Artichoke Flower

Up early for the train. It comes from Glasgow and then sits at Edinburgh for 15minutes before departing. So plenty of time to find our seat. At least we seat off on time. It is an 8 coach train, so shouldn't be packed, but at Newcastle, due to operational reasons, the rear 4 coaches are emptied and doors locked. The movement of people delays the train. Also there's an issue with air-con in our carriage, the extra people who cannot go anywhere else mean the coach heats up quite quickly, espcially given the heatwave the country is currently experiencing. Eventually, water is distributed to passengers in our carriage. The train gets even more packed afte rNewcastle as a few trains have been cancelled. At Birmingham, the rear 4 carriages are reopened, and the doors left openedfor a while to cool down the carriage. It is not worth moving, we would have to grab our suitcases, and walk up the platform to the rear 4 carriages. The movement of people delays the train for a few more minutes. The carriage is quite quiet now, and we thought we would get in to Bristol a few minutes late. However, after Cheltenham, the train comes to a halt as the train tracks need maintenance. Eventually the train does move forward and we are in a queue of trains, so a frustrating stop and start until we get in 26 minutes late. 4 minutes short for delay repay compensation.

A taxi ride and soon we are at my daughter's house. We relax for a while, then head out for a wee walk. In a vegetable garden, we spot an artichoke flower. You don't see many artichoke flowers as the edible part of the plant is the flower bud before it opens.

We get home at the same time as the grandchildren, who are a bit shy at first, but soon are showing us the huge collection of dinosaur toys they have.