Socks and tiles

Several thousand words omitted describing Mick’s medical emergency and its aftermath. More medical appointmets in a week than there are atoms in a water molecule. The worst thing is, training for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics has been on hold, so there’s some catching up to do.

But slowly, slowly, Mick climbed back through the treacle to a more resonable, stable landscape. Just in time too. Writing in the third person because it all seems like it was happening to somebody else, over there, and I was merely an observer.

Some lovely friends from Germany paid a quick visit to Manchester and we three, Mick, Liesel and Leslie, enjoyed entertaining them for a few days. I last met Fe a couple of years ago in Anchorage, but this was the first time I’d met her mother, Gabi, and her 10-month old daughter Charlotte.

We caught a bus into the city and Charlotte kept us entertained on board.

Our first destination was The Whitworth Gallery. Liesel and I have been before but it was fun to act as guides for our guests. As if we knew what we were talking about!  Charlotte wasn’t bothered by the artwork, but she did like to move around a lot.

The exhibition of Carnival pictures was alright but I think we were all too busy talking and catching up on family news, I didn’t take  many pictures. I was feeling much better, but still nowhere near 100%.

In fact, after lunch in the café, I went home for a nap while our visitors wandered around some other Manchester sights and sites.

The weir in Northenden is broken, no idea how that happened, but it means that the annual Northenden Boat Race was cancelled.

To be honest, I needed a nap at home too, but in the evening, we all met up for a meal in Albert’s, a restaurant just along the road from Fe and Gabi’s b&b: what are the chances? Lovely, sociable Charlotte made friends with everyone, including the serving staff. She can just about walk, as long as she holds on to one or two grown-up fingers, and she and I circumnavigated the restaurant a couple of times.

We all returned to Manchester for another full day of sightseeing.

Our guests admired the architecture of the Midland Hotel, and all I could think of was the very small cup of coffee I had in there once when I visited with my other mother-in-law, many years ago. And, we were reminded that Manchester Pride is imminent.

I think they could have made this statue of Abraham Lincoln even taller if they’d given him his stovepipe hat. John Rylands Library is always good to wander round, look at the books, and the architecture. Liesel and I joined an organised tour a while ago, but they no longer run these. Someone asked, did the building used to be a church? No, but it was designed to resemble a church. And it was good to see thet we weren’t the only overseas visitors today.

We continued our tour of the city at the Museum of Science and Industry. Disappointing that the loom wasn’t in operation today due to lack of volunteers. On the other hand, it’s quite a noisy machine and maybe a bit too loud for Charlotte’s little lugs.

But Charlotte did enjoy time in the soft play area, even while being a bit discombobulated being pushed round and round in an oversize cotton reel.

We paid a visit to nearby Castlefield Viaduct too. Gabi and I climbed the stairs, and that was almost too much for me, on this occasion. Fe and Liesel pushed the buggy the long way round since the lift is still out of commission.

The various gardens on the viaduct are a wee bit unkempt right now, maybe the volunteer gardeners have been enjoying a nice, lazy Summer. Still, it was interesting to see and hear Gabi’s take on some of the plants, I wondered whether she was a herbalist (a witch?) in a previous life.

Royal Mail offer a very different service in Manchester, as we discovered on our walk back to our bus stop.

Fe and Gabi’s visit came to a sudden end. We paid a return visit to Albert’s for a farewell meal, thank you very much, after which we wandered back to their b&b for a quick glass of wine. It was quite late in the evening, but Charlotte showed no sign of needing to go to sleep.

Meanwhile, what’s Helen been up to? We saw her briefly when she arrived from Aus, but since then she and Brent have been on an extensive tour of the UK and Ireland. Lake District with Jenny and the family. Edinburgh for the Festival Fringe, Ireland for a wedding, Brighton to visit Amy and then to Kingston for a meal at Riverside Vegetaria, celebrating its 35th anniversary.

I came into our living room and saw this apparition. Don’t worry, it’s only William. You can tell by the odd socks on his odd feet.

When we were at the Museum of Science and Technology, we saw there’s a room full of old video games, and we thought Martha and William might both enjoy this. They both play games on parents’ phones, after all. The adventure started with a tram ride into Manchester and I met up with everyone at the Museum. Why didn’t I travel in with them? Sod’s Law, innit. The last few weeks, our Ocado delivery has arrived at about 9.30, or even earlier. Today, because we’d planned to go out, he didn’t arrive until an hour later. Of course he didn’t.

Anyway, while I was excited to come across a working BBC Microcomputer, I was very disappointed that I couldn’t remember enough to help Martha write a BBC Basic program.

I like this photo because we have a very similar one featuring young Jenny programming my own, original BBC micro.

While she and William were playing with Sonic the Hedgehog and Pokémon, I did manage to insert a single line of code which I hope later visitors will appreciate.

The children spent a few more hours at the museum, playing these video games but also exploring the exploration area, causing earthquakes, studying viscosity, playing with magnets and much more. But William delighted us by persevering and building a Soma cube from seven differently shaped pieces.

And then Martha and I played a game of Jenga with some very sticky tiles. The tower was precarious and guess who made the final, fatal move?

I had the first of the week’s three medical appointmets in the aftrernoon so, after lunch,  I departed, leaving Liesel and Leslie in charge.

And here’s little Martha relaxing in the cotton spool recently vacated by little Charlotte.

A couple more medical appointments later in the week that encouraged me to walk in places I’ve not wandered before. I like a bit of street art but I just wish the artist would arrange things so that I could get a decent photo of the whole thing without having to clamber up a drainpipe and balance precariously on someobody’s wall. So this picture is a bit distorted.

And yes, I must be feeling a little bit better, more myself, but nowhere near 100%, because I let Liesel persuade me to join her and Leslie on the regular Friday morning Thrive walk in Wythenshawe. It was alright although I was aware of walking more slowly than I usually do. I was glad to take a load off in Costa afterwards.

Yes, I can see the irony in me feeling a bit down at the moment thanks to a, hopefully temporary, impairment in my abilities, while, at the same time, watching and admiring the Paralympians on TV living with, coping with and even overcoming their permanent disabilities. They are amazing.