Category Archives: Scotland

A Long Week

Blog, Christmas, Scotland, The Vet Who Came In from the Cold, Yorkshire Dales, ,

I almost forgot it was blog day this morning. It feels like ages since last weekend. I took the astonishing photo at the top of the page last Saturday after dropping off the man who sold Anna his car back at his house. The intensity of those iron grey clouds, brooding above the sunny Yorkshire Dales landscape was so arresting that I had to try to capture it.

I worked from Yorkshire on Monday, then left Anna, Lauren, Andrew and Triar at Mum and Dad’s to head back up to Scotland. I was sad to miss Anna and Lauren’s last day, but my furniture was due to arrive on Tuesday (at last) so Scotland beckoned.

I started work early on Tuesday morning at Donna’s house, which is only a ten minute drive from the house I’m renting. Having heard nothing from Pickford’s, I called them, getting through at about nine-forty, only to be told my slot was between ten and twelve. Grabbing my work bag, I rushed out to my car and drove over, arriving only moments before ten. The only furniture in the house was a single kitchen chair and I set it by the living room window, thinking I’d try to get some work done before they arrived, but before I could open my laptop, they arrived.

Regular readers will remember the awful day back in October when the removal men arrived a day early, causing chaos and doing an appallingly bad job in general (Last Post) so I was very pleased that this time, the (different) crew had arrived right on schedule. The contrast continued as they unpacked my sofas and beds, working hard to find all the parts of the beds, as they were worried I wouldn’t have anywhere to sleep without them.

They eventually found the three metal barriers that hold the mattress in place and the remote control for one of the beds in two random boxes, but when I assured them that I had somewhere to sleep that night, they gave up on the search for the legs and the parts for the other bed (both are adjustable) and carried on bringing the remaining furniture in. Their willingness and communication was such a contrast with the firm at the Norwegian end. They worked for a company called Bee Smart and I found myself musing that, if I move again within the next year (the rental house is temporary) I would probably call them.

Donna had offered to help me unpack on Thursday and so, having taken the day off work, she and I headed over to start to get my new house into some kind of order. Like Shirley, who helped me to clean the old house, Donna worked so efficiently that, by the end of the day, the kitchen was cleaned, all my kitchen equipment was found and washed and both beds were assembled. We had a bit of a laugh over some of the packing. As I said in my October post, the removal men had run out of boxes and complained I had too much stuff. Donna, who was going through the boxes, brought two of them to me to show their contents, or rather, the lack of them. This kitchen box was only half full.

Perhaps there was some excuse as that one was heavy, but this was the most sublime:

Top tip: if you’re moving in Norway, don’t use Vinje’s!

The landlady (Lorna) unexpectedly arrived, just as as Donna was finishing up the kitchen. As I brought Lorna in, Donna was standing in a cloud of steam, sleeves rolled up, placing the last of my bowls onto a towel she had placed on one of the worktops, having run out of space on the drainer. All the cupboards were washed and standing open to dry. For a first impression, as a new tenant, I couldn’t have hoped for better.

We had discovered the night before, that the toilet flush wasn’t working properly, so within minutes, Lorna was on the phone to a plumber. They gave a tentative promise that they’d try to pop in at eight the next morning. No mean feat two days before the weekend before Christmas. Then she left and Donna and I went back to sorting through my stuff.

There were a few broken things, but fortunately not too much. Donna had offered to wash some bed clothes, so that when Andrew and I came up there would be beds all ready to go and anyway, I was beginning to feel tired, so we headed back to Donna’s at about three.

To top off the day, Donna had friends coming round, and again, I was included in the invitation. We had wine and Chinese food and plenty of friendly chat. I slept well overnight, but had to get up early to go back to the rental to meet the plumbers. And so, I now have two beds, ready to sleep in, a kitchen full of clean pots and pans and a working toilet. It was sad to leave Donna’s yesterday, though also lovely to be back at Mum and Dad’s. This will be my first UK Christmas in over ten years and I’m really looking forward to it.

Turkey Calling

Blog, Scotland, The Vet Who Came In from the Cold, , ,


I arrived back at Donna and Will’s on Sunday afternoon and we spent the evening putting up Christmas decorations. They’ve got a real tree and Christmas decorations from different people and places they’ve been. I was also impressed they had even more boxes of decorations than I did before my moving rationalisation, when sadly, I had to cut it down to three boxes. Can’t have too much Christmas cheer, in my opinion. The amazing Lego Christmas Village picture at the top of the page is theirs. Building an entire village is real dedication to the Christmas cause.

Although my online induction continues apace (deadline 24th December for the general program) I’ve been out on two visits this week. The first was to a veterinary practice which carries out some Official Veterinarian work on behalf of the government. Much of this doesn’t seem to have changed too much since I was doing it myself back in the early nineties, though we didn’t use much rabies vaccine back then, before the days of pet passports. We inspected equipment such as the guns that are used to inject tuberculin to check for TB and the practice microscope for looking for anthrax. There was a feeling of familiarity, being back in a mixed animal country practice, though the lingering scents of iodine, vitamin B12 and calcium were sadly absent from the stockroom.

