Ok so it’s only been 14°C today maybe a high of 15 but for us Scots, that’s T-shirt weather all the way.

There’s not been a cloud in the sky all day and Ellison and I sat out at lunchtime again. Great to get a catch up on our wee outdoor lunches!

I was super busy today and the day passed really quickly. I haven’t caught back yet but hopefully it will be quiet on Bank Holiday Monday to let me catch up some more.

There were a few hiccups at work that I found out about while I was off. It’s hard to ignore them and I do feel bad if I haven’t ordered a part or missed some paperwork… I need to learn not to beat myself up. The part I spent at least two hours fretting over yesterday, turned out to be just enough after all…. Total waste of time spent feeling bad. I know that but it’s hard not to.

Anyway, I had the best sleep again. I remember nothing of last night but 25k steps will do that to you. I’ve managed a mere 6,880 today so far.

I know if Helen was still here, I’d be dragging her out on some adventure to enjoy the sun but, because I’m on my own I feel really tired and ready for an early night.

Helen being here has allowed me to break so many of my rules. Imagine still being out at the beach at 9.30pm last night and not actually worrying about it?!?! I would have been if I’d have been on my own. I’d have been much more aware of the time.

It was lovely just to throw rules out the window…. And yes, I hear myself, I set them all and yet are happy when they are broken so I just need to go on breaking them by myself!

I know you know I had a great time these last few days but I really did. It was like a breath of fresh air instead of having to entertain a visitor. It was really lovely to see her after all this time and I hope to go and visit her in Devon soon! Oooooh clotted cream scones with jam. Yum, just had that thought.

Anyway so I have had a lovely series of mini adventures so far in May. That’s me back to earth for a while until we have a week off at the end of June.

I also have so many things still to talk about! I haven’t forgotten my recap of the return journey from Jokülsárlón to Reykjavik but that will have to wait until a low news day!

Let’s get back to our visit to the 19th Century mansion that we visited yesterday, Mount Stuart on the Isle of Bute.

It’s a really imposing gothic style mansion and has a breathtaking interior. While one wing houses a white marble Roman Catholic Chapel…

It’s very cool in there as the marble is freezing!

….the rest of the house is designed around the signs of the zodiac, which seems a total contradiction to me.

Each stained glass window is a sign of the zodiac, with the 3 windows on each side also coloured to represent the 4 seasons of the year.

The ceilings are all so ornate. There are 37 rooms in total and we only really saw a handful of them.

Not gonna lie but o lost track of all of the history…. Not even going to try and recount all of that.

It really is well worth a visit and the grounds are so beautiful.

I think I said yesterday, it’s £16.50 to get in but honestly nothing is stopping you wandering around the grounds alone. That usually costs £7.50.

It’s a really quirky visit.

The ferry trip back was just beautiful too. You cannot beat a blue sky.

A very lovely day!

Stay safe everyone ☀️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿💙