Blooming Blossom
The May blossom trees are in full bloom - a little earlier than their name suggests. We went to the small store at Drumblair for some of their fresh free range eggs they get from a farm at Nairn - tasty orange yolk and worth the trip, and I actually remembered to take an empty egg box this time. The blossom trees lining the lane were blowing gently in the breeze and the petals of the flowers were flying about like confetti at a wedding.We have had beautiful weather for the last few days with a cloudless blue sky and reaching about 19C by the afternoon but dropping to a chilly 4c at night.
Went to Rocpool Reserve Restaurant for lunch yesterday and sat on the outside terrace overlooking the city of Inverness with a glass of chilled white wine perusing the new Spring menu. Needed to wear sunglasses as it was so bright and managed to get a tan just sitting there. Enjoyed a very pleasant relaxing lunch and this is one restaurant we can thoroughly recommend to our guests. Back at home we sat admiring the panoramic view over Loch Ness and didn't want the day to end.
The temperature gradually rose throughout the day to about 16C and it was very pleasant to sit outside in the evening and watch the sun setting over the mountains. 
Meanwhile the robins have been busy collecting any oddments on the ground - bits of twig and moss and even pieces of the plastic membrane from under the pebbles.
Their mothers however are very protective and always keep a watchful eye on anybody getting too close to their offspring. 
Continued driving along The Road to the Isles with some enormous snow topped mountains looming up on both sides making us suddenly feel very small. Passed several Munros including The Five Sisters and The Saddle,all well over 1000metres. Empty cars parked along the road meant that the occupants were out Munro-bagging and good luck to them. Drove alongside Loch Duich and stopped to go round Eilean Donan Castle. 
The name means Island of Donan and was named after the 6th century Bishop Donan who came to Scotland from Ireland in AD 580. Apparantly there has been a castle here since medieval times but the layout has changed several times and then systematically blown up in 1719. The remains of the castle lay neglected for nearly 200 years until it was painstakingly restored by its new owners between 1912 -1932. The causeway bridge connecting the castle to the mainland was only built in 1932 so originally it really was an isolated castle surrounded by water.