Sunday 2 March

Quite a nice afternoon here in Stornoway, with a good collection of lens-shaped clouds about. There is also a southerly breeze going, with the weatherglass on its way down. Am expecting rain in the evening. Meanwhile, I'm also looking out as the tide recedes. Low tide at 1.50pm. Went for a walk round town, but found the wind very cold. Did find a mollusc at the tideline, but did not want to eat it, so it went back into the sea.

Monday 3 March

A beautiful spring day, so I went for a 4½ mile jaunt round the Castle Grounds. Went along the bank of the Bayhead River to the Waterwheel, thence via the new mountain bike trail to the Marybank Gate, and on to Strawberry Hill. Some very nice vistas to be had at the higher points. Noticed that the crossing at Bennadrove had been broken through the wall, to give access to mountain bikers. Not many of them about. Returned via Cuddy Point, where the tide was just beginning to rise.

Saturday 1 March

Quite a bright morning here, but the sky is what I call messy, with lots of mid-level cloud about (altocumulus), cirrocumulus at higher level - and the dreaded cumulonimbus, also known as showerclouds. In plain English, I don't trust the weather one bit today. However, the sun is nice and getting warm behind glass. 7C / 45F is no great shakes for March, but we're only 12 hours into the month so not complaining. Yet.

Friday 28 February

Morning all, it's grey here, but the rain has stopped and it's getting slightly less dreich. Very worried about the situation in the Crimea, where a Russian (backed) intervention in all but name appears to be underway. Actions speak louder than words.

Spent a wee while in Stornoway library, browsing the columns of the Inverness Courier and offshoot The Highland News. I was looking for an obituary or a death notice for a South Uist soldier, who had died of TB in February 1917. A death notice in the paper costs money, and people in the South Uist of 1917 did not have money. There is no gravestone over the grave in Hallan Cemetery, Daliburgh, mute testimony to their poverty.

I was pleased to see they are finally widening the right-hand pavement (as you come up from South Beach) on Kenneth Street, outside An Lanntair. It was so narrow that two people could not pass each other without one having to step into the roadway. A disabled parking bay? Don't make me laugh. It'll be a free for all parking bay.

This weekend will see another springtide, with the highest and lowest tides occurring on Sunday and Monday. I'm pleased that here in SY the ebb tides occur in the afternoon, giving me a chance to go down and look for shellfish.

Thursday 27 February

Morning all from Stornoway, where the weather is very changeable this morning. Plenty of showers (when are we getting our radar back?!). I am currently unable to locate our ferry MV Isle of Lewis on AIS, but she is due to return to Liverpool for further repairs. Been up since half past five this morning (don't ask), so that will catch up with me at some stage today. Done a few more searches on Hebridean Connections.

The woman who kept a horse in her living room returned home this morning - to find that the equine had been removed to a more suitable location. A stables in Benbecula. This made national news headlines.

An interesting day from a point of view of weather. As I type this (10pm), a rogue shower is passing through, whilst the rest of Lewis is ogling the Aurora Borealis. The day did start wet as well, but cleared up to heavy showers, which gradually faded in the second half of the afternoon. Gorgeous cloudscapes.

Wednesday 26 February

Quite a nice, bright day here, with a few attempts at showers - not coming to very much at all. We're managing double digit temperatures this afternoon, and the daffs and crocuses are out. Very cheery. Only three days of (meteorological) winter left, but to be honest, we have not seen much winter at all this year.

Russia, the Crimea and the Ukraine (II)

Strange. Earlier today, I was watching parts of that press conference with Vladimir Putin, and he looked as if he had suffered a disappointment. Yes, his troops have taken possession of the Crimea. Not a single person has been wounded or killed - thus far - although some hot heads did discharge their weapons outside an airforce base earlier today. The hot heads being some Russian soldiers who were confronted by a column of 300 Ukrainean soldiers marching towards them - unarmed. By not offering any resistance to this profound provocation, being the invasion of what was their territory since 1954, has most likely taken the sting out of the situation. The Ukraineans knew they could never stand up to the might of the Russian armed forces. So they offered no resistance. And that deprived Putin of the pretext he wanted for launching an all-out assault. We ain't there yet. But suddenly, the sun seems to be reappearing behind the clouds over the Ukraine. Keep your heads cool there. Oh, Yanukovich, you ask? He has been ruled out by Putin.