View across the Outer Harbour of Stornoway

Thursday 2 April 2009

Evenings opening out

The ferry came in at 8.10 pm this evening, practically in full daylight. Now that the equinox is past, and the clocks have gone forward, the evenings are really lengthening. At 9pm, there was still a little light in the sky. It never ceases to amaze me.

I read somewhere this week that with the advent of Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites, the emphasis is shifting away from blogs. In our community, kicked out of AOL last October, this is particularly in evidence. In a way, it is a shame. Facebook has gone through a revamp, which is not exactly an improvement. Twitter is something that can easily overwhelm you.

Earlier this week, I received a copy of my photobook Lewis Light. And it was less than perfect, with blotches and all. So I complained, and I am getting a new copy, for free, from Lulu.com. Good service, but I'll hang fire until I receive the new book.

Thursday 2 April

Nice sunny if blustery day. Temperature no great shakes, 10 degrees, but then we are surrounded by the cold, cold Atlantic.

In the North Sea, 200 miles east of here, an operation is now underway to recover the bodies of 8 men still missing from the helicopter which went down off the Aberdeenshire coast nearly 24 hours ago. The remains of the 8 found yesterday were brought ashore at Aberdeen overnight. AIS Aberdeenshire is showing a clutter of vessels off Rattray Head. All flights with the type of helicopter involved in this incidents have been cancelled today.

Police have confirmed that the body recovered from Loch Bi in South Uist a few weeks ago is that of Simon Macmillan, who went missing on Boxing Day 2008. His funeral will be held in the island on Saturday. He was 21; his death is not treated as suspicious.