Wednesday 5 December

Another cold day, but fairly bright. By the middle of the afternoon, cloud started to increase from the southwest, obscuring the sun towards sunset time, 3.40pm. That, however, did not prevent the thermometer from dipping down to -3C at 6pm, rising through the night as cloud increased to heavy rain.

Earlier, between 8.30 and 10am, a ship came into port - only to leave shortly afterwards.

MV Arrow was en-route to Uig (Skye). She is a roll-on roll-off ship, so maybe trying out the port with a view to take over from the MV Muirneag, which will go out of service in 10 months' time. I don't know. Visibility just allowed the superstructure of MV Grand Canyon to appear over the horizon, as she passed south down the Minch.

Typhoon Bopha (known in the Philippines as Pablo) has left a trail of death and destruction across Mindanao and other islands in the Philippines. Some 300 people are known to have died, and 700 are missing. Bopha was a category V typhoon, the strongest on the scale, and packed winds of 160 mph near its centre. The system is moving into the South China Sea, where it is expected to dissipate within 5 days.

Today is the eve of St Nicholas, the original and only Santa Klaus (sorry). In Holland, Flanders and western Germany, children will have spent the past fortnight or so putting their shoe in front of the fireplace, with a carrot in it. St Nicholas rides the roofs on his white charger, surrounded by Black Peters who do the dirty work of bringing presents. During the night, they wil go down the chimney to collect the carrot and leave a present in the shoe. Children who have been bad will find a bunch of twigs, indicative of punishment. The really bad ones will be taken back to Spain in the sack.

It all starts in mid-November, when St Nicholas arrives in Holland (or one of its towns) in a steamer, well, any boat really, with his posse of Peters. The Peters go off running around, scattering sweeties amidst the assembled children. Towns not near the sea or water will see St Nicholas arriving by train. Or coach if there is no railway station. St Nicholas arrives from Spain, as that is the place where his remains lie interred. Originally, he is from Turkey, but when the Muslims came, the bones were spirited across the Mediterranean to Spain

Tuesday 4 December

A fairly bright day, but continuing to feel very cold in the north wind. There were a few showers about, which did not help the temperatures; only 5C as a high. Major problems were experienced by drivers, caught out by black ice. Frozen roads look deceptively like wet roads, and people were relying on their in-car temperature gauges. Thinking that 4C is OK, they found themselves off the road at Balallan in Lewis and Luskentyre in Harris.

I still prefer our cold snap to the 160 mph winds that were experienced in eastern Mindanao, Philippines over the past 24 hours. In spite of the category V typhoon, the death toll in the Philippines appears to be relatively low. Preparations seem to have prevented a major loss of life, which so often is the case in the country. The Philippines, on average, sees about 20 tropical cyclones annually. The season is winding down over there, as the southern hemisphere season is beginning.

Sunset was at 3.40pm today, but we were treated to a very colourful display in Stornoway.

      

Monday 3 December

A fairly overcast and cold day, with the mercury at 6C at the most. The news was dominated by the Duchess of Cambridge (also known as the Countess of Strathearn in Scotland), who had to be admitted to hospital with a severe form of morning sickness - in other words, she is expecting, but less than 12 weeks into the pregnancy. What I don't particularly like is that the news bulletins are taken over by this news, however happy for the couple involved.

I am keeping a close eye on the progression of supertyphoon Bopha / Pablo, as it prepares to slam into the Philippine island of Mindanao. The storm carries winds of 140 knots, which is 160 mph, gusting to 170 knots or 190 mph. Apart from the extreme wind, this also carries the risk of heavy rains, which (in the Philippines) carry the added hazard of life-threatening mudslides and flash floods. On Sunday, Bopha caused damage in the archipelago of Palau, 450 miles east of the Philippines.

A linesman who was assisting at an amateur football game in Amsterdam was kicked to death by three of the players on Sunday. The culprits, aged 15 and 16, have been arrested and will face court proceedings. A huge discussion has erupted in the Netherlands over violence in society, and particularly at football matches. Dutch football was long plagued by hooliganism, but the age of the players involved in this incident has hit a raw nerve. RIP Richard Nieuwenhuizen.

Sunday 2 December

After a slight overnight frost (-1C / 30F), the day dawned cold but bright. Cloud later built into isolated showers, which (here) appeared to be of rain only. As I type this, there are reports of snow on the Scottish mainland, which could accumulate to 15 cm / 6 inches on the mountains.

I spent the afternoon preparing my 40-odd Christmas cards for despatch. About half of those go to the USA. Printing the cards and envelopes and writing the messages. Tomorrow, I shall proceed to the Post Office to obtain postage. This also includes 5 Postcrossing cards, which go to Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Russia and the USA.

