A New World coming soon

Its like being in a dream or more like a nightmare at the moment. With 11 cases of Corona virus confirmed in Shetland at present, I can only see this getting worse

                                                                   Channerwick

Friday was the real start of the Cruise liner season and although everyone coming ashore should be tested I wonder if this is being done. Someone I know who was in a Lerwick cafe when a couple off the cruise liner came in coughing and sneezing, the place cleared quickly.

                                                                      Quendale

Its difficult to keep your self away from others especially if you have to go out to work or shopping. Although I do know a couple of folk on Yell and Fetlar who have said they are just self isolating even though they don't have any symptoms. What are you doing?

                                                                            Quendale

So as we started the holiday season some cruise liners have now said they will not be calling off anywhere, Norway and America have stopped anyone from entering and with increasing numbers of infected people in the UK this may well end up  being the same story here. Logan air have reduced the number of flights to Shetland as booking drop. Lots of smaller businesses will be forced to close down and staff may not get paid for time off, its going to have a big knock on effect.

                                                                      Scatness

Panic buying is going on everywhere, Toilet rolls are being cleared off the shelves very quickly as is Pasta, rice and hand sanitizer. We did notice less people shopping and a couple had masks on, the town deserted.

                                                                    Islesburgh in Lerwick

                                                                            Hayfield House

Its estimated that a large number of people could die that's the most worrying thing

We have booked a trip south in a couple of months and  are not sure what will happen, with many saying this will be the worst period.

So for the time being, I am still going to work and on Friday completed a 1:1 photography course with the best days weather this year. We are still having lots of gales and heavy rain or hail so it was good to have a still dry at time sunny day photographing.

The sea was still rough on the west side and provided many photo opportunities (as posted)

Just found out that filming for the BBC Shetland drama has been postponed

Jimmy Perez is not at home

Storm Deirdre

We are going through another windy period in Shetland and this weekend Storm Deirdre hit. Winds reached 73 mph yesterday, that's Hurricane force

 With the rain and dull conditions we didn't go out yesterday but made up for this on Sunday morning when the storm was just leaving us. A couple of hours later the wind dropped completely.

 It was nearly a year ago that we had a big storm and the slates from next doors room came off and hit our car causing £100's worth of damage.

 This year the slates from the other side of us had already come off and so far the council has not come down to under take any repairs. With all this rain it makes you wonder what damage it has done inside.

 The people living in this house at the time reported this but moved away the next day.

All the photos here had been taken down at Sandsayre, Sandwick and the sea was raging

 I was the only one out but apart from the wind it was a lot warmer and it didn't rain.

 As far as I know the only real damage occurred in Lerwick where a big hole appeared in the sea wall near to Jimmy Perez's house down at the Loadberries. All vehicles and people are banned from the area

 Having previously lived 70 miles from the sea I take every opportunity to get out to see any big seas, and we have plenty around Shetland, it just depends on which direction the wind blows on where we go

 We seem to be having better weather than the rest of Scotland as they have had lots of snow and freezing temperatures

 I will be running a one session Seascape photography course in Lerwick next April, so contact me if you need and further information

In the meantime , thanks for looking at my blog and I will be posting just after Christmas. Why not take a look at my other Shetland Blogs

shetlandsky.blogspot.co.uk
shetlandsfp.blogspot.co.uk
ww2preserved.blogspot.co.uk

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

Less space for Shetland travellers

We received our islander travel vouchers early this year and booked straight away for our trip later in the year to Sheffield. Demand for places are expected to be high after the government announced a reduction in fares for passengers and cars but not cabins.

In addition to this the cargo which used to be shipped south by a separate ship will now go on the ferry making less space available. So if you are coming to Shetland book early.

The weather this winter has been the worse in the last 20 years, plenty of ice about and more snow than we have witnessed since we moved here nearly 4 years ago. The wind has been stronger as well with a few Hurricanes and sever gales to contend with.

This winter has seen more visitors coming to Shetland than normal, with some coming to see the Up Helly aa festivals and combining this with the occasional Aurora sighting, although we are approaching a solar minimum (see shetlandsky.blogspot.co.uk ) and Shetland Aurora Hunter on facebook for more information

The BBC drama ` Shetland' started on Tuesday 13 February and everyone that we know has been talking about it, having drawn over 4million viewers its proving very popular, Coronation Street only draws about 5.5 Million visitors.

Many Norwegians came here last summer to see the house that ` Jimmy Perez' is living in and as they knew that part of this series was based in Norway.

Part of this series is  also based a short distance from where we live, this time in Fladdibister a few miles north.

We like winter, the skies and seas  are dramatic the weather embracing. Often you can walk a beach without seeing anyone and places like Jarlshof or Scatness empty apart from the odd person studying for their tourist guide badge.

Our car broke down the last weekend and we called the breakdown service (Lucky we manage to get a phone signal), we know every organisation uses Jim's garage so having used them once before we were in good hands. We got the car going (Flat battery) and the following day we went to the Kia garage but they had to order a new battery and as yet we are still waiting for the replacement.

According to a few people we know in the car trade, they often fit reconditioned batteries rather than new, so no wonder they only last a few years. One friend has had two batteries in four years so it doesn't give you much confidence, and its not confined to just a couple of car dealerships.

If you are moving to Shetland its worth making sure you are on Vodaphone, they seem to have the best coverage, unfortunately, our problems didn't stop at a broken down car, i also lost our phone.

Our power costs have increased this year despite moving provider, with no mains gas its either down to electric, oil or solid fuel. The standing charge is double what we paid for electric in Sheffield. Another cost that is going up is the rates, an increase of 3% and it seems that petrol will continue to rise as well, currently at £1.26 per litre. So don't forget to take all these extra costs into account.

There are many compensations with lots to see, great wildlife and scenery, superb night skies, lots of music nights either to play at our just go and listen and of course lots of 8 o 'clocks (Cakes etc).

Winter is also a time i give most of my talks and in a couple of weeks i will be giving talks to the WI in Bixter (West mainland) and Sandwick, both on birds/ Wildlife and then we will be given a talk on Shetland at St Augustine's church in Sheffield on the 26 June- all welcome.

I am hoping to have my Canvas prints back up for sale at Hoswick Visitors centre next week after they have finished painting the rooms. Also tomorrow i will be giving an interview to Shetland Life on why Shetland is so good for photography and how to improve your camera skills.