Friday 20 April

Quite a nice bright day, until this downpour trundled past at 5 o'clock in the afternoon. Continued the transcription of the Crofter Commission's Report from 1902 about the care of the poor and of lunatic paupers. Generally speaking, the report has quite a condescending tone, but remains a valuable piece of social history of this island.

In the afternoon, I happened to glance into the backyard (which is enclosed by a 7 foot high wall) and spotted a female mallard duck.



She was frantically looking around her and quacking intermittently. Standing in amongst a patch of dandelions, she was soon spooked by a passing bumblebee and flew off. Ten minutes later, an SSPCA van pulled up and the driver rang the doorbell. Did we see a female duck - yes. The duck had flown away in the direction of the sea. The SSPCA man had 5 ducklings in a box in his van who were found wandering in the middle of the road, holding up the traffic. The animal welfare had been called and they were now looking for their mum. Well, to cut a long story short, mum never turned up again. A lady had been located who could look after the chicks, so they got taken away to be reared by hand. The duck had waddled in under a wooden fence, set in the wall. The fence has a 6 inch gap underneath. The duck had not been followed by her brood, who could no longer see or hear her on account of the fence and the noise of traffic.

Thursday 19 April

Bright and sunny today, although the keen easterly wind continues. We had no rain, and the mercury reached 11C / 52F. Although the temperatures are no great shakes, spring is definitely here. Last week, I saw lots of young lambs in Harris, some only a day old, if that. The dandelions are running riot, despite being zapped with weedkiller.

At the beginning of last week, a car crash in Harris left several people injured, some seriously. An 80-year old grandfather gave cause for concern, but local news website Hebrides News relates that he is doing much better. His car aquaplaned off the A859 Tarbert to Leverburgh road and ended up in a loch.

I'm continuing with transcription of a historical document, which shows conditions in this island in 1902.

Community Photo Challenge - Tulips

A bedraggled set of tulips, which appear to be past their prime, but nonetheless providing a colourful addition to the front steps. For the Community Photo Challenge.

Wednesday 18 April

A nice bright day, with plenty of sunshine and no rain. There was a steady northeasterly breeze, which took the edge of the sun's warmth, pegging the mercury back to 10C.

In the afternoon, I went to the Eye Cemetery, 4 miles east of Stornoway, and had a look through the wargraves there. A total of about 100 graves, both Commonwealth War Graves and private tombstones relate to men and women, lost in both world wars. The cemetery is very exposed, sitting on a narrow isthmus linking the Eye peninsula with mainland Lewis, and the wind was very keen. However, I managed to get suitably sunburned for my two-hour sojourn there. A service bus carried me back to town in short order.

Tuesday 17 April

The day started very wet, but dried up during the morning. The sun even came out around 2pm. Not warm by any means, although a bit warmer than of late with the thermometer at 8C. I have spent the day transcribing parts of the 1902 Crofters Commission Report, but will need to continue with another couple of pages before chapter 6, about education, is complete.

As I just said on Twitter, the residents of the Small Isles (Eigg, Muck, Rum and Canna) appear to have discovered the art of microblogging. Rum is the largest island, measuring 8 miles by 8 miles, with mountains rearing up to 2800 feet above sealevel. It also hosts a place called Harris, population zero.



The edifice you see is a mausoleum, containing the remains of the last private owner of Rum, Lady Monica Bullough. She passed away in 1957, and was laid to rest beside her late husband, Sir George. The island was bequeathed to the nation. Scottish Natural Heritage have managed the island since, maintaining a herd of red deer there for the purposes of study. Recently, the village of Kinloch (where the ferry docks) has gone into community ownership. The community trust aims to increase the population from 30 to 80, apportioning crofts and building new homes. Rum lost its last indigenous people in 1826, when they were all cleared from Kinloch, Harris, Guirdil, Kilmory, Dibidil and Papadil. Lord Salisbury tried to harness Rum's prodigious rains (100 inches annually) with a dam below Ard Nev, but the dam was broken by - excess water.


My association with the Small Isles dates back to 1989, and I was a small contributor to the community buy-out of the isle of Eigg [above] in 1996/7. Although I haven't been back there since 2004 (apart from a visit to Rum in 2007), I keep a beady eye on proceedings - being quite pleased with what I see going on. The community buy-out of Eigg is something that the residents of Pairc, in Lewis, can only dream of. They have been bogged down in a legal quagmire, created by their unwilling landlord, which has delayed their buy-out by (at time of writing) 8 years.

