Thursday 19 June

Cruiseliner Minerva is the fourth liner in port this week (I missed the Serenissima on Tuesday), and she came to dock at pier no 3 at 7.30 am. Although this pier is part of the port refurbishments, cruiseliners continue to use it. Passengers have to thread their way through the works, behind fencing, to make their way into town.

I went for a 6 km walk in the Castle Grounds to mark out one of my walks on Walking World, no 3952. I recently added the section round Strawberry Hill to it, but found that pictures and descriptions were out of sequence.

The wreck of the Monaco, which has been disgracing this port for the past 12 years or so, is due to be fully removed by tomorrow. It has taken 8 months for the ship to be taken apart, but I'll be pleased to see this eyesore gone.

Wednesday 18 June

Quite a turn-around since yesterday, overcast and only 13C / 55F. Another cruiseliner in this morning, the Adonia, anchored off Sandwick Bay. She is the second of six liners that are due to visit this week.

At 9.50pm, we'll be having the last 40 minutes of the sun's presence above the horizon today, she'll be happy to take a break. However, at 4.19 am in the morning, less than 6 hours after leaving us, the sun will be back. In point of fact, she'll be teasing us from only 8 degrees below the horizon in the meantime.

Tuesday 17 June

That's my camera officially declared dead. Oh, I could have had it repaired, but at a cost almost equivalent to the original purchase price, three years ago. I have now worn out two digital cameras in the space of 8 years, having taken something like 52,000 pictures.

We managed 20C / 68F this afternoon. Spent a wee while out in the sun; the forecast for tomorrow sees a downturn in our summer fortunes. The mercury will now head down, towards 13C / 55F by the end of the week. After a lovely sunny day, the fog came down around 7pm, with visibility barely 300 yards.

Iain Ruaridh Gillies, aged 24, has succumbed to the injuries he sustained in a carcrash in Lionel, Ness, in the early hours of Saturday. Although he was airlifted to hospital in Paisley, he passed away earlier today. RIP. His friends and family are in my thoughts. The community in Ness is stunned and deeply saddened by this loss.

1.47 am

Monday 16 June

A 24-year old car driver crashed his car into a wall at Lionel, Ness, in the early hours of Saturday morning. He was airlifted to hospital in Paisley, near Glasgow, in a critical condition. First aiders had to resuscitate him at the site of his accident.

Overcast and damp this morning, although the light rain has stopped. It's not really cold, 15C / 59F. As the week goes on, we are set for some colder weather.

The rower who had to be rescued from his boat after being injured in a freak wave has expressed his sorrow and apologised for his failure. However, accidents happen and there was nothing that could have been done to prevent it.

Sunday 15 June

A typical quiet Stornoway Sunday. I'm in the process of completing the transcript of the Roll of Honour on-line, showing that 6,000 Lewismen (and women) went to war between 1914 and 1918 out of nearly 2,900 households from 126 villages and townships, as well as the town of Stornoway. We are now within a week of the summer solstice, meaning it now gets light at 3 am, and doesn't get dark properly until after 11.30pm.