Today was another day for great cloudscapes, and I share a handful of pics below.

Saturday 1 December

I awoke at 7 am, when it was still pitch dark, and noticed the planet Venus rising in the east.



The first day of the meteorological winter, and it definitely felt like that today. There was a steady progression of showers, and although I did not observe snow, there was a clear wintery feel about the weather today.



After lunch, I went out to the Iolaire Memorial, which stands some 2 miles south of Stornoway, at the entrance to the harbour. Just as I arrived at the location, I noticed a shower passing over the town.




These are the Beasts of Holm (not a whale, as someone on FB thought), also as seen from the Memorial




This is the coastline, runnign west from the Memorial to Holm Point.

Hurricane update - 1 December

Typhoon Bopha is headed for the Pacific island state of Palau, and is forecast to affect the southeastern Philippines beyond that. The typhoon carries maximum sustained winds of 125 knots (140 mph), with gusts to 150 knots (170 mph), and will intensify a bit more. This system originated from a disturbance that formed very close to the equator, and had some bother pulling itself together through lack of Coriolis force, which is greater, the further away you are from the equator.

Friday 30 November

The northern Atlantic hurricane season is drawing to a close today, but one pesky disturbance is keeping it alive. 91L, far out in the middle of the Atlantic, has a 40% chance of become a tropical cyclone. Here in Stornoway, it is getting colder and colder, and it was quite wet through the afternoon.



I just want to write a few lines on the subject of the Leveson Report, which was published yesterday. It has set out recommendations on press regulation in the UK, preferably underpinned by legislation. I am horrified to learn that the Conservative party has no intention of bringing that about, and the whole of the British press, broadsheets and all, are squarely behind that. The reason quoted is a loss of press freedom; News of the World style? Hope this brings down the government, as it is no longer representative of the people in this respect.

Thursday 29 November

Another cold day, temperature wise, with some good sunny spells. Again, the sun doing nothing to lift temperatures in any way. The flooding across England and Wales from earlier in the week is only slowly subsiding, and further rain next week could exacerbate the situation again. Wasn't it funny when some of the TV weathermen, at the height of the flood crisis, thought that the rain would exasperate the flooding.

My eye was caught by an article in the Daily Telegraph of 27 November, where people owning crofts in the Highlands were threatened with eviction, as they did not live there all the time. That may sound harsh, but it needs to be borne in mind that a croft is a phenomenon that lies at the heart of a lot of passion in these parts. A croft, a leased strip of land, was where people made their living. It was the lack of security of tenure that prompted what amounted to an uprising in the 1880s, as tenants were at risk of summary eviction. When you have a croft, it does not automatically have a house on it - a house is classed as an improvement. What happens a lot is that people think they have a house, and oh, there's a croft alongside it. Nope, it's the other way round.

Tuesday 27 November

A very cold day, with the mercury only briefly getting above 4C / 39F. There was some sunshine, but that had no impact on the temperature. We continue to enjoy days of nice cloudscapes, even if that does mean showers here and there. I by no means envy the people in floodstricken areas of England and Wales, and express my condolences to the family and friends of the elderly lady who drowned in the flooding of St Asaph, Denbighshire today. St Asaph is a small city, southwest of Chester and was nearly swept away in severe flooding.

I have spent the afternoon preparing a few texts for publication (read, make up into a nice book for myself); only one of these will make it on the open market, namely a selection of my writings. The other text is a private diary of some of my trips in the north of Scotland in 2004.


On the Cape Wrath peninsula, August 2004

I continue to monitor the slow progression of tropical storm Bopha, the 26th of the Northern Pacific season. However, it is still stuck at low latitudes, only 4 north. The system is not expected to move above 10N within the next five days. So, I'm presented with a lesson in the geography of the Federated States of Micronesia. I had heard of Pohnpei, Chuuk, Yap and Palau before. But not of their constituent islands, such as Nukuoro, Losap or Puluwat.

Monday 26 November

A fairly bright day, although a couple of showers did come along to tease us. It felt cold, with the temperature no higher than 7C / 45F and a penetrating northerly breeze. As per usual this year, we're having the best weather in the country. North Yorkshire is being plagued by flooding, after the weekend wreaked havoc in southwestern England.

It was reported today that the famous Stornoway Black Puddings (a type of blood sausage) is closing in on the coveted Protected Geographical Indication status. I'm not fond of black pudding, but Stornoway is famous for it and I support the protection that the PGI affords. Unfortunately, producers outside the town will not be covered - but don't forget that there is a historic rivalry between rural Lewis and towny Stornoway, and a Niseach (e.g.) would not like to be seen under the same umbrella as a Stornowegian. Don't ask.