Monday 16 April

A sunny day after a very cold night. The overnight low went down to -3C, a temperature we have not often seen this winter. However, cloud increased through the afternoon and we are awaiting wind and rain in the night. No hurricanes to report on elsewhere in the world; the States have had another dose of tornadoes, and my sympathies go out to those lost or injured in the outbreak in the Mid West.

I am currently transcribing another document from this island's history, which is supposed to follow on from the Napier Report of 1883. The Crofters Commission, reporting in 1902, finds me raising my eyebrows at their condescending attitude, with phrases like "primitive native" and "simple crofter". Lord Napier, in his earlier inquiry, treated all who came before him with courtesy and deference, irrespective of social class. The 1902 report for the then Scottish Secretary Lord Balfour or Burleigh even seems to scoff at the findings of the Napier Commission with this unforgettable quote:

The schoolmaster is the great Highland depopulator and evictor of modern times

I dread to think what else I am going to read. I have transcribed 14 pages, and still have about 90 to go.

The trial of Anders Breivik has commenced in Oslo, and the man is totally convinced of the right of his deeds. He was moved to tears by his own promotional video, but unmoved by the footage of his own atrocity. In worse circumstances, he could have become another Hitler. Breivik will be locked up for life, either in jail or in a psychiatric unit. It is my conviction that when idiots like that come to prominence, there is something very badly wrong in society, that there is a problem not being addressed. Once this trial is out of the way, I hope the Norwegians will be able to conduct some introspection as to what ill in society allowed this monster to develop. The ideologies of another far-right politician, Dutch MP Geert Wilders, are reported to have been an inspiration to Breivik. I am pleased to note that Mr Wilders' popularity is waning in the Netherlands.

Sunday 15 April

After an overnight low of -1C / 30F, the day was bright but cold, with the mercury once more not managing more than 6C / 43F. Sunday is always quiet in Stornoway, and some people find it too quiet. However, restaurants are open, the pubs too, and you can even get petrol if need be. Just know where to find it all is the tricky bit if unfamiliar with the town.

I was awake until 2.20 am this morning, tracking the sinking of RMS Titanic 100 years ago through the Twitter feed of TitanicRealTime, now mothballed. Resuming to follow its output at 9 am, the figures of 700 survivors and 1500 dead really hit home. I have followed the feed for a couple of weeks, and up unto yesterday afternoon, it read like the journey of your average cruise. But once the references to ice started to creep in, the tale merged with history.

Having completed the transcriptions of the Napier Report, I have embarked on a new project, which is rather smaller in size; transcribing the Report from the Crofters Commission which went round in Lewis in 1902.

Remembering Norge & Titanic

When this post gets published, it will be exactly 100 years ago to the minute when RMS Titanic hit the iceberg. The Twitter-account @Titanicrealtime will relay the story as it happened, exactly a century earlier. This post is to remember those who were lost on board the SS Norge on 28 June 1904. The listings are in Norwegian.

Although it was subsequently determined that there were not sufficient lifeboats to accommodate all passengers and crew, the recommendation was never carried through in ships' designs.

So when Titanic was built in Belfast between 1909 and 1912, she only had lifeboat space for one out of every third person who was on board the ship on April 14th, 1912. The 635 souls lost on the Norge, lost their lives in vain.

I remember also the 1,517 who were lost on the Titanic, or in the freezing waters around her.

Saturday 14 April

A very cold day, with the mercury stuck down at 5C / 41F, made even colder in a steady north wind. Light showers of snow punctuated the return of winter. Temperatures will not change much in the days to come, although we should get more sun on Sunday and Monday.

Later tonight, at 2.20am, will see the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic. Following @titanicrealtime on Twitter will display events on board as they unfold, at present showing some concern over ice in the vicinity. However, the focus remains on doing 22 knots. Put in the context of the speed of our ferry, which is just over 17 knots in the open Minch, the Titanic was racing along. She consumed 600 tons of coal a day, dumped 100 tons of ashes in the day. Until she met that fateful iceberg. I intend to follow the above-mentioned Twitter account from 11.40pm onwards - if I can manage to stay awake.

