July 2026

Clammy and Hazy

Yeah, Clammy and Hazy, not to be confused with the 1970s folk duo with the same name.

We’ve always wanted to visit Madagascar, that African island in the Indian Ocean, accidental home of Alex the lion, Marty the zebra, Melman the giraffe and Gloria the hippo, at least according to the Dreamworks films. Which, it turns out, are not actually documentaries.

It was a suitably hot day, temperature in the low 30s: so hot that the regular Friday walk which I’d planned to join for the first time in a few months was actually cancelled. The AC in the car struggled even on the short drive to Cheadle where along with the other grandparents, we watched Martha’s drama group perform their version of Madagascar. Martha was Melman, and she and all the other girls did a great job performing, singing and dancing. I did appreciate the guy with the longest neck and the biggest head sitting in front of me, but I’m used to it, I think he follows me around, even if he does vary his hairstyle from time to time.

Meanwhile, in Newport, Orgeon, Liesel and her Mom had the whole beach very nearly to themselves. It was a bit cooler here, too, the temperature dropped from high 20s to 13°C.

And at the other extreme, in the antipodes, both Helen in Sydney and Pauline in Christchurch are enjoying mid-Winter. Keiran’s first Winter and he’s thoroughly enjoying it (I assume).

Not only is it hot here (I don’t like saying it’s ‘too hot’ beacuse, to me, that’s much better than being ‘too cold’ and so much rarer), some wildfires have started. There’s a big one near Dovestone Reservoir in Oldham. Liesel has been for a walk in that area, and it’s a lovely part of the world. Not when it’s on fire though. Someone set fireworks off. Could have been a disposable barbecue, I suppose. Or just a discarded bottle focussing the Sun’s rays. It’s so easy to start a fire when all the grass is so dry. The worst thing is, the smoke travels miles. It even reaches Northenden, so when I woke up in the middle of the night, I just assumed that some local twat had lit a bonfire, but in this case, apparently not.

There are other wildfires near Tintwistle and Conwy in Wales, so pretty much whichever way the wind blows, Manchester’s going to be smoked like a kipper.

After so long without rain, I expected to see the river flowing at a lower level than usual, but not yet. Sitting on top of the weir like three gents at the urinals deliberately not standing next to each other, were a heron, a cormorant and a gull. Very exciting. Only, when I walked along the river a bit and looked back, it turns out the middle one was a Canada goose, not a cormorant. Sorry, but not as exciting.

The advice is to keep our windows closed to keep the smoke out. Despite the heat. And once the air inside has settled down, a fan can make things bearable. To the extent that, when you walk outside, you’re surprised by how smokey and hazy it is.

To get away from the heat, Liesel suggested I go to Whitby for a few days. Or Dundee even. I thought that was a bit extravagant and hmmed and hahed for a couple of days. Then the smoke came and the balance tipped in the favour of going away. But do you know the clincher? Rot13 Cvpxvat zl abfr naq svaqvat oynpx obtvrf. Dundee proved to be too far away (syurprise!) so I booked a cheap Airbnb in Whitby.

In the olden days, if a helicopter appeared, the local Chessington Facebook group would go mad, speculating and complaining about the noise.

Here in Northenden, I just assumed it was part of the crew dealing with the fires. Of course, it might be totally unrelated, but it was loud, even with the windows closed.

I made a quick trip to Wythenshawe amazed at how hazy everything looked. It doesn’t really show in my photos, but here’s a picture of Manchester that I found (borrowed from someone) on the internet.

Manchester through the haze. Thank you very much, Andrew Stuart on Instagram

I collected the children from school and I’m so glad I remembered to take a snack for them: chocolate brownie. Which, I’m pleased to say, hadn’t melted in the heatwave.

Some good news: the hopscotch pitches in the playground have been repaired, after being ruined by the builders.

Back at home we started to play a game of Cockroach Poker, but didn’t have time to finish. William was pleased that he was winning when we stopped to eat dinner.

He accompanied me to the chippie where we bought fish and chips, and a pie for me. There being no space on the road, I parked in the Co-op car park which is, of course, for their customers only. William was quite adamant that I’d get in trouble and that if I did, I wasn’t to blame him!

After eating, I took Martha to her cricket game while Jenny picked up a couple of other team members. Cheadle CC v Didsbury CC.

When not playing, Martha and her team practiced their pogo skills and their handstands. Not the best way to field while playing cricket, but it’s jolly good fun.

Martha played very well scoring two 4s and her team won the match against what their coach, Matt, called their ‘biggest rivals’. To celebrate, the team built a human pyramid fairly successfully: fits of giggles suggest the experience was fun and best of all, no broken bones.

