S. Worthen | Weblog

I am feeling unnecessarily pleased with my weekend's train trips. Most of the trains were persistently early, and the one which started off fifteen minutes later, ended up arriving on time. Additionally, my tickets covered me for taking breaks at train change points, so I could wander off to spend this afternoon in Manchester (D.L. and family, German Christmas Market) without any extra tickets. (Admittedly, there was a bonus visit to Chorley involved in getting to Manchester, thanks to track construction.) It was like getting two extra trips thrown in free with the rest of my trip. For some reason, i also liked that I could spend Friday in Birmingham (Good Food Show), and yet skip Birmingham entirely en route back to London. I managed to miss all the trains I had reservations on, but still have seats.

On Saturday, I made my first Manchester trip of the weekend, to go to sioneva's for American Thanksgiving with American and Brits. They'd put together, with minor additional contributions, a feast: turkey, roast potatoes, parsnips, brussel sprouts, peas, rolls, a lovely potato-and-ham confection, pecan balls (with onions and brown sugar and breadcrumbs and other things), gravy, cranberry sauce, and, beforehand, a lovely array of appetizers. She couldn't find canned pumpkin, so she roasted her own, and made the best pumpkin pie I've ever eaten from it, with whipped cream of course. The lemon tiramisu was piquant and richly lemony, a nice contrast to the smooth sweetness of the pumpkin pie. Thanks to targaff and sioneva for all the hard work cooking!

Afterwards, we lolled about in food-induced stupor, resisting sleep (chocolate and sugar helped), and comparing cross-cultural notes and life story highlights. Many of us were new to each other, but the atmosphere was relaxedly congenial. Much as I'd done well with trains this weekend, I was all too happy to skip late night rail replacement buses and be driven back to Preston by a couple who live there. Wasn't targaff thoughtful to have invited old school friends for my eventual benefit?

LJ encounters: I met taldragon, thespis_mellie, and cynicaloptimist, as well as others who do not use LJ.
innostrantsa: I've been picturing your hair all wrong for the past two years! It has volume!