The only man convicted of the bombing of flight PanAm 103 over Lockerbie on 21 December 1988, Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi, is reported to be terminally ill in hospital in Libya, undergoing blood transfusions. Megrahi was released on compassionate grounds in August 2009, expected to live less than three months. It is a commonly held belief that Megrahi was a scapegoat, put up to hide bigger fish in the murky pond that downed flight 103.

Friday 13 April

Friday 13th today, but did not spot any black cats, overhanging ladders or other ill omens. I lived with a black cat for 15 years, so I don't think they do me harm.

It was a nice bright day, although it continues to feel cold. Mercury at 8C / 46F. I keep getting notifications that the aurora could be on, but it will soon become impossible to see the aurora from my latitude, 58 North. The nights are getting shorter and shorter, meaning that the aurora will be invisible.

Today, I found out that two of my contacts had their email addresses hacked. It is important to regularly change passwords, and choose a password that is not easily guessable. Picking a word from a dictionary is a bad idea though; better combine letters, numerals and codes (such as %, ^ or &).

Thursday 12 April

A cold day but with plenty of sunshine and the odd shower. Mercury stopped short at 8C / 46F.

I kept quiet as my muscles were aching a bit following yesterday's up- and downhills in Harris. It amounted to 700 feet of descent and ascent, which I haven't done for a wee while. I have put the graveyard pics on the Western Isles War Graves forum, which more or less completes my contributions. The pictures for the cemetery on Scarp are someone else's; in order to reach Scarp, you have to charter a private boat. I may do that yet. One of the graves at Maraig was for a sailor, who had died when his ship went down in a snowstorm in January 1918. The ship was lost off Malin Head in Ireland. Harris is about 300 miles to the north. Casualties from the Racoon washed up on the isles of Coll and Barra; one other is interred at Sandwick, a mile east of Stornoway.

After completing the transcription of the Napier Report, I shall now proceed to indexing the 46,600 questions and answers. Which should be a doddle.

Wednesday 11 April

Although weather conditions were slightly less than perfect, I went on a bus trip to Harris to visit the cemetery at Maraig, below the Clisham. When I arrived at the junction on the A859 Stornoway to Tarbert road, the sun was out and the wind not too cold. I descended the 500 feet to sealevel, where Maraig is located. I then walked into the village and located the cemetery, which contains two wargraves. I have now visited all the island's cemeteries; except for the one on Scarp, which requires a private boat charter to reach. Will have to enlist the services of a local boatman to get there.

Upon leaving Maraig, I ascended back up to the main road, then followed the old post road to cut a corner. I was overtaken by a shower, and conditions underfoot were very wet and at times boggy. However, I finally arrived at Scaladale at 4pm. The bus back to Stornoway arrived 20 minutes later, and delivered me into town at 5pm.


This map shows the route I walked today

View Maraig & Scaladale, 11 April 2012 in a larger map

Scaladale River

Loch Seaforth

Post Road

Maraig from the main road
Maraig village


Sheep and the Clisham

Tuesday 10 April

Quite a nice day, with good sunny spells, but with distant showers looming on the southern horizon. One crossed Stornoway around 5pm, but it was only a sprinkling. Tomorrow morning will see some substantial showers crossing our area.

I have today completed the transcription of the Napier Report of 1883. This is a major document in the history of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, and paved the way for a complete overhaul of legislation related to landownership, tenancy, usage &c. Although 129 years have passed, the Report remains relevant today. It is a large document, encompassing 46,600 questions, 5 tomes of 800 pages each which have been scanned by Lochaber College Mallaig (now the West Highland campus of the University of the Highlands and Islands) in 2007. I started this in March 2008, but did not properly commence the transcribing until the spring of 2010. I copied the text off PDF-files onto a Word document, cleaned up the mess and copied the results into a Blogger site. There are now 10 blogs, related to different areas of the Highlands and Islands. I have asked Lochaber College Mallaig to rescan one appendix for me. Hope they will oblige.

• Argyll
• Inverness-shire
• Isle of Skye
• Orkney
• Outer Hebrides
• Ross-shire
• Shetland
• Sutherland & Caithness
• Other areas
• Final Report

Titanic 100 - Norge 108

At midday today, a recording of Titanic's ship's whistle was sounded across Southampton docks, at the exact hour 100 years ago that RMS Titanic slipped its moorings and set sail on its doomed voyage. A modern cruisliner, MS Balmoral is in the North Atlantic, braving early spring gales as it retraces the route that Titanic took in 1912. On Saturday evening, it should be at the site where the Titanic went down. As we all know, more than 1500 souls were lost on 15 April 1912.


