As soon as the results of the Eurovision came in, we hopped in the car (after my very tearful goodbye to Becky) and made our way even further North.  We drove for two hours (well, Col did, I faught sleep) until we hit Carlisle and crashed for the night in a wee B&B.

Aside from being boiled alive overnight, we had an ok sleep sleep, a tasty breakfast and headed on our way up to Kippford, leaving plenty of time as we’d been told the windy roads were often temperamental and we could easily get stuck behind a tractor, which, given that it was my Goddaughter’s Christening, I didn’t want to do!

The Christening itself was lovely, it was very moving to be sat in a Church full of Eve’s (and the Madden’s) nearest and dearest, and, when we’d finished at the Church, to meet and chat to everyone that we’ve heard so much about over the last couple of years.

We’d met many of their guests before, during their visits to Houston, so it was good to see them all again.  It was nice to know people there other than Magz and Sam, so we could sit and talk with people and not feel like the ‘odd folk out’.  Magz’s mum Margaret, and her cousin Jaime, had put together a delicious spread for lunch and Eve’s other Godmother, Sophie, had baked a delicious carrot cake for dessert!

It was a very fun day, we ate, drank and were very merry while celebrating little Eve’s special day, getting to know many of Magz and Sam’s friends and family, and, even better, Eve was a peach!

The morning after the night before, we decided to lay low.  We’d been caught in a whirl-wind trip over the previous weeks and a morning of doing relatively little was most definitely what the doctor ordered.

After a yummy breakfast, sitting outside the hotel in the sunshine reading a book for a wee while and a lovely stroll along the water front, we headed back up to the Wright’s house for the afternoon.

We spent the afternoon playing with Eve and throwing the ball in the garden for Fergus, the weather was glorious and the sun didn’t let us down, for dinner we enjoyed a delicious BBQ before we settled down to watch the Grand Prix (complete with lots of Eve cuddles!)

Our last morning in the area, we hunted out the nearby David Coulthard museum (as y’all know, we’re big F1 fans) and decided that it was a good idea to pop in on the way past.

It’s a fiver in, there’s plenty to look at, all right out on display (very few pieces are behind glass cabinets), there’s lots of authentic F1 memorabilia, pictures and trophies from Grand Prix races all over the world.

From there, it was on to Glasgow for an overnight (and a chippy) with Sarah (the Doc), it was lovely to see her (for the first time in a few years) and just catch up on what’s been going on with her, and then it was back to Larne via the European Highlander.

We had a great trip to the mainland, but we’re most definitely glad to be back in Larne, to some semblance of normality!