Shetland things

I just spent a wonderful week in Shetland. It's been on my 'To Go' list for years - maybe ever since Mum told me she found out she was pregnant with me while she and Dad were there touring around on his old motorbike - when apparently it cost just £1.50 a night to rent a cottage for two. I stayed with a friend with her friends on Bressay, a 10 minute ferry commute from Lerwick harbour, where no one locks their houses, strangers pull over to offer you lifts, I spotted a porpoise from the living room window, and got to bolster the numbers of the Bressay community choir - five women (including me...) with an old piano.

So many things about Shetland to like. Knockout archaeology - Jarlshof and Mousa and Scatness and countless other sites. Brochs and Norse longhouses all over the place. World beating wildlife - bonxies swooping overhead, thousands of gannets diving and calling, busy bobbing puffins, watching a nesting guillemot colony get decimated by a rabbit, seeing otters feeding metres away. Mind-bending geology, sheer cliffs, soft turf, broad green straths, beautiful beaches, white sands, turquoise bays, freezing waters, ponies, crazy bus shelters, cold winds, and warm cafes. Sheep and wool and spinning and knitting inspiration everywhere! Ferries and islands and friendly people and music and late nights and whisky. Going back one day, I hope.