ࡱ>    !"#$%&'(Root EntryZ O2༂^)CONTENTS LCompObjVSPELLINGX of the year. We have harbours full of boats as yachts from Europe sail around our coastline and just moor where the fancy takes them. All rather idyllic. The pods of killer whales are still cruising around too and they are a very big tourist attraction. We had the christening of the new harbour tug last Saturday, the  Knab , and there was a big party at the Town Hall afterwards which I worked on. It was glorious weather and everyone was talking about the football which was on later that evening. Shame about the result but predictable though! TV is a real turn off at the moment I have to say. Either wall to wall sports or spectator shows all of which you find either fascinating or mindless. There is plenty to do outside here though. I have successfully propagated some pumpkin, butternut squash and courgette plants and built a very large cloche which consists of my eldest s old wardrobe with just the frame kept, knocked all the panels out, and covered it in a heavy duty plastic sheeting which I kept off the sofas we had delivered last October! You see everything is recycled up here and I knew this plastic sheet would be useful one day. I also have a sunroom full of tomatoes and Blauhilde runner beans and they are growing extremely fast! Mind you the end result is worth the effort as the beans are delicious. I am now just waiting for my potatoes to flower so I can harvest them and then transplant the pumpkin, butternut and courgettes out but I will have to anchor the cloche frame down as the wind might pick it up. Though touch wood we have not had any strong winds for a peerie while. Recycling is good practice and everything is used even Sheep s heads which is a funny story I heard. The Faroese are very fond of this delicacy and they used to sail down from Faroe tCHNKWKS LTEXTTEXT7FDPPFDPP:FDPCFDPC<FDPCFDPC>STSHSTSH@STSHSTSH@2SYIDSYIDP@SGP SGP d@INK INK h@BTEPPLC l@BTECPLC @ FONTFONT@~TOKNPLC "ArSTRSPLC A:PRNTWNPRA`FRAMFRAM.JTITLTITLJDOP DOP J"ab , and there was a bigShetland Diary Johnmas Foy and the Blues festival have been and gone. People are drifting off on holiday. The farmers have been out in Ireland, Maywick and parts of Bigton cutting silage with their very big mowing machines (don t worry this diary is not going to be an ongoing preoccupation with lawnmowers!) Mind you the equipment they use is certainly fascinating to watch in action. The whole long sloping field is mown in one day, good weather planning is essential, and the air behind the tractor is thick with gulls and other land birds making the most of the food opportunities. The cut grass is left to dry for a day or so and then it is gathered up by what looks like a road sweeping machine and bales of a round size pop out of the end, they are about five or six feet wide and then another tractor (all team work) towing an apparatus complete with a very large roll of what looks like luncheon wrap or cling film comes along and gathers the bale up with a hoist arm and proceeds to wrap it in swathes of bright green plastic. The end result looks like something out of a Doctor Who episode as these green  pods are laid out at the end of the fields in a row (see pictures in Shetland Scenes and Home Page). They stay there through the winter months and gradually one by one are collected and put in the bale holder, in which ever field is needed, for the sheep or the cows to graze on. Some of the fields are left growing for the sheep to graze in. Because we have such long hours of sunlight up here the grass and other plants grow extremely quickly. The verges and unmown fields are ablaze with yellow buttercups and white cotton like flowers and the effect is rather pretty. It reminds me of a living Renoir or Monet painting to be honest. Shetland is bustling at this timeo Shetland to buy them off the farmers. There was this man delivering them to Lerwick Harbour for the Faroese boat to pick up. Now the sheeps heads were in sacks and the Faroe boat skipper s idea was that in order to avoid paying any exorbitant harbour mooring dues he would moor the boat in the harbour without its gunwhales physically touching the side of the harbour berth. Unfortunately the sacks of heads were far too heavy to throw so the delivery man opened each sack and was tossing individual heads from the edge of the quay to the Faroese who were catching them. At that moment a woman came along walking her dog and looked in the open sack and promptly fainted and the dog legged it. At that point the guardians of law and order turned up, no doubt prompted by some law abiding citizen who had seen some madman bombarding a boat in the harbour with sheeps heads! You can make up the ending yourself but imagine the picture. It could only happen somewhere like Shetland. The children finish school today and have six weeks off. Fortunately there are plenty of organised events available for them to partake of. The eldest wants to do snorkelling lessons and Son No.1 wants to do Football coaching. There are also things which the youngest daughter can do as well. I went along to the two eldest s sports day which was very good. The eldest daughter is very competitive anyway and will throw her all into it. My son actually did quite well and was confidently joining in which was really pleasing. You would be very taken by the confidence that children have in Shetland. They are not scared to try something new and every one will join in. It has equally rubbed off on my children. The youngest starts school in August so no more nursery runs or toddler group. Thus I will have quite a bit of spare time on my hands to indulge in projects and work. I am going to start teaching ballet classes at some point and get involved in the pantomime at the end of the year. If you had asked me twenty years ago as to whether I could see myself teaching dance and movement classes in Shetland I would probably have shrieked with laughter! Still if it takes off it could be a winner both financially and fulfilment. It is nice to have a skill to offer where there is none other who can do so. Fortunately we can fit some family days in over the holidays depending on my wife s shifts. Though if the weather is anything like today then it will be quite miserable. Whilst Southern England has been experiencing unbearable temperatures we have had bright sunny days but with a breeze and temperatures of around 17, which is quite pleasant. Today however we have experienced a very dense sea haar (fog) which has covered the whole of Shetland and disrupted flights. Thank god the football is almost over and the tennis seems to be on every channel but thankfully it is very easy to turn the television off up here especially when it is such a beautiful evening. It was cool earlier on but suddenly it has heated up to about 20 which is good for us. This is the time to stay in Shetland when it is warm and sunny (and then go on holiday later on in the year or earlier when it is somewhat more inclement). It is incredibly beautiful having such long warm evenings and going for walks on the beach or fishing even on one of the lochs nearby. It is certainly the best time to come up here on holiday so why don t you make a date in your diary? We would love to see you here. And on that note more later on in the month, and more photos& ..Adieu. ddler group. 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