Saturday, June 29, 2013

Shetland Nature Festival

To quote Simon King...."Shetland has a wild magic all of its own.." This week sees the sixth Shetland Nature Festival which celebrates this wild magic in many events and activities.  Visit www.shetlandnaturefestival.co.uk for details.

Besides ordnance survey maps and binoculars, ( plus a thermos and all those extra layers of clothing) we always have several bird and flower books in the car. All are available from  the Shetland Heritage Shop, and recently we added a new one entitled "British Sea Mammals"  Two of the authors live in Shetland and most of the photographs were taken around the coast of Shetland!

Need I say more? Priced at £12.95 the book is plastic covered and very user friendly in its layout and information.





Friday, June 28, 2013

Shetland Baskets..

Conical basket, 25cm x 20cm with 90cm cord

I've just had a most interesting chat with Dr Ian Tait, our curator, who is knowledgeable about almost everything. He gave a talk recently entitled "What were all those Baskets For?"

Shetlanders in the old days were adept at using all the resources which were to hand, and made baskets for use at the fishing, on the croft and around the house. Four different types of material were used, bent (marram grass), floss ( rushes), straw and heather. There were two methods of construction, weaving and coiling.

The reason I was talking about this to Ian is that we have a few very nice baskets made of these traditional materials in the shop at the moment.  They are made by Jeanette Nowak, an artist who lives in Yell. Look at these photos, and go to the shop link to see all the baskets.

It was imports of cheaper baskets from distant parts of the world which ended the making of baskets from local materials. It is very hard to get hold of a kishie these days, and Jeanette's pieces are very much individual works of art.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Knitting Belts and Sheeksins..

It's the visitor season and we are all busy entertaining our guests. The highlight for the New Zealanders with us this week was of course a visit to the Museum and a witty and informative tour lead by Paul.
They were curious about the knitting belts we sell. Our visitors had never seen one before, and I realised that while  I have explained them to many people over the years, visitors are always fascinated to see them in use by Museum  staff members who demonstrate knitting, both lace and Fair Isle.

Cathy and Linda will be using knitting belts at a "Sheeksin" on Tuesday 9th July at 2.30 in the Museum.

A Sheeksin is an informal and friendly get together to chat about a particular subject over tea and coffee.

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Da Auld Sangs..




You're seeing a preview of a book which is to be launched on Saturday in the Boat Hall at the Shetland Museum and Archives....maybe you have seen it before?
A very welcome reprint, it is a facsimile of the 1973 Shetland Folk Society publication. With 60 songs, ranging from Da Rabbit's Lullaby to Da Sang o da Papa Men, it is a delight....
Order online at the Heritage Shop from Saturday.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Viking Unst



We went to Unst for the weekend...superb Unst weather, sun for 3 days!

The Viking longhouse which has been constructed next to the seagoing Viking ship is wonderful to see, the grass roof is luxuriant and the stone walls and shape very satisfying. Walking along Sandwick beach among remains of Viking settlements, imagining the longhouse on the shore and ships coming into the bay is something you have to experience. If you can't be there, this is the book to get hold of...a new publication, presenting the results of the excavation of three longhouse sites on Unst.

Order it online at Shetland Heritage Shop.  
http://www.shetlandheritageshop.com/Viking-Unst-Excavation-and-Survey-in-Northern-Shetland-2006-2010.html