On the Isle of Lewis:

• It was lucky that I happened to glance out at the sea from the stairwell window from the fourth floor when I did. The tsunami was heading straight for the sea wall. TPR, RG and I rushed further upstairs and avoided a soaking.
• It was ED’s first trip to BnC and she was hooked. Such was her enthusiasm that she set up a tardis-type transport system whereby holiday makers could travel from mainland railway stations to the Isle of Lewis by telephone kiosk for £2 a time.

At the hospital:

• I took the lift to the 28th floor to visit CM.
• It was a high risk strategy to arrive outside visiting hours, but I had taken the precaution of wearing my sister’s old lab coat and carrying a clipboard, so I looked the part of consultant on her rounds.

The very large cluttered house:

• Hadn’t been cleaned properly for years.
• Harboured numerous miniature animals. I found a three inch long wild cat kitten and a sheep the size of a ball of wool. I hoped that there would be space for them in the animal hospital cages.

At the dinner table:

• PM fought with me over the tanning pen. She wanted to continue treatment until she had turned a nice shade of brown. Unfortunately she was starting to glow orange. I would not allow her to do this to herself.

Back home again:

• I discovered that the mother and children who used to live upstairs continued to use the house on occasion. This was on the grounds that (a) it was a much nicer property than their new one and (b) it had stood empty for six months.