reasons to be cheerful…
I post, for a change, from the warmth and comfort of my bed. Well the current one, anyway.
This particular bed (the 5th one I’ve graced in the last ten days – sacre bleu!) is in my specially arranged weekend-off-for-Frightfest* digs and roughly ten minutes walk from London Bridge; alternatively, five minutes if you believe Laterooms, half an hour if you believe the lazy, torpid folk who write Tripadvisor reviews or like everywhere else if you believe Ryanair, twenty miles east of Bratislava.
Having now flown with the latter twice this year out of sheer necessity (the latest being in making my way home from Dublin airport a week or so ago) I am grudgingly accepting that Ryanair is, like death and taxes, something of an inevitability – the regular flights to Leeds Bradford not only shaving two hours off my journey but also a healthy chunk off the cost which can then be spent on counselling, or maybe a language course for those interested in being able to pronounce the names of the rest of the destinations on the Departures board (I particularly enjoyed Szczecin, Rzeszów and Bydgoszcz among others; just don’t ask me to read them aloud). Still, one thing the Extras Experts cannot be accused of is unreliability and we touched down precisely on schedule, just in time for me to grab my case, jump on the faintly pee-smelling 757 bus into Leeds City Centre and catch my train home after ravenously inhaling a Whopper with cheese and large fries from the concourse Burger King in under four minutes (to the visible alarm of two ladies waiting nearby on the platform – I suspect they thought they might be next).
Fast forward to this week, and after finally getting home for good on Sunday afternoon following a mad dash to London (which commenced a scant nine hours after arriving back from Dublin on Friday evening and included a very enjoyable all-night John Carpenter marathon at the Prince Charles cinema), a definite aura of calm has settled over the apartment as befits my now being Mostly At Home instead of Mostly Away until after Christmas at least. Despite this, an unusually busy week ensued and I have not only been kept occupied by visitors old and new, but by the unexpected appearance of a lovely pumpkin brought along by a gentleman early in the week, and which after hours of painstaking scooping and chiselling into Halloween splendour I shamefully forgot to photograph before I set off, dammit! Picture next time, I promise.
As for today, and after a (nearly) eight hour journey, I am comfortably ensconced in my little apartment for the weekend and a gentle day tomorrow (well, later on) prior to the 12 hours or so of cinematic carnage from 6pm. There is a definite nip in the air outside, so the indoor-biased plans include a visit to the Ballgown and Hollywood Costume exhibitions at the V&A, an aimless potter round Borough Market on the way back and quite possibly a kebab and a nap rather than anything strenuous. Tentative plans for Sunday may involve the London Dungeon (if I can be bothered) or possibly just tea, toast and knitting in bed with the X Factor repeat, given that I likely won’t be back in the bed until gone nine am. Needless to say my work phone is off, and will likely be remaining so until Wednesday morning. As ever, that’s why God gave us email.
So, the Official Weekend Off starts here! An update soon and to include December and Christmas hours, once I’ve dusted off the usual page and tweaked all the dates. I’m also severely behind reporting-wise with the shenanigans in Scotland but rather than rehash it all here now, interested parties should make haste to Laura Lee’s blog, where all the requisite information and contact addresses can be found – as mentioned previously, I’ll be up there myself in a month’s time to meet some of the charming gentlemen that the fragrant Rhoda Grant would make criminals of, and hopefully some of the lovely ladies too.
Bedtime for now. More in the week!
*as it says on the banner at the top, the Frightfest allnighter goes nationwide NEXT weekend – click on the image for all the info…
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