having a bad brain day
Oct. 27th, 2010 08:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
llywelaMy Christmas cactus appears to be of the opinion that the festive season is almost upon us. And they are setting up Winter Wonderland in town. The Christmas Craft Fayre will be next - that one opens exactly six weeks before Christmas, and functions as my starting pistol: this is your six week warning; commence Christmas shopping now!
Last year doesn't seem all that long ago...
The London trip went off well, but I'm absolutely knackered now and have been wandering around like a zombie for most of the day. Probably a good thing my boss is on holiday this week!
It probably didn't help that the trip was preceded by quite an energetic weekend, what with one thing and another. On Saturday I went for a lovely looooooong walk around Westonbirt Arboretum to see the autumn colours, which were stunning. Of course, it was cold and poured with rain for most of the day, because that's just what my luck is like lately, but still worth the visit. There's a lot of ground to cover, though!
Then came London, setting off off at half past yawn in the morning, which made for a very pretty journey, what with the glorious golden sunrise and the frosted fields shrouded in mist and all. Also, since I know several people who have had problems with Megabus ranging from minor to major, I feel honour-bound to point out that it has always run like clockwork whenever I've used it, and this trip was no exception!
Chel and I were met off the bus by Deb and Shanei - Ray had to work, unfortunately. We ended up spending Monday afternoon wandering randomly around whatever of the sights of London were within walking distance of Victoria - the girls got on famously once again, and had great fun spending their pocket money on random bits of tat and having their picture taken with the horse guards!
I felt very sorry for this poor little chap as they were desperate to provoke a reaction from him, but he determinedly resisted all attempts to make him laugh!
Our cousin Veronica also joined us for lunch and the afternoon's wanderings - she just moved up to London a few weeks ago with her boyfriend, who has a new job, but has been pretty bored and lonely with him at work all day, since she isn't working herself yet. V has suffered badly from depression in the past, so we were really glad she came out to meet us.
After well and truly wearing ourselves out, tramping around from Buckingham Palace to Downing Street and back again, we went back to D&R's for the night, where I reaquainted myself with Alfie's brother Jasper, who is enormous
and Poppy's sister Mackerel, who is tiny
as well as D&R's other two cats, Lulu and Disney, who are mother and son
Then on Tuesday we took ourselves off to London Zoo for the day. Of course, having been beautifully sunny all day on Monday, it promptly turned cold and wet once more for the zoo trip, but such is life. We all had rain coats, and at least the wet weather meant it wasn't too busy! Most importantly, since Chelsea is 14 going on 8 and Shanei is 17 going on 12, the zoo was pretty much the perfect day out for them!
We had to leave D resting while I took the girls off by myself a few times, though, as her back was playing up - the weather probably didn't help much there, either. Myself, I thought this Galapagos giant tortoise had the right idea - after a few hours wandering around in the rain, a good snooze sounded like bliss!
This little fella was just adorable
And I was rather delighted by the staring contest these two gorillas were engaged in
(Of course, this evening I see in the news that a baby gorilla has just been born at the zoo - we missed the excitement by just one day!)
Most impressively of all, there were no meltdowns at all from either of the girls. We weren't sure how it would pan out, as Chel tends to get stressed out by anything different or unpredictable, as well as by prolonged social intercourse, and Neitjie is just stressed out in general by her family situation, not to mention that both are extremely emotionally immature. Teenage hormones on top of all that makes for quite the potent mix, but they both had an absolute whale of a time.
Again, though, we covered a lot of ground each day and my legs are really feeling it now! Also, I've been fighting recurrent headaches since Saturday, which is annoying.
Was very impressed that Megabus arrived back in Cardiff bang on time. Bang on, to the minute. Not sure how the driver managed to time that one so exactly! Got home to find two rather cross cats waiting to greet me and express their annoyance at my being away overnight. Also found that they had apparently spent most of the past two days dancing around on my kitchen floor with muddy feet! Oh, the joys of pet ownership. Poppy has barely moved from my lap since I got home, although Alfie is rather more blasé about the overnight abandonment!
Have been absolutely brain dead all day today, after all that activity. Roll on the weekend!
Last year doesn't seem all that long ago...
The London trip went off well, but I'm absolutely knackered now and have been wandering around like a zombie for most of the day. Probably a good thing my boss is on holiday this week!
It probably didn't help that the trip was preceded by quite an energetic weekend, what with one thing and another. On Saturday I went for a lovely looooooong walk around Westonbirt Arboretum to see the autumn colours, which were stunning. Of course, it was cold and poured with rain for most of the day, because that's just what my luck is like lately, but still worth the visit. There's a lot of ground to cover, though!
Then came London, setting off off at half past yawn in the morning, which made for a very pretty journey, what with the glorious golden sunrise and the frosted fields shrouded in mist and all. Also, since I know several people who have had problems with Megabus ranging from minor to major, I feel honour-bound to point out that it has always run like clockwork whenever I've used it, and this trip was no exception!
Chel and I were met off the bus by Deb and Shanei - Ray had to work, unfortunately. We ended up spending Monday afternoon wandering randomly around whatever of the sights of London were within walking distance of Victoria - the girls got on famously once again, and had great fun spending their pocket money on random bits of tat and having their picture taken with the horse guards!
I felt very sorry for this poor little chap as they were desperate to provoke a reaction from him, but he determinedly resisted all attempts to make him laugh!
