Bartimaeus

I had a busy last day in Edinburgh with three separate social catch ups and walked quite a long way! I snatched a picture of purple pansies and primulas as I set off in the morning from a tub in Bruntsfield. Princes Street Gardens had a lot of planted pansies. A nice burst of colour on the way to a walk in the woods. I saw plenty of pond birds, looking for snacks, but not many more flowers.

Shane and I were catching a train back to Warwick today and Bryn was going back to his work in Norfolk. Nye has suddenly been abandoned.It was a fine day to walk to the station.

Everything ran on time and we kept in touch with Bryn and his journey. We had a slight glitch where we had a tight (unofficial) connection and went to the wrong platform and saw the train arrive across the tracks. We and another woman hurriedlythe over but the train only stopped less than a minute and the doors were already closed when we got there. There was another train in 10 minutes but it didn’t stop quite so close.

We arrived in the light and the walk, though longer is pleasant and took us near the shops. There were lots of birds on the way and some snack seeking mallard crosses at the canal centre to greet us. It was not long though before Shane discovered a hitch. Despite careful watching the temperature closely and being able to adjust the heating remotely, Shane thinks that there was still a freeze of water in the shower hose and tap, resulting in cracking of the fitting so that water poured out there when the water pump was switched on. Taking advantage of our daytime arrival he set off to Wickes with the old fitting to find a replacement. I went to fill jugs and a pan with water in case we were going to be unable to get water any other way. I had to cross an empty boat on the way but it was otherwise a very close water point indeed and cheery too.

We had been away for most of December and January but it didn’t seem like we had missed Christmas at the Canal Centre as their tree was giving an impressive dynamic light display!

Those trees were more impressive than the sunset I had gone out to photograph in the first place! A few boat are inhabited and there were plenty birds joining in with evensong.

Shane took longer than I expected, so I had time for a stroll outside, a coffee, to put away the shopping and unpack my bag and plenty to spare. The Wickes over a mile away, he discovered, was a bathroom showroom and did not have individual parts to sell. He was kindly directed on a good route to Homebase, a further mile and a bit away. He had had plenty exercise by the time he returned despite a long day sitting down. He set to and was quick about the replacement so it is all go and everything seems to be running smoothly now. I hope Bryn has arrived in a place with running water and heating. His message on the family Signal group chat, saying he’d arrived at Overstrand, came in simultaneously with Shane’s saying “shower valve replaced”. He will be away from Edinburgh much longer than we will.

“Oh, we’re no awa tae bide away,
Oh we’re no awa tae leave ye,
We’re no awa tae bide away,
We’ll aye come back and see ye!”