Inverness

Mr PHL dropped Phin at doggy daycare whilst I got organised for our overnight trip to Inverness.

We left more if Jess on time and had an easy journey up to House of Bruar to meet up with our son and his wife. We had a relaxed lunch , a wee bruise and the most delicious ice cream before we got back in our cars and headed north.

Checked in to our hotels and ant PHL and I were lucky enough to be upgraded to a river view room which had 2 massive beds, armchairs and loads of space. The internal bathroom was a wee bit musty but nothing a working extractor fan couldn’t have sorted out. We did report it to reception so hopefully the next guests will have a better smelling experience.

Our son and his wife weren’t so fortunate as their room was small and in the ground floor next to a gravel path so it was a bit noisy. We booked direct with our hotel whilst they used a third party so maybe that explained the different treatment.

We headed up to my niece’s house to finally meet my second great nephew Rory. He’s a wee cheeky chops and so different to his big brother. My poor niece has been in the wars the last couple of weeks as she had her gall bladder removed just over a week ago, followed by a second operation 2 days later to remove a stone from her bile duct. She’s recovering well and has the best support network with her mum, auntie, granny, her dad and his new partner, her sister and a wide network of friends.

We didn’t stay for too long but it was long enough to allow big brother Jacob to pull out all his toys, play in the garden with Michael & Ali and treat us to his Spider-Man impersonation before curling up next to his mum whilst she fed the baby.

The plan for the evening was to get a takeaway from my brother’s favourite Turkish restaurant and watch Eurovision together as it was a bit of a family tradition for my brother and I as we were growing up. When we called to place the order they were too busy to do any take away meals so plan B was a curry which was delicious.

Enjoyed the commentary from Liverpool but the songs didn’t make any of us go wow as in previous years but it was a fun evening.

Taxi back to the hotel and bed just after midnight.