Road trip

The outdoor conference facilities were not fully utilised in this morning's drizzle. Up and out to join the stream of folk eagerly heading north, outweighed only by the grumpy jam-bound torrent of folk heading south.

Radio 4 mostly kept my mind off the long list of complaints letters queuing up to be written: including to the M6 toll road operators - if I pay 5.50 for a road, a 50mph average speed trap is not what I want.

Regardless, we made good time and were able to squeeze in a side trip to my folks, who had thought we weren't coming this trip but were delighted to see us, even if just for a cup of tea. Having admired the wall between the garages - which had been sloping at an alarming angle since a violent storm last winter, but has now been jacked back into place - and swapped home grown tomatoes, on northwards to a very foggy Edinburgh.

The chef in the pub where I'm waiting for Mr B has gone to A&E, so we're sustaining ourselves with crisps and peanuts in the hope that he'll be fixed soon. I'm too tired to be grumpy about the fact that no one can even make me a toastie.