Hurricane update - 26 November

A tropical depression has formed in the Pacific Ocean, in the Federated States of Micronesia. System 26W is currently located near position 4.6N 155.7E, this being 70 miles northeast of Nukuoro; 145 miles southwest of Sapwuafik / Ngatik; 135 miles eastsoutheast of Lukunor; 235 miles southwest of Pohnpei; 260 miles southeast of Losap and 330 miles southeast of Weno, Chuuk.

The system will intensify to typhoon strength, reaching 90 knots (105 mph) by the time it reaches Yap.

If those names mean nothing to you, have a look on the warning pages of NWS Guam or consult an atlas. I had to too.

Sunday 25 November

A beautifully sunny day, after a veil of high cloud dissipated in the course of the morning.

I think we were really luck with the weather, as conditions in England have been downright atrocious. Two people were reportedly killed as a result of wind and rain, and although two inches of rain is not that much, it comes on top of a heck of a lot of rain that has fallen recently, leaving rivers full, the ground saturated - and basically, a recipe for disaster. The forecast for the northwest of Scotland is for a couple of cold and fairly calm days ahead; the Met Office puts our daytime highs between 5 and 9C (41 to 48F).

In the afternoon, I went for a wee amble round the bay to Goat Island, just as the ferry left and the tanker came in. There was no wind to speak of, making it feel warmer than the 7C / 45F on the thermometer; but out of the sun, you could feel the cold. The sun was so low in the sky that I could barely see where I was going.

Saturday 24 November

Quite a nice day, with good spells of sunshine and only high-level cloud. We managed 9C, about the highest temperature in the land. Went into town in the morning for a copy of the Stornoway Gazette; this usually comes out on Thursday, but it was late coming this week, and yesterday I didn't get round to getting it. But today, I managed a copy of the Two Minutes' Silence for 90p. The farmers' market was in Perceval Square, and I had a look round the bazaar in the Town Hall.

I have just finished watching an episode of a programme, recorded earlier this week, presented by Michael Portillo, on rail journeys in continental Europe. He was traversing Germany, and parts of it were familiar to me. During my time in Stornoway so far, I have encountered many people from that country. The historical background is familiar to all, and it somehow does not seem to be true - but it very much is. A fortnight ago, I once more highlighted the anniversary of the Kristallnacht pogrom of 1938. However, times do change, and a huge effort has been made to integrate Germany back into the family of nations. Like Hitler was the wrong man at the wrong time, Adenauer (the first chancellor of post-war West Germany) was the right man at the right time. We should never forget what happened between 1933 and 1945; but not let it rule either what happens now and in the future.

Friday 23 November

This cloud summed up the day for us here in Stornoway; sunshine and a few showers. With the early sunset, before 4pm, we don't get much daylight through the day. At winter solstice, around December 21st, sunrise is at 9.15 am and sunset at 3.35 pm, giving us 6 hours and 20 minutes of sunshine (on a bright day). Stornoway lies just north of the 58th parallel North, and in December, the sun rises not more than 8 degrees (a hand's width) above the horizon at midday.

It has grown very quiet on the hurricane front, with the Atlantic hurricane season going out with a bang in the shape of hurricane Sandy. The southern hemisphere season has kicked off with tropical cyclone Anais a couple of weeks ago, but it did not affect land.

I have compiled two different calendars with my pictures; selecting 26 images out of the 5,500 photographs I have taken this year was no easy task!

Thursday 22 November

A wild start to today, with winds of 84 mph before dawn at the Butt of Lewis and nearly an inch of rain near the Tiumpan Head Lighthouse, 10 miles northeast of Stornoway. The rain cleared after midday, leaving us with a reasonably bright afternoon - our afternoons are presently rather curtailed due to sunset times before 4pm.

As I type this, a consultation is coming to a close at the local council [Comhairle nan Eilean Siar] about budget cuts, amounting to £6 million. This is the final of a series of consultations across the islands. I have seen the list of proposed cuts, and some of them are painful to say the least. Closing schools, slashing provision of social services - and yet, councillors have been provided with their own iPads. Budget choices are always difficult.

Today it is reported that one Pacific island, Sandy Island, does not exist. It was reported to lie between New Caledonia and Australia, but when a survey ship went to have a look, there was only 4,600 feet of water. So, this is a case of undiscovering an island.

Kittens for sale

A pretty little girl named Suzy was standing on the pavement in front of her home. Next to her was a basket containing a number of tiny creatures; in her hand was a sign announcing FREE KITTENS.



