ࡱ>    !"#$%&'(*Root EntryZ O20S)@CONTENTS LCompObjVSPELLINGerm here for a jolly good spread of beverages, sandwiches and home made cakes and all very good it is too. It was nice to see so many people turn up and enjoy themselves. A New Zealand lady writer turned up as she was being shown around Shetland. I think she was a writer but I hope that she takes warm impressions of Shetland back to Aotearoa! The BBC are also up here for three weeks filming live for  Springwatch which is a programme hosted by the ubiquitous Bill Oddie, whose keen naturalist image seems at odds with his voice over for B and Q television adverts, and Kate Humble. Simon King has been up here watching the otters up on the top part of Shetland Mainland and beaming pictures of playful otter pups gambolling in the sea out to millions of viewers in the UK. Bill Oddie said that there was 4 million viewers for the programmes which can only be great news for Shetland and the tourism trade. Especially after the major tourist link announced that it would no longer be bringing its big cruise ship into Shetland anymore. Smyril Line (based in Norway) announced this recently and it was front page news on Shetland Times yesterday. It really is a smack in the face for Shetland especially after it has literally invested millions of public money in this shipping line because of the tourist potential. Faroese and Icelanders used this line to come to Shetland and beyond to do their shopping and this will only do harm overall. Thankfully the new direct flights between Stansted and Shetland and Faroe will help bolster this loss. Springwatch, is I think, unwittingly playing a very valuable role in showing the English viewers just what a wild and wonderful place Shetland is. An oilrig was recently parked in the Quarff bay, for maintenance, or should it be moored? The thiCHNKWKS LJTEXTTEXTp3FDPPFDPP6FDPCFDPC8FDPCFDPC:FDPCFDPC<FDPCFDPC>FDPCFDPC@STSHSTSHBSTSHSTSHB2SYIDSYIDPBSGP SGP dBINK INK hBBTEPPLC lBBTECPLC B8FONTFONTB~STRSPLC :C:PRNTWNPRtCFRAMFRAMHTITLTITLI hosted by tShetland Diary I have just finished bottling a new batch of bitter and felt inspired to put this month s diary together so by the time I have to sit down and do the July edition the beer should be ready! Getting the energy together however to produce a monthly web diary, combined with the household duties and extra ones in this weather meaning gardening, trying to organise repairs to the house is all rather exhausting so I am going to dedicate this month s edition to all those housewives and house husbands. Being a housekeeper is a busy job as you really have to be able to be a multi tasker. School doesn t teach you this at the age of ten or so, you just have to get on with it. Still as long as you establish a routine it can be quite satisfying. It does make you appreciate what millions of women all over the world have to do each and I think a lot of men take women for granted. However this diary is not really about women s liberation etc but I think here in Shetland the status quo is addressed somewhat. There appear to be a lot of men who stay at home and carry out the home duties whilst the women are at work. In Bigton there at least four men, myself, my neighbour Paul the artist, the doctor s husband Mark, and soon to swell the ranks Alec (who reminded me that he is a non pagan) then down in Scousburgh there is Garry with Milly and Lauren. At last weeks toddlers group there was actually three men there instead of the usual one (me!) so perhaps we are going to establish a male clique. Last Sunday we had the Bigton Toddler s teas in aid of fund raising and then there were various stalls which donated to the CAT fund (this is a charity raising funds for Shetland to have its very own scanner here instead of people having to fly to Aberdeen). Teas is a generic tng was enormous and my picture on the first page of it may give you some idea of the scale. For all it represents ie the burning of fossil fuel which is causing climate change it did make you ponder on the ingenuity of the human race and I wondered how it moved. Readers; any idea? A package of Shetland Puffin Poo* for the best suggestion? June promises to be a glorious month. The bluebells are out in force and the rhubarb is flowering. There is a promise of pods of killer whales on the east side of the mainland. They have been seen in Levenwick which is just over the hill from us. Springwatch are down in Sumburgh not next week but the week after and will be watching the puffins and other seabirds that nest on Sumburgh Head so hopefully they might see some Orcas as well. Although the weather has to be taken with caution my optimism about this place turning on the good weather when needed was justified at half past five this morning when I looked out the window and saw glorious blue sky and sunshine! Wife went off to work, I put the washing machine on and the children had breakfast and jumped on their bikes and were off! It is so lovely that they have the freedom and space to do that without the worry that they are going meet a gang of yobs or find a syringe in the playground. Time to do weeding and yes I must mow the lawn. A number of you polite readers have remarked about the lush overgrowth that is our garden and I admit it does need a trim. However the long grass attracts all the hedgehogs (see picture on first page) which eat the slugs and that is a good thing as I don t want them eating my cabbages and carrots. I still have to build a windbreak and last week I indulged my self in a well known Shetland pastime which is skip diving. I found a large number of wood pallets which are an extremely useful size for making fences which I will and paint a fetching blue colour which hopefully will attract lots of bumblebees to pollinate plants. We are doing a survey at present on these insects and especially Shetland Bumble bees of which I rescued two in our sunroom. Only when I got the survey did it inform me that these bees are quite rare. We have a large field next door to us and there may well be bee nests in there. Unfortunately there may also be rats nests in there and I had to dispose of a live one which was sitting in our vegetable patch digging up all the bulbs that I had planted a day before. A well aimed .22 air rifle slug put paid to Ratty s tunnelling exploits. My neighbour Paul and I saw perhaps the same rat in his rhubarb patch a week before but hopefully it was the only one, which is now pushing up the daisies on the road side. Various other things are happening this month; the one big event is the Shetland Blues Festival which is on 16th - 18th June. Out of 18 gigs 14 of them are free! Anyway I must get outside and do some weeding and make my windbreak while the widder is good! More next month but feel free to email me any queries& & . the worry that they are going meet a gang of yobs or find a syringe in  l5n5p5(2"'( ) @S  "@M " $h (08@HPX`hpx." "@M " $h (08@HPX`hpx." "@M " $h (08@HPX`hpx."   "@M " $h (08@HPX`hpx." "@M " $h (08@HPX`hpx." "@M " $h (08@HPX`hpx."  "@M " $h (08@HPX`hpx." "@M " $h (08@HPX`hpx." "@M " $h (08@HPX`hpx." "@M " $h (08@HPX`hpx." "@M " $h (08@HPX`hpx." "@M " $h (08@HPX`hpx." 3333l5p5p\p\pR "  "PSS"  "PS"  "@M " $h (08@HPX`hpx." 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