This weekend offers two opportunities to take a breather from the doom and gloom around with banks collapsing around us and our major utilities sold into foreign control. Forget it all – for a while anyway – by skimming stones at the Isle of Easdale in its ultimate light-hearted event, The World Stone Skimming Championship on Sunday – and there’s a ‘Pre-Skim’ party the night before in the island;s magic hall. turn up at 11.00am on Sunday and register to take part at 12.00 noon – ish.

If you’re tastes are more sedentary, you could lose all cares in a good laugh on Saturday evening with Mull Theatre in Tobermory presenting its comedy, ‘When Hell Freezes Over’ – and try to forget that in recent weeks it’s looked as if it actually has.