Closing notes

Not that much more to comment on really. Although the sun did come out later in the afternoon, the weather remained unpleasant and cold. The lorries rumbled past on their way to the freight ferry half an hour ago, and by 11.30pm, we'll see MV Muirneag sailing by on its way to Ullapool.

Today, elections were held for the Stornoway Trust. Since 1923, all the land between Stornoway and Tolsta is managed for the community by the Trust. Trustees are elected by secret ballot, and in recent times candidates have been issuing their policy statements. That sounds grand, but is not. It mainly focuses on land usage (crofting) and the vexed issue of Sunday sailing and trading. The Sabbatarians have a strong foothold in Lewis, and are opposed to the breaking of the Sabbath, the Day of Rest. Without being disrespectful, I just don't see how that reconciles with the opening on Sundays of pubs, restaurants, airport and the petrol station cum shop. This link, 13 days old, explains further.

Off to bed shortly, and hoping for more springlike weather tomorrow. Fat chance.

Tuesday 24 March

The day started wet and windy, but the rain stopped a little while ago. Whether we had a frost last night I do not know; the reports say we went down to -3C, but I find that very hard to believe. Looking at the Met Office reports, we had +1.1C. That's more like it. We certainly had high winds yesterday, going up to 54 mph at one stage.

So we now have zero inflation, and going down further. That means we're having deflation in the UK for the first time since 1960. Not as good as it appears on the surface, according to the economists who say it will slow the economy down even further. When you expect prices to fall in the future, you'll put off your purchases, won't you.

More later.