Same here , same there

Before we moved to Shetland we were asked, have you experienced a winter in Shetland?
Well at that time no, but now we are 1/2 way through our first winter.

People always say there is only two weathers in Shetland, Wet and very wet. Well  I would like to add a few others.

                                                                                                     Sandwick

Windy and wet, very windy and wet, Gale force wind and wet, Hurricane force winds and wet but in between it can be still and dry, `a day between the weather' that's the time to be out and about.

                                                                                          Spiggie fishing Hut

Perhaps Sheffield may not get the extremes of the windy weather but other conditions can be worse.
The other year 28 inch of snow fell and we were unable to get the car out for a week, even though we lived on a bus route. In 2014 Shetland experienced far better, sunny drier weather than Sheffield but it had to turn sooner than later.

You have to embrace the conditions if you can, the windy weather can provide great photo opportunities while the snow transforms the landscape. The wet conditions have created many small lochs and it seems an age ago the some of the smaller Shetland lochs  completely dried up.

Lightening has struck several pylons in the south mainland causing a number of power cuts some  for eight hours or more. We experience a couple of power cuts but in the middle of the night so it did affect us as much. We are lucky that we have a gas cooker so not totally reliant on electic , but don't have any alternative to heat our home, having air - air heating.

A few buildings got direct hits by lightening which caused fires while the gales blew a bus and transport wagon over. Many Ferries failed to sail and even the buses were cancelled along with school closures

                                                                                       Spiggie North side

The great thing about Shetland weather is that the wide views provide a chance to see some fascinating cloud formations, in Sheffield we felt hemmed in by the buildings and only saw part of sky

                                                                                            Breiwick , Lerwick today

Today our hot water packed in so we phoned our plumber and he told us that he would be along tomorrow. That would never have happened in Sheffield.it would usually be a week if they turned up at all.

Also the weather conditions yesterday provided an opportunity to put our new window in, its great to see out over Sandwick, besides that it lets a lot more light in the living room. We have waited for the replacement window since the original one was broken on the 17 August.

Today the main road was closed for several hours to recover a lorry and excavator which went over the side of the road at Levenwick

                                                                                                      Levenwick

FIRE

Since Christmas we have only been out a few times, mainly due to the bad weather. But we were looking forward to the Shetland Up Helly Aa fire festivals, the first of which was in Scalloway last night. The weather was excellent considering that a major storm was about to hit Shetland with winds around 100 mph predicted. It turned out that it got up to 101 mph on the mainland

We arrived early in Scalloway ready for the 7 pm start. Parking up near the boat club we would be in a good position to see the Galley set alight.

The time came for the start and a large bag signalling the light up. around 85 torch bearers start to proceed towards us singing away and after around 10 mins arrived to greet a large crowd.

The Galley was set alight and sent into the sea to burn away, it was great to see the event without getting wet or too cold.

Just as we got back in the car it started to rain and later that night the gales hit, the worst wind since we moved to Shetland. It didn't stop us sleeping and only our cat woke us the next morning. During the night Shetland suffered with a number of short power cuts from 5 am
The wind was still blowing but only around force 7. Later in the afternoon it started to snow with the wind picking up again.

We had some good news earlier in the week when our joiner phoned to say he had received the window frame and glass, all we need now is some decent weather to get it in without getting our furniture wet. Mind you with the windows caked in salt we wouldn't have seen much.

I was constantly using the washer on the car when I went out to take some rough sea photos later in the morning. Even after afternoon rain the windows in the house are still covered in salt, not a time to be going out to clean them either.

                                                                  Diane enjoying the Up Helly Aa in Scalloway

Best move ever !!!

As the year comes to an end we have looked back to some major events. We sold our house and moved to Shetland on the 17 April moving into a house in the south mainland. We stayed there until 17 August when we managed to buy a house in Sandwick.

Life is good for both of us and we wished we had moved a lot earlier. Its a massive decision to move far away from where you were born but we fell in love with Shetland , the people and wildlife so it was easier than moving anywhere else not that we had to move anywhere.

