Thursday 21 February

Although the day started with some cloud, the sun came out fully by late morning to leave us with a cloudless and virtually windless day. After an overnight low of -4C, we managed +6C, but as I type this (at 9pm), we have gone right down to -4C again.

Just as I was having a coffee around midday, I happened to glance out of the window to see this:




A sparrowhawk, with a newly culled sparrow - which it proceeded to devour within half an hour, to only leave a pile of feathers. We normally have up to 30 sparrows, a gaggle of starlings and up to five doves around the bird feeders, but following this instance that number dropped to precisely zero for most of the day. Whereas I normally fill up the feeders every day, I was left with them the way they were in the morning. A bit sad, but that's nature's way. Have seen this type of raptor here once before, at dusk a number of years ago.

In the afternoon, I went for a 3 mile walk to Strawberry Hill, which is always a fairly strenuous undertaking. Not because it's so high, the walk in goes along marked paths and gentle gradients. The exertion is caused by the very rough state of the paths, which are paved with sharp rocks.

Wednesday 20 February

A day of complete sunshine, nearly 10 hours of it now. Not a cloud to be seen, and a perfect sunrise (at 7.44) and sunset (at 17.35). Not seen anything like it, that I can recall - although it probably has happened previously. Daytime max was 9C / 48F, but as I type the mercury has already dipped well below freezing and it will be a hard frost through the night. Although there was a breeze through the day, that has now dropped. Fog was a problem in Inverness, causing extensive disruption to flights from the Highland capital.

An object lesson in the reliability of weather forecasting from down-under. A group of amateur forecasters, monitoring model-based forecast for tropical cyclones (hurricanes) around Australia, saw that a category 5 cyclone could strike Western Australia next week. However, the lead-time was more than 5 days, prompting me to enter a cautionary note on the site. But no, they were determined that the models were correct. Until the latest run of models showed a complete turn-around, with only a weak system affecting the coast 500 miles to the north. And even then, the cyclone itself has not even formed. It may never do so.

On Facebook, I mentioned that I have 69 blogs on Blogger. I only "blog" on about 6 of them on a more or less regular basis. A large number are websites in the shape of a blog; my WW1 and WW2 research is comprised in those. Old blog sites (formerly AOL e.g.) are there, as well as topical, one-off blogs. Even if I say so myself, quite an output...

Tuesday 19 February

The day started with dense fog and this took a long time to fully lift. It was not until 3pm that all the low cloud has disappeared, and even then only reluctantly. I went into town around 10 o'clock, and the shreds of fog floating around the streets were quite eerie. The fog wreaked havoc at the airport, where no planes were able to come or go until well after lunchtime. The ferry was not affected, but it did wake everybody up with a lot of hooting as she departed for Ullapool at 7 o'clock.

The case of Oscar Pistorius, the amputee athlete who is alleged to have murdered his girlfriend, is making the headlines. I don't know what to make of it, and the trial is the place for the facts to come out. Pistorius acquired fame through becoming a high profile runner on artificial limbs, but other facets of him also come out informally. A life has been lost, and now the courts have to decide who is responsible.

Monday 18 February

An absolutely gorgeous day with little or no wind and no clouds. The mercury reached 8C, but it was positively warm in the sun. I went on foot to the Iolaire Memorial, which was a bit of a soppy affair in place, and clocked up 4 miles in total. No lambs as far as I could see or hear. Some sheep did look as if they were about to pop though.

The pandas in Edinburgh Zoo are getting frisky, and will be in mating mood next month. Right. The morning after pill is to be made available in schools. What the f***. I think prevention is better than cure, especially after I read yesterday that the incidence of HIV (the AIDS virus) is on the rise with the fall in the use of condoms.

Sunday 17 February

The day started very windy, with a strong southerly breeze rattling along. This slowly abated through the day, making the 8C on the thermometer a bit more enjoyable. The days are fair drawing out, with darkness not fully occurring until after 6.30pm. Another nice sunset tonight.



A major search was called after a bicycle was left on the ferry at Ullapool, when all passengers had left the vessel. The owner had last been spotted on board at 4.20pm, so it was feared that she had fallen overboard. The RNLI lifeboats, Coastguard helicopter, fishery patrol vessel and each and every craft that could make it to the Summer Isles went there - until police reported that the owner of the bike had turned up safe, well and completely oblivious to the fact that she had forgotten her bike, and that dozens of people were looking for her. She was in a youth hostel in Inverness. Like you forget your bike, eh?

Saturday 16 February

A misty and grey day, although the low cloud did lift later in the afternoon - to about 200 feet above sealevel. It was relatively mild, with the mercury at 9C.

Over on the mainland, a car rally ended with a fatal accident. One of the cars left the track and ploughed into spectators, killing one of them. Sporting events appear to be having a bad spell, what with 8 people killed in avalanches in recent times. Let's hope this is the end of such mishaps for the moment.

