Smith family visit and Eurovision

Jenn, Russ and Josh too, arrived to visit yesterday. I made a quick trip to Tesco in the morning to get some more groceries, using my wheelie case to transport them back to the cottage. There was fine weather in the afternoon so Russ and Josh went to play a round of golf at Ullapool golf club. This is Josh’s first visit to Ullapool and the furthest north that he has been in Scotland (he has climbed Ben Nevis to raise money for charity, which was his previous furthest north). He is a lovely guest and seems to like the scenery and the cottage very much. While the men were out Jennifer and I had a very pleasant stroll to the village via the campsite and had a cup of tea and a chat while sitting outside Tea by the Sea. The tourists are definitely on the increase, although it’s still not as busy as it will be in July and August. The sea was sparkling and we retraced our steps back to the cottage so as to remain at sea level. 

The FA Cup final was on television and Russ and Josh were back at the cottage in time to watch the last half hour of the match and then half an hour of extra time (because it was a draw.) Jenn and I started watching it too and then it went to penalties which was genuinely very exciting. No sooner had the match finished (Liverpool won) than Eurovision started! So much excitement!

Eurovision was very good and it was fun to watch it with Jennifer. Russ and Josh went off to the pub but returned during the scoring. There were a few too many ballads for my taste, but there were some entertaining acts such as Norway who were dressed as bright yellow wolves and sang about giving the wolf a banana to prevent it from eating Grandma. At least I think that’s what it was about! I noticed that the UK’s entry was unusually tuneful, but like most people I was surprised when we quickly climbed to the top of the leader board during the jury votes. As Graham Norton said “What is happening?” and Chanel messaged to express her surprise! However Ukraine overwhelmingly won the public vote, and while it was clearly due to sympathy and support for their current plight, nobody grudged them their win, least of all Sam Ryder, the good-natured British singer.