Saturday just began

It's shortly after midnight, and I'm just staying on to put on the latest warnings for Mauritius and La Reunion at 12.30am.

The traincrash in Cumbria does not appear to have taken any lives, which is a miracle, considering that all but one of the 9 carriages of the train went off the rails and down an embankment. Six people were taken to hospitals in Lancaster and Preston with serious injuries.

The incident took place northeast of Kendal, in a rural part of northern England. The train would have been travelling at 95 mph. Helicopters are used to cast light on the scene. Local farmers are offering cups of tea to passengers who escaped unhurt. Further updates from the BBC website - I'm having difficulties viewing the pages.

Mrs B went to a remembrance service tonight for a relative who passed away earlier this week. Funerals in Lewis are conducted in a unique manner. After the funeral service, the coffin will be lifted by the chief mourners (the closest male relatives) - a procedure referred to as the lift. All male attendees will take turns carrying the coffin towards the cemetery. In this case, the graveyard is at Sandwick, 1½ miles east of Stornoway, but the coffin will not be carried all that way. In the remembrance service, all the closest relatives will have been mentioned in the prayers.
In the past, no flowers would have been left at the grave. In keeping with the presbyterian tradition, death was regarded as a triumph. What went into the ground did not matter, as the soul had gone to a better place. Nowadays, flowers adorn the graveyards. A year ago, I visited a number of cemeteries in Lewis to collect pictures of tombstones for victims of the Iolaire disaster.

I am under the impression that some of the jokes I put on here are risqué, and may have offended certain readers. That I surmise from some comments and reactions. I'll be more circumspect in what I relay in this journal.

Finally, I have come across several journals this week where the authors felt they were not free to write what they wanted.

IT'S YOUR JOURNAL - YOU WRITE WHAT YOU WANT