The RNLI lifeboat from Leverburgh was called out late this afternoon to Scalpay, where a vessel had run aground outside the harbour. Fortunately, the tide was rising so the boat could refloat and proceed to port without problem. Another rescue, across the Minch at Loch Torridon, saw three people in the water after their craft capsized. The RNLI from Kyle of Lochals was in attendance, as was Rescue 100, the Coastguard helicopter from Stornoway.

Friday 15 February

Awoke to a nice dawn, little wind and later on pleasant sunshine. The mercury managed 8C / 46F this afternoon, which is quite good for the middle of February, and a value that we hadn't seen for a while.



Quite amazing images from Russia, which was at the receiving end of a meteorite. It appears that the sonic boom from the phenomenon caused a lot of damage and injury - nearly 1,000 were hurt through flying glass around Chelyabinsk, in the Ural Mountains. That other piece of space rock, 2012AD14, whizzed past at a close but safe distance of 17k miles. Still on space matters, a comet will approach the sun this autumn, and Ison will be brighter than the full moon. On its closest approach, the comet will be very close to the sun (only a degree away). During 2014, the comet, if it does not disintegrate on its passage by the sun, will fly away again, never to be seen again.

Thursday 14 February

Valentine's Day it seems to be today. Well, the weather was determined to make it as unromantic as possible, but those so inclined would not have been put off, I'm sure. Tipping it down all day as a pesky weather system slowly edged east. Not much rain falling in total, but enough to make you wet.

Our regular ferry boat, the MV Isle of Lewis, return to Stornoway this afternoon at 4.30. She had been away for refit at Leith for nearly 3 weeks, and I eagerly awaited her return, glued to the AIS screen. Although the IoL is much maligned (all Calmac's boats are much maligned by the way), she is our boat. The people in Harris and Uist continue to be long-faced as their regular boat is on relief duty this winter.

Two people have died after being caught by an avalanche in the Cairngorm mountains near Aviemore. They were in a group of 8, who were surprised by the cascade just after midday today. Some were dug out from under 13 feet of snow.

Wednesday 13 February

A very wild day to start with, and the gale did not subside until the second half of the afternoon. Winds touched force 9 in the southern isles, leading to extensive cancellations and delays on the ferry network. Nonetheless, people served on the Uig / Tarbert / Lochmaddy triangular route felt it necessary to moan about the cancellations suffered by replacement ferry MV Finlaggan. Their regular boat, the MV Hebrides, has been on the Stornoway to Ullapool route, and the Uisteachs are demanding their boat back as the Finlaggan is allegedly unfit for purpose. Well, I'm sure that the Finlaggan would not be sailing here if she was not licensed. Breakdowns can happen at any time, and to any boat - the Hebrides did not sail this morning due to a breakdown. I think people would come down like a ton of bricks on Calmac if anything happened because a vessel went out in unsuitable conditions. It has been a very wild few weeks, and disruptions to the ferry service are to be expected. It is the Hebrides, not the Med.

Tuesday 12 February

Although the day started brightly, cloud gradually increased and so did the wind later in the day. The remnants of a major snowstorm in the eastern USA, nicknamed Nemo, is on its way in, and will give us much wind. The mainland can expect a lot of snow. Although that would be welcome for the ski centres, one of them suffered a major malfunction, when a skilift derailed. Six people were hurt, and 36 others were stuck on the lift for up to 90 minutes. In strong winds and temps of -2C, this made it all a bit cold. The Health & Safety Executive is due to investigate the accident.

I am quite disgusted with the mess surrounding the horse meat scandal. Everybody blaming everybody else, and there is an almost impossibly complicated tangled web of meat, crossing up to half a dozen border from beast to fork. For American readers, processed food that claimed to contain 100% beef was found to contain up to 100% horse meat. In the UK, eating horsemeat is almost anathema. At any rate, it is in flagrant violation of the Trade Descriptions Act, which stipulates that labelling should accurately represent the content.

Monday 11 February

Overcast and feeling cold today, although the (now) southeasterly wind is not as strong as yesterday. The tide was well out this afternoon, which gave me the opportunity to go down to the tideline and look for shellfish. There was only one huge big oyster, which I'd have a job opening, so I lobbed it back into the sea. Strange thought that 6 hours later, there would be 17 feet of water over where I had walked at 2pm this afternoon.



The Pope has announced his resignation, the first pontiff to have done so since 1415. Benedict XVI has said he felt no longer up to the job, so as of 8pm on 28 February, he will retire. A new pope is to be elected in March, with the result of the vote being announced by white smoke (if a pope has been chosen) or black smoke (if not). I wonder if the Vatican will move into the 21st century, but some customs are best left alone, I suppose.

