Well the last person didn't turn up as arranged. Its so annoying when this happens and the least they could have done was it inform the estate agents.

One of the houses round the corner which was sold subject to contract, is back on the market. It seems one of the people who came to our house put a bid in for theirs and was accepted. It sounds like the person who had sold her house recently but was some £50,000 short and failed to get a mortgage being over 65 it would have been difficult. Its not worth getting stressed out over this, I believe it will happen eventually

                                                                                                              Keep calm
Our friends who are selling their apartment are having worse problems than us, as they live three flights up the stairs are putting people off, and several viewings have been cancelled , presumably by people coming to look earlier to get a feel of the place. They have just reduced the price a second time to try and move it.

                                                                                         Sheffield - we want the piece and quiet

We have decided to freshen up our landing and hallway with a new paint job. Unfortunately all the painters who we have contacted are booked up for at least the next two months, so we will have to continue our search and hope a painter can come i the next week or so , one has said that if he had any cancelled work we would come first. Had a bit of luck yesterday with a painter who only lives 20 houses away, he came to give us an estimate and said he could start the job within the next 10 days, thanks Kevin Bradshaw.

Its been a bit too hot for our liking, being over 30 degrees on several days, although these last few days we have had some spectacular storms. Last week while coming back up the A1 from an airshow at Duxford we ran into a storm which forced us to lower our speed to 20 mph as we couldn't see much due to the heavy rain and also we aquaplaned a few times, lucky nothing else near us.

One thing this weather has done is to make the flowers come up in abundance, although late they do look superb at the moment. Lots of wild orchids in the Peak District.

                                                                           Early Purple orchid

                                                                              Bee Orchid

Just read that Sheffield, Doncaster and Barnsley have been included in the worst 100 places to live by the produces of the book Crap Town.


Just started another blog on the Skies in Shetland, please take a look at

shetlandsky.blogspot.co.uk  see right hand side for direct link

We are now onto our 13th couple who are due to look round our house tomorrow evening.We never expect very much from the younger couples as they always want larger gardens. I may have said before we have a very tiny garden which would possibly suit someone older or who has a very busy life.

Its hard to think about our move to Shetland sometimes especially when you cannot pin a date down. As time goes on it moves our move further down into the winter months as you can nearly always expect around a 3 month gap from agreeing to sell to actually moving. You have to get on with life and plan ahead, I have even got talks booked by the RSPB into next year so i cannot afford to turn down any work. If the moves comes sooner, then things will have to change quickly. We  have even stopped looking at houses for sale in Shetland as we may fall in love with one that we have no hope of getting.

                                                                               Otters - Fetlar is a great place to see them
You have to be realistic, we cannot afford to rent our house as some people have suggested as we will have to use some money from the house sale to move and store our belongings, we estimate over £10,000 in total to actually cover the move.  Not cheap but we are fully committed to going to Shetland.

In the meantime I can live the dream through the illustrated talks I will be giving on Shetland, I have several booked for the rest of the year and people are always interested in hearing about the history and natural history of the islands.

On Sunday night  BBC Countryfile covered the life on Fetlar, coverage from the TV has been very good over these past few years. Fetlar is always a place we love to visit, its not always clear and sunny but the wildlife never fails to impress with the Red necked Phalaropes and red throated Divers on the Lock of Funzie and the numerous waders.

For us, talking to Bobby Tullock and Bill Oddie a number of years ago down at the hide at the Mires of Funzie, just highlight again how much people enjoy the natural world and all that goes into it. Shetland is blessed with an abundance of wildlife, superb countryside, a closeness to the sea we are looking forward to and a people with an interest in what happens to the wildlife

We got talking to a couple of people who had moved to Fetlar, they said it was the best thing they had done. They too had to move into rented accommodation for a year and had just bought a house in the middle of the island, where most of the 80 + people live. Living in a small community you have to get involved and that's our plan too

A dream so far away

No matter what your dream you always seem to be reliant on other people, in our case a buyer for our house. Just the other day someone e-mailed the estate agent wanting to come and view our house. I said straight away that this was a time waster and it proved so, with the estate agent trying to make contact several times without success.

With several houses now having been sold in our area it just leaves three up for sale including ours, which is the cheapest. Our main problem is the very small garden which seems to be putting people off, but they all liked the large conservatory which is more use in our climate. Nothing we can do about the garden, but I believe that ever house has its price.

Two we have seen recently in other parts of Sheffield, have been on a main road which is busy all the time and very difficult to get in and out of the parking area. The other, lots of steps from the front door, straight onto the pavement, with very small garden- both have just sold. We need to be patient and it will come.

I always love the fish and chips in Shetland with the Happy Haddock winning our vote in Lerwick. The chips are very tasty and with a whole fish and a half it make it a great meal, combine this with eating them in the car down at the harbour and you cannot beat the combination.

No such luck in Sheffield, there seems to be no taste to either the fish or chips.

