And quite a journey it was too! Particularly on the way down to Sheffield. All was going well up until the point I got to York to be greeted with the rather disheartening vision of a large departure board full of trains, all delayed indefinitely! Apparently flooding had led to signal failure someplace and not a great deal was moving. The day was saved however by my sister's husband, Robert, who drove all the way up to York from Sheffield to, ahem, get me to the church on time! Still, despite that small trauma with no small thanks and appreciation to Robert I managed to get down in good time and indeed for a quite enjoyable weekend all told.

The wedding service was very lovely, and fortunately the only real amount of rains happened whilst we were all inside the church. The reception afterwards was also quite agreeable, and quantites of drink made me pleasantly sociable rather than anything untoward, if my memory of it all is now somewhat hazy, certain fragments recalled like images from a dream. Still, a most pleasant dream though! Nice foods and setting and time with family and other's who I'd not seen for a good many years. I even managed the odd conversation with some of the Keeton family, none of whom I had met before. I seem to have some vague recollection of being asked by a nice woman with a video camera what I though marriage meant and rambling some suitably flowery reply whilst, horror of horrors, I think I was also forced to dance at one point! Well, 'dance' is perhaps too grand a term for what I am capable of, as one of my favourite mottoes goes; wolves can't dance - it's a paw thing. A lot of the rest of the time I seem to recall was spent discussing such topics as particle physics, evolution, religion and the nature of the human condition with my Aunt Chris. You know, you're usual kind of wedding conversation topics.

The next day was quite enjoyable too, once I'd properly woken up and ironed out the creases of just the mildest hangover. Anyways, it was a pleasant day, spent mainly in the company of Dad and Aunt Chris. We went to the Botanical Gardens which was, somewhat annoyingly, playing host to some dubious art fair, charging £5 per person merely for entry, besides what quite astonishing prices some of the art works were apparently going for! Still, it was nice seeing the revamped gardens in a bit more of a flowery condition (the first time I had seen them after their restoration had been last Christmas and then things were a bit bare). We were however caught in a quite impressive thundery downpour and had to seek shelter in the Bear Pit. Though we managed to escape being drenched then, on our way back from coffee and cake at pleasant local coffee and cake shop we were very much caught in a most significant cloudburst which did get me just a little soggy, but then I do actually rather enjoy such things. Hee.

Anyways, the journey back proved thankfully rather more straightforward on the trains than getting there, although in York the Ouse was most impressively spilling over its banks and threatening people's gardens, whilst many of the farmer's fields we passed now seemed to be a place for ducks and herons rather than cows and sheep! Made it back though, somewhat tired and weary (too weary I fear to go to the birthday party of fellow shop worker tonight, methinks I napped through that) but genuinely quite pleased with the way everything had gone. There, I always knew there'd been nothing to worry about! Heh. One note of slight worry though in that on returning my hoped for financial forms from the Open University still have yet to arrive it seems, which is rather concerning. Tomorrow I shall need to seek to compose something of a grumpy letter if there's no sign. Rather too drained to do anything about it during opening hours today though. Still, that aside, it was a lovely wedding, enjoyable party and generally quite pleasant weekend.

Now back in Whitby of course I must get on with things. Besides poking the Open University people with a stick I have the shop to go to tomorrow. Mum and Robert are also about take a trip away themselves for three weeks, possibly going tomorrow or perhaps the day after, so I shall be having a short period on cat-minding duties, though that is of course not an unpleasant task. It should be nice to spend a while with my kitty and maybe even stay a night or two by the river in the caravan where I can be amongst the green trees, tweety birds and superior cooking facilities! Anyways, doubtless there's many more details I could add to my tale but I fears I have used up what lingering brain energies I had for writing so it be time to scamper off. Still, I hopes everyone had a most enjoyable weekend. I did. Those bits I can properly remember. Now it's back on with the tricksome task of living and the real world, or at least those parts of the real world which remain inescapable, despite best efforts! Where one journey ends another begins, or in this case, when one small detour ends the main journey recommences! Still, it was an enjoyable detour, indeed it was, and as is often so, the detour that in many ways defines the journey.