more boats ... with amethyst

A day in Oban. Observing hearings, learning about the challenges of agreeing contact arrangements with families when parties have to travel distances to meet up: sometimes using ferries. (As in the main blip)

And ensuring that those meetings are meaningful, quality sessions for the children and young people.

The morning ended with a young person having his supervision order ended as the issues which caused it to be made a year ago had been resolved and that person was on a new trajectory.

Over a light lunch met local panel and area support team members to hear and discuss their issues.

Then planned to drive Jenny, the Area Convener, back to a roundabout near Luss where her husband would collect her.

When walking back to where I’d parked the car Jenny diverted me into a spacious jewellery shop. This large display of amethyst crystals (mined in 1984) was up for sale. Much bigger than anything like this I’ve seen before. We did not buy it!

The journey back was in grey misty weather but it brightened up as I headed back in the early evening to the office.

Meetings, emails and tweets and home before 20:30.

Electrical work under way on the house today it seemed. New fuse box and some lights now working.

Had to go back home at 22:30 as everything had gone off - power and lights. Our son had been sitting when everything went dark. Worked out how to restore power and lights. But anxious now not to brush against any bare wires, some of which are poking out of walls. Confident they are not connected. But managing the risk.