Yes, going away for a few days to cool down and to breathe some fresh air, so I put together this week’s radio show fairly quickly. You can hear it live on Wythenshawe Radio WFM 97.2 on Sunday afternoon at 4pm get the link.

Liesel continues her adventures in America. She met up with her brother Aaron and his family and, since there was no cricket to watch, they enjoyed a baseball game instead.

This was a homecoming for Liesel and her Mom, they used to live in Eugene, before their big Alaskan adventure.

A perfect opportunity for some sightseeing too.

Being on the west coast is great, because you can watch the Sun set over the Pacific. And if you’re really lucky, you might glimpse the famous but elusive green flash just as the Sun disappears completely. Well, on this occasion, at Nye Beach, Newport, Liesel had my kind of luck.

Things are looking good at this point, but then just a few minutes later…

So, big heads in front of me at a show and clouds in front of the Sun at the moment of susnset. Life is full of obstructions, isn’t it! Still, onwards and upwards…

Stillness

We didn’t visit Didsbury Makers Market this month (nothing unusual there) partly due to laziness but also due to being invited to join the family for lunch. We met up in Cheadle and enjoyed some delicious Lebanese food.

Martha was still proudly wearing the cap she was presented with at the T20 match. Shazam let me down a bit, being unable to identify the music being played, Lebanese (I think) interpretations of popular western songs. Potential fodder for the radio show.

Liesel and her Mom started packing in earnest for their upcoming trip. Clothing for four seasons might be required so you can imagine the size of their cases.

We picked the children up from school and walked straight home on this occasion. It was threatening to rain, and we recalled the days when, if it were raining as we walked home from school, the children would walk slower and slower. No longer, thank goodness!

Indoors, Martha, with Oma’s help, made an earring holder from an old picture frame and some wire mesh. A very clever concept. Meanwhile, William was concentrating on his Minecraft-themed craft activity, gluing a million very small pixellated tiles to very small templates.

After we’d wolfed down some pizzas, Martha was scheduled to play in another cricket match but this was cancelled when the rain became too hard. Before that point, she and the team had a spot of practice.

Did she hit the ball hard enough to smash a window in that nearby house? I couldn’t possibly comment.

Well, that’s two out of the three grandchildren, where’s the other one? Very civilised, Keiran took his Mama and Dada out for breakfast.

Very nice breakfast at SeaSprout, Freshwater, a good choice of venue!

Liesel and her Mom flew from Manchester to London Heathrow, the first leg of their journey back to America, specifically to Seattle initially. And despite setting Google Maps to take me straight home, I still managed to miss a turning. It often happens. I’m not consciously aware of being emotionally challenged after such an airport parting, but maybe something is going on in the depths of the grey matter.

So I arrived home too late to join the regular walk around Northenden, but I went and joined the gang for a coffee anyway.

I wandered over to Wythenshawe Park to join that organised walk, but somehow missed everyone. I didn’t even have a coffee here before wandering back home again.

The soundtrack to my stroll was partly traffic, and partly birds singing, but nearer home, we just enjoy the sounds from the building site: diggers, pile drivers, excavators, pneumatic drills, lorries, generators, compressors, bulldozers and who know what else? Very loud, very rhythmic. And so a joy to have our windows open at home. Still, it’ll be nice when it’s finished…

Liesel and Leslie enjoyed their adventures with Holly and Pat (Holly’s Mom) in Washington state, USA, jetlag not being a big problem. They visited Lynden, Fairhaven and, by boat, Friday Harbor on San Juan Island (one of the San Juan Islands).

I’m not sure whether they had dinner or supper that night, given that in the afternoon they consumed ice creams as big as standard sized human kidneys (I imagine).

Another day, another cricket match. This time, the venue was the home of Stockport Georgians Cricket Club, which is a lot further from home. Both William and Martha got in some good training, even though William wasn’t playing.

Martha’s idea of training: on a pogo stick

Martha had a good game, scoring two boundaries, bowling and fielding well. Her team, Cheadle Cricket Club Under 11s Lionesses won the game.

We’re in for another heatwave but that didn’t stop several of us from joining the walks. I do like the sunshine but when it’s this hot, I do like walking through the woods, and keeping to the shady side of the street where necessary.

We were a small but perfectly formed group this morning, as we strolled through Wythenshawe absorbing 27° and appreciating the half-hearted breeze that appeared from time to time.

