Amazing Grace

Friday
During the day I worked hard to meet a mid-afternoon deadline, while F mainly played in the garden, apart from watching The Incredible Journey. Then I packed and prepared to go over on my own to dad's family in Cheltenham for the scattering of dad's ashes.
Because J was going to have to work Sunday, I ended up having to go Friday evening and come back Saturday evening (5 hours by train each way). I love trains, but then I usually travel midweek and a bit earlier, which is quite a different experience. By Friday and Saturday evening the delays have built up, two trains were delayed due to 'disturbance on previous train requiring police intervention' and there are some lively conversations going on, to say the least.
On one train there was a whole carriage of football fans. The group down one end seemed very much the worst stereotypically shouty and moronically racist type, but just a few seats away were a smaller group, about half a dozen men having a really intelligent and interesting discussion about the beautiful game, which even I could appreciate.
On the last train I took on Saturday there were a group of three young women, one of whom was arranging and rearranging her sex life by mobile and reporting back generously to her friends, though somewhat unnecessarily given the volume at which she was interrogating Dan on whether he would lie to her when he was pissed and then asking Jack if he missed her. Dan didn't understand the question, probably because he was pissed, and Jack was non-committal and offered the unexpected contribution of 'Your friend Claire is a little c***'. This led to a discussion amongst the friends, who advised her that she didn't really love Jack, or she would have been happy for him to have 'got with Jodie' and that she should speak to Dan tomorrow afternoon when they both would stand a good chance of being sober.
And on Friday on my main train there were a group of 4 young women who all spoke in the same very annoying (and these days much-parodied) way: 'and he was, like, yah, and I was like, oh, yah, did you see Moose?' and were utterly full of themselves and their hilarious plans for a friend's birthday, which had the rest of the carriage united in eye-rolling, at least.

So that was my travel experience, which was very wearying, to be doing that much two days running.
It was good to see everyone over in Cheltenham and to take part in scattering the ashes near one of dad's favourite countryside benches with a wonderful view over the valley. We were generally quite light-hearted and a few jokes were made that dad would have enjoyed. On the way back, I saw the school where he taught for a long time - he was very much part of that community.
On the Friday night, Ian and I played scrabble - all my online scrabble must have improved my game as he only beat me by 10! *is sad enough to blog this and doesn't care*

Arriving home late on Saturday, I found F and J asleep together on sofa, looking like the loveliest things I could ever come home to.
Am still knackered from travelling, so taking it very easy today, I hope.