If you are thinking of moving to Shetland then consider the following:

• Come and visit Shetland and have a good look around. We spoke to someone who moved to Unst as house prices are very low but didn't realise that he would have to travel on two ferries to get to the Mainland and then would have to drive for 40 ins to get to Lerwick for his work. They had never been to Shetland before and although they had looked on Google earth they didn't realise that the population on Unst had reduced by 50% when the RAF left the island. They also thought that Lerwick was on Unst and that this was the mainland. They had moved all the way from New Zealand. I gather they have now left Shetland altogether. 
• Make sure you have some accommodation to come to, there is not much about and the costs are very high
• House prices are high around Lerwick / Scalloway and you will find a lot of people bidding.
• Make sure you check out the Scottish way of buying a house
• Join as many local clubs etc as you can, you will meet lots of people
• Support local shops don't let Tesco rule
• Make the  most of the dry, still days that come in winter
• Make sure you car has all weather tyres for winter driving
• There is more opportunities for work than down in England
• Expect high costs for any building work., Expect time delays for anything you want building
• Fuel costs are higher, Council tax includes water rates
• Gales are frequent in winter
• Very low crime rate
• A very good supportive community 
• The Shetland Times, a paper worth reading from front to back
• Don't expect much variation in shops
• Make the most of free postage sites such as Amazon, some companies don't deliver to Shetland
• The food is very tasty, especially the lamb.
• You can get discounts on ferry travel to Aberdeen if you are a resident
• Roads are in far better condition than in England and they are empty
• Use Skype to stay in contact
• Take plenty of photos to show what people are missing !
• Build up your energy levels to enjoy the long spring and summer days
• Be inspired by the music
• Expect to see plenty of wildlife
• Embrace the weather, gales can be spectacular, but stay safe

We are now enjoying a better quality life in Shetland than we ever did in Sheffield, we do miss our family and friends but Skype has made things easier and we speak to some people more now than we did before we moved.

The winter nights are filled with opportunities, either seeing skies where you can actually see the stars or the aurora (something that most people want to see) going out to numerous concerts and gatherings or meeting friends.

There are plenty of opportunities to live the life you want, see superb sunsets and wildlife and to get away from the hectic way of life.

Have a great New year and 2015

Thanks for looking at this blog, hopefully we may have provided you with some information that will be useful. Preparation is vital we spent two years researching and asking people in Shetland for information. Don't be one of the people that comes to Shetland for less than a year before returning south. 

                                                                                Don't be an Alien join in !!!

Please take a look at my other blogs to gain a better overall picture of life in Shetland

shetlandsfp.blogspot.co.uk

shetlandsky.blogspot.co.uk

Snow arrives

Snow arrived last Saturday, a thin white covering along the road and fields. It was cold but not a cold as down in England where they also had gales. Here it was still, very still after a week of gales.

Snow usually doesn't stay long in Shetland, with the salt and the gulf stream creating mild conditions. With the gritters working only during the week it becomes essential for all weather tyres on the car, but only having a hire car without these tyres we decided not to go out to the Ness fiddle and Accordion concert over the hill at Bigton. It was disappointing as we had been going to the practice sessions at Levenwick and had really enjoyed the performances.

On Monday, we picked our new car up (with all weather tyres) and look forward to driving the Kia Rio. The one we hired proved a good drive, although this will be the first time for years we have had a petrol one. At present Petrol is £1.19 about 7p dearer than the mainland.

Also on Monday the snow returned covering the main roads and it was odd to have thunder and lightening at the same time. Some stupid drivers who decided to overtake at 60 mph + on icy roads, on a bend with on coming traffic, seem to be racing each other as well.

My tooth broke at the weekend, so i phone up to see able emergency treatment as i was not sure what qualified up here. Although in pain apparently it was not severe enough to have treatment and as we were not registered they asked us to come down. We completed all the details and they said they would contact us in about 5.5 years, might not have any teeth left at that time !!!

It was amusing to see the vending machine which usually sells chocolate and crisps actually selling toothpaste- well what else would you expect to see except books on `Patience'

                                                           All photos taken in Sandwick looking south.

Diane has been practicing a number of Christmas tunes on the keyboard

Weather Bomb

Some interesting weather this week. On Monday we managed to get out in a brief spell of fine weather. In Shetland this is known as `Between the weather', as good weather is a rare thing here if you believe the weather forecasts.

