Scotland and being back with friends...

Hi All

It has been several days since my last post. I have been relaxing and doing laundry etc. It is so nice to be back to home cooking, Sheonagh is a wonderful cook, hmmmm..

Ally took me to Dundee on Monday, so I could get some purchases and have my shoes fixed (I don't think Ally trusts me out on my own, I have no idea why..). Remember the lovely shoes I brought in Barcelona (I think it was Barcelona!!) Anyway the soles started coming of in all the rain in Latvia and Lithuania, hence me buying the dreaded gum shoes... I had them repaired in Dundee. Now I have nice shoes to wear...

I caught the bus back to Forfar without any worries. I had already fallen asleep on the bus from Dundee to Frofar, so decided I was too tired to walk the 20 minutes to Sheonagh's house, so I would take the local bus, how hard could it be? It was only when I was sitting at the bus stop in Forfar that I realised I had forgotten to take the key to the house that Sheonagh had given me. It was raining but I thought, so be it, I shall have to wait outside in the rain until one of them comes home. The bus that goes past Sheonaghs house is the number 27C, I do wish I had known about the C.. I checked the timetable several times to ensure I caught the right bus, you know what is coming don't you? Well Shenoagh and Ally live on Arbroath Rd Forfar. I hoped on the No27 Arbroath Bus, and told the driver I wanted to go to Arbroath road, he charged me 3 pound 10. I though that was a bit steep, and said I wanted to get off at Arbroath Rd, he said it was the same price wherever I got off. So I paid the man the money and took a seat. All was well as we started down Arbroath Rd, until... He suddenly takes a right turn, "oh, I thought, where is he going?". I then remembered the time in June when Sheonagh and I had caught the bus into town and they really do take the most intricate routes, we kept heading of the main road to pick up folk at all kinds of places, so I relaxed and thought, he will do the same and return to the Arbroath Rd any minute. Well suddenly we were out of town altogether, we headed through village after village and I was sure by now I was on the wrong bus. I waited until the driver stopped at a stop and the young man had paid his money, then I said to the driver "Excuse me, will you be going back to Forfar?" He said "The bus will." I said "Oh good, I need to be in Arbroath Rd, Forfar." Well he burst out laughing..... It obviously wasn't affecting his life.. After that he assured me the bus would return to Forfar so I settled down and thought "Oh well, it is like a mini tour, sit back and relax and enjoy the scenery", which I did. Not that there was a lot to look at, but I did get to see Abroath, the town that is, not the Rd, I wonder sometimes in Ally has a point and I really shouldn't be let out alone.. But then again would you not think that the bus to Abroath would take the Abroath Rd? I ask you?? So if I had walked it would have taken me 20 minutes, but I would have had to wait outside in the rain, by bus it was 1 and a half hours, and I still had to walk for 8 minutes, but Ally was home and I didn't have to sit in the rain... Windscreen/bug, you decide!!

I have booked a car for a week, to travel around England. I have booked a hotel in Bishop Auckland for 2 nights, as that is an ancestral area. I shall then meander down the country stopping whenever I choose. I am looking forward to it and hope it all works out well. It has to be better than trying to get local buses, whose directions leave a lot to be desired at least..

I have not taken any pics as you have all seen laundry before, though I really should have taken a pic of that bus timetable and then you would all see how easy my mistake was to make. That is my excuse and I am sticking to it!!

Cheers for now

Lones