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We’re experiencing some technical difficulties which have resulted in problems for those trying to register for Island Blogging and for those who are trying to update their profiles.

Apologies for this, we’re trying to get the problem fixed asap.

Anne

This message was sent to the Stromness Dragon blog today but I thought it was worth adding it to IBHQ as well.

It’s from Geoff Turner from Washington, Tyne & Wear.

"Can anyone please help, I’m trying to locate Mr, Raymond Linkater he is a former R.A.F friend of national-service days [1953-1955]. At that time Raymond lived near to Stenness on mainland and I have happy memories of my visit there during Easter 1955.

I now suffer from a serious life threatening illness and my time is short, so I would like to here from him or any of his family as soon as possible. If anyone can help please e-mail me at turnergeoffrey@yahoo.co.uk

All of my efforts to trace Raymond have been in vain. My best regards to all in the beautiful islands of Orkney."

Just to let you know that Island Blogging is open for business as usual on Monday’s Bank Holiday. All weekend postings will be moderated on Monday morning as normal.

Enjoy your weekend. :)

Anne

I’m pleased to be able to tell you that the technical problems we’ve been having recently are now fixed. If you’ve been trying, unsuccessfully, to edit your settings or register for a blog you can now do so.

Phew!

Anne

Are any of our bloggers involved in next week’s Orkney Homecoming? Loads of Canadians are destined to arrive on Orkney next Wednesday in a bid to discover their roots.

If you’re going to be involved in any of the festivities do let us know about it. It would be great to see pictures and find out what’s going on.

Thanks
Anne

Apologies for not bringing this to your attention sooner, but last Saturday’s programme came live from Waulkmill Bay on mainland Orkney. There’s still time to hear it via our facility. It’ll be there until early Saturday morning.

This Saturday’s programme will be live from Arran as part of the island’s . You can hear the programme live on Radio Scotland from 0700-0800 or, if you prefer a lie-in of a Saturday morning, via Listen Again.

Anne

PS And don’t forget to enter this week’s competition! Out of Doors always gives away good prizes!

Island Blogging has made headlines! The tale of Geoff Turner making contact with Raymond Linklater via Island Blogging has been picked up and featured on the North East & Northern Isles news site.

It seems that we’re still having problems with comments not appearing on the site. If you've posted comments recently that have not materialised please email me at islandblogging@bbc.co.uk. You’ll need to provide details of which blog they were posted to.

Thanks very much.

Anne

I came across and wondered if our schools might be interested. It seems that pupils as young as six in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, are picking up the blogging habit. As soon as they start school they’re given basic computer lessons, alongside traditional writing and arithmetic, which leads to them creating their own blogs on the school website.

Through this programme the kids have already been in touch with a school in Wales … could Scotland be next on their contact list?

And isn’t Moose Jaw a cracking name? ;-)

Unfortunately, as you’ll have noticed, we’re currently experiencing some technical problems. We do hope to have these fixed soon.

If you have your own (or another) blog in your favourites you should still be able to read it. The blogs are all still ‘live’ on the site and are available to read/comment on. The problem is that there are difficulties linking to them on the homepage, regional homepages and the View all the Blogs page. Hopefully this won’t take too long to sort out.

If you have any queries please email me at islandblogging@bbc.co.uk.

Apologies for the inconvenience.

Anne

Don’t miss the return of tonight on ´óÏó´«Ã½ TWO! The series is back for a three week run and throughout that time it will feature live reports from Islay.

Presenter Simon King will be learning how the RSPB carefully manages land on the island, both on the Loch Gruinart reserve, home to 25,000 barnacle geese in winter, and on other sites where birds such as corncrakes are seeing a revival. He’ll also be keeping an eye out for golden eagles, with cameras placed on recent season's breeding sites.

Springwatch is live tonight from 2000-2100.

Here’s another programme not to miss! The third and final series of starts this Sunday with the first episode focusing on Shetland and Orkney.

An expedition to the Old Man of Hoy, the excavation of a mysterious skeleton and the tale of a giant tsunami are just some of the programme’s items.

Coast begins on Sunday 3rd June on ´óÏó´«Ã½ TWO at 8pm.