Water, water everywhere. That was the weekend. Two days of almost constant rain. Our gutter continues to drain in the wrong direction, and there are now at least two other problem gutters on our building. I’m so glad we’re keeping up payments to the management company, I’m sure they’ll send someone to fix the gutters one of these months.
In more watery news, we went to watch the children’s swimming lessons, and we are blown away by how good they both are. I didn’t successfully swim my first stroke until I was 14, and that was in the sea at Hastings, where I benefited from extra buoyancy in the salty water. And I’ve never been able to dive to the bottom of a pool to retrieve a block. In that respect, Martha is like a little mermaid.
Did we go out for a walk this weekend? Of course not. Instead, we re-watched the whole of The Night Porter on TV. And that reminded me, it’s about time I read another John le Carré book. Although I am enjoying a Jeeves story right now. Liesel enjoys the way the bed moves when I’m chortling at PG Wodehouse’s finest work.
But not everyone is averse to being out in the rain. William enjoyed playing football in extreme conditions. Did we go and watch? What do you think?
William the football player
It stopped. We went for a walk along the river, commenting on high the water was, and how fast-flowing. Hope it calms down a bit before the annual Northenden Boat Race at the end of August!
The burbling weir at Northenden
As soon as we left the flat, Liesel regretted not bringing a coat, it was a little chilly. By the time we got home, we were glad not to have the extra weight, it was warm, hot even, almost like a proper Summer’s day.
It was a nice long walk though, through Millgate Fields and on to Fletcher Moss with its botanical gardens.
Geranium with visitor
After a coffee, we walked into Didsbury and bought a loaf of bread at the newly opened branch of Gail’s the bakery. We’ll still frequent La Chouquette of course, but it was closed today.
We successfully avoided being splashed as cars drove through puddles next to the pavement. I did suggest to Liesel that I carry a large building brick to act as a deterrent, but she vetoed the idea.
My visit to the dental hygienist was uneventful. Don’t know why I mentioned it, really.
It was the last day of Martha and William’s school year and the other grandparents picked them up from school. Liesel and I decided to go to the zoo. Our first plan was to visit a castle, but we thought, it looks like a nice day, ideal for a wander outside. And we did indeed have a good time. True, it did started raining lightly later on, but we visited parts of the zoo that had previously eluded us. And it wasn’t too busy: that was another reason for going today, it’ll be much more busy during the school break.
Dusky padmelon
Orang utan
Capybara
Penguins
Lion
Sumatran tiger
We wondered why many of the big cats were having a lie down, it was warm, but it wasn’t that hot! It was nice to see some animals for the first time, usually we’re concentrating so much on chasing the children around, we don’t get so far afield.
I went to Wythenshawe for the regular walk with the best of intentions. But by the time we’d all met up, it was raining again. Quite hard, so we decided instead to go straight to the coffee shop. Well, it passed the time, the precipitation continued, teasing us by easing off for a few minutes now and then, but returning with some force. I briefly thought about walking home, but no, I didn’t fancy getting that wet today. Another time maybe.
Liesel joined the walk the following day but I had other plans: I walked over to Didsbury for a massage. Marie Louise Gardens was nice and quiet, I wandered around for a bit, watched the people and the dogs and the squirrels.
Broken branch
And guess where I went for a coffee after my lovely, hard but relaxing massage?
Another FFS customer
The radio show this week was titled ‘Fathers and Daughters’, so songs by Fathers about their little girls, and by girls about their Daddies. Plus a few Father-Daughter duets. You can catch the show here.
Dear Reader, if the photos appear distorted, in the wrong aspect ratio, please let me know. Tell me how you’re reading the blog, PC, phone, whatever, which browser, and if it’s a recent issue. I’m trying to work out what’s changed in the last few weeks. Thanks very much!
