Friday 12/01/07

Heavy showers and strong winds, bordering on galeforce. It's binday as well, with the bins all going walkabout in the street. After the binlorry has emptied them, the bins take off. Today is the day that the management of the Galson Estate is taken over by the Galson Trust, a community run body. More than half the landmass of the Western Isles is now in community ownership. AIS shows about 10 fishermen in the Minch. The Jan Maria is discernible off Arnish just after midday, as does the Dirk Diederik. Between 11 and 1, there is a bit of a clearance. The tiling is being finished off today. This week's guest from Skye returns home - via Inverness strangely enough. The Lochmaddy to Uig ferry couldn't dock in Skye, so she ends up sheltering in Tarbert, Harris. Two days ago, our long term guest returned after the Christmas break. At 3.45, we have a powercut, which brings out candles and paraffin lamps. Electricity is restored after 10 or 15 minutes. Candles are not easily obtained, as they were sold out before the winter, when people were preparing for precisely this sort of eventuality. The Stornoway Gazette, only in today, contains a letter from a resident complaining bitterly about people racing the streets in their souped-up cars. His daughter's cat was knocked down and killed, leaving kids in the street to discover the mess left behind. The powercut leaves Isles FM off air for more than an hour. The powerstation at the Battery is fired up, and our supplies continue uninterrupted.