A Challenge

CalMac's Lord of the Isles, on its way to Coll, passing us shortly after 9.00am this morning, gives some idea of the weather conditions here at the moment....

....and this dinghy, sitting by the slipway below The Ferry Stores, give a very good idea of the weather over the past few days. We had a further 21mm of Kilchoan Sunshine over the 24 hours to 8.00am this morning, just enough to top up the burns nicely. To add to our joy, the BBC weather forecasters are promising the first snow on the tops of the mountains along the west coast, and the wind this morning, which is a southwester, is chilly enough for us to believe them.

For some residents it's business as usual, rain or cold, this grey heron letting out a harsh cry of irritation when The Diary disturbed him along the waterfront. And when a local crofter responded to the question, "Do you ever remember weather like this?" it was, "Normal weather. What's wrong with it?"

So, in amongst the gloom, it's cheering to see that there are some people who, far from treating the weather as a depressing obstacle in life, are willing to rise to its challenge. This yacht, passing us at 10.30am this morning, probably rounded Ardnamurchan Point in what must have been a gale.

Now that's the right attitude!