Fletcher saga 02 Feb 2004

An enormous removal van arrived on the morning of Friday 30 Jan. All our effects were swiftly and efficiently packed by 4 pm and transported into storage in York whilst we stayed in a local hotel overnight before setting forth on Sat 31 Jan. The weather forecast proved to be wildly optimistic. The promised showers and bright intervals turned out to be driving rain, sleet and snow so we changed our plan to drive north on the A68 to Edingburgh via Jedburgh - crossing the Cheviots in that weather was something we did not wish to contemplate. Instead we headed west for Carlisle and the A74/M74. This road proved to be quite well ploughed and salted/gritted so we reached Glasgow by dusk and stayed the night. On Sunday the weather was improved but still bitterly cold with lots of snow lying quite deep in places; it was especially bad crossing the Cairngorms where only one lane of each dual carriageway was clear and even then quite deep in slush. Our progress northwards continued to Thurso and a very pleasant hotel where we had a hot bath and an excellent meal before falling into bed utterly exhausted.
Today (Monday 02 Feb) we drove to Scrabster (just two miles) and at noon boarded an almost empty ferry for a smooth trip across the Pentland Firth to Stromness - it felt strange buying two single tickets. There followed a brief drive off the ferry into Stromness and over to Kirkwall where a visit to the estate agent produced the news that the main house we were hoping to buy was not ready as the lady who lived there had yet to find alternative accommodation - this appeared to be as much as surprise to the estate agent as it was to us. However, we have more than one house in mind so tomorrow we shall be visiting the estate agents (both of them) to view at least one more house.
The island had bad weather last week - our temporary accommodation (which is excellent) was cut off for a couple of days and the island came to a virtual standstill for 48 hours. The roads are all cleared even though snow lies quite deeply in places. We are now in the process of unpacking our few possessions ready for a stay of a week or two whilst we attempt to find a house that really is for sale.
Watch this space for the next exciting installment.

Last updated 23 May 2004