Sunday 30 March

Clocks went forward an hour in the night, and even this minor change in timekeeping throws your bodyclock out of sync. The ferry developed a serious fault, and did not go out for its customary Sunday afternoon run to Ullapool. MV Isle of Lewis now stands for Motionless Vessel Isle of Lewis. She has taken up the soubriquet of the Olympic Flame, latterly bestowed on the MV Muirneag until she went out for good on October 3rd. She remains anchored off Istanbul. Tomorrow, she won't be going out either.

A tropical cyclone in the Mozambique Channel, west of Madagascar, blew up to the highest category (five) whilst bearing down on Madagascar. Local newsmedia there did not mention the storm at all, which is a bit frightening.

Had a nice amble around the Castle Grounds, past the Castle and up Gallows Hill. The derhodondendroning has opened up some fantastic vistas from Gallows Hill, and you can now see the river in the valley below. It wasn't cold (13C / 55F), and quite a few people out stretching their legs.