Evening notes

Temperatures have peaked at a balmy 17C today (63F), which is fairly warm for our neck of the woods. It was warm at the various venues I attended, but did enjoy the music very much. Standards were high, the kids enthusiastic. Music is very much part of local culture, and youngsters are not embarrassed to stand up in front of an audience of dozens to perform. The Local Mod ends tonight with a Final Concert, which I'm not attending. Been a few times.

Local news is about algal toxins present in Lochs Leurbost and Erisort, about 10 miles south of here. These pose a problem, as they can cause serious health problems in humans. The algae are ingested by shellfish, such as mussels and scallops, and accumulate in those creatures. By the time we come to eat the shellfish, the levels of toxins are too high. Read more here. Or perhaps not, it's rather scary stuff.

The search for the body of Daniel McTaggart, lost off Arnol on Monday continues. It is being conducted by volunteers - local people from Arnol, Bragar and other villages along Lewis' West Side. His father Joe was buried today.

And finally, this mountain is not a Munro. Foinaven, as it is called, was 16 inches short of the 3,000 ft threshold. Until they remeasured it, and found it 12 feet short. So, Foinaven, located in a remote corner of the northwest of Scotland, stands 2,988 feet tall, a respectable Corbett. A Munro is any mountain in Scotland over 3,000 feet (914 m) tall. There are 284 of them. The remeasurement of Foinaven was hoped to result in the addition of this top, but no such luck. People go around ascending each and every one of the Munro's; there are a few hardy souls that have done them all four or five times.

Tags: munro, foinaven, algae, toxins, leurbost, erisort, loch, canoe, tragedy, mctaggart, funeral