Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Holiday Things

Our time in Shetland is regretfully drawing to a close (couple more days of fun to be had though) and I've been sorting out the bits and pieces I've been buying to see if they'll all fit in my case - or if I'd have to post some of yarn back.


It looks like everything is going to fit - I packed less clothes this time, and unlikely as it looks in this picture, bought less wool than I have in the last couple of years.

The indoor part of what I love about the northern isles is almost all in this picture - there's some beautiful tweed that I have plans for, a lot of even more beautiful yarn that I also have plans for, some books (about knitting) which are hopefully going to help facilitate the plans for the yarn, and a bottle of gin (Orkney gin in a very pretty stone bottle which is going to be fun to try).

Coming to Shetland provides a creative boost both in terms of visual inspiration - there's so much to see in the landscape, as well as a lot of people doing incredible things - and some raw materials to do creative things with.

The outdoor things I love about Shetland is the scenery with its ever changing light and shade, and the wildlife. Some of the wildlife has been eluding us this trip - there's a rare bearded seal that's taken been visiting the harbour in Lerwick a lot, but never when I've been in Lerwick. We spent some time on Monday following reports of Killer whales to, but they remained ahead of behind us so we gave up in them.

Not that it matters, today I've seen seals, an otter, porpoises, 2 different types of skua having an impressive arial face off, terns, swallows, red throated divers, diving gannets, hundreds of sheep, a hedgehog, almost trod on a rabbit, and have spent ages watching oystercatchers scour the garden for worms. Yesterday it was puffins and guillemots along with an abundance of wild flowers, and who knows what tomorrow will bring. Most of this has been almost from the doorstep. I love this place.

2 comments:

  1. Looks beautiful. I'd love to see a porpoise!

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  2. They're not as flashy as dolphins or orcas so you tend just to see their fins as they surface, but they absolutely delight me in a way orcas do not!

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