An unexpected day.

For months I have been expecting to spend today at the local authority election count in Lochgilphead, where my SNP colleagues made another big step forward for Argyll & Bute, with 12 of them elected, a third more than last time ( though I am very sorry that one of them isn't my good friend and local councillor Ron Simon who just missed out in this ward )

Now the negotiations will start about who forms an administration, though there is still one result to come from a by-election due next week, caused by the death of SNP councillor and candidate Alistair MacAlistair last month.

But when I was in Bucharest last week I got a message to say that the Rev Ron Graham had died and his funeral was today. Ron was the Episcopal Priest in Lanark when we lived in Tillitudlem and he and his wife Aileen became good friends. He told me some time ago that he wanted me to "do something" at his funeral (Ron was larger than life, and what he wanted you to do, you usually ended up doing !) and that something turned out to be reading the Epistle at the Funeral Mass from the Lorimer Scots Language Translation of the New Testament - one of my, and Ron's, favourites and a version we had used at my son's chirstening at which Ron presided.

So I was at St Ninians in Albert Drive for a couple of hours and didn't get to Lochgilphead at all, as the count hadn't started when I first crossed the Rest & Be Thankful , and was finished before I crossed back.

But I will see the SNP team tomorrow when we go campaigning for Michael Breslin in the Dunoon ward,where the voting day is next Thursday.