Lockdown Lismore How to live in a small community without committing any sort of crime, real or imagined. and How to be older without buying into the societal b*****cks around age. Welcome. I never knew how to be young, or middle-aged but … older … read more

The lights went on in Lismore on 31 October 1970. A mere fifty years ago. On that Saturday, at 3 Newfield Terrace, the late Donald John and Margaret MacDonald with their children Peggy and Lachlan (and a few dignitaries) stared up and witnessed a lightbulb read more

A flock of sheep are stock-still on the beach, heads raised, horns alert. A curlew, a blackbird, and a gull are busily rearranging the seaweed; they appear to be squabbling. Three oystercatchers are hurrying somewhere. A heron, like a predatory medieval cleric (can’t explain that read more

Has it ever happened before? First footing nil. New Year’s dance nil. Watchnight service nil. Virus Three. Sadly they were germ-fests; we had to forgo them. Our second complete lockdown started on Boxing Day. We were already in Level 4, so it is not like read more

3 January 2021 The wonderful weather is continuing. Outside is the new inside, exercising the new slumping and slouching. Wherever we go, we meet folk loving the winter sun. And of course we rhapsodise to each other about how lucky we are to live in read more

We may be in Level Four and to all intents and purposes locked-down, but this day has started perfectly. No wind, the tide exactly right, only decorative clouds, and the sun fully lighting our world just after nine. Normally we would be starting a day read more

27 August 2020 A dreich day when they promised better. A woman came to the door needing a lift to Balure where she had left her mainland car keys. We have all done that. Nothing worse than getting to the ferry and remembering your other car keys read more

26 August 2020 Amy is here cleaning my shiny surfaces. As I type I hear soothing sounds with the odd squeak as she cleans the windows outside. Music as good as Bach. She arrived on her bike in the rain clasping her bucket and pole. read more

24 August 2020 The sea is silky, shadowed and inviting, the sky dappled with non-threatening clouds. Alas, Storm Francis is battering its way north. It’s early to name storms. Biked to the museum yesterday on bike-busy roads. Plenty of wandering cyclists plus a large family read more

21 August 2020 Our prescription crisis is rumbling on. No solution in sight. Yet. But we hope there will be. Several people are working ‘behind the scenes’ dealing with ferrymen’s concerns, privacy issues, as well as what ifs re theft. The latest news is the read more

20 August 2020 The wind is back. Torrential rain in the night. Yesterday was a great day for a walk to Bernera Island fully described in walk section. It lies off the south-west coast, so you need to know the tides. Two hours before low water read more