Saturday 3rd July. I got soaked travelling back to the Hospital. First of all. It was raining. That was bad enough. Then a part of the pavement lurched downward, soaking my left foot. Then a car sped through a roadside puddle, soaking my bag and right hand side. When I got back to the hospital I had a nice hot bath and changed into dry, clean clothes.

I was going to go to Edinburgh with a friend from the hospital but he wandered off somewhere else so I decided to go on my own. After all, I wanted to exchange my t-shirts for some shirts of the right size. I got a train to Edinburgh, changing at Newcastle – this meant the trip cost me the best part of £40 – I wasn’t impressed with that – poor service and high prices! We got into Edinburgh about 1pm – I had brought some food and drink with me to east on the train.

When I got to Edinburgh, it was raining as usual. I made my way out of Waverley station, turning left on the bridge and then across the road, up the street to “Who’s Who” (their sign is obscured with scaffolding). They exchanged the t-shirts with no complaint. I had a look if there were more t-shirts that I liked but there wasn’t any more.

After that I went walking, nipping into the cheap book shops and Waterstones. I bought a Renee Mackintosh "Scotland" t-shirt and some history books – got some at Waterstone’s (3 for 2). I could have spent more but I didn’t. During all this shopping, it started raining so I put my yellow plastic poncho on (with “Scotland” printed all over it in blue) but my le,gs still got soaked. I took the 4pm train back, via Newcastle and I arrived back in Morpeth just after 6pm

All in all it was a successful visit, albeit one I won’t be repeating for some time.

Sunday 4rd JulyI was picked up at 9:50 am by a friend (let’s call him “Bob”) from the Alpha course gave me a lift from Morpeth to Mitford. We had the usual service there. And then we reconvened to the nearby river where the Rector waded into the river and baptised a member of the congregation. It was a very special moment.