Sunday 23 January

My father is 77 years old today, and is having a full house over in Holland. I sent him a present (courtesy Amazon) a week or so back, which I hope will come in useful this coming summer.

I was very sad to learn of the death of fellow blogger Bill Janssen, who died two months ago after a sudden but short illness. Others had been asking how he was, after he did not post after November 21st last. It appears he died a week after that. I tried to email Bill, but got a reply back from his son, Bill Jr, with the message. I have posted on Facebook and on the Call for Support journal, and the messages are flooding in. Not all my readers will be aware of my affiliation with the J-land [AOL Journals] Community, which goes back to 2005. Until October 2008, there were hundreds of bloggers in the US and the UK who were linked together courtesy their on-line blogs. When AOL deleted the journals in '08, we emigrated en-masse to Blogger (and other providers), losing many along the way. But courtesy Facebook and Twitter, the strands are pulled together again, and the community is resurfacing. I have noticed that there are people who scoff at the notion of on-line friendships and the like - but I am preaching to the converted if you are reading this. Bill's journal will remain on the Net, as a tribute to him. In the years to come, people will call round and leave a message in remembrance, as is commonly done with the many other journals left behind by those who went before. Bill - Rest In Peace.

Stornoway had a bright and sunny day - except for that one rogue shower at lunchtime - and there are promising buds on the trees and shrubs. However, it's very early days, we still have two months of winter ahead of us.