I also went on a visit to a fallen stock plant, where culled animals that are not fit for human consumption are taken. Though they’re not going into the food chain, the animals are still tested for BSE or Scrapie (the sheep version). One thing I’m really revelling in is chatting to people effortlessly. Back in Norway, I’d go out with Birgit and she’d launch into chatting about what was happening at that time of year and perhaps more local news. Suddenly I can do it too!

We received a directive about carrying out welfare visits on turkey farms at the time of slaughter. As regular readers will know, killing animals as humanely as possible is something that really energises me, so I was hoping to get involved, but it seems that there are very few in our region and that most of them either send them outside the area or are already finished. This is definitely something I should write in my calendar for October next year. I was asked to do some of the phoning though. I can see I’m going to be leaping into this job like a pig rushing to the muddy corner of its field, only with more disinfectant involved.

Andrew arrived last night from Norway and will be here over Christmas and New Year. Triar was very pleased to see us both when we arrived at Mum and Dad’s, though it was well after his bedtime when we got here. Anna and Lauren will be arriving later today for a weekend visit, so it’s going to be a full house. I went to Aldi on the way to pick up some party food. Another novelty for me. Vol-au-vents, cocktail sausages and duck spring rolls were in short supply in Finnsnes. I miss ribberull meat on my sandwiches though. I wonder if I could make my own.

My furniture should arrive on Tuesday and I’m hoping to take a couple of days off later in the week to unpack. Donna has offered to give me a hand, which I’ve gladly accepted. It’ll be good to get my things back, though I’ll be sad to move out of Donna’s very comfortable spare room. Her social life is so busy that I will need to make appointments to see her, once I’ve moved out. We’ve already booked Pilates classes including one in January though, so we’ll be keeping fit as well as in contact.

Anyway, I’d better go and get breakfast. See you tomorrow for the exciting third installment in this years advent adventure!

Just Visiting

Blog, Scotland, Travel, ,

At the beginning of the week, Mum, Dad, Triar and I took a short trip to Dumfries. The main purpose was to pick up the keys of my newly rented house. Donna, a friend who lives in Dumfries had kindly been to inspect it for me, but I rented it without seeing it and I wasn’t sure what to expect. Happily, I love it. The picture at the top of the page is a view taken from the back garden, where there are sheep in the field. There are cattle in front of the house across the road too, so I instantly felt at home.

The house itself is pleasant enough. Hopefully Triar and I will be happy living there, once our furniture arrives.

The logistics of moving in remain complicated, mainly because I have no idea when Pickford’s will bring my furniture. I believe that it’s in a container and waiting to come over at the moment. Presumably once it’s in the UK, I’ll be told it’s arriving at quite short notice, but until then, it’s a guessing game. Various possibilities have been under consideration. Mum suggested an inflatable mattress, but the idea of camping out to that extent, with nowhere even to sit, wasn’t something I want to contemplate. She also suggested buying a chair or sofa bed, which I did consider, but finding one I like, which would be delivered in time, was difficult enough without then thinking about the fact that I would have to go back up to Dumfries to receive the delivery and then put it together before I could use it. So as yet, all I have done is to book myself in to the Premier Inn for Thursday night this week. I start work on Friday, so will need somewhere to sleep the night before. If necessary, I can hire a van and borrow a bed and an armchair from Mum until my things get here, but I can (hopefully) put that plan into action at fairly short notice if necessary. For now, I’ll just keep my fingers crossed that Pickford’s bring my stuff within the next week or so.

Dumfries seemed to be an attractive place with a river running through the centre and plenty of shops. We were in a café in the town centre which had signs up for a writers group on Wednesday evenings, so I may go along to that. There is also a women’s walking group, which I might try, but best of all, Donna has invited me out for a meal with some of her friends on 7th December. Having moved to Finnsnes in the middle of Covid, it took me a couple of years before I actually met anyone outside of work. Jumping into the middle of a social life seems like a dream.

The Midsteeple dominates the town centre in Dumfries

There are still lots of things that I am trying to get sorted out. Sliding back into UK life after fifteen years was never going to be straightforward. So far, I’ve bought a new telephone SIM and number, registered to vote, set up a bank account, registered my rental house for council tax (which the landlady had to remind me about) and notified the electricity supplier that I was moving in. I’ve still to register with a doctor, buy some oil (the house has oil central heating) and get myself a car. I can borrow Dad’s car temporarily, but I need to buy one that is suitable for work and get it insured for business use. I am trying to weigh up prices and reliability, taking into account the possibility that the government might put more restrictions on older cars. Price is particularly significant. I have money in Norway, but the exchange rate with the pound is so poor at the moment that using a large lump sum seems quite wasteful. I am spending part of each day trawling Auto Trader and Car Guru to see if I can find something I like, which is ULEZ compliant, has cruise control and is still within my budget. Fingers crossed!

Anyway, I’ll leave you with a couple more photos I took up in the Dumfries area. The first is another taken from the back of my new house, the second was taken on a short walk down a country lane, when we drove out to look at another house that’s for sale. Thanks for reading and I hope you have a lovely week as we head into December.