Shetland Autumn 2023, Day 6 Thurs Sept 7th Arriving in Shetland

When we looked out of the cabin window all we could see was fog, but this was better than rain and could  signal good weather for later in the day. As we were having breakfast we noticed the pilot boat come along the ferry and transfer the pilot. This was the first time we had seen this, so quite exciting. We then realised we were going into Lerwick from the top end, which might have been the reason with the fog for the pilot. 

We had a nice breakfast on the boat and got off the boat swiftly- being nearly last on we were nearly first off. We used to go to Tesco for an essentials shop but more latterly have found the Co-op to be better in virtually all respects. It’s also only just down from the ferry. The first job though was to book our inter island ferry journeys when booking opened. As it seemed calm we were going to Whalsay tomorrow and see the exhibition in the Heritage Centre there. Then there was the return trip to Unst to book. All done swiftly and efficiently. 

We had checked the cruise ship timetable and it looked as if we would be able to park on the pier and have a leisurely morning in Lerwick before driving to out campsite for the next few nights. It was still Misty and the fog had not lifted to give a cloud free day. 

First stop was the Dowry for coffee, it felt good to be back and the year between visits seemed to disappear. Then it was time to walk up the Main Street, we walked along snd looked at the C’est la Vie menu, we had lunch there last year and were delighted with the meal. This year we will fit in dinner…soon! I pottered back slowly, calling in the Red Cross Charity shop and pleased to see a great cookery book. I am eating even more wholefood as I continue with my Zoe personalised nutrition  plan (1) and am always on the look out for ideas. 

Guilt Free Gourmet by Jordan and Jessica Bourke

Paying for this led to another spinning and natural dyeing conversation with the sales assistant as I was wearing my initial pair of  fingerless gloves. She was very interested in learning more about natural dyeing and happy to recommend Bunchy’s book to her, particularly as Bunchy is living in Shetland and so knows the local conditions. She has been generous in her knowledge in the book and it is a book a beginner can learn from and I feel get good results. 

Bunchy’s book.

Then it was on to the Shetland Bookshop and I can usually pick up some books to be put away for Christmas. It looks this year as though I already have the ones I might like! Note to self to come back later in the our time here. I did choose a nice tin though and an essential propelling pencil as I could not find my spare! 

Onto Tourist Information, I was looking for some special cards but nothing really took my eye. I did go for some thin socks, I have plenty of thicker hand knit ones with me which are super warm but these sheep ones took my eye. (In hindsight the sheep look to have odd proportions, but I guess not much of them will be seen) 

Thin sheep socks

( I do own  a sock knitting machine and when I goes home I need to spend some days cranking out pairs! If all goes well a pair in 2 hours is easily achievable). 

One more shop was a must. Shetland is the place to buy decent boots and the shop for those is Beggs. I bought a delightful green pair last year and this year I am hoping to get a more heavy duty black lace up pair as my ones that I have had since about 2006 are past their best! Even having some strict criteria I had a choice and they had my size. The assistants are very helpful, knowledgeable and understanding. So I was not disappointed. 

Beggs getting ready for wool week

So then on to the library. It was suggested to me that I would be able to borrow books from the library on a temporary ticket as we were in Shetland for some time. This was true, the library staff, like the staff at home in Norfolk, were super helpful and I was able to take out 5 books. It is a super library and there is a whole room devoted to Shetland books, some are multiple copies, and there is another section devoted to non Shetland textile books too. Being able to use the library was a super treat. 

Having made ourselves lunch we decided we could go and find our campsite, for the first time we were going to the new campsite in Scalloway. This was more expensive than our other campsites and we had to pay all of the fee some weeks in advance. (Always a bit of a concern given our health conditions, but understandable). As we drove over to the campsite at Scalloway we left the damp mist conditions in Lerwick and arrived in glorious sunshine. We were met by the warden and very pleased we had booked here, the position was super and of course all the facilities were new. A caravan had arrived on the ferry with us but none of the other motorhomes were here. 

We were staying here until we went up to Unst on Tuesday. 

View of our  parking spot 

We were glad to have arrived ‘proper ‘ in Shetland and enjoyed tea, cake and for me reading of some of the library books. 

1. I had a shock last year when I was told, from a routine health review, that I had high cholesterol, high blood pressure and was pre diabetic. Also, as my father had died at 50 due to a heart condition I was labelled ‘at risk’ and had more contact with the GP surgery in a week than I had done for years. Anyone who knows me well, know I am petite and slim! I agreed to go on to the minimum statin dose (also strongly advised to do this by Dr son!) I was already interested in the Zoe programme, having suffered from digestive problems for years following severe food poisoning. So this added concern persuaded me to join the programme and in the meantime I read every library book I could get on being pre diabetic! 