Suddenly a line of big black cars pulled up beside her. Out of the lead car stepped a chubby, grinning man.

"Hi there little girl, I'm Alex Salmond. What do you have in the basket?" he asked.
"Kittens," little Suzy said.
"How old are they?" asked Salmond. Suzy replied,
"They're so young, their eyes aren't even open yet."
"And what kind of kittens are they?"
"Scottish Nationalists," answered Suzy with a smile.

Salmond was delighted. As soon as he returned to his car, he called his PR chief and told him about the little girl and the kittens. Recognising the perfect photo op, the two men agreed that the Salmond should return the next day; and in front of the assembled media, have the girl talk about her discerning kittens.

So the next day, Suzy was again standing on the pavement with her basket of "FREE KITTENS" when another motorcade pulled up, this time followed by vans from STV, BBC, and CNN. Cameras and audio equipment were quickly set up, then Salmond got out of his limo and walked over to little Suzy.

"Hello, again," he said, "I'd love it if you would tell all my friends out there what kind of kittens you're giving away."
"Yes sir," Suzy said. "They're Conservatives."
Taken by surprise, the Salmond stammered, "But...but...yesterday, you told me they were SCOTTISH NATIONALISTS."

Little Suzy smiled and said, "I know. But today, they have their eyes open."

Wednesday 21 November

A pretty bright day today, but we certainly have got the wind back. Blowing force 6 to 7 through most of the day. I was left gobsmacked by the images of flooding in England, where 2 inches (50 mm) of rain has fallen in places. More of the same in days to come. Our rain lasted just an hour and a half. That's the advantage of being this far north, any weathersystems tend to scoot past at a rate of knots.

I have been revising the information on one of my Western Isles tribute sites, namely for the Isle of Harris. Harris is on the same landmass as Lewis. Anyway, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission have recently introduced a vastly improved search function ont heir website, meaning I can search for certain keywords, like "Harris", "Tarbert" or "Inverness-shire". You can download those search-results into spreadsheet data and work them on your own PC. Very nifty, and I have managed to locate data for 24 persons. 65 (out of 200) remain without any more information than is on the war memorial at Tarbert. As I haven't been to Harris in a while, I'll close this post with a handful of piccies of Na Hearadh, as the island is known in Gaelic. The first image is of the war memorial at Tarbert, the main village and ferry port for the ferry to Skye and the mainland.

Tuesday 20 November

We started off grey but dry, with very little wind. That all changed at 11 in the morning, when the rain started to pour and the wind got up. By lunchtime, the sun came out and the wind rose to a near-gale, force 7. Yes, the barometer was way down as well, and is only rising slowly.





Fortunately, Stornoway looked very nice in the afternoon when the sun shone on South Beach, as shown above.

I was slightly amazed that the Church of England voted against female bishops. I was amazed at the emotional response, shown by the (female) reporter on ITV news, who (I felt) went way over the top in her condemnation of the CoE, describing it as not of this age &c. She should bear in mind that the Anglican Church does not just hold sway in England, but also has large congregations outside the country, some of whom are very conservative. However, it is a typical case of how shall we interpret the Scriptures to our own ends, and I have this funny feeling that 'Him upstairs' will have cast his Eyes upwards as one of his churches is heading for more schisms.

I'm patiently waiting for the hot-heads in the Middle East to cool down and reach a cease-fire, and hopefully a permanent solution. After 65 years of crap, I think it's high time. Israel is here to stay, the people who used to live in Palestine before the Israelis came, are also here to stay, so why not sit down for a chat? I acknowledge the hatred that all this crap has caused, and which will not go away in a hurry. As the people in Iraq have shown, it is perfectly feasible for the idiots to be kicked out, if the will for peace is there. And I genuinely believe that it is there. On both sides.

Monday 19 November

A very dark, grey, overcast and wet day. After the cold weather of the last few days, it was pleasant to find it had got quite a bit milder, with the mercury in double figures. The rain, which locally amounted to 2/3 inches (17 mm), caused havoc in Perthshire, with the village of Comrie (between Perth and Crieff) awash under several inches if not feet of water. Three months ago, the village had suffered flooding as well and had nowhere near recovered from that. The next couple of days will see more active weatherfronts and rain moving through.

