Stacked.

This chimney stack Blip has been a long time coming. Every time M and I head to Inverness, I see it from the dual carriageway and want to photograph it - M can usually never find anywhere to stop because it's dark, wet or really busy. Today, we managed - and of course, there was zero dramatic light like there usually is. So it's not really what I wanted, but after begging M to stop the car, and then worrying him so much about my trek down the grass verge that he had to come with me, I thought I'd better post it anyway!

Today we woke late. M slept all the way through until 10am! Really unusual for him, he must have needed it. I woke up earlier, but lounged in bed instead, reading magazines. Lovely. When we eventually did drag ourselves out of bed, I made us a cooked breakfast while M made the coffee, and we watched cookery shows while I faffed about with the computer.

We sorted out which stuff in the fridge needed to be donated to M's Mum and Dad before we left, and packed a few things into suitcases before having a big bubbly bath to relax before the drive to Fort Augustus.

We set off at lunchtime, stopping on the way at Morag McVeigh's for a bowl of soup and a sandwich and arriving in Inverness after a fairly non-descript drive at about 5pm. The drive over to Fort Augustus follows some absolutely stunning roads that run the whole length of Loch Ness, with the town of Fort Augustus nestled right at the opposite end of the Loch from the city, surrounding a staircase of canal locks which people travel for miles to see.

The hotel we were staying at, The Lovat, is one of our favourites. The staff are so smiley and friendly, the rooms are super-clean and comfy and the views from every window are gorgeous. We settled into our room and booked dinner in the restaurant for an hour's time, so we could relax and have a shower before we ate. When we went downstairs we had the most superb meal, followed by drinks in the drawing room in front of a log fire while M taught me to play chess (I came very, very close to beating him in my second ever game)!

Perfect start to our holidays; bring on the next 9 days :o)