Wednesday trip

Yesterday, I went out by car with two friends. It was bitterly cold, and many of the lochs had a sheen of ice on them. On passing through Achmore, which lies 350 feet above sealevel, there was a fair bit of snow on the ground. The Harris hills, visible in the distance, were all white. They rise up to nearly 2,700 feet.

Our destination was two-fold: first the Doune Braes Hotel, a watering-hole cum restaurant and hotel a few miles outside Carloway, where we had lunch. The hotel cat, Tinkerbell, fussed around us, meowing everytime someone spoke to her. As we drove north, a line of rain moved in off the Atlantic. Our second destination was the tiny hamlet of Dalmore, more specifically the cemetery there. It is located directly above the beach, and as I was looking for wargraves, the rain started. Strangely enough the cold relented when it got wet. After a brief visit to local beauty spot Dalbeg, we returned to Stornoway about an hour before darkness fell.



Further pictures

Acknowledgement

Another big thank you to all of you for your messages of support since yesterday. It just goes to show that you lot are the best on-line.


Tag thanks to Connie

Thursday 4 December

Quite a bright day out here in the isles, following a night of rain and high winds. Snow has been falling heavily on the Highlands, causing problems on the roads, but otherwise not the mayhem predicted yesterday.

Although I'm not really a happy bunny today, I'll just soldier on. Many thanks for expressions of support, seem to be making a habit of them these days. It is never nice to lose a friend, or to have to break up a relationship. Have been getting ample advice regarding the old pitfall of "what you see may not be what you might get on the internet", but have every reason to know up to a point who I was dealing with.

Just wanted to also put a warning out for Sri Lanka, which may get a strong tropical storm on Sunday. Storm 07B (they'll stick a name on it later) is headed west along the 6th degree latitude north and could well be stronger than the currently predicted maximum of 60 knots by the time central Sri Lanka sees it.