25th. February

I lost yesterday's blog and came back today to write it again only to find it waiting for me. C'est la vie as the Russians say.
Today two men arrived to put hand rails up here and there. They removed a seat and an old rail from the shower and put in two new rails. When I told them about problems with the door they replaced the lock and gave me three new keys. All very quick and cheerful. They even asked how the new house was getting on. The trouble is I know all the Shetlanders know what is going on but do not know who is related to who. One or other of them probably had relatives on Fetlar.
Today the wind has risen and the sea is splashing up the cliffs on the far side of the bay.
The TV dish has been trembling in the wind for weeks and has given up the ghost. We have to use iplayer on the computer.
The ponies were looking happy contented and safe but the other day they made a break for freedom and are now in someone elses land. Janet phoned them last night to let them know but got no answer on the phone.
She will get the builders to have a longer tea break today so they can round them up and put them back where they belong. The ground is still very wet. I see on the news that the Thames, Severn and other southern rivers have had a lot of flooding. People have had to leave their homes and there have been extensive power cuts.
I wonder how many of them will have hose-pipe bans in the summer. That will probably be Kent again I suppose.
We have to organise the telescope(s) for next week. I want a volunteer to go into my loft and get mine out. The other is a 12" Dobsonian and is waiting in our new house for someone to use it.
I wonder whether I will be able to use it in the summer to look at birds on Papil Water and to use my camera to take photographs through it. Another thing to experiment with. The telescope in the loft is a 10" reflector and needs putting together when we have got it together.
I may have a meeting on Friday to give local people a chance to play with them both.
I ordered more wine a couple of days ago so I am waiting for a large box to be delivered now.
It's all part of life in a quiet island.

Mid February

Not a lot has happened so it should be easy to write this. We have three medals at the winter Olympics and this afternoon we may get a gold in curling.
I have a wheelchair with large wheels at the front. There is no room in the house but we will use it in the new house and the Co-op and Tesco when we go to Lerwick. My new walking sticks are good, light and easy to trip up passers by with.
The OT has ordered my ejector armchair. Again no room here but we will chuck an armchair or a settee so there is room in the new house.
We now have a kitchen and utility room with cupboards and sinks, double oven and hobs. The bathroom furniture has arrived but the plumbers were due yesterday and I am not yet sure whether they arrived. If they did we are well on the way to completion. The handrails have been put up outside but if I am using sticks or a wheelchair they will be redundant. I will have to walk more.
It is much better weather today. The sun has been shining and the wind has abated. The bay looks fairly calm.
Heidi and Hnefi are looking relaxed and satisfied in their new field. This is the land we have almost bought across the road from the new house. A neighbour has been looking after the ponies for some months and put up another fence so that they cannot get to the road a can walk all round the ruin, using it as a windbreak.
My OT has changed the date of the next CT scan bringing it forward a day so that I can see the consultant on the same visit. She was keen that I use my blue card saying that it would be easier to park at the hospital.
We are not inundated by rabbits yet and I wonder whether I can shoot them from the back of the house when they do appear. We shall see. I will have to get the rifle out and oil it and make sure I have enough ammo. It may be a way my visitors can help get meals. We can have some catching trout and others shooting rabbits. Anyone good at shooting can probably go and pop off a few on our neighbours land. They will probably appreciate that.
The celebration of National Astronomy Week (March 1st. to 8th.) will have to be publicised. I have one telescope set up at the new house and need to get another out of my loft here and get that over there too.
I will talk to some interested parties here and get them to try out the telescopes beforehand. I want them to be able to use them any night that week, the more the merrier. I will make sure that Radio Shetland and Shetland Times are aware and they will publicise it for me.
We went out the other night but although the sky was clear to begin it soon became cloudy and unfortunately I soon get cold and have to go back in the warm. Some youngsters came and we saw Jupiter and Orion and bits of other constellations.
There is a date for completion but the house has to be certified before we move in. We can still go and watch the stars from outside until the great day. How long the move may take is a matter for conjecture. I'm not sure how many months it may be.
Mum and her sister are out shopping and will have lunch at the shop. They will bring back something for me later.
I am still munching Fry's Peppermint Creams and having power drinks and putting back the weightr I lost.
I seem to be responding to treatment  but have to get a bit of fresh air and exercise to build myself up.
I spend a lot of time adding these posts to the blog and still haven't mastered the art of adding pictures. With the concentration span of a goldfish I am unlikely to make a lot of progress here. But we will see.

