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Vol.22 No. 8
27th February 1999
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THE DIVE FOR TREASURE
Once upon a time there was a diver called Vivian M. Ross-Smith - that is me!!
One day I went for a dive in the sea and I met a shark, I jumped on his back and it took
me to an octopus. I jumped off his back and jumped on an octopus' head and jumped off. I
swam down and down until I met a moray eel. I swam off when I saw his sharp teeth and then
I saw what I had come for - the treasure!!
Vivian (8)The Early Worm
Hello, I'm Wiggle the worm. My family call me 'The Early Worm' because I'm always
getting up at 6 o'clock. I will tell you about one of my most exciting mornings.
Well I got up and wiggled out of my earth bed and wiggled up our tunnel. (You can see why
they called me Wiggle!) As I was coming up I saw some ants and I knew that they bit humans
but I didn't know if they bit worms! But I just kept going.
There is a big passage in the ground above from where we live and it was made by moles so
we have to be careful there are no moles coming past when we go up. There were no moles in
the passage so I got to the top. I stretched my body and wiggled along the grass.
It was a lovely day but I can't stay in the sun too long because it burns my skin and I
can't have bad skin!
Suddenly out of nowhere this bird came and caught me. It flew with me really high and I
squiggled and wiggled and it dropped me. It was cool flying through the air! I landed with
a bit of a bump and went down our hole.
I went past an old key and stopped to check no moles were coming. As I went down the mole
passage a mole appeared and I had to crawl up a hole and stay very still. As it passed me
it was saying "I am a mole and I live in a hole" and it made me laugh!
Then I made my way home. The ants were still near my house but they didn't bother me. When
I got home I told my family all about my adventure.
Rachel (12)
The Lost Valley
My name is Peter Pteradon, I’ll show you the whole
of the valley.
I’ll start at the top of the mountains. If I fly to the right I can see the swamp and
the brontosaurus are playing in the swamp and I can see my friends by the nest. I love
playing with the stegosaurus because he is so big and spiky. I save the biggest dinosaur
for fast. Wow look at the big big !!! Triceratops, they are running and making the trees
fall down when they hit them.
Now for the biggest - Tyrannosaurus Rex. Oh no the Rex is after me, it gets hotter as you
get closer to the volcano but I go so high that the Rex can't get me. Well that was the
tour of the Lost valley.
Lewis (10)
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The Bank Robbers
One day two men came into the bank. They said
"Give us all your money", Or else we'll shoot'. "Ok hear is all the '
money" the bank people said.
They ran down the road. As they were doing this they hoped in a car and then sped through
a gate in the road across the railway track. Then the police car came. There was a great
chase. The car in front went everywhere. Then they got them cornered. They were put in
jail for life and fined £20,000 for dangerous driving
Calum (9)The Monster Hunt
One day 2 divers named Bill and Fred went Nessie hunting in
Loch Ness, They went there in full diving gear but then they found stepping stones
"How nice" said Bill (who was a bit soft in the head ).
They hadn't gone more than 6 stones when Fred fell off a slippery stone, now Bill
wasn't clever but he did figure out that if he stepped on that stone he would fall off. So
he stopped and hopped nimbly onto a stone next to him, suddenly a little green head popped
up and Bill fell in the water and swam back to the shore.
Fred had done. the same so they never knew if Nessie was real or not.
THE END.
Magnus (8)
The Cross - Country Race
Hello . My name is Veronica Griffon, and in case you
didn't know, I'm the best runner in the country (as well as the best everything else of
course). I am going to tell you about a very unfortunate race.
Of course, I was brilliant and I would have won if it weren't for the silly, silly people
who organised it. I would have lent a hand, but I was too busy relaxing in my massage
parlour - I mean, er, I was, erm doing...
Oh, well where was I? Oh yes, the trail was terribly rough, not at all what I would
have expected. We were all lined up at the starting point. I was not too happy, as my
cheering section didn't seem to be there to build up my confidence, and, as you know, everyone
needs a cheering section.
The race started. We all came to a fork in the path. The other 4 went off in the direction
of a hill. A hill? My well-trained body is far too good to deal with hills! So I turned
off to the other path.
Before long, I came to a pond. I was horrified. I could not think of touching it! My brand
new trainers would be ruined! I had no choice but to go over the hill. I turned back and
soon reached the hill. By the time I reached the top I was panting.
I stumbled down the other side. I had to jump over a stream. There was a barbed wire fence
in my way and I hoped the finish was a few metres away from the fence, but I was wrong. I
got over the fence with a lot of scratches because it was the only way. I looked one way
and saw a path with nettles.
No way! I looked the other way and saw a bull charging strait for me.