One of the things we like about living where we do is the oak tree outside. It sheds dead wood now and then, but so far, the falling logs haven’t bonked anyone on the bonce. Nor did that large branch land on the car parked in the wrong place in the communal car park. We enjoy watching the magpies at play and sometimes fighting, or is that foreplay? And the squirrels: I think there are at least two, one of whom sits sedately when we walk by, while the other one scampers up the tree as soon as we appear. We don’t see many acorns, maybe the squirrels grab them and hide them first. But this week, our tree sprouted something very unusual.
Strange fruit
It was meant to be a night out for Liam’s birthday, but sadly, he and Jenny weren’t feeling on top of the world. So Liesel and I used the tickets. We enjoyed an evening of The Best of British Pop Music, played by the Hallé Orchestra, at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester. Pop songs from the last 70 years. We enjoyed it although I personally wouldn’t label some of the chosen songs ‘The Best of British’.
The MC was a certain Ken Bruce, who broadcast on BBC Radio 2 for over thirty years, before recently jumping ship to Greatest Hits Radio. It was good to see him, and he was quite funny.
Ken Bruce MBE
The vocalists were Laura Tebbutt (who I’ve heard of) and Jon Boydon (not sure) and they did a good job of interpreting the songs. The orchestra was conducted by David Arnold, composer of many James Bond tunes, musical director for the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics, not to mention being on Björk’s first album, Debut, and all-round good egg.
Laura Tebbutt, Jon Boydon and David Arnold
Yes, I feel bad that Liam and Jenny missed the show, but we’re glad the tickets didn’t go to waste!
More live music was seen the following afternoon at Boxx2Boxx. The big surprise though, in passing, was seeing the local Tesco Express all shuttered up.
Tesco
Later in the week, there was hoarding all around the site, so I think some refurbishment must be taking place, although I’m surprised we didn’t see any publicity in advance.
Anyway, back to Boxx2Boxx, where Zha Olu played for two hours, with a break at halftime, and despite the intermittent rain.
Zha Olu
She performed a wide variety of songs, including one by Oasis, two by the Bee Gees; Fleetwood Mac, Britney Spears, Cher, Katy Perry, Amy Winehouse, Killers were all represented.
Some of the audience
Quite a few of us were sitting outside, and the rain didn’t deter us. Those two, like me, didn’t have coats. But someone walked down the road and acquired ponchos at the Pound Shop. I assume the hats came from there too. It was a great atmosphere, and I hope there’ll be more music here sometime, and I hope we get to see Zha Olu again at some point. Look her up on YouTube!
More of the audience
This picture was put up on Instagram later: see if you can spot Mick.
We haven’t had visitors for a while, so it was nice to collect Helen and Steve from Gatley Station, so much easier than from Manchester Piccadilly. They’d been in the Lake District for a bit and even as far afield as The Isle of Man.
We ate dinner at The Metropolitan in Didsbury, a nice veggie burger in my case, since you ask. But have some sympathy for Helen and Steve who both wanted fish and chips: alas, the restaurant had sold out!
Brylcreem
Why did I take this picture of an old advert hanging in the toilet? Because the model closely resembles my Dad at a young age, and he did indeed use Brylcreem.
Then off to Parrs Wood Cineworld where we watched the newly released Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. It was great fun, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear a Beatles and a David Bowie song in the soundtrack.
Despite the threat of wet weather, we visited Quarry Bank Mill for a bit of a walk, and a wander around the Mill itself.
Dahlia and raindrops
The dahlias looked good in the rain, and what a coincidence: I just started reading a PG Wodehouse book in which Bertie Wooster’s Aunt Dahlia looms large.
The spinning mule machine
Our visit to the Mill itself took up so much time, that our planned tour of the Apprentices’ House never happened. We’ll get there one day.
We drove Helen and Steve to Leigh where they spent one night and visited a friend before taking the train home.
Liesel attended the WI Craft meeting, with her decorated fairy door, which, I have to say, was much better than all the others on display. I’m sure the fairies prefer it too.
