sun

Please check out my new website at www.amazingshetland.co.uk

Not many people would believe that Shetland was the second sunniest place in the UK during June. With 226.2 hours it was only just beaten by Valley in North Wales by 4 hours. This is a lot better than last year when it was wet and cold.

In Speyside there was plenty of signs of whisky making, besides the distilleries we had passed on the way down we also came across this store of empty wooden barrels soon to be introduced to the whisky.

Not every car or van can make it around all the areas in Scotland.

Our second week in Sheffield was wet - very wet, with one day in particular very bad with flooding on the east side. This proved to be a problem as we went for a meal but found roads flooded and closed. On one road a car was left in a pond which had formed in a dip, leaving the driver in around 4 feet of water.

It was good to meet up with family and friends and we spent all the week visiting, sometimes two or three people a day.

The above waited too long before making a decision on whether to move to Shetland, so glad we moved here just over 2 years ago.

                             Illegal immigrant will try anything to get into the country, this one failed

                 In Sheffield you still have to wait along time to get work, no matter how keen you are ! Shetland however have the lowest unemployment in the UK

I did have one day to look around so while Diane went shopping with Wendy I went round some old industrial sites in the east end. The steel industry which once was so important to Sheffield has almost disappeared. The large area that Forgemasters covered was now left empty, waiting for redevelopment, only a few insects remain (below)

The journey back to Shetland was uneventful and we made the journey from Sheffield - Aberdeen with an hour to spare. On the way we received some good news that the floor had been re-boarded and cushion floor laid and the new heating system was completely installed.

                            Thanks to Beryl for helping out, feeding our cat and cleaning up.

Still getting a number of Cruise liners into Lerwick and a fishing (above/ Below) boat, the Carolien from Holland spent all of 10 mins at Breiwick before heading out quickly

It was good to find out that the campaign to save the Northern based emergency tug Herakles has been successful, at least for another 5 years. Also in the news was that the crime drama Shetland  will return for a fourth series, 5.8 million people watched the BBC1 drama last time, this is excellent news for the tourist industry.