Scolty Heather.

Pentax K1000, colour film, ISO 400

We were up early today as one of M's colleagues had asked whether he, his wife, his children and his parents could have a tour of the lifeboat that M volunteers for. I went along too, and we ate some of yesterday's muffins with coffee while M chatted about what the RNLI does, then we had a tour of both the boats (inshore and big boat). I am so incredibly pathetic when it comes to boats that even the smell of the fuel and rubber makes me feel quite sick, but I hung on long enough to listen to M talk about (and to see) the engine room of the Severn Class, the bridge and the survivors quarters. He is very passionate about what he does and a very good speaker, it made the whole morning really interesting, despite me already knowing almost everything he told us.

When P and his family had left, we decided to drive out to Banchory for lunch at a little cafe that belongs to a friend of one of my colleagues; the Birdhouse Cafe. Our sandwiches were delicious and more unique than you get in most places; M's came toasted with chicken, tomato sauce, jalepenos and cheese, and mine was chicken, mango chutney and yoghurt. Yum! Afterwards, we drove the last little way up to the car park at Scolty, but just as we were stepping out of the car it started to pour down. Undeterred, we got back in the car and had a nap for 10 minutes until the rain had passed, then had a lovely walk up the hill to the viewing tower at the top. It's not often I carry colour film in my Pentax (I much prefer my mono shots), but I was glad I had today as the heather was looking fantastic. It was a really nice way to spend an hour, and we were so lucky with the weather. It's worth seeing large!

M's (not-really-an-aunty) Aunty May has been in the hospital for a while now following a fall. It's been decided that she'll move back to Glasgow to be with her related-family again, as her 'family' up here is mostly just a good circle of friends. M's Mum in particular spends a lot of time with her, as does HER Mum, M's Granny. I remember being really surprised when I discovered that they weren't all related! She's getting a little more frail these days, and she will leave for Glasgow tomorrow and will probably not come back to Aberdeen again. M's Mum and Granny will be so sad - although I'm sure they will go down to visit her soon. We all headed up to the hospital this afternoon to say goodbye, and I think May was a bit overwhelmed by all the people (5 of us in total)! She was really happy we'd all come along, and waved us off as we left the ward. A little bit heart-breaking. We'll have to plan a trip to see her next month.

We arrived back home, and M immediately disappeared to his workshop for a mini project, and I started on dinner. I made a nice cottage pie with leeks to bulk out the potato topping (my diet is going quite well this week!) which M was drooling over even before it was cooked through. After we'd eaten, I challenged M to a game of table tennis and lost 9 consecutive games to him (including one game where I failed to score a single point) - I don't know how I'll ever get better than him if I only ever practice on him! We were going to watch a film before bed but M was sleepy and I'd spotted a program on Italian food on the TV, so we just slobbed out in front of that instead, and M slept on the sofa. I feel like we packed rather a lot into the last two days - just the kind of weekend I love.