More and more equine rather than bovine in our foods. Enough to put you off processed foods for a while. Let's have more home made lasagnas - no, there is no excuse. And please, no references to a sponsorship deal for Findus for the Grand National at Aintree.

Sunday 10 February

A bright and fairly sunny day, but perishing cold in the stiff easterly breeze. Further south, snow is plaguing folks, but it sometimes pays to sit at a high latitude. The nor'easter that has dumped a metre of snow on New England will slowly move across the Atlantic, to bring us milder conditions from Wednesday onward, in what looks like a classical battle between cold (to the east) and mild (to the west) air.

Went out for an amble along the shore this afternoon, just as the Sunday ferry left port. It was rather cold in the wind, but the bright conditions, a nice contrast to yesterday's mist and murk, made it worthwhile. I waited for the passage of the ferry at the site of the old Royal Naval Reserves base at Battery Point, known as HMS Iolaire [Eagle]. It was in that lowly shed that the bodies of the 140 servicemen who drowned and whose remains were recovered were laid out, just after their transport, HMY Iolaire, had sunk on 1 January 1919. Windows and doors in the building have now been bricked up.

Saturday 9 February

A very foggy start today, visibility was less than 200 yards. Although the fog did lift into low cloud, this continued to tease down to sealevel, and it did remain around all day.

I have completed the section of my project dealing with the parish of Barvas, meaning that two thirds is done. The parishes of Uig and Lochs are next, comprising the latter third. I have also cleaned up the 'tags', some of which were incomplete in the entries for Stornoway and parts of Point. Once I have progressed to Bernera, I shall be able to glean more information on each casualty from Hebridean Connections, which covers West Uig, Bernera and Lochs. I'll need to look at those names where there is virtually no information, other than what the Roll of Honour gives. And the Roll of Honour is a venerable but far from flawless document. Contrary to elsewhere, the Lewis Roll lists the names of everybody that signed up for war service.

Friday 8 February

An overcast day but dry, apart from the odd spot of rain. A band of rain passed just south of us, but it did not affect us. I was up early and saw the light creeping up the sky from 7 o'clock onwards; sunset at the moment is at 8.40 am.



In the afternoon, I went to the Town Hall, where the Port Authority was holding an exhibition on proposed developments for the marina. At the moment, this consists of two pontoons at the end of Cromwell Quay, but they intend to built four large pontoons as far down as Lazy Corner (outside the Stornoway Trust Offices, for locals), with separate pontoons for the fishing boats.

After that, I went for a 4 mile amble round the shore as far as the River Creed, then along the banks of said river to the Iron Fountain and back to town via the Castle. Quite a few people out for a walk as well, as it was a nice day for a stroll.

Thursday 7 February

An overcast and at times slightly damp day, which felt decidedly cold. Mercury did not rise above 4C (39F).

Last year, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council) announced that it was planning to close a number of rural primary schools, as well as junior secondary departments in one or two others. 12- and 13-year olds can take their S1 and S2 classes in rural schools, such as the ones at Lionel (Ness) and Shawbost (West Side), but it is no longer accepted policy to continue to offer this option. However, the closure plans for Carloway and Seilebost (and Shawbost's S1/S2) ran into considerable opposition, and the Scottish Government "called in" the closure plans, for further perusal. Unfortunately, a legal wrangle has now resulted in a stalemate. Although the legal challenge by the council against the government has been upheld, the closure plans remain "called in". This is a typical case where the law is an ass.



Our main post office branch, on Francis Street, is threatened with closure. The Post Office wants to close 70 branches and reallocate them into a local retail outlet. Not sure if that is such a good idea. I already dread having to go into (e.g.) Murdo Maclean's to reach the men's department which you can only reach through the women's lingerie - unless you walk round into Kenneth Street behind the store...

Wednesday 6 February

Quite frankly, a sigh of relief after several days of high winds, perishing cold and a snowy, icy mess. Although there was a light fall of snow around dawn, this melted and even the showers ceased after the middle of the afternoon. We are rapidly gaining daylight hours, with sunset now around 5pm.



Bad news for the rural communities in South Harris and on the West Side of Lewis today, with the announcement that the closures of the primary schools in Seilebost and Carloway, as well as that of the junior secondary department in Shawbost are now likely to go ahead. Take the school out of the heart of a community, and you take the heart out. Seilebost admittedly only had 6 pupils, and Carloway 15; but the S1/S2 dept at Shawbost had several dozen youngsters, who now have to be bussed to Stornoway's Nicolson Institute every schoolday. It is all to save money, and the aging schools in Seilebost and Carloway probably cost a lot to maintain, but sometimes you lose more in the long run if the community bleeds population.

This pic shows the decrescent moon rising early this morning, two hours before sunrise.