From the title alone everyone can guess how today went. No one was up to anything strenuous so we did some things around the flat (all so boring, I won't list here) and took our sweet time accomplishing anything. The coffee people downstairs probably wondered where we were this morning, as we didn't make it there until about 45 minutes before closing.
Denise did some genealogy while Laura and I examined the inside of our eyelids. Denise will not rest until she knows everything there is to know about the Bairnsons. They are the Shetland family to whom we are related through Denise's grandmother, who she called Nan. Although we have learned in Shetland when related to one family, you are related to all the other families. Even our tour guide from yesterday, Jolene, is a distant relation. The person we rented our car from is Jolene's dad, so another distant relation. It involves being several times removed and great-great-great-great grandparents. Denise would know better.
I am seriously enjoying the seriousness with which Shetlanders take their sweets. Even the brand new coffee shop below us, Blyde Welcome, offers a number of highly delectable treats. In particular, I enjoy their "Millionaire Cupcake" which is not a cupcake, and the ladies enjoy their custard creams, which are not really filled with custard but some icing sugar like cream. Denise compares it to hard sauce we have at Christmas. Misnomers of treats aside, they are very yummy.
Laura hunted and gathered more meals at the Island Larder and the ladies learned something amazing today. Apparently, the Island Larder used to be called the The Shetland Fudge Company. They changed their name when they expanded to having more food, but they still make all the fudge in house on the fourth floor.
Today's picture is the outside of Laura's window. For those of you who do not know, Laura knits. The shop in the picture, as Jolene called it yesterday, is the Mecca for knitters in Shetland. Laura has yet to have the appropriate amount of time to dedicate going through every nook and cranny of the shop. Shetland has a long, long, long, history of amazing knitwear and wool production. Last time we were here, we had a tour of the Jamieson's plant, but they don't allow outsiders in anymore, much to Laura's chagrin.
Tomorrow, Laura gets to meet her sixth cousin, as we're meeting Helena Mackay for coffee at The Dowry. We will need to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for that meeting! The Dowry is so popular, Helena had to book table just so we could have coffee.
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