Good morning, everyone. Another waking at stupid o'clock but never mind, there's plenty to do.
Everything slotted in nicely yesterday. Jeff has reduced my front weed bed to an orderly state once more and there is now plenty of inviting soil showing for me to plant my bulbs. At Hyde Hall the other Saturday, I bought some pretty tulips and some crocuses, neither of which I actually have already and then, at what-used-to-be-Wyvale, when I checked out my purchases, I got a free bag of narcissi - unscented, sadly, but you can't win 'em all!
Getting them out, some in the front and some in pots is a job for the weekend, weather permitting.
It's quite crazy - tomorrow will be November and yet the fuchsias are still flowering merrily and there's still some colour on the trailing geraniums and the dahlias. The primulas are mighty confused too and are flowering now. Will they flower in spring or not, I wonder.
Al and I had fun in front of the PC, she showing me how to book train tickets online. Honestly, I'm so naive, I've never done it before.
My disabled person's railcard proved a real blessing by getting us both considerably reduced fares, me as the card holder and Al as my travelling companion. Around £14 each to get us right to the Natural History Museum and home again. I don't even have to fork out for the bus fair into the station (although Al does).
Later on, while Al was in town, I went online again and started investigating train fares up to Edinburgh. It's a little, simmering plan of mine to train it up to Edinburgh and stay for a week in the Premier Inn on Princes Street, slap bang in the centre of the city and with walking distance of loads of interesting stuff.
My brother lives in Jedburgh, not too far away, so I'm sure we could meet up at some point too.
The train fare is not cheap, but when you consider the cost of taking a car, petrol and parking expenses, it suddenly looks a very viable option to let the train take the strain, as the saying goes.
Anyway, it's a baby plan!
Personal Training went well. Lindsey showed me some exercises I can do on my balance ball thingy and, bless her, after the end of the session, she filmed herself doing them and sent them over to me with guidance. It's the sort of thing I can do while watching telly!
Then Sharon turned up to do my hair and now I feel half human again.
Today, as mentioned, we're off to London for an adventure so that's the whole day taken up. Then it's taster evening at SW in the evening. Hopefully I'll sleep well tonight anyway.
Have a great day, everyone. xx
I do hope you manage to book for Edinburgh. It's a fantastic city to visit, there's loads to do and everything is so accessible once you're there. If you plan ahead it can be relatively inexpensive.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy today's adventure. X
I did get the impression that the further ahead you book, the cheaper the fare is. It makes sense really, doesn't it?
DeleteI'm wondering about March but am not sure about the weather at that time.
xx
You can register online for a notification of when the cheaper fares are available. X
DeleteThat's worth knowing, thanks.
Deletexx
Have a lovely adventure and I hope the Edinburgh trip materialises. I went for a day to Edinburgh and walked up and down princes street but it was so foggy you couldn't even see the castle.
ReplyDelete:-) I guess that could happen anywhere really, but Scotland is 'known' for its mists, isn't it?
Deletexx
Have a look at the app called TrainPal. You enter your journey and any railcards and then you have the option to 'split' your journey to save money. It seems that, for example, splitting a journey into 3 stages (but you don't have to get off the train) will significantly reduce the cost. The best savings are on longer journeys and the app does it all for you. You can then book your tickets through the app.
ReplyDeleteEdinburgh is on my list for next year when I am thinking of going to some of the Fringe events.
It all seems very complicated! Thanks for the info.
Deletexx
It's not as complicated as it sounds. You enter your journey as you would on any online site, and this app works out the cost for you. Then there is a button to press to split the journey. You don't have to work out the split, it does it for you. Sometimes there is no saving, other times there is. The most I have saved is £45 on a return ticket so it's worth investigating.
DeleteThis suggestion may be a bit funny coming from someone in the US, but if you wait to book 8-12 weeks out, you will find the "advance" fares are often quite a bit cheaper than what you are looking at now. Think you may still use your railcard for discounts, too. I'm heading over the Pond in January and will be meeting a friend in Scotland (taking trains to/from London/Glasgow/Edinburgh), so I've been watching the fares for a while now.
ReplyDeleteFor a number of years, I have used the website https://www.seat61.com/ to find a wealth of information about train travel, not only in UK but in Europe, too. This gentleman has done a lot of research on train travel which might be useful to you. Best of luck sorting out the best price for your travels!
Thanks very much, I'll definitely look that up, Mary.
Deletexx
I love how you come up with fun trips to take. I wish that here is the US we could travel by rail more easily. I would do it in a heartbeat!! Enjoy your time with your friend!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Debbie. It was a lovely day and the weather was very kind to us.
Deletexx
I've only been following your blog for a short while but it sounds as though you live in the same area as I do. A couple of years ago I flew up to Edinburgh from Stansted, I got a cheap flight from one of the budget carriers and the bus runs from the airport into the centre, although they don't take English bus passes it was very cheap. It was a good week as there is a lot to see and Edinburgh is easy to get around and I would love to go back sometime. Jan
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