As Soon As I Posted The Blog,

I was out into a nice bright day,

the sunlight streaming through the trees,

not a cloud in the sky, 

passing Peter Pan's Pool on the number 54 bus on the way to the station, today it will be a easy trip, for two reasons, firstly I no longer have to change trains at Dartford, the new service runs from my starting point at Blackheath Village and continues through Dartford to Gravesend, I hope they keep the new schedule for the future, the last part of the journey will also not be a problem, instead of waiting for the 483 bus at Gravesend to take me to Duncan's nursing home, Alan who wants to visit Duncan, will pick me up at the station, so a easy trip today,

past the bus garage, 

so many buses outside today,

the gayly painted public house in Catford,

and of course the Catford cat,

the building that is never seems to be finished being refurbished in Lewisham,

looking along the side of it I can only think it must be some kind of warehouse, 

the skyline of Lewisham looking busy with new buildings,

the Lewisham Christmas tree looking a bit bare, I guess someone has already started taking down the decorations,

as I passed St. Margaret's church it will only be a couple of stops to the village,

in the village next to the station,

the florists had a really nice show,

of flowers,

both cut,

and in pots,

like these, 

then disaster! due to work on the tracks there will be no trains leaving here until January 3rd. just my luck, as soon as the new service is in place I can not use it! so on to the rail replacement bus, 

over Blackheath,

and past the boating pool,

where Dad and myself would bring along our putt-putt boat, as it happens very similar to this one, and admire the huge pond yachts that were there,

the bus took over an hour calling in at the stations where the trains were not running, and of course had to navigate so many road works,

so instead of the normal 20 minutes or so on the train, 

I arrived at Dartford where even on the old service I would have been in Gravesend!

thankfully Alan drove from his home to Dartford and picked me up there, instead of at Gravesend,

and here we are at the nursing home where Duncan is staying,

we had both brought a few chocolates and biscuits that Duncan likes, we chatted away, righting the wrongs of the world! and remembering when we all used to go out to pubs and restaurants in Rainham and Rochester, after saying our goodbyes,

we made a move over the road to the car park, Alan dropped me off at Gravesend station, many thanks indeed for Alan going so much out of his way to pick me up and drop me off, the train to Dartford where the bus link was also continued to Woolwich, so instead of the bus from Dartford to Blackheath and then me catching a number 54 bus home, I could stay on the train and pick up the number 54 in Woolwich,

which I did,

so I sailed past Charlton House, 

over Blackheath,

and into the village, 

and to the stop I would have arrived at opposite the station if I had taken the rail replacement bus,

just past Lewisham, the Taco Bell still not yet open,

I noticed this last week, a buildings roof completely covered in plants for summer time bees to visit,

I was soon walking past Foxgrove Lodge and home, Diana arrived shortly after myself, so a coffee and a chat, after our evening meal we decided to watch a couple of films, 

starting with I. Frankenstein, which had so many special effects, I have to admit we had watched the film before, but it was still great fun to watch again,

we rounded off the evening with Medieval, the film is about the life of Jan Žižka, a Bohemian military commander who never lost a battle, the film is set prior to the Hussite Wars (1419–1434), when Žižka was young, telling the story of how Žižka became a famous military commander and leader of the peasants uprising against the next ruler, a very enjoyable film and at 2 hours long it was just long enough for us, before we were off to bed.