Not Quite the trip we were expecting ...

 

...or, the best laid plans etc etc

We were getting ready to drive over to Stromness on Sunday to spend the night on the boat, catch the early sailing and be in Strathpeffer, where the Opera Highlights was on, in time to have lunch on Monday with the lovely Lea, our emerging artist at Scottish Opera.  And then we had a message to say she was sorry but she had lost her voice and was being bundled back to Glasgow on the train by the tour manager so we couldn't meet and she would be missing the next two performance and maybe more. 

Oh dear! More for her than us, although we were disappointed on our own account as well. It was one of those times when, if you had had just 12 more hours notice you could have rejigged your plans totally, rather than continuing with the existing framework and wondering what to do with the huge hole that had just been blown in them. 

However, as I said, we had got be positive and make something of what we had rather than repine over what we didn't have, so that's what we did. Rather than stopping at Strathpeffer we carried on to Inverness where we did some 'nice' rather than 'necessary' shopping. So a new shirt and a jigsaw puzzle for me, a book each, half our younger grandson's birthday present and, after a bit of havering over a cup of coffee and a bun, a 'velvetiser' from Hotel Chocolat, which is   for making hot chocolate,   We've been havering about this for much longer than the time it takes to have a cup of coffee - several years in fact, and this was the occasion we cracked. Possibly something to do with the horrible winter weather we have had, which has meant  we have ben drinking more hot chocolate than usual, and possibly also something to do with the £30 off if you bought it and signed up for the loyalty scheme. 

Even with all the lovely shopping we still arrived in Strathpeffer somewhat before checking in time at the hotel, so we had a walk around the 'town' (it's a village really, it's tiny) and then walked part way up one of the hills to see the Pictish Eagle Stone.

Horseshoe on top, eagle below. Two things surprised me about this; one was how well preserved the carving was, and the other was the fact that it hadn't been nabbed long ago by the National Museum and stuffed away in one of its dungeons , sorry, storerooms. 

We'd had a great offer from the hotel which included dinner on our first night, which was very nice. A restricted menu, and we both accurately predicted the others choices for all three courses! And then it was time for bed because it had been a long day - not to mention that spending money makes me very tired indeed.