Friday 8 April

An overcast day, but little wind and not too cold. The Greenpeace ship Esperanza has left Stornoway, and is headed for Londonderry - by going north. Londonderry is about 300 miles south of here. I went into town this morning to exchange an item of clothing which turned out to be oversized. And it also turned out to be very dark blue rather than black - but then I am known to be colourdeaf.

Around midnight last night, a man fell into the water at the harbour here. He was rescued a little while later by the lifeboat and other services, and taken to Western Isles hospital. Regrettably, he was found to be dead on arrival. The fisherman came from Aultbea in Wester Ross, across the water from here. Police are investigating, but are not treating the incident as suspicious.

This afternoon (I'm posting this around 1.30pm), I'll be transcribing the final part of the Bishops Isles census, for 1901. I'll then process the resulting data and post them on my local history blog Pentland Road.

Thursday 7 April

Very breezy today, but not terribly cold. Went into town to buy more stamps (13% dearer than last week) to indulge my postcrossing hobby. A stamp to Europe now costs 68p, and to outside Europe 110p. Was 60p and 97p respectively. I also went to buy some new items of clothing, to replace what had been worn out. Happens. I have also continued my transcription of the censuses for the Bishops Isles (Sandray, Pabbay, Mingulay and Berneray). In case you are wondering: many of the names in the Hebrides have a Norse derivation, and the suffix -ay denotes an island. The Greenpeace ship Esperanza continues to be tied up at Arnish, awaiting a break in the weather.