Liesel’s fairy door
When we walked Hadrian’s Wall in May, Liesel grew a huge blister on her little toe. Fortunately, this was on the final day of the hike. Fast forward to this week. Her toenail fell off. There’s no other way to break the slightly gruesome news. The toe with the big blister shed its nail. Liesel put in under her pillow, but sadly, there’s no such thing as a toenail fairy.
The regular Wednesday walk didn’t take place this week: instead, I returned to the optician to repeat one of the tests. I did better this time. I hope I don’t have to bother the optician for another year.
In the afternoon, we collected Martha and William from school, and brought them home, where they decorated their own fairy doors.
William’s fairy door
After dinner, we took a pair of tired children home, and against all odds, they didn’t fall asleep in the car.
The Thursday walk was also cancelled, but we both joined Michael on a slightly truncated walk around Wythenshawe, finishing in good time for Liesel to make her physio appointment. In the end, she was so early, that she had time for a bit of a walk in Gatley Carrs. Meanwhile Michael and I enjoyed a coffee in the usual place.
Friday, I returned to Manchester University to help with someone’s MRes research, well, I hope I helped.
When I got home, the predicted rain had stopped, so we went for a walk. One thing we didn’t expect to see was someone camping on Northenden Village Green.
Local campsite
We walked along the river and through the woods, all the way to Wythenshawe Park. I wondered whether any of the coins that I secreted a couple of weeks ago were still available. I remembered some of my hiding places, and I’m pleased that many of the coins had been been discovered. I hope people were sufficiently curious to look up online to see what The Find was all about.
A couple of weeks ago, we went out somewhere and noticed that the car stunk of garlic. Where’s it coming from? Maybe a dropped bite from a service station sandwich? We looked all around the vehicle, but couldn’t work out where the smell was coming from.
In the boot of the car, we have a big black bag, a carry-all bag, with lots of bits and pieces in it, shopping bags now known as ‘bags for life’, our litter pickers and pink council-approved plastic bags for picked litter, plus some other paraphernalia. No, nothing in there was responsible for the odour.
Before our visitors, Helen and Steve, arrived, I took the car in to be washed and valeted inside. I thought whatever the source of the aroma would be hoovered up. The car was nice and clean. And before picking our visitors up from the station, to make room for their luggage, we put the carry-all in the cupboard under the stairs in our block. Nobody goes in there, except the electric meter reader once every six months.
After Helen and Steve had left us, and a couple of days after hosting the grandchildren at home, we thought it was time to retrieve the bag. When I opened the door to the cupboard under the stairs, I was engulfed in a miasma of stench. Garlic. Aha! So, whatever the source of the malodour, we’d pretty much proved it must be in the black bag after all. And, indeed, we realised that we’d not complained about a smelly car at all this week.
We went through the contents of the bag, slowly, methodically, meticulously, one item at a time. And guess what we found in an old, padded but torn, cool bag? A clove of garlic. Why? How did it get there? Our theory is that it’s been there since we took some ingredients with us on our trip to Wales in May. May! It’s been festering in a cool bag, in a black bag, in the boot of the car, in the heat, for over two months! Phew, what a stench. The bag in question has been not so ceremoniously dumped.
My original note was mistyped: Just one Clive og garlic
We’re hoping that that isn’t the end of Summer. It’s cooler and we had a lot of rain this week. It was so torrential at one point, that the gutter outside our living room was overflowing again. Our own little Niagara. But we did enjoy watching some birds having a bath there for a few days.
Amongst the usual antics, we spent one day this week in Manchester. The International Festival continues and we saw two more events.
At Factory International’s base, now known as Aviva Studios, a name not universally welcomed, we enjoyed You, Me and the Balloons. Japanese artist Yoyoi Kusama designed an exhibition of inflatables, all covered in polka dots. It’s a fun show to wander round, and her story is very interesting too, if sad and tragic at times.
