Friday 26/05/06

After yesterday's nice evening, we're confronted with a wet and miserable day. A fine to moderate drizzle falls throughout the day. Willie calls in during the morning, as does one of mrs B's relatives, who is helping her with the ironing. One guest cancelled his stay, after he decided to leave for the mainland straight after his bikerun up from Tarbert. The other guest does turn up. She is an American student at Oxford, up here for the Half Marathon. Her luggage was mislaid at Edinburgh. Although it is not formally lost, it is no use to her as it cannot reach Stornoway until 12.30 tomorrow afternoon. The race starts at 10 a.m.. The young lady goes off for a flying visit to the Callanish Stones (grand total of 37 minutes there). Later on, I assist her in planning her trip south to meet up with a friend. Two problems crop up. (1) It's a Bank Holiday. (2) The prospective meeting place (Fort William) is packed out with folk attending the World Championships Mountain Biking. I suggest she travel through Skye. She won't arrive there until 9.40 tomorrow evening. A German / Spanish couple take the place of the man who cancelled. They had come to Stornoway, expecting to find a ferry leaving at 7pm. Not until the end of June, folks. BBC Island Blogging is off air all day, after a fault prevents everyone from logging on. The rain stops at 6pm, leaving a cloudy but relatively mild evening. Night falls at 10.40.