SHETLAND BIRD NEWS & MORE!

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Iceland Gulls x 5, Glaucous Gulls x 3 at Loch of Spiggie. Russian White-fronted Goose at Ringasta. Dead Bittern at power station, Lerwick. Glaucous Gull at Grimista, Lerwick. Kumlien's Gull, Iceland Gulls x 2, Glaucous Gull at Uyeasound, Unst. Common Redpolls x 3 at at Norwick, Unst.

https://www.nature-shetland.co.uk/latest-sightings

Very, very traumatic and upsetting day yesterday, more about that another time (now updated) and needed today off because of it and I'm not looking for any sympathy, because it was all my own fault.

Moving tomorrow, Ian Reid coming at 8am. Put traffic cones out ready this evening, as they need 45ft to park and load up. Got shouted at by a lady neighbour to take them in as its illegal – yes it is, so I've taken them in and if there is no parking for the massive lorry, they will have to fill the road with the articulated lorry for three plus hours, its one or the other! And before someone says, a lorry can only do that for 20 minutes, yes I know that, but they have to move me somehow!!! I'm mentally exhausted to the max and just want to hide under a duvet for a week. I didn't eat until this evening and now at 22.10, I'm going to finish packing, no point in going to bed, oh well.

My internet went live at the new house today, but the router is still sitting in its box. There may be a blog post tomorrow night, but don't be surprised if there isn't or the day after that and so on if it doesn't work!

Full update about the traffic cone situation

The lady in question sent me a private message this evening and said I didn't tell the whole story as if I was hiding it, I certainly wasn't, but didn't feel I had the time or energy to write the full story and didn't feel I needed to, so now, just to explain further to the lady I will. The lady who spoke to me (if I remember correctly) also asked why hadn't I asked people in the street instead of putting notices up, well in fact I did if you ask around, I knocked on all the doors (the day before) close by, some did answer and some were out, I didn't knock on your door as you would not have been affected at all with your two cars and trailer. The reason I put up what I thought were very polite and nicely written notices, were for anyone else parking in the road that didn't live there.

I was lent 5 traffic cones from the hospital for Ian Reid to park and Ian Reid had asked me themselves if I could put them out the night before. 3 of the cones where heavy duty and 2 were so light, they would have blown away in the strong wind, so I had to have a think about how to secure them. I suddenly noticed there was a big pile of concrete chunks in what I genuinely thought was part of the property (no one living there currently) at the end of the block of four NHS houses and communual garden that I live in, so I took 6 pieces to put 3 around each cone on the road. I returned to my house and was upstairs when I heard a car horn beeping and some raised voices, so stuck my head out of the window.... I could hear something about illegal cones and concrete, but couldn't hear properly with the wind, so said I would come outside to chat about it, but when I got outside there was no one there. Some of the cones had been moved. Not wanting to walk away from whatever the problem was I knocked on one of the doors I had not been to and a couple answered the door and acused me of stealing their concrete. I was shocked and apologised several times, as I had seriously 100% thought that odd little bit of garden belonged to the end house – that's how it looked in the dark to me anyway. I apologised more than once, but my apology wasn't accepted. They obviously didn't believe me. I have never and would never steal anything from someone's elses property, it was a genuine mistake. I thought it belonged to the end, currently empty house and I was going to put the concrete back in the morning, I was completely wrong and I apologised.

So if the lady wants me to tell the full story, I will carry on. I felt very upset at this point as I don't EVER like to upset anyone and I said I'm feeling very traumatised about an accident I've just had and written my car off and she said "I don't care Penny" and then "I really don't care" in an unfriendly tone. I was asked to put all the concrete back and remove the cones, which I did and then returned to the house and the husband (presumed) answered the door and I said I had returned all the concrete and removed the cones and apologised again and said I would never want to upset anyone and would never take things from someone's else's garden. Its just simply not a part of who or what I am. I said how much I loved Shetland and the people here and that was one of the many reasons I had moved here and that I wouldn't ever want to upset anyone. How many times do you have to apologise for a genuine mistake! I just thought she was over the top with her reactions, I can totally understand why though, if she believed I had stolen her concrete. I apologise if this caused you distress, but it was a genuine mistake, but I thought it quite unneighbourly to ask me to remove the cones, when long standing Shetland firm Ian Reid had asked me to put them out the night before. After all, it was a one off move, I wasn't asking for the world and the cones would not of affected your personal parking situation and was minimal disruption for other neighbours I thought – the worst case scenario would be that someone had to park in the next street, which most of us have had to do at times and walk back to the house with heavy shopping. I also missed out in my brief summary yesterday that I was seriously sobbing when walking back to my house and for the next hour plus and then had to gather my thoughts and carrying on packing. So, there is the entire and full story in every detail that I can remember.

It is now some bizarre time in the morning, but I will get to work on time and do the job that I love and adore and the wonderful Shetland team who I work with at the Gilbert Bain and equally adore all the lovely patients I see, bond with and assist with their recovery. Shetland is how my birth county of Norfolk used to be, but far better and I feel very lucky to be here, so I'm not going to let this put a dent in all the wonderful positives here. The local Shetland people here are so lovely, its actually made me happier than I've ever been.

I will never return to Norfolk where there is no community any more, where there are few local people left and most of the coast is half a million plus massive second homes standing empty for most of the Winter months, that only the super rich can buy, forcing working class families to live in the less desirable areas. The huge increase in people, traffic and thousands of dogs off lead, whereas in Shetland you rarely seen a dog off a lead, as they are not allowed to menace the sheep and livestock here, which is how it should be and in turn you feel safer too. Its terrifying when a big dog is charging you with bared teeth – this hasn't happend here once (yet) since my arrival in May – in that same period of time this would have happened several times in Norfolk. I couldn't stand the boiling hot and crazy weather either. I much prefer the Shetland crazy, colder weather! 😆 I'm not leaving, as this is the first time I felt like a place is mean't to be, I only wish I had been lucky enough to have been born here.

Good night or should I say good morning!