In fact it was very cold, windy and frequent hail showers but the trip to Scatness was well worth it as i managed to get some storm photos, my best so far this winter. a large part of Scatness was covered in water which has been building up over the past few weeks.

The sea was pounding away at the cliffs with huge waves and plenty of spray, not the best for the camera. I used a telephoto to get the photos staying a safe distance from the edge. I have seen a few stupid people venture far too close to the edge to get the photo but all they are doing is putting their life in danger and getting drenched as well. Cameras don't work well when exposed salty sea spray so I tend to use a waterproof cover and a UV filter to protect the lens which works well.

The weather bomb has caused a few lightening strikes in Shetland with the power off around Toft and Mossbank, while strikes on street lighting in Cunningsburgh have also caused a few problems.The sea has also brought down the bank just near the old church at Mail, with two excavators already working to clear the beach.



The sea levels have been very high with the swell at around 45 feet, not a time to be on the sea and passing through Lerwick Wednesday morning produced higher numbers of fishing boats than normal taking shelter.

Magic seaweed produced these charts for Wednesday


The black hole approaching Shetland, which indicates major problems. These have been affecting western Scotland throughout the day

Hail showers, some very heavy affect Shetland throughout the week, some showers covering road and pavement like snow and not pleasant to walk out in with the wind throwing them at high speed.
The route of the storm shown below as seen on twitter



The weather as usual has seriously affect ferries, one of the ferries was due to bring our new car up fro Aberdeen so it will be a few days late.

Off course the weather is always big news if it affects southern England , especially London. In Shetland extreme weather is a regular feature not that it is covered in the national news.

Good & Bad news

Good news this week as Shetland was voted the best place to live in Scotland having the best quality of life, employment, school performance. We always knew this as it was one of the reasons we moved to Shetland. Also according to Police reports Shetland has the best crime rate detection in Scotland, although crime in general is very low especially outside Lerwick.

                                                                                        Shetland - best place to live in Scotland

Its been a week of reminders about Sheffield. It started a few days ago when we had pie for tea, we always like to have this with Henderson Relish, made in Sheffield. Supplies are running critically low, with one half bottle left. If you have never tasted this then you are missing out, however you will not usually find it outside Sheffield where it is made in a small factory. The company is now over 100 years old and is a big part of the Sheffield Heritage. I always remember that at a football match about 20 years ago I was talking to someone who lived in Leicester and came to see the Owls every now and again, but on every visit he stocked up on Henderson Relish, this time he had a ruck sack full, some 30 bottles that how good it that.

On  Skype we were catching up with Ron and Mavis good friends from Sheffield who reminded us that the very last meeting of the Woodhouse Wildlife Group met on Monday. Diane & I formed this group back in 1987 together with Ron and Mavis, many thought that it wouldn't last but due to the dedicated members it continued to run Feb - May then Sept to December each year. The attendance was always consistently high, a lot better than some larger wildlife groups in Sheffield. A sad day for that attended and gave talks.

The last bit of news came to us a few days ago when we found out that our old house in Sheffield had been sold in a month, it took us 18 months. The people that bought our house had to go back to India due to family reasons.

Earlier in the week I took the car in for the MOT and it failed. It would work out that the repairs needed to pass the MOT would be in excess of £1600 and other things could easily go soon resulting in more expenditure. The decision was hard but we decided to sell the car as it was and raid the piggy bank to pay for a new car. We thought of a diesel Kia Rio but it would be early January 2015 before they could deliver one so we went for a petrol model which should be around 2 weeks away and the garage would lend us a car in the meantime. Could have done without this cost what with buying the house and all the changes we have made.

Also in Sandwick, John Wishart used a metal detector to find the following items down at Broonies Taing, just down the road and a place where we stayed on holiday for many years with Beryl and Maurice Smith



(John Sorby was the brother of Thomas and hence uncle of Robert. He too was engaged in the manufacture of edge tools, joiners tools, saws, sheep shears, files in Sheffield and followed the family tradition by being appointed Master Cutler in 1806. After his retirement his two sons, John and Henry, continued the business and started to use the trade mark "I & H Sorby".)  Photo John Wishart