William played his part well in promoting the 2nd Cheadle Scut Group’s annual Ram Roast. We could hear him tooting all the way from Northenden.
Meanwhile, his cousin Keiran was quite happy to let the wind blow through his copious hair.
On TV, we all (avidly) watched (some of) the snooker World Championship final, between Shaun Murphy and Wu Yize. Some of the commentary was a bit naff, but the snooker was good. Wu Yize won, and he became the second Chinese player in a row to become World Champion. I would have liked Shaun to win, purely on the basis that he listens to the same podacst as I do, Danny Baker’s Treehouse.
We also watched series 3 of The Capture, one of those stories that makes you wonder just how much of it is actually true. If not today, then tomorrow… Great stuff.
But we weren’t sitting around getting square eyes all of the time. We did leave the flat for the odd shopping trip or wander.
At school, we were surprised and delighted to find a couple of frogs in the playground.
It’s part of Stockport’s Gigantic Leap Frog Art Trail, which features colourful and uniquely designed frog sculptures sponsored by local businesses and painted by local artists. I invited Liesel to leap over the frog, a fantastic photo opportunity, but she declined. Earlier in the day though, she had been mass producing sushi rolls.
We dined back at Jenny’s house, and although disappointed that they didn’t make their own on this occasion, Martha and William wolfed down the food. I like sushi too. There, I said it. Even though, whenever it’s mentioned, my first thought is ‘ugh’, because I still associate that word with fish (raw or otherwise) which I don’t eat. It’s a weird and annoying train of thought that I hope to grow out of one day.
We missed watching Martha at her cricket class tonight but promised to come along at the next opportunity.
I’m not at all jealous that Keiran has much more hair then I do, but I do wish he wouldn’t flaunt it quite as much.
The next time we collected Martha and William from school, we went litter picking in Cheadle Hulme. I’d like it say it’s a higher quality of litter here than in Northenden, but no, it’s the same old crap, some of it decades old.
We do know how to have a good time with our grandchildren!
Liesel and I walked to Didsbury via Withington Golf Course, just for a change, a place I don’t think I’ve visited since the pandemic. There was a goose on one of the greens, so I tried to mansplain the difference between a birdie, an eagle, an albatross and a goose, in golfing terms.
We stopped for a coffee in Fletcher Moss, where a duck started to approach us. It soon realised we had no food to give away, so it walked towards some other potential mugs. It reminded me of those chuggers you still see sometimes out on the High Street. Mmm, yes another strange train of thought. But they too back off after a dirty look.
In the evening, Liesel, her Mom and I drove into Manchester for our first concert for quite a while. The Puppini Sisters are celebrating their twentieth anniversary and they gave as a really good performance at Hallé St Peter’s.
Great harmonies, plenty of familiar songs to clap or tap along to.
Parking was easy. I used the app to pay. It cost 20p for over twelve hours, what a bargain! Actually, parking was free for the time we were there, I was just charged 20p because I used the app. Which I didn’t need to. What a rip off.*
Liesel and I drove to Oldham for a pedicure. Abi said I have better feet than most women do. She must be the best pedicurist on the planet, in my humble opinion, certainly a top judge of people’s plates.
WI friend Jean took Leslie out for a walk, but unfortunately, the heavens opened, they had rain and hail but managed to stay dry, indoors. While in Oldham, we heard quite a substantial thunderstorm.
And so, it was time to start packing for our exciting week away in London. Just the bare minimum. Or is is bear minimum?
*Yeah, there’s a word for this sort of thing: Enshittification. I’m currently reading a book called The Enshittification of Everything, by Cory Doctorow. Highly recommended if you’re like me, like a good whinge about stuff, and wonder why the heck everything is getting worse. Thank you Pauline. And it’s not just online stuff either. The parking issue mentioned above could easily be resolved by giving greater prominence to a sign saying that parking is free after 6pm, not burying that fact in page 43 of the terms and conditions in very small print. Grr.
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