Friday 10/02/06

Fairly bright morning, but cloud increases gradually as the day wears on. It's breezy with a force 4-5 southerly wind. Outside temperatures very subdued, 5C. A large depression sits out in the Atlantic to propel milder air this direction. Enjoy the sun, until it goes in after 2pm. The people from North Uist go to Isles FM and were greeted with open arms, once they declared an interest in setting up a service from there. The Comhairle had been pressing for Isles FM to get a move-on. A good day for the station in other words. Complete mrs B's webpage by inserting a nice picture or two. At 4pm, the gastanker Sigas Champion slowly moves into port, assisted by a pilot. This vessel has a capacity of 1970 cubic metres, and can refrigerate to temperatures of below -48C. Not seen it before. The list of nations from where people view my webcam lengthens to Russia, South Africa and Latvia. I'm amazed at the level of interest from Brazil and Argentina. After nightfall, the wind increases and rumbles in the chimney by 6pm. Mrs B prepares my dinner, chicken tikka massala with rice. Later on, the Winter Olympics kick off in Turin (Italy), with a spectacular ceremony. Rain commences by about 10pm.

Thursday 09/02/06

Cloudy start to the day, but gaps in the clouds allow rays of sunlight through. Yesterday, Muirneag was late coming in at 9.30 - today it's even worse, as it comes in at 10.40. It's Thursday, so it's papers day. Received an email earlier this week saying that my work on HMS Timbertown had been published in the magazine Seanchais, from the North Tolsta Historical Society. Nice list of names, with nicknames, and an acknowledgement of my work. Another chilly morning, with temperatures of about 3C. Mrs B has two guests in from North Uist. I take a few more birdie pictures, of a robin. The local papers do not make very cheerful reading. The new arts gallery An Lanntair has had to be bailed out by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar over a deficit of £750,000, accrued over its first 4 months of operation. The formal opening of the gallery will take place next Monday, in the presence of Jack McConnell, the Scottish First Minister. In the evening I meet the two guests, who are building a new house between Balranald and Clachan. He was involved with BBC Alba, and she with the Landward programme (the Scottish counterpart of Countryfile on BBC1). Until recently, they lived in Spain, but have now returned to the land of their roots. The sunset this evening was something spectacular. The low temperatures today, 4C, are not noticeable as there is no wind.

Wednesday 08/02/06

A cold but bright start, temperature 4C. Showers are about, moving along on a northerly breeze. Nonetheless, it's a nice sunny morning. Good program on Radio Scotland between 11 and 12, about the effects of passive smoking. In a bar where only two cigar smokers were present, the nicotine levels in the saliva of the barmaid rose from 1 to 2.7 nanograms per ml [1 ng = 1 billionth of a gram]. At 12.00 a shower moves down, with a faint rainbow. Manage to snap starlings on the birdfeeders. The feed from the webcam is interrupted at 1pm because of a fault on the Camstreams network. There are 0 watchers on the whole of camstreams. Until that, about 80 viewers from around the globe have been to watch Stornoway's weather. Countries include Chile, Slovenia, Brazil (as ever), Alaska. Go to Somerfields and encounter an acquaintance along Newton Street (the man who came firstfooting on New Year's Night), who is very, very drunk. It's only 3.30pm. He made a beeline for a half-full bottle of whisky which had been left on the seawall. He managed to utter the grand total of three whole sentences in the five minutes it took me to walk to Somerfields. Get a Chinese ready-made meal from the supermarket, to celebrate 1 year with Mrs B. It's been a rollercoaster year. The meal goes down well, and she supplies the wine.

Tuesday 07/02/06

It's a wet start to the day, but the rain ceases at noon. After that, it's a few showers. Temperature is starting to drop noticeably. Manage to snap some pictures of birds in the garden, and cloud formations over the Basin. Emails regarding the Iolaire project tell me I'm duplicating work by others. One overseas visitor leaves a comment on the page, to correct an inconsistency. An Italian lady left feedback on the main Hebridean Isles page, and says she might come back to Lewis following earlier visits in 1991 and 1995. I take more pictures at dusk.

Monday 06/02/06

Well, that's unusual for Stornoway: IT RAINS. For the first time in two weeks, it's very windy and wet. Temperature still high, 10C. Mrs B's brother-in-law comes for coffee and a yarn or two. I spend the morning churning out emails to those who previously helped me with project Timbertown, hoping they are prepared to review my Iolaire list. The Clansman is late coming in, at 1.35. I go into town to doublecheck my own list in the library, which doesn't take very long at all. Mrs B cooks supper for us, goulash with rice, which is nice.

Sunday 05/02/06

Although the day started bright enough, the sun disappeared after midday and the wind began to pick up. The lifeboat from the ferry can be seen in the harbour, unusually for a Sunday. Watched a group of goldeneye ducks in the basin. Herons fish there too at low tide, as do cormorants. In the back garden, the two birdfeeders are not attracting as much attention. Late in the afternoon, mrs B's son and his kids come for supper. Nice sunday roast, convo restricted to the adults. I continue to work on the Iolaire list, putting in hyperlinks to all the pictures. Finally, iolaire.htm sits on the web (http://modmusic.bravehost.com/iolaire.htm). Tomorrow, I am going to publicise it further. In the Red Sea, a ferry has sunk with the loss of about 1,000 lives. Other unpleasantness erupts in the Middle East when Danish embassies are torched. Someone published a cartoon in a Danish paper, which was offensive to Muslims, who do not permit the depiction of the Prophet. It is idolatry. It was stupid on the Danish part, and lack of control on the part of the Middle Eastern authorities.

Saturday 04/02/06

Another grey day with the odd bright interval. After last night's party, we take it VERY easy. Breakfast and lunch get merged into a brunch. A policeman comes round to ask if we heard anything last night. Apparently, the rear window of a neighbour's car got smashed in overnight. We heard nothing, but mrs B voices her concern over the rowdiness in the town these days. I go into town to collect papers and get some food. The lottery yields nothing.