Changes

Helen and Brent returned from Wales having not tried a single Welsh cake. Can you believe it? We all met up in Yara, a restaurant in Cheadle that I’d not been to before. It was not only our opportunity to say farewell to the travellers, but an early birthday celebration for Liesel. Helen and Brent were scheduled to fly home the following morning, Sunday, while Liesel, Leslie and I were scheduled to fly to Alaska on Wednesday. The children had made a card for their Oma, which was displayed on the table for a short while. I think this must be how the servers knew it was Liesel’s birthday, so having all decided we were too full for dessert, they sang Happy Birthday while bringing over a huge slice of chocolate cake which saw Liesel’s eyes almost pop out on stalks.

It didn’t last long, though: it would have been very rude for the rest of us not to help Liesel consume the confection. The waiters had several extra forks to wash up afterwards.

When Helen and Brent were not quite half way back to Sydney, Liesel, Leslie and I ventured into Manchester for a gig. I’ve wanted to see Camille O’Sullivan for a long time, and I booked tickets as soon as the show was announced, back in January. I didn’t know then that Leslie would be with us, so a couple of days earlier, I went online hastily to purchase a third ticket.

We parked easily, close to the venue, Band on the Wall, just a five minute walk in the drizzle. Best of all, there were seats. Not like the last time we’d been to this venue and witnessed a fight between other, drunk, audience members, but that’s another story.

The stage was well decorated with various characters and I thought, that’s about right for Camille, yes.

The show was very good, she performed a lot of songs by Shane McGowan and told us stories abouit him and Sinéad O’Connor. We remembered Jacques Brel (Amsterdam), Kirsty MacColl (In These Shoes) and David Bowie (Where are we now? and Quicksand), and I sang along to their songs sotto voce.

At one point, Camille channeled Grace Jones, dancing with a hula hoop.

I noticed that I wasn’t the oldest person in the audience. I don’t think Liesel’s Mom was the oldest either. I could see now why they’d put seats out for all the seniors.

Feargal the accompanyist was really good too, playing keyboards and joining in with a couple of duets, including Sinéad and Shane’s Haunted and, of course, a part of Fairytale of New York. The audience joined in too, quietly.

More medical madness: after a telephone consultation, I made more appointments for next week, grrr. As a result, we’ve decided to postpone our trip to Alaska for a few weeks. I think this decision has relieved both Liesel and myself of a tonne of anxiety. Phew!

The highlight of the week was collecting Martha and William from school, and bringing them home to indulge in a variety of crafts. William is enjoying helping Oma with the 1000-piece Pokémon jigsaw puzzle. He knows all the characters and their characteristics. Liesel just knows there are pink ones and yellow ones…

Meanwhile, I helped Martha make a multi-coloured pom-pom but of course, I didn’t get a photo of the finished item, which is now pride of place in Martha’s bedroom. Or maybe tossed into the back of a drawer.

Jenny and Liam joined us for dinner, Indian food, very flavourful and not too hot and spicy, of course.

On another, sunny but cool day, we walked over to Northenden Community Library which is now located in St Wilfrid’s Church Hall, so just 15 minutes away as the crow waddles. Did we walk that extra little bit down the road to the coffee shop? Nope. Straight home for a restorative sit-down and breather.

I dropped Leslie and Liesel off in Didsbury so they could join a walk with the WI. I then drove over to Wythenshawe with a view to joining the regular Thrive walk. In the end, the distance I walked was minimal. I feel much better on the whole, yes, but my stamina, my oomph, is still not there. If I were a toy, a few AAA batteries would sort me out.

I look forward to the day when my daily step count is once again in five figures. Here’s a tip: never, ever, ever get ill.