Tuesday 21/11/06

Weather a lot better than of late, with some sunshine. Wind down to force 6, and the ferry is running. Only one sailing (as opposed to the usual 2) on account of adverse sea conditions. Ferry comes in just after 3pm, 2 hours late. Mrs B's guests were due to come today, but were reallocated on the ferry from Skye to Tarbert (Harris). They are expected in Harris at 9.30pm, and in Stornoway by 10.30pm. Yesterday's backlog on the run from Ullapool had to be cleared first, hence the massive delay. The effect of a day without supplies shows in the Somerfields supermarket: no fruit, no veg, no milk, no bread. Am going back to the shop at 7.30, just before its 8pm closing time. Everybody in the shop was discussing the bare shelves. Never seen them that bare.
Over the weekend, a teenager was injured at Achmore, when the car she travelled in went off the road, hit a fence post and turned 180 degrees. She had to be transferred to a mainland specialist hospital, as she requires plastic surgery for cuts and gashes to her face. The A858 road from Leurbost to Garynahine is plagued with bends for the first 4 miles to Achmore, then turns into a straight run for the next 6 miles, but with blind summits.
Over the weekend, a man was assaulted in the Castle Grounds near the Bayhead Bridge. Someone has now been arrested and charged, following extensive investigations by CID [the UK equivalent of the American FBI].
At time of typing, 11.20pm, the guests due in from Harris have not yet materialised. The directions that the tourism agency Visit Scotland gives for any B&B in the town of Stornoway directs visitors to a street in the Battery, a quarter mile away to the east. They're probably lost; or have gone into a different establishment in the town. There are 3 B&B's along this street.