Does anyone know about the nearly 700 souls that were lost on board the emigrant ship Norge, which foundered at Rockall on 28 June 1904? You may wonder about the connection, but the connection is there, and it's a stark one. When the inquiry was held into the sinking of the Titanic, one of the contributory factors to the number of lives lost was the lack of lifeboats and other life-saving apparatus on board. After the loss of the Norge, it was also found that there was a lack of lifeboats on board. The recommendation that there should be sufficient lifeboats to accommodate all aboard, was never followed up.

And it was this omission that made the sinking of the Titanic such a dreadful loss of life.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, at 12.40 am, I shall remember the loss of 1500 lives on board Titanic. I shall also remember the 700 lost on board the Norge, eight years previous. For their loss was in vain, as Titanic proved.

Monday 9 April

Although we started out bright today, it became wetter and wetter as the afternoon wore on. Mercury is at its customary 10C, so no cause for complaints.

An accident saw a vehicle crash into a loch in Harris this afternoon. The car was carrying seven people, who were all airlifted to the Western Isles Hospital in Stornoway; two were seriously injured. The crash closed the main A859 Tarbert to Leverburgh road, prompting a lengthy diversion along Harris's east coast road.

I am near completing the full transcription of the Napier Report, a project that has taken me nearly two years to complete. The final bits, appendix 100 and appendices B and C remain to be done. I would like to recommend appendix 99, as that gives an idea of rural life in these islands in the 19th century.

I just spotted on Jack Jessee's FB page that Ice Road Truckers' season 6 will be its last. Well, that'll be missed, but it's always better to go out on a high. You can only do so much with that format.

Easter Sunday

Although we started off wet and cloudy, the day brightened up after midday and we were left with a pleasant late afternoon and evening. The last light of day is fading on the northwestern horizon as I type this.

I spent the afternoon on more transcriptions; the appendices to the Napier Report (numbering 100) are passing my eye, and I am presently at number 88. That means another 100 pages to go. Sometimes, I just have to cut entire swathes out, which carry information that the passage of time has rendered completely irrelevant to the text.

By the end of the afternoon, the ominous shape of a submarine appeared on the southeastern horizon. I don't know what the craft was doing there; a major military exercise ("Joint Warrior") is set to commence in the Minch next week.



I am closing the post with a picture of an Easter cake that was presented to me today.

Happy Easter

Saturday 7 April

A fairly bright day and not feeling too cold with the mercury at 10C / 50F. The dandelions are out and refuse to succumb to zapping by weedkiller. They're pulling a long nose...

I have completed the transcription of the Dewar Report of 1912, which gives a good social history of conditions of the people of the Highlands and Islands. To be precise, I have only transcribed the 85 pages of evidence related to the Outer Hebrides. The report was intended to investigate the provision of medical services.

In 1912, not all villages were on a road, telephones were rarer than gold and could not be used by doctors for talking to patients; it was against regulations. People sent for the doctor by telegram. And the doctors felt those telegrams to be a nuisance, as the advent of the telegraph office had quadrupled their workload. Tuberculosis (TB or consumption) was rife, affecting nearly half the population. In some places, children were fed tea (and not Earl Grey variety either; it would be some vile concoction made of bark) instead of milk. For an annual fee of 5s (25p), the doctor could be enticed to your home, but he was fed up with frivolous call-outs for trifling inconveniences like tooth-ache. In many places, people shared their living quarters with cattle; one doctor knocked on a door to see a patient, and found it being answered by a calf! Women giving birth were attended by other women of the village, and were lucky to have a nurse in the area.

Evening post

With thanks to Donna for previously providing these graphics

A nice bright day in Stornoway, with good sunny spells. It was a day with an unusual ship in port, I'll post pics on another occasion.

It looks as if Virginia Beach in the States has come off lightly when that F18 fighter-jet crashed onto an apartment block. Although devastation is extensive, nobody was killed (well, as far as we know at 6pm EDT) and only six people hurt. The story of the pilot apologising to people on the ground for crashing onto their apartment made me smile.

If you are using a Mac or Apple computer, please read this. It is extremely important for reasons of your computer's security.