Shetland Wool Week trip: Mon 12 Sept 2022

It was a very wet night, it was great to see real rain again, as we had been in virtual drought conditions for months back home. However, it turned out to be a nice day and the next day we would be moving to a Unst for a week so  decided to do a food and wool shop today! We started off by having a bacon bap in Mackenzies, highly recommended and then drove into Lerwick for some supplies.

Driving into Lerwick, wonderful views. (Michael was driving, this is a quick snap with my phone)

 Today we chose the Co-op, rather than Tesco and were not disappointed. A good choice and the general ambience felt better to me. Tesco seems to be catering for families with lots of members or people with a large freezer. I can understand this but for 2 of us in the motorhome we had a wider choice in the Co-op as we could buy smaller packs.

Next stop was Jamieson and Smith. It was great to be in there when it was not too busy. The shop has had a substantial makeover and felt quite different. It was very spacious and it was great to be surrounded by so much wool, patterns and books. A true delight. On top of this Michael found a plain jumper in a sky blue colour that would be thinner than his fair Isle ones. So after seeming to try on every jumper of that colour in the shop a suitable size was found. I bought some yarn, including a cone of 2ply supreme which I enjoyed knitting my sample shawl shapes, in my Elizabeth Williamson workshops with. By buying a natural colour I can naturally dye the amount I need using plants from the garden mainly. This yarn has taken the dye well and shown no problems with felting. (I am an avid watcher of indie dyers yarn and notice this is not always the case!) I also included a pattern for ‘houss’ socks in a traditional design. I have been going to a Podiatrist  and found that wearing Houss socks aids the mobility of my toe joints rather than wearing former slippers every day. 

Houss socks from Jamieson and Smith

The plan was to have lunch in Hay’s Dock, but I had forgotten that the Museum and thus the cafe is closed on a Monday. We decided  to drive back into town. 

View from the Pier showing the Bressay ferry (and what a wonderful day it was)

We then found, as it was not wool week that The Peerie Cafe and The Dowry were also closed. In fact as it turned out we were pleased about this as we had never eaten in The French Restaurant called C’est La Vie. The whole experience was delightful, the food, the service, the ambience. How had we been coming to Shetland all that time without visiting this restaurant. It would not be our last visit. Following this there  was another treat, this time in Beggs. They have a fantastic selection of boots and I choose a delightful green pair which would match exactly my Harris Tweed green skirt. I looked forward to wearing them together during the winter. ( in fact this never happened, as I lost a substantial amount of weight and now 4 months later think I must make the skirt smaller as I have managed to stabilise my weight but at several kilos lighter). 

The boots and the skirt

After a nice pottering around day we made our way back to the campsite, such a lovely day here now. 

View of Marina 

We cooked chicken for dinner as we would take the rest with us to Unst, where we were travelling tomorrow., having booked the ferry from mainland at 10.15. We were very much looking forward to going to Unst, we love the island and had missed it for the last couple of years. We would be coming back to stay here after our stay in Unst. 

A wonderful reflection at sunset from the campsite, taken at 19.30

Lerwick Musem visit one

We were on a moderately tight schedule as we needed to shop to enable us to eat for a week on Unst and then drive to Belmont for our ferry booking after lunch. A visit to the Tourist Information Centre was essential, a visit to the Shetland Times Bookshop, with their great craft section, was important and I had picked up that there was a Craft Fair on at the Museum which couldn’t really be missed. We managed to fit in all three and have time to cook lunch before the ferry.

Not bad for a view from a car park in Lerwick

The Tourist Information Centre was just as fantastic as I had remembered it. Lots of beautiful craft work, lots of nice interesting cards, really helpful beautiful leaflets about all sorts of things and staff that really go out of their way to help. So we stocked up on things for Unst and Fetlar as we knew we would be back in a week.

The Bookshop was great and I restricted myself to just one Fair Isle book (Fair Isle Knitting Patterns by Mary Macgregor) – for this visit!

Provisions shopping went quite well, Tesco made it easier for us as there were gluten, dairy and wheat free things, and Globe Butchers and Scoop Wholefoods helped, so that DID leave time for a flying visit to the Craft Fair at the Museum

I can’t recall visiting the Museum before – it is stunning. It is at Hay’s Dock, the last remaining area of original dock on Lerwick waterfront.

View at Hay’s Dock

The Museum is very contemporary and spacious (more later). The craft fair was in one of the downstairs rooms and also outside where there were pop up ‘sheds’ a bit like my knitting machine studio for those that know it! There was a great variety of high quality work for sale from the makers – I just concentrated on the knitted items, but there was much more. I chatted to Nella from Nielanell who makes the most amazing garments – knitted artwear. Take a look at her site www.nielanell.com . We first met at Wonderwool where she was visiting the people who now do Timbertops spinning wheels : www.woodland–turnery.co.uk . Jeanette (who I visted in Perth is a mutual friend). Well didn’t buy anything from Nella on the day – but there is a fortnight to go .. and we had to drive about 55 miles and get 2 ferries then we would be on UNST ‘ the island above all others’