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A new collection of Gaelic songs based on bagpipe music has been produced for Highland Council.

The book of 52 original songs was put together by the Mairi Mhor Gaelic Song Fellowship.

A surgeon who has spent more than two years working in an Iraqi hospital is in London preparing to return to his job in Orkney.

Dr Ameir Al-Mukhtar left his post as a consultant surgeon with the islands' NHS trust to return to his homeland.

Five boats have been suspended in mid-air as part of preparations for the new Shetland Museum and Archives.

A towering hall is a feature of the new museum in Lerwick, which is due to open to the public in spring 2007.

I'm Anne, your new contact at IBHQ. Graham is off to work on new projects, so I'll be taking his place here.

As ever, IBHQ is the place to come if you have any comments/queries. You can contact me via this IBHQ page, or you can email me directly at islandblogging@bbc.co.uk

I've been reading the blogs for some time now so I already feel as though I know many of you quite well, but I'm looking forward to catching up with you all over the coming months.

Oh, and just so you know, IBHQ has moved from the bunker in Glasgow to Aberdeen - so we're not so close to Sunny anymore, but a wee bit nearer Ruthodanort!

Hope to hear from you all soon.

Anne

The ´óÏó´«Ã½ is running a questionnaire across all its blogs over the next few weeks. Please take a few minutes to answer these questions so we can understand what you think about this blog.

This is your chance to help shape the future of IBHQ.

You don’t need to answer all of these questions; they are purely a guide to what we are looking for in your feedback.

* What 5 words would you use to describe this blog and what it means to you?

* What are the best bits about this blog?

* Anything you’re not so keen on? If yes, then do give any suggestions you may have to improve it.

* What do you think about the frequency and length of the posts? Do we have the right balance here?

Thanks for all your comments, they will be really useful to us.

Anne

For those of you who haven’t seen or had the chance to respond to the questionnaire – there’s still time to take part.

Let us know what you think of this blog by answering these questions:

*What 5 words would you use to describe this blog and what it means to you?

* What are the best bits about this blog?

* Anything you’re not so keen on? If yes, then do give any suggestions you may have to improve it.

* What do you think about the frequency and length of the posts? Do we have the right balance here?

Whether you post every day, every couple of months, or whether you simply read the blogs, if you can, please have your say. It’s useful for the folk who are running this questionnaire on all ´óÏó´«Ã½ blogs, and for me, to hear what you think.

Thanks
Anne

Hello,

Don’t panic if you post this weekend and then don’t see your comments on the site. Unfortunately we are unable to moderate this Saturday and Sunday. However all posts and comments will be seen to first thing on Monday.

I apologise for this - I know it isn’t ideal.

Hope you all have a great weekend otherwise.

Cheers,
Anne

Orkney Exile has emailed...

"This picture of London airport, Eday, was taken by my son on a very recent visit. In answer to from Stornoway for a photo of same, could you please enter this in said blogging website..."

No sooner said than done!