Friday 6 April

Good Friday today, the start of the Easter weekend. From point of view of Biblical history, this is the day that Christ was crucified. In two days time, on Easter Sunday, the tomb where Christ was interred, will be found empty and He will have been resurrected. It is customary in places like Germany and Holland to attend a performance of the St Matthew's Passion by J.S. Bach, of which I embed a performance of the final choral.

The keyphrase runs "In tears we sit down", as the disciples gather round the tomb where Christ's body has been put after his death on the cross.

There will be many tears, silent or not, in Bosnia Hercegovina today. It is the 20th anniversary of the start of the bloody civil war back in 1992, which included the infamous siege of Sarajevo. That city was cut off for 45 months, and more than 11,000 died. Some distance to the east, the worst atrocity of all, at Srebrenica, took place in July 1995. The UN had kept a safe zone there, and at the nearby town of Gorazde, for Bosnian Moslims, only for it to be overrun by Bosnian Serbs under Gen Ratko Mladic. Troops from the Dutch UN battalion, friends of mine included, were forced to cooperate with Gen Mladic in gathering the Moslim population, separating the men and boys and putting them on buses to be taken away. All 8,000 of them were killed.

I'll have another post later today.

Wednesday 4 April

Fairly bright today, and until a minute ago, dry. However, the rain has just moved in as I type this. Northern England was battered by high winds, snow and ice overnight.

Big news today: the pandas in Edinburgh Zoo have not mated. Right. That's news of national importance?

I think it is rather more important that Caledonian MacBrayne's, our ferry company, will fit cardiac defibrillators on all its vessels. The defibrillators can be used when someone suffers a cardiac arrest, a lifethreatening situation which requires immediate intervention. 

I close this post with a close-up of a treetrunk, which is sporting a good covering of moss. How do you mean, damp climate?

Tuesday 3 April

Awoke to heavy snow showers, but after sunrise, the snow did not settle. The showers decreased in frequency after lunchtime, leaving us with a mainly dry and bright afternoon. As I type this, I am reading reports that the weather in Dallas, Texas, is a tad more lively. Tornadoes have torn through the city, tossing trailers through the air like matchboxes. Stay safe if you're in northeastern Texas.

So, should an employer be entitled to see your private Facebook page? A school has fired a teacher, after she refused to open the page to her employers. The page showed a risque image. However, what someone gets up to after hours, not at work, is that of legitimate interest to an employer? It is of course different, if an employee writes derogatory comments about their boss on an open internet page. There have been countless instances of this.

The rivalry between the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow is summed up in the comparison of hospitality. I am told that when you're in Glasgow, you're asked if you would like some tea. In Edinburgh, the Glaswegians claim, they'll say "you'll have had your tea". Being a bit naughty, I have extended this to the over-hyped subject of the pandas in Edinburgh Zoo. On the sidebar of this blog is an image of pandas chewing bamboo, with the caption "You'll have had your bamboo". Today came the joyful news that the female panda has become receptive to the attentions of her male companion, so I can safely adjust this to: "You'll have had your s*x".


Some images of today's snow

Monday 2 April

It has gotten very cold out here, with the mercury down at freezing a minute ago. On the mainland, snow is coming down heavily, I hear. What a contrast to a week ago, when we were 'sweltering' in the high teens, celsius. Well, it's only April, so what do you expect. Fortunately, the cold snap (as per usual) will only last a day or so, but those who will travel over the Clisham will see some snow up there. The webcam on the Reinigeadal junction appears to be out of action, so I can't show you what it's like. The altitude there is 650 feet (190 m) above sealevel.

I have continued the transcription of the Napier Appendices, which contain additional submissions to the 1883 inquiry. These could not be heard at the time, or are in reply to evidence at the inquiry. Appendices 60 to 70 relate heavily to the lands, owned by the Duke of Sutherland, a much maligned figure in Highlands history. I take a slightly more balanced approach, in that his estate officials did much of the evil deeds that the Napier Commission looked into. But, at the end of the day, it all happened under the aegis of the Duke, and he did nothing to stop it.

My second transcript is slightly more recent, the Dewar Commission's Report 1912, and contained a faintly humourous note. A doctor was asked whether people and cattle still shared the same building (which was common place in the Outer Hebrides until about 1950). The doctor replied in the affirmative, saying that he went to see a sick person, only for the door to be answered by a calf.

Sunday 1 April

April Fool's Day, but I decided against putting clingfilm over the toilet bowl. Someone's gotta clear up the mess from practical jokes like that.

