Leeds Royal Armouries

Over the last two days I’ve been to London.

Catching the Waxi up to Leeds Station was very easy and ever so convenient, even if we did have to wait for the driver to go for a wee before we could board. But within about 12 minutes we arrived below River Lock which is a short walk to the South Entrance of the station. My train took over 2 hours to get to London and then I realised my mistake. I’d arrived into Kings Cross at 5.30pm, dressed ready for the forecast sleet and trying my best to get onto tubes and overground trains without expiring! There were far too many people around and I had to wait for several trains to leave without me on them, along with a few other hundred people.

I had a lovely evening with my brother and nephew Josh (since December I would swear he’s grown three inches) in Victoria Park. Jac my sister-in-law is currently in Australia for a couple of weeks celebrating her Mum’s birthday. There was plenty to catch up with, very nice food and quite a bit of wine. They are coping well without Jac, only had pizza twice and Andrew really doesn’t need the handy mark the cleaning lady put on the washing machine so that he’d know which program to use.

Ziggy and Finn were both pleased to see me too. I had to take photos of them as they are the only East End cats I know.

I was last to leave the house this morning and headed into Oxford Circus to have a wander about before my meeting. Selfridge’s called me in through it’s doors. I only spent a penny thank goodness as a rather lovely looking cushion was £118! It wasn’t that big either! Then Carnaby Street needed a look as Puss in Boots is being set in the 50s/60s. I gradually made my way along Regent Street to Picadilly Circus where I met up with John on the fifth floor of Waterstones.

We spent a couple of hours chatting about the script, what possible changes there might be and looked at images that both of us had collected. There are still more references to hunt out, I’ve a couple of films I’d like to watch before I start on sketches for a story board. But we’ve got a good basis to start from.

With a couple of hours to kill before my train back to Leeds I had a good walk around, gradually making my way back towards Kings Cross. I picked up a very tasty lunch box from Leon and sat in Soho Gardens to eat it. It was a touch chilly but I’m glad the huge rolling thunder and touch of snow waited for when I’d nearly reached Euston, where I made my way inside to stay under cover and get the tube the rest of the way.

By the time my train got back to Leeds the storm clouds had reached the city and torrential rain was falling. Mick had come up to meet me, we waited in the shelter of the station for a while, then dodged our way under cover to stand within view of the waxi stop until it stopped raining.

Mick hasn’t been idle whilst I’ve been away. He’s been tinkering with the blog, there are still a few things to sort, but so far we are happy with how it’s working.

He’s also spent some time tinkering in the engine bay. The split charge relay to the bow thruster batteries has always remained on unless we turned the circuit breaker off. So when stationary without the engine running one battery bank was constantly charging the other. He’d chatted through various options with Ricky at Finesse whilst we were in Sheffield but no good solution came up. A bit more research has been done and Mick discovered that he should be able to connect the split charge relay to the ignition, meaning that when the engine is on the bow thruster batteries will charge, but when the engine is off they won’t.

To do this he had to cut a red wire and connect it to another one. Here’s hoping he got the right one! At least nothing blew up when he snipped it, so hopefully all is well and the problem is solved.

Around the Royal Armouries today has been busy, there has been a launch for Welcome To Yorkshire 2019. Cars and very large Ys have filled the square near the museum. Lots was going on and Mick managed to get a goodie bag which contained a lot of bits of paper, a water bottle and some couscous! All vital things to help you enjoy Yorkshire.

0 locks, 0 miles, 6 waxis, 3 trains, 1 bus, 3 tubes, 2 pussy cats in boxes, 1 cat locked away in a boat in central Leeds totally forgotten about with travelling, blogging, wire cutting and loosing her blue voice! 3 inches taller, 5th floor, 2 hours panto chat, 1 costume designer, £118! 1 hobbling foot, 5.25 miles walked, 1 thunderous storm, 0 seats left, 1st follower Bridget who gets a sausage roll.

1 flaw with the blog. Tilly can’t as yet type in blue, without the whole paragraph going blue!