Return to Exeter

[sawyl]

Brief stopover in Birmingham to pickup a couple of Josephine Tey novels — I was in such a rush I forgot to go up to the top floor to check to see if they had any Elizabeth Bishop in the poetry section — before continuing my way south. The journey was surprisingly pleasant, not least because I spent most of it tucked up with N.K. Jemisin's The Broken Kingdoms, making me wonder whether my rail karma might not be compensating me for some of my truly horribly previous train trips.

Safely back in Exeter, I can now pronounce the weekend a definite success. The family were on the best form I've seen them for a while, no-one pitched a fit, the food on Saturday was good, the usual social gaffs were avoided (partly thanks to an unwillingness to out-spectacle drunk guy from a few tables over!) and I think I even enjoyed myself. Will wonders never cease?