Lazy day...east of Inverness

If you have read previous blogs, then you'd know, there was one from our last trip titled, Lazy Days in Inverness.  Since we are not technically in the city, I thought it would be appropriate to differentiate between the two.

So, it was ridiculously hot last night.  The smart ass next to me gave me the comforter but didn't tell me it was like 73 pounds.  I kept waking up sweating my ass off.  I was looking for a way to get just a sheet but the bed makes so much noise, and Duncan was in the room with us in a crib, that I couldn't find anything.  So, I sweat.  A lot.

I'm not sure what time I woke up - 8:30ish.  The boys didn't wake up until much later.  Let's say, 9 and 9:30 and then we woke Duncan up at 11.

We made a lazy day of it (part of the plan) and didn't get our of the house until around noon.  It was beautiful outside and we couldn't have had a better day to head out and see the sights.   Jess made us some good eggs from the Asda delivery.  And we made a very lazy morning of it.

I showered, we ate and watched CeeBeeBees - got to see Mr. Jumbles! who is my favorite.  And then we made lunches and headed out across the A96 to see Brodie Castle.

Duncan has been torturing us by throwing rocks every time he goes in or out of the cottage.  I'm pretty sure the owners want to keep the rocks for the pathway.

As I said, it was right across the road from us and took less than five minutes to get there.  We chose it because it would be an way day and they have a big play area for kids.  We figured it would be an easy way to get adjusted to the time changes and all that stuff.

For me, Brodie was unimpressive.  I prefer ruined medieval castles.  The inside of it was definitely cool.  But nothing to amazing.  It was definitely lived in, which I appreciated.  What I appreciated more was the fact that they had a lego figure scavenger hunt for the kids.  It was such a great idea to keep them occupied while we looked at stuff.  For that alone, it was five stars.

Enjoy some shots of Brodie.

It's always a good day when no one breaks anything.

The coolest piece of history from the volunteers came when I asked if the castle was still a functioning estate.  They said that Ninian Brodie was the last person to live there and donated the land to the National Trust.  He used to give tours to people.  How cool would that have been!

Another piece was at one point, one of the women of the house didn't like a very famous painting that the family had - I think a copy of the Monarch of the Glen.  She didn't like hunting so, she cut out the dog that she liked in the painting and then burned the rest.  Supposedly, this painting that was destroyed would have earned them in the millions more had she not done that.

Women.

When we were finished with the castle, we headed over to the Playful Garden.  A huge area for kids to go and play.  They had lots of things from xylophones to stuff to climb on.  The hooligans enjoyed themselves.  We ate lunch there and the boys had a pretty good time.

There was a giant chair and tables...

For the record, I had to pick everyone up and put them on the chair...

Afterwards, we headed to Tesco to pick up somethings that we realized that we didn't have and then head off to Speyside Brewery - which was perfect - a tiny office, pay for the beer and then you're out!  Good find, nice beer and what was really cool is that all of their beers are connected to something local - a story or a spot that is connected to the owners.  I had the Tropical Forres, Moray IPA, Bow Fiddle, and Randloph's Leap.

We got home and Jess made dinner while everyone chilled out.  During dinner, the boys were actually nice to one another despite their crankiness.  And there was a bunch.  

Duncan and I went for a walk after dinner and we had a good time walking down to the road and back.  As we headed back, everyone met us on the way and we took another stroll down the drive to the road and back.

It was a mostly quiet evening until bed time.  Neil did well, Malcolm did not.  At about 11, he woke Neil up and Neil couldn't go back to sleep - he was super cranky and nasty but I think he finally made it.  No, he's up and he's jetlagged and this is going to be a battle.  Good thing I had six beers (not really).

Here's something I have never seen - look at the top of this beer.  What kind of witchcraft is this that you take the whole top off?  From The London Beer Factory beer.  They call it the 360 degree can and here's what they allege:

"The London Beer Factory is delighted to announce that it will be the first ever UK brewery to release its entire range in 360° cans. The 360° design enables the drinker to completely remove the lid, allowing the full spectrum of flavour and aroma to leap out of the can."

I find it disconcerting.