Coming to Shetland

It was interesting to see some new stats on Shetland regarding the comings and goings. The Scotland 2011 census showed that Shetland had a 4% increase in population with places like Arran, Bute and Islay showing decreases.  However the SIBC survey for the same period showed that 600 people came to Shetland to live but 700 left. Well you can now add another 2 incoming as we leave Sheffield very soon to start our new life in Shetland having just received confirmation that today contract have been exchanged

We have done a dummy run loading the car with all our belongings that we intend to use while we are in rented accommodation, it will never be enough and we will no doubt find that we need some of the things we that will be in storage. For me its all about getting my camera gear in the car , so I decided a while ago to send a large box with my clothes and a few other things via Royal Mail just before we moved from Sheffield so hopefully this will be available when we arrive in Shetland.

Diane will therefore have an extra case for all her things and we will pack as much as possible in the car, allowing room for our cat and a few of his things. We expect it will be very noisy as he don't like travelling in his cat box. Hope he doesn't find the journey to Aberdeen and then on the ferry for 12 hours too much.We suspect that after we arrive he will spend a lot of time a sleep recovering.

Not had any chance to watch the TV Shetland dramas but have recorded them to watch later. The first series was disappointing with only one person speaking Shetland, the other problem is that it is very unlike Shetland to have any murders so its painting a false picture. We will see whether these 6 episodes are any better this time. Not seen any comments so far from anyone in Shetland.

We are really looking forward to setting foot again on Shetland soil, this time for good. We hope some houses come up for sale very soon as we can move to our new permanent home and then we can arrange for all our things to be moved out of storage.

We sent off letter to various companies informing them to stop direct debit payments but the biggest problem we have had is with the Royal Mail post redirection.

You would think it would be simple, go on line enter all the detail and make the payment. Wrong, all ok until payment is made then doesn't accept, tried this 7 times with different cards but no luck. So we went to phase two, complete a form and register with the Post office, so collected a form, completed and went to the post office.Sorry but the signatures  go outside the box was the comment , even without looking at the rest of the form. I explained that Diane has got poor eyesight but that was none of there concern.

                                                                               You will need all the help you can get !

They did however agree that the signature box was very thin giving no leeway. Onto a second form and then a third until the signatures fell inside the box without over lapping. Back down to the PO but this time individual letters on the form did not coincide with the spaces on each line. Onto form 4 and we double checked everything and this time it was accepted- our 11th attempt. Who ever makes the forms has no thought for anyone who writes their signature large or who cannot see the very faint guide lines for individual letters. You will need to do this at least 5 days before you move.