The Hope of the Polka Dots Buried in Infinity Will Eternally Cover the Universe
Selfie of the day
The doll, Yayoi-Chan, is a representation of Yayoi herself, well a ‘kawaii’ vison of the happy girlhood she never experienced.
The only sounds we heard were people speaking in hushed tones, the pumps inflating the balloons but mainly Yayoi on-screen reciting a poem, in Japanese.
Yayoi on screen: Song of a Manhattan Suicide Attempt
There was a large sphere, also covered in polka dots. I was intrigued enough to queue up and go inside. There were just a few smaller spheres inside, but the mirror walls gave a sense of infinity. And the bonus was seeing a million doppelgängers of myself.
Infinity Mirror Room
Another smaller sphere was just for looking into. I’ve seen kaleidoscopes before of course, but this was so much more than that.
Peephole Dome
In the middle of the exhibit were some cushions, called Clouds. I had a short lie-down on one of the bulky, oversize cushions, so that I could study the lights on the ceiling. Oh and it was nice to lie down for a few minutes, as is often the case, after walking slowly around an exhibit.
Overhead light
We had a few hours to pass between leaving this show and going to the theatre. Let’s spend some time in Festival Square, listen to some tunes, we thought. But as we walked by, we agreed that the music here was far too loud for our delicate, aged lug-holes, this definitely wouldn’t be a relaxing sit down.
So we carried on walking, bumped into Colin from Wythenshawe Radio who was volunteering at the Balloons, and carried on to the Central Library.
While there, we heard a group of musicians jamming just along the way.
Musicians shhh!
Desperate to know the time, we wandered back down to the entrance hall where we were given a warm hand on our entrance. On display here are the hands from the clock from Manchester Town Hall which is closed right now, being refurbished, ready to open up again in 2026.
Big hands
Outside the Town Hall, space has been reserved for trees, so I hope when the time comes, they install/plant some really mature ones.
Not a tree (yet)
Given the propensity for Manchester youths to destroy and vandalise and throw things in the canal, I don’t think saplings would survive very long.
We dined at Wagamama before returning to the Royal Exchange Theatre, this time to see Kimber Lee’s new play, The Untitled F*ck M*ss S**gon Play. It’s a play born of rage over female Asian stereotypes in plays such as Miss Saigon, and all the way back to Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. It is very funny, but there is also a lot to think about. After leaving Manchester, the play moves to London’s Young Vic Theatre, and I would highly recommend it. I’d give it 5 stars.
The cast
While in the theatre, we tried to sign into the wifi, but we were spoiled for choice:
Wifi menu
The Wednesday walk this week was well-populated, despite the threat of rain. In fact, I did get drizzled on a bit, and afterwards, we all sat inside Boxx2Boxx to drink our coffee. Maia from Factory International joined us today, and I mentioned in passing that I thought the music at Festival Square was too loud. I didn’t wag my finger, I was polite about it.
We missed the excitement around the corner, in Royle Green Road, where the lamppost by the pedestrian crossing had been knocked over by a car. The driver claimed he was going slowly. Not if you knock over a fence and a post like that, and then end up screeching to a halt on the grass verge so far along the road. ‘Slow’ by usual Royle Green Road standards, maybe.
Fallen post
Even though the post had fallen, the green light was still working. And the good news is that repairs were completed within a couple of days.
Repaired
We just need a new set of railings now.
I went along for my annual eye check in Didsbury. It was a thorough test, and the plan was for me to walk home afterwards. But I’m sorry to say, I wasn’t concentrating, and starting walking along the main road rather than by the river, so I caught a bus for the last bit.
The meeting for Wythenshawe Radio volunteers was interesting and afterwards, I had a nice chat with Roz, who presents a couple of lunchtime shows, and Maria, whom I’ve never met before, but we had communicated in the early days of Radio Northenden.
And for the first time since Jyoti left, I went for a massage which, given the number of clicks and pops, my muscles really needed.
