It's hip to be square

My big blue boy, P, came visiting just after breakfast and after dosing himself on catnip he settled down for sleepies on the cat chair while I did a week's worth of washing up.

After much ridding myself of ugh, and after a bit of research in which I learned that Argos doesn't sell what I had in mind, I pedalled into town the long but slow way.  I was quite grateful for the cold, still air, and my woolly hat and big gloves, so it was a very relaxed sort of pedal.  In John Lewis I found the Christmas present I was looking for.

On the way past Waverley afterwards, I noticed a class 57 diesel waiting with a rake of Pullman coaches, and remembered that this was the West Coast Railway Company's Northern Belle tour, up from Hull.  Naturally I had to join several other enthusiasts on the platform to watch it depart ECS (while the passengers did Edinburgh city centre for two or three hours).

Excitement over I headed to Alpkit to look at nice things, but then changed my mind and went to Cameron Toll to find some more tissues and a copy of my usual motorbike magazine to see if my photo of Biscuit and Fidra parked in front of Thunderbird 3 had made it into the readers' photos page, but alas, no.  So I headed slowly home.  In passing I would have photographed another gradient marker post from the action packed days of the Edinburgh, Loanhead and Roslin Railway – but I'd left my phone at home, so a square cat is all you get!