In a way, it was good that the army major, in charge of the boattrip that left young Kaylee Macintosh dead, back in 2007, was sentenced to a fine of £5,000 ($8k). Since '07, the law on breaches of health & safety has been altered, meaning that in severe cases like this, people can be sent to prison. Other people may be prosecuted as well, as many aspects of the whole trip were found to be faulty. Kaylee, who was 14, was one of a party of several teenagers who were in a fast boat in Loch Carnan, South Uist, in August 2007, when the craft overturned during bad weather. No headcount was taken, and it took an hour and a half for Kaylee to be recovered from under the upturned boat, dead by that time.

Stornoway is not a place that shies away from a drink, so it was even more surprising to read that one of its pubs has closed down. Others have diversified into providing food. The reasons quoted are a decrease in disposable income in the island, cheap booze in supermarkets (which people will consume at home). I mean, if you can get 6 pints for £3 in the supermarket, and get charged £3 for 1 pint in a pub, I can very well understand why people make that choice.

Sunday 18 November

Today was not unlike yesterday, with good sunny spells interspersed with showers, some wintry - not surprising with a daytime max of just 6C / 43F. Dedicated today to some reading, with my first e-book (read through Kindle for PC), Inner Legacy by Douglas Stuart. As I wrote in my review, it took a bit of getting into, but flowed well for the rest of its 300+ pages. The number of pages on an ebook is in fact irrelevant, as that changes with the typeface and fontsize you select for reading the text. It worked well on my laptop, in spite of its continuing problems with warped colours.

As you will have seen on Writings from Castle Town, I have completed another two writings today. These tend to be based on my own observations and interpretations of local areas, histories and scenes. Two of them will be submitted to a local writing competition; just a bit of fun. I continue to get favourable feedback, so I feel emboldened to enter.

I hope they manage to get themselves a ceasefire in the Middle East before the situation in Gaza and Israel flies out of control, which it could ever so easily do. Both sides are at fault, and neither is right in what they are doing.

Saturday 17 November

Quite cold today, with the mercury struggling to reach 5C / 41F in the afternoon. With the sun now setting at 4 o'clock, the days are getting very short. Just over five weeks until the winter solstice now. It only seems like yesterday that I was out at 11.30pm, photographing the town as daylight was only just beginning to give way to night. This week has seen a good display of the aurora borealis; as I am located on the south side of Stornoway (i.e. with a townful of light to the north) I have not been able to see them, but contacts in Ness and Coll (25 and 7 miles outside Stornoway) assure me that it has been good.

I despair at the on-going stupidity in the Middle East, where the Israelis and Palestinians continue not to realise that they are condemned to live with each other, whether they like it or not. Rather than make each others' life hell, why don't they sit down for some quiet talk, and shove all the noxious influences from outside into the sea?

Friday 16 November

Overcast today, with some outbreaks of rain as we transition to a colder frame of weather. Wintry showers are possible over the weekend as we dip down towards the 40F mark on the thermometer. I discovered that my walking boots (which I wear every day) have worn away and are about to give up the ghost. I therefore went into some of the local outdoor shops, but they had nothing that fitted my feet. This would ordinarily mean a trip to Inverness, 100 miles and £34 away - but if I can get a repeat order of the same boots, that would make it all a bit easier.

I reported yesterday about the Facebook contact who had suffered sexual abuse at the hands of Dave Lee Travis. Reading the first-hand account makes you sick to the core - even if it happened 30 years ago. I cannot profess to know the person concerned very well, but that's beside the point. And DLT expressing himself precisely the way an abuser would: 'you are worth nothing' - well, that sunk him for good.

Poetry

I have copied my poetic writings onto a separate blogsite, Writings from Castle Town and after today, will blog the poetry there. Those who follow my writings on Facebook will see a feed from that blog on my wall. I am contemplating whether to publish these in book form, but have not yet decided.

Castle Town is a username I adopted on Blipfoto, a site where you can post one photograph each day, something I have been doing for the past 3 years. Castle Town refers to Lews Castle in Stornoway, and to the castle in my home town in the Netherlands. Pictures from both castles are featured in the Writings blog. 

Barvas

A line of four hills
on the southern horizon
The endless sea
stretching out north

The old land falls
from the cliff edge
to its ruins
the sea toys with the stack below

A single line of houses
along the edge of the loch
another line marching
on the opposing skyline

The moorland waters drain off
to rest for a while
in the shallow waters
before merging with the ocean

Ever moving
never still
motion born
of long dead storms

Trains of white riders
charging the shore
A bullying wind
batters the cowering homesteads

Stretching uphill
to end at the church
views opening out
west along the coast

Like so many places
in these old islands
it's given up its people
to seek riches abroad

Or pledge fielty unto death
For a distant king
The village awaits
The return of the departed

Whether in this life
or in the one beyond
At the setting of the sun
Or at the Breaking of the Day