The weather here in Stornoway was grey and chilly, and it's only going to get colder. We are on warning for snow tomorrow afternoon, with an increasing bitter easterly wind. Tuesday will see the mercury down to 4C / 39F, although it will warm up again later in the week.

This evening, a passenger was reported missing, presumed fallen overboard from a ferry, running from Guernsey (Channel Islands) to Poole in Dorset. A thorough search of the ferry was made, but the woman concerned was not found. A mayday call was put out, but a search of the waters of the Channel revealed nothing by 9pm, when the lifeboats involved was stood down. It is the ultimate dread for any ferry operator.

Picture post - Tuesday 27 March

A nice sunny day got marred by smoke from muirburn in the Lochs area of Lewis, 5 to 10 miles to the south. It smelled nice of burning peat though.

Saturday 31 March

A bright and fairly sunny day, but feeling cold. And it is set to get even colder into the new week. Snow has returned to the mountains on the mainland. The dandelions and daisies are out, a little earlier than normal. The dandelions have been zapped with weedkiller; but still keep popping up.

I'm pleased to hear that sense is beginning to return with regards to the petrol situation in the UK. There were huge queues at petrol stations, as the government had advised people to fill up their tanks. The tanker drivers had voted for strike action, but no date had been set. The poor woman who suffered severe burns after the petrol she was decanting in her kitchen caught light remains critically ill in hospital in Wakefield, Yorkshire. Whether she had been acting after the ill-conceived advice by a government minister is the subject of debate.

Remember the dozens of young people who were murdered by Norwegian man Anders Breivik last year?
Remember the seven people murdered by Mohamed Merah in Toulouse earlier this month? Well, it all begs the question what we are going to do about discontent in society. Whether it be among Muslims or among other people. When this sort of extreme action occur, it is down to governments to answer awkward questions as to what is wrong in society. Because something is very wrong when the Breiviks and Merahs of this world take action in their murderous fashion. Their ideologies, however suppressed, remain out there, and those who feel their grievances are not heard by the mainstream politics will resort to extremists, who will be only too happy to oblige.

Friday 30 March

Although we started fairly bright, cloud moved in by lunchtime and it stayed mainly overcast through the day. It was not warm (compared to the beginning of the week), with the mercury at 11C / 52F. That's quite decent for the time of year, incidentally. However, we stand to get quite cold over the next few days, with a forecast daytime high of 4C / 39F by the beginning of next week. Yep, winter is set to make a comeback.

I had to smile when I read of the return of George Galloway to national politics. Galloway is a maverick politician credited with a gift for oratory. He won a by-election in Bradford yesterday with a majority of more than 10,000 over Labour, the party which expelled him some years ago. It goes to show the general disillusionment of the electorate with the three main parties in the UK. In a way, we had a lucky escape with the election of George Galloway. We could have been confronted with the abhorrence of a BNP [far right] MP at Westminster. As a declared opponent of Scottish independence, I am sorry that Galloway was not elected for the Scottish parliament last year. He would have run rings around Alex Salmond, the First Minister for Scotland who is taking the country towards a referendum for independence in late 2014.

40% burns

That is what a woman suffered when petrol ignited that she was decanting in her kitchen in York. I am furious with the UK government for its gross irresponsibility in handling the tanker drivers dispute. A ballot has been taken, and the members have voted for strike action. However, the trades union has not announced yet when it will call its members out on strike, and when that happens, it will be with 7 days' notice. Nonetheless, there is panic buying going on. Cabinet Office Minister, Francis Maude, suggested people fill up jerry cans with petrol and diesel, something that is against the law. Prime Minister David Cameron fanned the flames by suggesting people go and fill up their petrol tanks every time they pass a petrol station. The wrong advice at the wrong time, and it has indirectly contributed to the horrendous injuries suffered by this unfortunate woman. Call that a government?

Thursday 29 March

Overcast, grey and chilly today. We've lost the sun for the time being, and the summery conditions of Monday and Tuesday are but a distant dream. Oh well, they'll return, I'm sure.

I am flabbergasted by the stupidity of Johnny Public panic buying fuel, because the Ministers of Her Majesty's Government have told him to be prepared for a strike by tanker lorry drivers - a strike that has not even been called (yet). One minister was even prepared to advise JP to stockpile fuel, not remembering his own laws on the subject. I never cease to be amazed.

