Sunday 17/09/06

Very dreich and drizzly start to the day, but the sun comes out by midday. The Countryfile programme has some interesting items about the Thames Estuary as well as a Ben Fogle trip to the Small Isles. Ben only visits the Isles of Muck [derived from the Gaelic word for Porpoise] and Rum. He omits Canna and the most populous isle, Eigg. He travels on board the schooner Eda Frandsen, which operates out of Doune in Knoydart, north of Mallaig. He meets up with Lawrence MacEwen, the owner of Muck, and I'm suspicious that this trip has been screened before. The other person is Ally Donald, who monitors the red deer program at Kilmory in Rum. The photographic competition takes off, with the selection of 12 pictures which will go to the public vote to establish a winner on October 9th. My four piccies didn't come anywhere near the finalists. Have a look at the finalists on this web page. One of the pictures has been withdrawn, I don't know if they will select another image to replace it. I spend the afternoon working my way through alerts and emails, while mrs B entertains her son and his wife. Supper tonight is a very good cauliflower & broccoli cheese. In the evening, I log the J-land September chat, between 8 and 11pm. I'm square-eyed by the end.