A pizza, birthday cake and a drive into the sun

A busy day that has me back in my own study blipping at 1.30am. I know - I'll pey furrit, as we don't say in the West End ...

We had the chance to take our grandsons out for lunch today. There's a lovely pizzeria in Stockbridge which used to be a Pizza Express and is now a Franco Manca which serves sourdough pizzas, including one without cheese, which meant I was able to enjoy one for the first time in years (I can't cope with all that cheese ...). We sat in their "room with a view" which protrudes out of the back wall overlooking the Water of Leith through the plate glass which makes up half of its walls. Apparently Benedict Cumberbatch sat there three weeks ago, the waitress told us. Afterwards we walked home via the Water of Leith walkway and the Dean Village, which gave us time for some interesting individual conversations. My main blip is of the boys listening to their grandfather while we wait for lunch.

Later, we drove down to the other family to eat some birthday cake and drink a toast to Catriona, before returning to our packing up, farewells to cats, dogs, other family - and finally away, just after 7pm, to drive home. This turned out to be quite trying; despite the rain a couple of hours earlier, the evening was perfect unless you were heading west. For most of the way we sat up like a couple of meerkats in an attempt to avoid being blinded, until the sun set, dramatically, just as we arrived in Greenock. I've added an extra just because.

All this meant that just after 10pm we sat down to eat a wonderful fish pie thoughtfully donated by our daughter-in-law (she's wonderful when it comes to ensuring that we don't miss out despite living in the boondocks) and drink a glass. And that, O Best Beloved, is why I'm blipping when I should be sound asleep.

Night night.