Wednesday 24 November

Well, winter is slowly encroaching upon us once more. A heavy shower has just left a coating of hailstones on walls and pavements, and the hail shows no signs of being in a hurry to melt. In the northeast of mainland Scotland, a heavy fall of snow has caused disruption to road travel, with many roads blocked or only passable with extreme caution.

I was deeply saddened to hear that a second explosion has ripped through the coalmine in New Zealand, where 29 miners were trapped since a first blast last weekend. There is now no hope that they will come out alive. It comes as a bitter disappointment to the relatives, who had hoped for a repeat of the Chilean miracle. The mine's owners have pledged to make every effort to retrieve the remains of the dead.

I would just like to link to the story of the couple who won a reality-TV contest with their island-based wedding.

Just to close this post, an image of a nice parhelion that appeared for 5 minutes just before 11 o'clock this morning.