Tuesday 5 February

A better day than yesterday, a little milder and no snow or hail. The wind, however, was perishingly cold, now from the north. The swells in the Atlantic are making all the headlines, some rising up to 70 feet high. A retaining wall at the Fair Isle lighthouse was smashed by the waves.

I have sent off 5 more postcrossing cards, one to the USA and four to Europe. I print off my own pics onto blank cards, including the code that postcrossing supplies. Said code also goes onto the envelopes, which I print with the address of the recipient. I have sent and received 140 cards (in both directions), but 5 of my cards were never registered. The Dutch Post Office has issued special stamps for postcrossing; here in the UK it is 87p for a card to Europe and £1.28 for a card outside of Europe. Fortunately, Europe includes Russia and its former satellite states.