shetland

the adventure continues!...after arriving to burrastow house we spent our first hours getting to know each other and our surroundings...

  we met the host and chef extraordinaire of burrastow, pierre

a newly married couple arrived to have their wedding photos taken at burrastow

our first evening, we gathered for an informational talk by our lovely tour leaders, gudrun johnston and maryjane mucklestone. they had a surprise for us, in the kishie (basket) on the table were hand made project bags filled with special treats! the fabric of the bags is so cute, it's of knitted fair isle sweaters! 

jumping ahead, sorley, our driver extraordinaire (and gudrun's lovely brother) made a special stop so i could get this photo. i saw a shetland otter!

my very first morning, i woke so excited, at 4am, the sun was already high in the sky. i ran to my window and couldn't believe my eyes!! there was an otter swimming in our bay. i grabbed my camera and tiptoeing out the room and down the stairs, still in my pajamas!

i remembered reading simon king's 'shetland diaries' book, he talked about how timid the otters are here. it's important they don't see you, or even smell you. oh dear, which way was the wind blowing? i couldn't tell, so i crept behind the low wall surrounding burrastow house. coming closer to mr. otter. i stealthily peeked over the wall and watched as he exited the water scampering up on to a pile of rocks and seaweed...

carrying a large fish in his mouth! i could hear him feeding on the fish, tearing it apart with his sharp teeth. forgetting the rules, in my excitement i stood up and immediately knew my mistake. mr. otter dropped his meal, turned and bolted back to the sea...

and then he watched, cautiously (curiously?), before swimming out of our voe and into another around the bend. it was the only time this trip i would see one, but i saw one! and saw the otter sign too!

artic terns here on their migration, i love these birds so much...

time for our first field trip! our trusty ride, driven by sorley, gudrun's brother. (thank you again sorley!)

on the way to...

eeps!

waiting for a tour with oliver henry!

the master of jamieson & smith shetland fleece

explaining the sorting process

lovely pat admiring a peerie fair isle jumper (look at the gorgeous vest she made!)

tour is over, back in the shop for our lace knitting class with elizabeth johnston! and look who's here! it's friends sandra manson and ella gordon! eek! very excited to see them both!

 i tried on sandras sample cardigan, hairst, and bought the pattern :)

kate davies! 

time to leave, our visit to jamieson & smith was a highlight for all of us i think (we actually returned 3 times!)

 some have asked to see my journal, i have no idea how to share, so here is just a glimpse inside...

just like this post, it's incomplete. there really was no way to document all the wonderful things that happened on this trip. i tried my best though, filled almost ninety pages! i didn't add the photos of the second part of this days field trip to this post, the textile museum (for fear of the post becoming too long). oh dear. if there is still an interest, i'll keep sharing! there is a LOT more!

bye for now! xxx lori