Our cousin Veronica also joined us for lunch and the afternoon's wanderings - she just moved up to London a few weeks ago with her boyfriend, who has a new job, but has been pretty bored and lonely with him at work all day, since she isn't working herself yet. V has suffered badly from depression in the past, so we were really glad she came out to meet us.
After well and truly wearing ourselves out, tramping around from Buckingham Palace to Downing Street and back again, we went back to D&R's for the night, where I reaquainted myself with Alfie's brother Jasper, who is enormous
and Poppy's sister Mackerel, who is tiny
as well as D&R's other two cats, Lulu and Disney, who are mother and son
Then on Tuesday we took ourselves off to London Zoo for the day. Of course, having been beautifully sunny all day on Monday, it promptly turned cold and wet once more for the zoo trip, but such is life. We all had rain coats, and at least the wet weather meant it wasn't too busy! Most importantly, since Chelsea is 14 going on 8 and Shanei is 17 going on 12, the zoo was pretty much the perfect day out for them!
We had to leave D resting while I took the girls off by myself a few times, though, as her back was playing up - the weather probably didn't help much there, either. Myself, I thought this Galapagos giant tortoise had the right idea - after a few hours wandering around in the rain, a good snooze sounded like bliss!
This little fella was just adorable
And I was rather delighted by the staring contest these two gorillas were engaged in
(Of course, this evening I see in the news that a baby gorilla has just been born at the zoo - we missed the excitement by just one day!)
Most impressively of all, there were no meltdowns at all from either of the girls. We weren't sure how it would pan out, as Chel tends to get stressed out by anything different or unpredictable, as well as by prolonged social intercourse, and Neitjie is just stressed out in general by her family situation, not to mention that both are extremely emotionally immature. Teenage hormones on top of all that makes for quite the potent mix, but they both had an absolute whale of a time.
Again, though, we covered a lot of ground each day and my legs are really feeling it now! Also, I've been fighting recurrent headaches since Saturday, which is annoying.
Was very impressed that Megabus arrived back in Cardiff bang on time. Bang on, to the minute. Not sure how the driver managed to time that one so exactly! Got home to find two rather cross cats waiting to greet me and express their annoyance at my being away overnight. Also found that they had apparently spent most of the past two days dancing around on my kitchen floor with muddy feet! Oh, the joys of pet ownership. Poppy has barely moved from my lap since I got home, although Alfie is rather more blasé about the overnight abandonment!
Have been absolutely brain dead all day today, after all that activity. Roll on the weekend!
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no subject
Date: 2010-10-27 07:43 pm (UTC)How is Shanei doing at Deb's?
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Date: 2010-10-27 07:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-27 08:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-28 08:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-27 08:34 pm (UTC)Thanks for the picspam of your trip.
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Date: 2010-10-28 08:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-28 12:23 pm (UTC)Just don't forget Alfie ... you are the filling in a furry sandwich :)
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Date: 2010-10-28 12:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-27 09:35 pm (UTC)Glad you had a fun trip, if exhausting! Lol the poor guard. Must be so hard for them to keep a straight face when so many people try and put them off. Shame it got cold and wet for your zoo day, but at least you were prepared! And it meant it wasn't hectic there. Hope you're feeling less achy soon *hugs*
Fantastic pictures! Such cuteness. Pretty ickle cats :D And ahhh monkeys.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-28 08:25 am (UTC)I was dead impressed by that little guard - he was enormously stoic! Didn't so much as twitch despite all the people taking turns to have their picture taken with him - but when someone ventured too close to the gate he was guarding, his head just whipped around to glare at them!
no subject
Date: 2010-10-28 06:42 am (UTC)I know it's pretty much a cliche to say it now, but I can't believe there was Christmas stuff in the shops in September... I want to enjoy Halloween first, and Guy Fawkes Night, and maybe a little bit of Autumn in general, and then move onto the glee of Christmas... Why do we have to have it all in a great big mush? I blame your cactus... *g*
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Date: 2010-10-28 08:24 am (UTC)It saddens me how early the shops start building the hype to Christmas, takes all the specialness out of the festivities and renders it painfully commercial. October is such a gorgeous month in its own right, so crisp and colourful, it deserves to be enjoyed on its own merits! Nonetheless, the Christmas build-up is inescapably underway already.
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Date: 2010-10-29 06:52 pm (UTC)Then came London, setting off off at half past yawn in the morning, which made for a very pretty journey, what with the glorious golden sunrise and the frosted fields shrouded in mist and all. Also, since I know several people who have had problems with Megabus ranging from minor to major, I feel honour-bound to point out that it has always run like clockwork whenever I've used it, and this trip was no exception!
Lol, well I think part of it might be what I bolded above--if it's at an ungodly early hour, the first bus of the day, then yes, Megabus does generally tend to run on time, I would say! ;) Not as much room to have delays...like my morning bus to London was fine.
As for your return, you were very lucky I guess!
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Date: 2010-10-29 07:05 pm (UTC)We caught the 7.45am bus to London, so the odds of it running to time were good - arrived 15 minutes late to Victoria, but that was because there'd been an accident on the route just inside London which held us up. The return coach to Cardiff, though, was at 6pm, but still managed to not only leave London on time but to arrive back in Cardiff at exactly the time advertised. Not bad going! I've never had any problems with Megabus, though - but have known plenty of folk who have! For eg, Francy and I waited an hour for her bus back to Birmingham, and don't even get me started on Chris's experience...
no subject
Date: 2010-10-29 07:42 pm (UTC)