Wednesday 19 January

Another acceptable January day in the Western Isles, with some sunshine about. It's not warm and there is a bit of a breeze blowing. But dress up well, and there is little to complain about. I spent a little while in the library, looking up some information on 19th century residents of the village of Leurbost, some 8 miles south of Stornoway. There is one more look-up pending, this time for 18th century residents of Cromore, which lies 12 miles south of Stornoway by sea but 30 miles by road.

Separate from that, I am going to compile a map of places where Lewis servicemen lie buried who gave their life in WW1 and WW2. I was pointed to a similar map of casualties from Portsmouth.

Last week, my father told me about a problem in his town by email. Last night, I received a text from him, suggesting that the problem had surfaced again. His puzzled response led me to the conclusion that the problem had only occurred once, and that his text message had taken FIVE DAYS to reach me.