for now at least

So I'm back after a scant 2 days in GOC, even that stretching my budget somewhat.

After I posted on Sunday I walked into Bristol to catch by coach, over five hours later I arrived in Leeds, fortunately the hotel was just five minutes from the bus/coach station so I was roomed and showered within thirty minutes of arriving.

Monday was my daughters birthday, the original purpose of the trip, but she had to work all day so I turned things about and caught the train to Sheffield. A short visit with my aged father, collect a few bits from storage and then a couple of hours with my best friend rounded out the day. Then it was back up to Leeds for the night.

Tuesday got turned around even more, #1 has to work again but only a half day which I thought was am but turns out it was pm. So rather than a leisurely start to the day with a full afternoon with the family it was up and at 'em to get as much pre work time as possible. Obviously it was good to see #1 but #1.1, my grandson was of course the main attraction as you might expect. It was March last time I saw him/them, just before his 2nd birthday and he's grown a lot since then, not just height wise but he can count to ten, in order, take a reasonable photograph using his mums phone and his vocabulary is pretty impressive for his age.

Okay, gushing over, after a light lunch it was time for GS to nap, mum to start work and me to depart. The earlier rain had eased so I walked the five miles back into the city then spent a bit of time shower dodging between the shops, more for something to do than intent to buy. I spent the evening watching the TV, a couple of films on a big screen, quite a novelty for me as i don't have/watch TV, anything I do watch is on my tiny laptop screen!

And so today, it was up, breakfast, go for coach south. Another almost 6 hours of face mask wearing (not much fun I have to say), and I was back in Brizzle, a short bus ride returning me to base. Yeah, a lot of travelling, but seeing everyone, even for just a short time, has left me in a more positive frame of mind - not only that but I could actually understand what was being said everywhere! Unless the situation changes for the worse, it won't be as long until the next trip, we'll be celebrating the old geezers 90th birthday, all 4 generations of the family.

I did get a little writing done, I had hoped to do more on the journeys but tbh, the travel experience made me quite ill on Sunday and so I didn't even break out the lappy on the return journey. Whilst the human interaction angle was the main purpose of the trip I did retrieve a wheel to put my bike back on the road, it'll give me a little breathing space to get the original fixed at least.

So that was that, this is now, the next chapter of Book 2 is up, One more Jenny! finds Gaby having to make an appearance yet again, this time at Mum's behest!

I'll be riding and cracking on with more writing as the month draws to a close but for now

Toodlepip,
Madeline Anafrid