We didn't have chance to have Fish and chips at Frankie's, but everyone recommends them, look forward to the next time we are in Shetland, or better still when we have moved up there.

We will have tears of joy when this happens, much like this ship that called into Lerwick harbour

At last some one who looked genuinely interested in our house, even said they will phone to come back again. This was even before we put our last free advert in the Sheffield Telegraph. She will have to put her house up for sale, but as she has friends in the area and would like a smaller garden and somewhere on the flat it seems that this might be the one, hope so anyway. That was on Saturday, yesterday she decided it wasn't for her so 10 down.

Listening out the other night when we got back home at 11.30 pm we couldn't help but notice that we could still hear traffic from the bypass which is a couple of miles away. Up in Shetland we both commented that at the same time of night we couldn't hear any sound what so ever, something we have never experienced here. In the morning we were always greeted by Oystercatchers passing over the cottage, or Curlews which is magic.

One sound we also enjoy hearing is fiddle music, a trip to the Lounge in Lerwick is a must with some great musicians playing. On the first Wednesday no less than 14 musicians gave a superb sound, with a good mix of instruments. Even if they didn't bring their own they could take one down off the wall to play. Slightly less musicians the following Wednesday but still great and you couldn't have got anyone else into the room, it was packed.

Else where we went to the Aith Lifeboat gala when several different musicians played including some drummers at the pier head. Also down at Sandwick Junior High school gala day when local school children played a variety of music throughout the afternoon, a fitting end to our holiday.

Just returned from another great trip to Shetland, one of the ways I judge whether or not a holiday has been good is by the lack of reading time. This holiday, only 2 pages read as we were out most of the time enjoying the great wildlife, scenery, music and food.

                                                                                                            Lunna

The weather when we arrived couldn't have been better, even Aberdeen was sunny when we left which is not the case on most spring trips. The weather continued to be good until last Wednesday when it started to cool down and become foggy in some parts. This did not deter us at all as usually you can travel west or north to get into sunshine.

It was good to see Beryl and Maurice again and to thank them in person for all the help and advice they are giving us on our move to Shetland. They seem to have detailed knowledge on most houses we have been looking at which is a massive benefit.  A few houses came up for sale which we would have been interested in but , as yet no interest back in Sheffield. We even managed to get a look at the place we will be renting in Shetland once everything goes through here.

I was surprised to see that diesel was only 6p different to that in Aberdeen, normally it is 20p. The cheapest to the north of Lerwick town centre £144.9 last Thursday.  Could do with leveling out when we make the move , you never know.

                                                                                           North towards Fitfull Head

Plenty more to come over the next few weeks

Time

Well there are now 11 houses up for sale in our area, but only 4 like ours. Three have been sold just this last week so it seems the market is picking up, unlike the weather which still feels like winter on some days. Spring is not in the air ,Swifts that are normally back in numbers by now are in short supply and so far only a few signs of Bluebells popping up.

Feedback from people on the house has been mixed, some liking the house and not the area, some liking the area but the house is too small. Also two couple yet to give any feedback although these have seen about 20 houses and have failed to give any feedback on any. Seems they just like looking round houses.

We have jumped in and renewed our Sheffield Wednesday Season tickets, so at the back of our mind we don't think the move will be soon.

So we are ready for our holiday in Shetland soon, the car has been serviced needing only a few minor tweaks. Camera gear is ready and we are looking forward to the many photo opportunities in Shetland.

Over these last couple of weeks I have giving more talks on Shetland and they have all generated lots of questions. A few people had also seen the BBC Shetland Drama a few months ago and a few said they would like to visit Shetland at some stage in the next few years, all go to boost the tourist trade. I wonder whether the recession will hit hard this year. With the ferry costs going up it may put people off.

This week we have had three couples round to view the house, all first time buyers. It must be hard saving for the deposit but at least the interest rate is lower now than when we first took a mortgage out back in the early 1980's when we paid 15%.

Now the football season has ended and Sheffield Wednesday have secured another season in the Championship we have to decided whether or not to renew for the new season which starts in August. I have had one since the 1967 season so it will be a wrench not seeing the Owls in action. Our neighbor's have blown it again having lost in the Play offs to Yeovil, so that's one less local derby. So its whether we will still be here when the season kicks off, looking at it realistically I think we will chance getting one.

Shetland is blessed with many great musicians, the very young to the very old. The fiddle playing where ever it is is worth going to and we make as many attempts to hear it as possible when we visit, whether its the Shetland Fiddlers or the young groups. We are looking forward to going to the Shetland folk festival when we move up to Shetland, which is on at the moment, with visiting players from all aver the place.

Its not for the first time that I have been asked whether I work for the Shetland tourist board. I have been giving illustrated talks on Shetland for many years to the RSPB, wildlife Groups , Probus, Women's WI and others and its possible that my enthusiasm for Shetland is transmitted via the talks. Anyone listening from the tourist board please note, i am open to job offers !!

                                                                                                       Tourist Board on left