AAAARRRRGGGHH!!!!!!!! I ran through nettles, past hedges and past a dog and then I saw the
finish. At last! I stumbled through the finish, expecting cheers for coming first. There
was nobody there. They had all gone home ages ago!
THE END.
Jenny (10) |
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Da Week Dat's Awa
At this time of year my weeks are fairly predictable, revolving around cows, cooking,
knitting and grand-children, with a greater emphasis on knitting in poor weather,
especially now, with a storage heater in the workshop.
For the last few weeks we've had an increasing problem with itching cows, so Friday
they were all treated and scrubbed, but while milking on Saturday morning, I realised we
should probably be withdrawing the milk from human consumption. I had the poor vet
thumbing his way through books. In the end we played safe and Tommy, the six month calf,
had a bonus. My assistant, lain, was living it up in Lerwick, so by the time I fed the
sheep, pottered around the barn chopping neeps for the kye, hentin some boxes of tatties -
we're still on the 'Caras', the best crop ever: beautiful large ones for us and the cows
and good clean seed, the morning seemed to have gone.
Saturday afternoons are always a joy - my Martha and Harry day. Being a Granny also has
the added bonus of birthday parties - this was Shirva Daniels fourth birthday, shared by
the nine pre-school bairns, who danced, played and ate a lot.
No problem deciding what to do with the milk on Sunday morning - Freda calmly kicked
the bucket and waves of milk spilled into the oiler! In spite of a very heavy shower, a
good turn out in Chapel. It's lovely seeing so many well behaved bairns. I have memories
of ours being so restless. I'm sure having a relaxed children's address helps.
Out came the ever increasing paper work after lunch. A few more costings and forms for
Scottish Homes, little did we realise how may problems could arise when thinking of
building a house! The Shetland Herd Book registration papers were more straight forward,
you also get £100 from the SIC for each pure bred Shetland calf, provided, of course,
you're not in tax or rent arrears with the council! While the papers were out I checked
the calving dates - Bella's due on the 26th May and Flo a few days later.
My week cooking. There are few, if any, main courses all twelve bairns like. Today's
Shepherd pie, along with the veggie version, got eleven out of twelve! Soups on the whole
rate very low, except Tomato and Pasta. Puddings definitely get full marks most days, but
home bakes, especially cakes, peat and pancakes come out top. It was good seeing Phil in
doing PE at the school, from the noise it was much enjoyed and appreciated.
Monday night saw the hall AGM with a better attendance than usual and, even better,
people volunteering to go on the committee. Gone are the days at being on for life, or in
my case 25 years! I'm also pleased to see a renewed interest in badminton before I get too
old. Not having played for years maybe it was for the best we only had a knock around on
Tuesday.
Wednesday was one of those lovely bright cold days. lain arrived on the morning plane
and along with Stewart headed for our midden. By lunch-time the tattie rig was well
covered, with half the midden still left. Also, taking advantage of the hard ground, lain
came with me to the sheep's feet - he turns the sheep and I trim the feet. Thank goodness
there are only twenty sheep, in spite of the bonny day my hands were paralysed with cold.
Fortunately the feet were all good apart from the ram who had a pocket of rot on one foot.
The Shepherd did it's weekly trip, then headed back to Grutness with two
Cellnet men, returning late evening.
After the canteen, Thursday was mainly a knitting day. Rhona Weirs jumper went to
Florrie's for washing, Clive's scarves got fringed and another jersey got sleeves. Emma
also, unfortunately, discovered a extra row in one pattern in my last sleeveless cardigan.
A draft lease arrived today from the Trust. On the whole fairly straight forward but we
look like having a white house, not red to match the Kenaby workshop, as I had hoped.
We're round to Friday again, this has been another flying week. The bairns have a
school holiday, the kye have stopped scratching, I'm now onto a muckle jersey for a man
with longer than average arms, the sun is shining. All we need now is March to come in
like a lamb, as some of us head to the dental surgeon, while others fly to Africa and the
Good Shepherd has her re-fit in Lerwick.
Triona.
Place names of Fair Isle, an
occasional contribution, No 3
LEOGH
I've always thought that LEOGH simply meant
"The croft on the low ground", a name that suits the location. But thumbing
through Jacobsen's PLACE NAMES OF SHETLAND, looking for something else, I came across LJÖG
-"A damp, grassy plot through which a burn flows". This certainly describes
the South part of the land where it borders onto Utra given that there is no certainty
where the line was drawn in Norse times and the area below the old Leogh Well is called Da
Mire - MØR, a bog. Incidentally, the burn coming down the West side of the croft does not
flow into Hestigeo as shown on recent maps but joins the main concourse to come out over
the shingle at Whilligirt. The fresh water that looks like a burn ending its journey in
Hestigeo is just a soakaway from the immediately higher land,Whinnerwalls.