Valentine's Day

Today I used the Blue Card for the first time. I also used my new walking sticks. Both worked well.
I had to go to the dentist because it is so long since I last went. I had a filling which was done rather quickly and easily.
The dentist is in the same building as my doctor in Mid Yell. When I came out and waited for Janet and Margaret who were seeing the other doctor mine came out, shook my hand and told me she had a prescription for me. I said that Janet was probably collecting it at that moment. She was and gave me the envelope with tablets in. I shoved it in  a pocket. When I got home I found it was for something new. I did not know why it was being given me. (I can guess.)
So tomorrow will be spent getting information about why.
Janet and Margaret had lunch at the shop as it does food on Friday lunchtimes only until the tourist season starts. They brought back a soup made with lamb and potatoes. I think the lamb was local.
I'm still knocking back crisps, chocolate and power drinks. I have started to put on weight  again so everyone seems happy with that.
Recently I started having the occasional Ginger Wine but I think I might try and do some damage to a bottle of malt whisky I have had since Christmas.
I have played hnefatafl with Paul, the school teacher and won, chess with Avalina, a neighbour and won. I also played three man chess with Avalina and her husband Peter. I won again. Finally I played a version of chess on a ten by ten squared board with three extra pieces over the normal set. This was against Peter. I only drew. I must go back and try again.
The new super doupper beds are now in Shetland but because of the delays to other work caused by the weather they may not be delivered to the new house this week.
We went to have a look and the doors are on and looking good. The floors are laid and the kitchen is being installed. The bathroom, toilet furniture and sinks are due imminently.
We were able to see the ponies. They were grateful for the apple and seemed very happy in the garden that we have almost bought.
The last thing to happen will be the road surface in front of the house. That should not be long now.

Early February

I've picked up another infection. I have started a new course of antibiotics. Now its a matter of beating the lurgi again.
We found a hospital bed on ebay and are buying it. It is actually two beds side by side working independently. There is also a matress that has to be plugged in too. The whole thing will be collected by the people  storing our furniture in Lerwick. They have a job in London and will collect it from Bucks on the way back. The Charlie Thomason fund will pay for it and we will leave it as a resource for Fetlar when it becomes redundant. I may let Mum have the mattress if they give me the type that massage you while you lie there.
I have also been measured for a reclining chair that will sit me up and eject me when I want to get up.
This means getting rid of a leather settee to make room.
I've been measured for a  wheelchair but don't know when it will arrive. I have also been offered a couple of walking sticks as they thought my walking poles were inappropriate.
There will be deliveries of handrails to the current house and the new house so that everything will be up to date here and ready for moving in when the house is finished.
Meanwhile we had a meeting on Fetlar to discuss the Shetland Astronomical Society. Some people on Fetlar will volunteer to take on posts to stop it folding.
If the society closes we will have a North Isles Group and try to keep regular meetings.
I volunteered to have daytime meetings with whoever volunteers to prepare for sky watching evenings, contact the Federation of Astronomical Societies, prepare  annual reports etc.
We will see how it all goes. Hopefully we will do something during National Astronomy Week from first to eighth of March.
I also have to show two or three people how to run the hnefatafl tournament. Then I can sit back and watch it all happening.
The gales persist but when they stop I will get Janet to take me out in the car with my blue badge so I can park somewhere I've never parked before.
So the future looks exciting.