While I was enjoying being pummelled and massaged, Liesel went into Manchester with the WI gang. They visited Castlefield Viaduct and a pub.
My Wythenshawe Radio show this week was a long Coffee break. Despite my best efforts, I didn’t have a guest talking about coffee, so just two hours of music to keep you going. You can listen back here.
‘Do something scary every day.’ I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it again. I also interpret that maxim to mean, ‘Say Yes when it would be so easy to just say No.’ So, when Chantel asked for volunteers to do something at 8 o’clock on a Saturday morning, my first thought was ‘no way, José’, but I actually vocalised: ‘Yes, put my name down.’
I woke up nice and early, but drifted off again before the alarm woke me up with a jolt.
Breakfast gave me the energy to walk over to Wythenshawe Park where before making contact with anybody, I found this chap who expressed my mood beautifully.
Wooden actor with a cone
As part of Manchester International Festival, artist Ryan Gander invited audiences to undertake a quest across the city in search of his latest artworks. Hundreds of thousands of collectable coins will be hidden in plain sight across Manchester, each embellished with words offering guidance on daily decisions.
Bag of coins
Abi from Factory International presented me with a bag of 250 coins to hide in Wythenshawe Park. As requested, I left some in plain sight on park benches, walls, posts and pillars, and many in more secluded locations, on trees for example. Some coins will be found easily, some will glint in the Sun, and attract people’s attention. Ryan Gander and I invite all of Manchester to go out and explore, look for hidden coins, right up to 16th July. I suspect some will be there for many years to come. I know of one that fell down, inside a hollow tree. That’ll confuse a future archeologist! Yes, I feel very special being involved with a work of art, even at a distance.
Hidden coins montage
As well as distributing coins, I was also acquiring a good step count for the day. Compensation for those times I don’t move far from the sofa at home!
Coffee and cake were very welcome. Just a slice of Victoria sponge, please. Well, what I got in the box was the biggest slice of cake I’ve ever had to deal with in a public space. Not complaining, but I really needed Liesel to help out with her fork. She was instead with the ladies of the WI.
Bull and coin
The local wildlife weren’t that impressed with events, so much so, they stayed out of focus.
Later on, I clapped as hundreds of people ran past, taking part in a 10km run. From their facial expressions, not everyone was enjoying it too much.
Runners
After a long walk in the park, it was time to move on. I caught a bus to Cheadle and started walking towards Martha’s and William’s school. As I was passing the Village swimming pool, I took advantage of the opportunity to use their facilities. I noticed Liam’s car in the car park and deduced, therefore, that the children were swimming. Actually, they would have just finished. So I waited for them to emerge from the changing rooms and I was delighted to hear that most searching of questions from Martha: ‘What’s Grandad doing here?’
We drove to the school and I paid for entry to their School Summer Fair. Spiderman was there and he has the ability to make small children levitate, which is a cool trick.
Spiderman
In the chocolate tombola, I won a big bar of Cadbury’s chocolate that, spoilers, Liesel and I polished off within three days.
Martha and William had fun on the bouncy castles, until the latter were deflated and tied down when it became too windy.
Martha
William
Jenny was there already and when she told me there were no hot drinks on sale here today, I threatened to complain to the committee. Don’t you dare, she warned, as a prominent member of said committee!
A splendid time was had by all, and I made my way home by bus. Two buses in fact, with another long walk between.
On Sunday, Liesel and I went into Manchester city centre. Our first port of call was the Science and Industry Museum. More specifically, the café, for a coffe and a spot of lunch. I wonder why lunches come in spots?
There’s a small exhibition here about Stephen Hawking and his theoretical physics work. They’ve even preserved his blackboard from Cambridge.
Stephen Hawking’s Blackboard
According to The Guardian: The Cambridge cosmologist, who died in 2018 at the age of 76, treasured a blackboard that became smothered with cartoons, doodles and equations at a conference he arranged in 1980. But what all the graffiti and in-jokes mean is taking some time to unravel.