STEWART WILSON
Pádraig Ó Lúanaigh - Born in Dublin the youngest of four boys. Grew-up in
Newbridge, Co. Kildare that is a small town with some industry but mostly sheep farming
and the world famous Curragh horse stud farms. School had me destined for the priesthood
!!! ???? but I had other ideas. Originally planned to be a science teacher - spent two
years at Trinity College, Dublin where I discovered city life or it discovered me ....
.... The priesthood and teaching, there was only one more 'honourable' profession left
.... It had to be nursing! I trained to be a registered general nurse at the Queen
Elizabeth Hospital, Welwyn Garden City and the Lister Hospital, Stevenage. Had a wonderful
time and enjoyed every minute of my time there. On qualifying I worked at the QEll in
their Special Care Baby Unit. I then went on to work for a short time at Southampton
General Hospital on their neo-natal surgical ward before training to be a midwife at
Southampton University. Southampton was a busy place with 7,000 deliveries a year and when
working in the community I covered the little villages dotted around the New Forest which
were very different from Southampton. I then went on to work at the Royal Free Hospital in
London as a senior midwife on the labour ward. I don't know why but I decided to change
direction and train as a Health Visitor and did so in Luton where I worked prior to coming
to Shetland and well ... ... you all know the rest.
Person you most admire?
There is no one person. I have met so many wonderful people that I admire anyone who can
make the best of their life regardless of what it throws at them.
Person you'd most like to meet?
The person who ‘wrote’ the instruction manual for my video recorder.
Least favourite domestic chore?
Cleaning the bathroom/toilet -
Proudest Moment?
The day Rúaraí was born ... the next proudest will be when he leaves home and can buy me
a pint!
Greatest Disappointment?
I can't ever remember any real disappointments in my life ...
Other than Fair Isle where would you like to
live?
My ideal place would be Fair Isle on a warm and calm summer's day ... but I guess I will
have to settle for New Zealand or maybe Dublin.
Favourite Television?
I enjoy the 'fly on the wall' programmes even though they seem to be a bit over exposed at
the moment. Otherwise I enjoy any current affairs programmes and comedies such as Father
Ted (that could have been me!) and Friends.
Favourite Music?
This one is Easy - I love Irish traditional music.
Most Memorable Meal?
Claire & I really enjoyed our first visit to Monty's in Lerwick. The food was
wonderful, the surroundings were ideal and I was my usual witty and charming self!!
Most Romantic Moment?
I thought I was still waiting ... however Claire reminded me of a beautiful place in
Nottingham Forest that we visited. It was a calm summer’s evening and we stood next
to a lake surrounded by trees and it was a really special moment.
What you hate most in the entire World?
Automated telephone systems - press 1 for ...
GALTÜR AVALANCHES
Hearing the awful news of the Austrian avalanches
this week reminded me of a holiday in Galtür all of 44 years ago. In March, 1955, a
friend and I set out for a ski-ing trip there. This was the ultimate big adventure, by way
of celebrating our recent nurse training completion. The journey was long: bus from Surrey
to London, train to Dover, channel crossing by bout, a train to the town of Landeck in
western Austria with stops at the French/Swiss border at Basel and the Austrian border for
customs inspection. More than 24 hours after setting out we were on a bumpy bus travelling
along the Paznauner Tal to the tiny village 26 miles distant. Snowcovered mountains were
high to one side of the road and on the other was a fast flowing river far below us. At
some point we crossed over the ravine via a rickety wooden bridge - tired and scared for
most of the way.
 When we reached
our destination, everyone at the traditional chalet styled Hotel Galtür was most
welcoming, although I quickly realised that I would need to remember a bit of German -
there were few English speakers among guests or staff. Each room had a fabulous view and
mine overlooked the mountain in the accompanying picture - the Ballunspitze.
We learnt to ski on the nursery slopes and I split
my ski pants from stem to stern so had to tie my jacket around my waist as a cover-up
exercise (funny what one remembers so clearly!).
Even though we were at 1600m the sun was warm and we
could sit out tanning in short sleeves - taking care not to burn and wearing sungoggles in
the bright, bright light.
The week’s holiday cost £23 which included
half board at the hotel. Hire of skis was about 12p/day.
Betty
 Nursing Cover
I will be on holiday from Friday, March 5th
to Monday, March 15th.
Wendy Couper & Christine Tonge who will both be staying at Springfield will provide
cover during this time. Non-urgent messages should be left on the surgery answer 'phone
otherwise contact should be made via Koolin -
thank you, Pádraig.
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