Started to make diary entries in book 11 today at page 1507.
Nice sunny start to the day, but there is a threat of showers. Mrs B receives the filters for her cookerhood, so that is fully functioning. Providing the things don’t fall out – one of them got bashed in transit. The ferry is late getting in at lunchtime. The delay may have been due to the articulated lorry carrying hay, which comes every week. The lorry always comes up the back street. I’ve been asked to write a summary of my findings in HMS Timbertown for a book that the webmaster is writing about the English Camp in Groningen, Holland. Go to Somerfields for some shopping and the Thursday papers – which have not yet arrived. The shelves are also a bit bare, but then the lorry for the supermarket still needed to be unloaded. Sunset times are now close on 6pm as we move into the month of Spring. TC Gamede is on its way out, although one ship still reported 57 mph winds nearby.
Wednesday 28/02/07
Better day than yesterday, with good sunny intervals and scattered showers. A pipeband has been told to wear earplugs, because the pipes produce 108 dB of noise, and the snaredrums 122 dB. A baby aged 6 weeks has had to be airlifted from her home in Barra to Glasgow, after her twin brother died of an unidentified illness. A fisherman became unwell off Eigg. His crew sailed the Kestrel to the island, where dr Weldon administered first-aid, until the Stornoway Coastguard helicopter took him to Glasgow. Gamede is receding south from Madagascar, after battering La Reunion for 4 days. The showers here intensify through the afternoon as the weather glass sinks to 960 mabar. During a clearance, I head into town to look up the bibliography for my HMS Timbertown project. The Roll of Honour was published twice, in 1915 and in 1920. It is a sad document to read. I make supper tonight, which is Hotch Potch with beefburgers.
Tuesday 27/02/07
Quite a contrast to yesterday: pouring rain until about 3.30pm, followed by showers and rising wind. Temperatures jumped from 5 to 10C between 2 and 3pm. Gamede is finally on the move again, as the authorities over in La Reunion are blessing their luck. If their island had lain but 200 km to the northwest, they would have had 110 mph winds for 4 days. Don’t think that would have left much standing. Australia needs to watch something nasty bubbling up south of Papua New Guinea. Head out at 2.30pm to see a presentation in the Town Hall. The idea is to create one-way streets, which would free up parking spaces. Kenneth Street as a major thorough-fare? What a disaster. Lewis Street and Keith Street are residential streets as well, and their junctions with James Street are awkward. Watch an episode of Forensic Detectives with mrs B. A boy of 8 weighs 90 kg and he won’t eat anything but junk food. Not good. If his mum can’t stand up to him, well, there’s a problem. Supper was a nice madras with chicken, bit spicey. Quiet evening with nothing worth watching on TV.
Monday 26/02/07
Brilliantly sunny morning, but cloud bubbles up towards lunchtime. This gives rise to an odd shower over Arnish. Lunch was a portion of yesterday’s lasagne, after which I go to the sorting office on Sandwick Road to post a late letter for mrs B. I then take an amble around the older buildings of the Nicolson Institute across the road. The clocktower carries a commemorative plaque above the door, shown in piccies. I walk around the site for pics of other prominent buildings. Continue down Francis Street, where the Western Isles Museum stands, formerly part of the Nicolson as well. Get papers in the Baltic Bookshop (also known as Roddy Smith’s). Report into the Cumbrian railcrash states that a points failure is the most likely cause of the crash – a failure caused by poor maintenance. Smacks of the 2002 Potters Bar crash. The afternoon is cold but fairly bright. Mrs B and I refill the birdfeeders. Later on, temperatures fall to freezing after supper – which was soup and rolls.
Sunday 25/02/07
Grey weather today with occasional rain. Mrs B has a spot of bother when a rubbish sack turns out to be bottomless. The Landward programme on BBC 1 is quite gory and gruesome, talking about docking puppies’ tails and showing a man who collects dead lambs in fields to stuff them. Oh yuk. Gamede is slowly moving away from Mauritius and La Reunion, although the winds only drop down slowly. Rainfall totals exceed 1,000 mm, 40 inches. Folk in Mozambique want to know if Gamede will come their way – no it won’t. The sun comes out a few times, but a cold northerly wind drives down temperatures. Rain also falls now and again. Supper is lasagne. And during the first year, I took 5,700 pics with my camera.
Saturday 24/02/07
The Cumbria traincrash has sadly claimed one life, a lady aged 84. Rescue services had quite a job reaching the stricken train. Helicopters had to fly in to floodlight the scene, local farmers used their tractors to tow fire-engines and ambulances to the crash-site. Passengers were taken to local farms and given cups of tea amidst the cows. Initial reports say that the train appeared to hit something at 95 mph, then it swayed violently before toppling over. Up here, it’s a quiet morning with little wind. A powercut occurred at 3 am. The weather is cloudy with a little drizzle around lunchtime. Mrs B selects 20 out of my 6,300 pictures. I have picked 37 which I have printed off at the photographer’s. Mrs B goes for a flutter on the horses; I stick to the lottery. On La Reunion, an orange and later red alert is declared as cyclone Gamede approaches. Winds up to 125 mph are expected. The stream of viewers on the TC blog continues, and I relay warnings for both Mauritius and La Reunion. Head out for papers and the April edition of a computer magazine – full of Windows Vista. Mrs B entertains a relative this evening.
Friday 23/02/07
Fairly bright if overcast morning. A local engineering business collapsed on Monday, leaving 60 odd people out of work. Outstanding contracts were still being finished. There will be an open day at the Town Hall on Tuesday to view plans for the town centre’s future. There is talk of a one-way system and an increase in parking places. The Health Board has a meeting on the same day about plans for its future services. Now that Favio has gone inland and dissipated in Mozambique, attention shifts to Gamede, bearing down on La Reunion and Mauritius. I spend about an hour collating the info, and notice about 12 hits an hour on the TC blog. Go into the shop to buy the heavier items for mrs B, including lottery tickets for Saturday. Supper is a Spanish omelette, with a sherry trifle after. The ferry comes in at a canter at 7.45pm. My Walking World walks have netted me a small amount of money – apparently, 69 people have downloaded one of my 4 walks on there. The walk to the Iolaire Memorial was the most popular, with 23 downloads. Reports come through at 10 o’clock of a serious derailment in Cumbria. The 1715 train from Euston to Glasgow came off the tracks just north of Kendal. Out of 180 passengers, 48 were hurt, 6 seriously.
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