managed to give a talk `A year in Shetland' to a group of over 30 people, everyone seem to enjoy it and i was asked to do another on our next visit.
We did manage to get to one Sheffield Wednesday match which they lost 1-3 to Middlesboro, no change there then. It was good to see the new ground improvements and scoreboard. With the amount of money they have spent on the team I hope we see some improvement fast.
The journey back was ok , with no held ups. However the ferry trip proved rough with a Force 7-8, so we had to retire to our cabin early
While it was good to see everyone we are glad to be back in Shetland, one thing this visit to Sheffield did was to reaffirm that we made the right decision to move to Shetland 17 months ago.
Quickly we settled back into a Shetland routine, with plenty of music throughout this last week. Ness accordion & Fiddle group, Shetland Fiddlers, and the Asta music group. Thursday proved very good for aurora activity (shetlandsky.blogspot.co.uk)
I start delivering photography courses for Shetland Adult Education very soon. Just a couple of places left on `Know your own camera' which starts on the 21 September 2015 (6 weeks) 9.30-12.30 phone 01595 743888 as soon as possible.
If you are interested in intermediate photography courses then the first of these starts on Monday 9 November (6 weeks) 9.30-12.30 - Outdoor portraits, Seascapes, Still life, Birds in Flight, Low Light, Night Sky
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