The best made plans often go awry.

The car was packed. An emotional farewell had been said to DIGBY and Zoe. Though to be truthful the emotion was all on our side as DIGBY seemed to be particularly taken with the new housesitter. He had ignored us since Simon had arrived on the scene.

The satnav had been configured and we were on our way to the wild and rugged west coast of Scotland.

All week we'd been planning what to visit...... Skye, Iona, a climb up Ben Nevis, Glencoe - Rob Roy, scenic lochs, shopping at Fort William or dining at Scotland's best restaurant in Port Appin.

Sinking back into the 'comfort' of the plush, vinyl covered, Ford Fiesta's seats, I thought I'd check the emails to see where we were to pick up the key.

Looking at emails while driving, even if you are a passenger, isn't an easy task. It took awhile before my eyes fixed on a date - it couldn't be right. Not the 27th as the start date. Today was only the 20th.

I began to feel a small level of anxiety creeping into the pit of my stomach, like an ominous warning of some dreaded, disaster to come. We were heading in the wrong direction by at least a 100 miles. Don't panic. DON'T PANIC FRANCES. Stay calm.
I tried to remain calm. "Stop Chris ". "PULL OVER NOW!" I uttered in a voice which I thought was quite reasonable given the gravity of the situation.

Chris regarded me with a certain degree of scepticism, as if I was asking him to do the impossible - what's hard about pulling over on the A 9 as the Forth Bridge is looming up in front of you.

However Chris has been blessed with nerves of steel and was able to pullover without saying " what the f### do you want!!!!!

Someone had made a mistake, I'm not mentioning any names but it soon became very clear that we were not going to the west coast, instead we were about to enjoy the wonders of Inverness, the highlands and the Black Isle.

Some person, who'll forever remain nameless had mixed up the bookings.

Hey, who said we weren't adaptable.

So check out some of these photos - Our cottage on Moray Forth, Fort George, Carrbridge and more...