Our final desination we knew was somewhere behind the museum. Down a road that Google Maps doesn’t even know about yet. The directions to Versa Studios given in the email were very precise. And when we were close, it was reassuring to see directing arrows on the black hoarding, leading us to the right place. It’s all happeneing here, in and near Festival Square, all part of Manchester International Festival.
A very Japanese entrance to Studio 12
The show we watched was Kagami, in which we enjoyed a hologram projection of Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto playing several of his compositions on the piano. We had to wear special goggles that revealed Ryuichi, but allowed you see other members of the audience as we were able to walk around the projection. Sadly, Ryuichi passed away in March so he never saw the final version of the show, but I hope he saw enough to know how good it would be.
As he began to play Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence, I told Liesel that was my favourite, and it seemed to be very popular as it was the only piece to attract a generous round of applause. Clapping a ghost, hmmm.
Don’t ask me to explain why his music sounds Japanese, but it does, it just evokes the sights and smells and sounds of that fascinating country.
The audience
Yes, it is weird looking at a picture of a group of people standing around, all apparently looking at absolutely nothing.
On July 3rd, 1973, I was not at Hammersmith Odeon to witness the final one of 180 shows played by Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Famously, not only was it the last show of the tour, it was the last show they’d ever do. So announced David Bowie before playing the final song, Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide.
Well on the fiftieth anniversary of that gig, Liesel and I witnessed the Global Premiere of the Film of that Concert. Not at Hammersmith Odeon unfortunately, but closer to home, at Cineworld, Parrs Wood. Global premiere? Yes, this would be the first showing of the whole concert, including a couple of songs missed out before, and the whole of special guest Jeff Beck’s performance. I can feel Liesel’s eyes roll as I write this and I know they will when she reads it later, but these details are important.
I no longer own it, but a few months later, I purchased a bootleg recording of the show at the wonderful, atmospheric, aromatic, long gone Kensington Market.
Mike Garson and Life on Ma
There was a piano introduction by Mike Garson, and a panel discussion about David Bowie, but for whatever reason, we only joined the event part-way through the discussion. It was OK, but nothing to write home about. I enjoyed the film immensely, Liesel not so much, especially the long guitar solos by Mick Ronson while David Bowie took a long time to change outfits!
We haven’t seen a rainbow here in Northenden for a while, but I captured this one before it disappeared behind the bin cupboard.
Rainbow
I caught a bus into Manchester to help with someone’s research. So glad I got an early bus, it took ages, as it had to make a long, slow detour for some reason. And even though the windows were open, the bus ride was ridiculously, uncomfortably hot. So my first task on arrival in the big city was to buy a bottle of water. Yes, I could have taken a water bottle with me from home, but that would have entailed thinking ahead, planning and remembering to pick the bottle up. But it didn’t even cross my mind.
Congrats! You did it!
I saw a few new graduates around town and I resisted the temptation to high-five anyone, but who knows, maybe some of them had been taught by Jenny at some point. I also wondered whether Jenny at some point had taught the Masters Researcher whom I was seeing today. Unlikely though, as she earned her first degree in Leeds.
I found my way over to the Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, part of the School of Biological Sciences within the University of Manchester.
The study is around factors affecting observation and imagination of computer-based actions in people with Parkinson’s and older adults. They want ‘old’ people, over 50 years of age. And they want people who use two fingers to type, not touch-typists.
I did a few tests on paper, typed a lot of words under various conditions, imagined typing words, and conducted a few other tests. I hope my results are useful. Especially if, in the end, it leads to some way of helping folks with Parkinson’s.
The bus ride home was just as long and devious and weary.
So, those coins, what do they look like? Each one in the set of three has one word on each side, which you can use to guide your future choices. Heads or tails?