I have sent off another five cards on the Postcrossing project, to place mostly in Europe. One arrived from China, which took only 10 days to reach Scotland. I hurried to get the cards away, before the Royal Mail slaps 14 pence on its stamps as of next week.

Wednesday 28 March

An overcast and grey day, with a steady westerly wind. We have lost the warmth, but there can be no complaints at 11C / 52F in late March, which is perfectly normal. The moorland fires, which wreathed Stornoway in smoke yesterday, were blazing in the North Lochs area of the island, some 8 miles to the south. Don't want to think what conditions were like in places like Leurbost and Crossbost.

The captain of the Flinterspirit, which ran aground on North Uist last week, has been fined a total of £3,500 for the grounding. It appears he was asleep in his cabin when his ship hit the rocks.

Today, there was an open day in Stornoway Town Hall, to show the populace the alterations that have been done on the 94-year old building. I did not attend, as I have already been in, last October. It is a massive improvement, as the previously dark and dingy interior is now fairly bright and light. A civic centre, fit for the 21st century.

One of my on-line contacts died today, after a battle against cancer since last October. At least she is now beyond pain and suffering. Over the past six years, there have been many losses in the community that some referred to as J-land. Frances did not write a blog, but was much part of the blogging community as the writers themselves.

Tuesday 27 March

Another bright and sunny day, although not quite as warm as yesterday: 16C / 60F is still very warm for late March. This evening, we are experiencing serious problems with dense smoke as a result of muirburn, the practice of burning stretches of moorland in order for the heather to regenerate. Visibility is down to less than a quarter mile and it smells strongly of smoke. It has been going on since last week, but I am reading reports of a large fire in the South Lochs area of Lewis, 12 miles south of here. Residents of the villages of Leurbost and Crossbost, 6 miles south of Stornoway, are complaining even more than the folk here in SY. It says in the Muirburn Code, that it should not become a nuisance to surrouding communities, well, if this isn't a nuisance, I don't know what is.

The captain of the cargo ship Flinterspirit, which disputed passage with the island of North Uist last week, appeared in court today, charged with offences in relation to the incident. He was also found to be three and a half times over the legal blood alcohol limit whilst in charge of a ship in Stornoway harbour.

Blogger is switching us all over to the new format as of 1 April (no joke), so I have grudgingly changed over now. I know for a fact I shall complain bitterly; I tried it in beta, and had to abandon it due to copy & paste problems. Tomorrow morning, I anticipate that the air will be turning blue around my laptop when I do my next tropical cyclone update.

Out of the blue

On 29 December 2007, I received an email from someone I had never heard of before. She had been reading my blog, Northern Trip at the time, and wanted to become friends by email. So, Frances and I did just that. We swapped emails on a regular basis for the following few months, until I received the devastating news of the death of my mother. This prompted my temporary withdrawal from J-land, blogging and emailing. However, as time went on, matters returned more or less to normal and I also resumed contact with Frances. She often spoke of her granddaughter in the Navy. Latterly, we took up contact by Facebook, until October last year.

Frances had been diagnosed with cancer, and cruelly, her Facebook account was cloned at the same time. Her condition deteriorated rapidly since Halloween, as reported by her granddaughter. This evening, the message was posted that Frances, now in hospice, is not expected to make it through the night - it's 5pm where she is.

If Frances should pass away in the next few hours, or whatever time it will take, I will be deeply saddened for her family. For my part, I will miss our email correspondence, the friendship from afar.

A bright star from the Lone Star State will have set.

Monday 26 March

Another sunny and warm day, with the mercury in Stornoway reaching a summery 17C / 63F. Apparently, this warm air is being blown straight from North Africa. Unfortunately, our spell of early summer looks set to come to an end on Wednesday. Better make the most of it while it lasts.

Which I did today, by going on a road trip to Ness, in the far north of Lewis, during the afternoon. The object was to visit an old cemetery, and have a look round the small harbour of Port of Ness. I shall let the pictures do the talking.





I should add that each rock represents a grave.

Sunday 25 March

A beautiful sunny day, with a nice breeze going. It remains hazy, with the mercury up to 15C / 59F. Fyvie in Aberdeenshire reached 23C / 73F. The clock went forward last night, and we now have sunset at 8pm. The days will open out further, with sunset at 10.35pm by the summer solstice.

Went for a nice walk around the Castle Grounds this afternoon, where I had not been since last September at the very least. I'll leave some pictures for you all to enjoy.