Wednesday 10 November

A bright and sunny start to the day, and the overnight frost left the water hose outside partially blocked. After a gale, you see, the windows at the back (facing away from the sea) are coated in salt, and need to be hosed clean. But with the dribble from the hose first thing I could barely reach the downstairs windows, let alone the upstairs ones. As the afternoon progressed, grey clouds moved up from the Atlantic and obscured the sun. We are on warning for high winds later in the night. The freight ferry is not sailing, a decision they took as early as 9.30 this morning.

At 2pm, I set off for a trip to the beach at Tolsta, which I had actually not visited for quite a while. The path from the carpark to the beach is now concreted over. It was cold, sunny and a tad breezy. Visibility was excellent, leaving the Sutherland hills (50 miles away) clearly outlined on the horizon.