My radio show recently was about all the local festivals. Time to engage with some, then. So, while Liesel enjoyed coffee with her WI chums over in Didsbury as usual on a Saturday morning, I took the bus to Wythenshawe. GRUB Carnival promised the best street food in Manchester. I thought the town centre would be heaving with stalls and people, but in the end, just five vendors competed for my custom.
The most interesting, to me, was Tasty Vegan Food from West Africa. I consulted Liesel by phone, and bought some puff puffs, both savoury and sweet, something that Liesel has been wanting to try for a long time.
GRUB Carnival
I took the goodies home, ate my half, and left Liesel’s for her. She’s lucky I didn’t consume her share too.
The puff puffs were indeed delicious. And, as it happens, Liesel’s been following this lady on Instagram for a while. Small world, innit?
Didsbury Arts Festival started too, and I thought I’d go along to look at the exhibits later in the week. The one Festival we did get involved with though was Glastonbury. The music was good, even if some of the mixes from the BBC, to my ears, weren’t that good.
Elton John’s performance on Sunday night was brilliant: hit after hit after hit. I watched it all live, but I did record it from TV and from the radio on my PC.
It would have been great to join the crowd at Glastonbury.
The Glasto crowd
Er, no, actually. Even seeing this image on TV made my palms sweat, I wasn’t that far away from a panic attack. I would not want to be in the middle of that lot. Nor would I want to be on the edge of the crowd, somewhere at the back, miles away from the stage. Still, as I said, it was a superb performance. And wonderful to see Ray Cooper, the percussionist, just as energetic as he was that time Sarah and I saw him with Elton, on stage, all those years ago, just the two of them on stage.
Elton John
Ray Cooper
Liesel walked over to Fletcher Moss to join the gang from the WI who’d been volunteered to clear the Himalayan balsam from the dipping pond. I walked over a bit later and we met for coffee before walking home. I still don’t know where the dipping pond is.
In the evening, Liesel went out again, this time to her WI Book Group. I recorded a chat with Kyle from Wythenshawe Star Gazers, which I spent a long time editing, for the radio show.
Liesel got up early and went for a solo walk. I got my steps in by joining the regular, organised walk, even though it was shorter. After this, Liesel and I joined our group of choir members in a pub in Gatley for lunch. No, we’re not in the choir, and so far, they haven’t caught on.
It was our turn to collect the children from school again this week, always a joy. They played in the school playground for a short while before we took them home.
Martha demonstrated her new skills, doing a hand-stand, going right over and finishing in the bridge position. From some hanging straps, she was able to pull herself up and through. I told her that I used to do that on tube trains in London, when they had similar straps, but I’m not sure she believed me.
Martha’s mid-air somersault
I didn’t perform that stunt too often though, because every time, it felt like my arms would be pulled out of their sockets. And now, I think those straps have all been replaced by something more rigid. That’s progress.
For logistical reasons, we took Martha and William to their own house, where we didn’t play much, or read anything. I think they were tired after a long, hot day at school. Instead, we watched several episodes of Bluey, an animated Australian TV series for children, but us adults enjoy it too, it’s quite funny. Bluey is an anthropomorphic six-year-old Blue Heeler puppy characterised by her abundance of energy, imagination and curiosity of the world. The young dog lives with her family who, I think, are more interesting and fun than, for example, Peppa Pig’s almost dysfunctional yet stereotypical family, useless dad especially.
William watching TV in comfort
In the end, I attended all three of the Thrive Manchester organised walks this week, a hat trick. It’s cooler and more humid now, compared with last week, so it often feels like it’s about to rain. But so far, we’ve not been caught in anything too bad.
Red, white and blue
I mentioned it earlier: the theme of this week’s radio show was Astronomy and my guest was Kyle, from Wythenshawe Star Gazers. Later on in the year, I’m hoping to join them for an evening of observation. If you missed the show on Wythenshawe Radio, you can catch a slightly extended version here on Mixcloud.
Oh. And we never did see anything at Didsbury Arts Festival. Maybe next year.
Mick and Liesel's Antics 