In other news, I have put together a couple of radio shows, and I’ve sorted through and recycled several piles of paper. Sometimes, indoors, I can hear a little bird above the sound of the building work. I think it’s some sort of small finch, but my Chirp-O-Matic app insists it’s a woodpecker. There is a queue of stuff to dispose of and that’s my aim, to complete that task before Liesel returns. I’ll try not to leave it all until the day before.

Song and Dance

While I was enjoying my train journey to Reading, Liesel was having her own little adventure. On the way to Martha and Williama’s school Summer Fair (Fayre?), she got a puncture. Well, not Liesel herself, it was one of the car’s tyres. Less than two months ago, we bought a set of four brand new tyres, and here we are already with a puncture. It was sorted quickly by the nice young men at Halfords.

It was a momentous day down under too. Helen Scissorhands gave Keiran his first haircut.

And afterwards, he still has more hair than I have.

After arriving in Reading, I took a bus to my Airbnb where Rosie welcomed me and as soon as I had privacy in my room, I had a lie down. Plans to do some sight-seeing in this town bit the dust, but later on, I did go for a bus ride and a wander while I sought somewhere nice to eat. In the end, I settled for nachos. Nothing special, but just what I needed at the time.

Whereas Northenden has 101 vape shops, Reading seems to specialise in mobile phone accessory outlets, several next to each other in one alleyway.

No, I wasn’t staying at this old hotel, dating from 1506 apparently. I was in fact in the basement of a Buddhist retreat which I was grateful for, it was much cooler here than outside. Reading has a Business Improvement District and I was impressed by this four-tier floral display in the town centre.

You learn something new every day. The idea for Paddington Bear came from Reading, and the Reading citizens are very ptoud of that.

After a good night’s sleep, I did wander the streets a bit more, despite the heat. I try not to be full-on British and complain that it’s too hot when we’ve been waiting so long for some warmth, but I did find myself heading for shade whenever possible.

Reading does have a heart, and as I walked by the River Kennet, I found it.

From the explanatory plaque: The Reading Amnesty Art Project incorporates reclaimed weapons from knife amnesty bins, to form part of a sculpture for our local community.

Working with young people around ideas of reflection, peace, hope, togetherness and safety – Stuart Melrose has created ‘The Armoured Heart’ a symbol ol respect and love.

When knife crime happens, it affects everyone – real people and real lives. Every person matters. We need to respect each other and ourselves, and ensure that Reading is a safe place to live

Make a positive choice to not carry a knife or use violence.

Support each other and we can make Reading a safer place for everyone.

Many people were enjoying the sunshine in Forbury Gardens as I walked through on my pilgrimage to Reading Abbey. On this site, I encountered only a couple of other visitors, which I thought strange. The Abbey was founded in 1121 by the first King Henry and it has a fascinating history.

Here are some ruins with a very modern building, The Blade, in the background. Construction of this modern office block began in 2007, so it’s just 886 years younger than the Abbey.

I’m always on the lookout for songs for my radio show, so I was delighted to come across this one:

Sadly, there was nobody else around to hear my recitation. Their loss.

I sat on a park bench where I met and chatted with a retired Scottish guy who spends half his time in Romania. Following his recommendation, I have watched some videos on YouTube made by @BlackBeltBarrister, plenty of food for thought there.

While enjoying my late breakfast slash early lunch, I wasn’t expecting to see a Zebra go by. A Zebra is, of course, a Zero-Emission Bus for the Reading Area. But all the buses here seem to be colour-coded. The buses I used most often were Yellow 26 and Jet Black 1. While enjoying coffee and a muffin in BB’s, I watched someone taking pictures of all the buses going by. Other colours include Azure, Sky Blue 15a, Lime, Purple 17 and more. I saw one with Global Warming stripes as its livery. And the replacement buses all seem to be grey.

Something else I thought was a very good, modern idea was, on buses terminating at the railway station, there was a display showing the next few train departure times and their platform numbers.

One job I don’t particularly fancy is that of Environmental Enforcement Officer, pounding the streets of Reading. I can’t believe the amount of equipment they carry around.

The reason for my visit to Reading this weekend was to attend Jesstival. Jessica Lee Morgan has just turned 50 years of age (she’s not coy about this fact) and she was celebrating by performing at The Purple Turtle with various guest musicians.

I was pleased to meet Sue, another big music fan, who shares my birthday. It was hot outside but we agreed that the air conditioning inside was unnecessarily turned up to 11. Still, the music was good. Jess performed several 20-minute long sets with her partner Chris and other fellow musicians that she’s worked with at various points in the past.

They performed plenty of Jess’s own songs, plus a few Bowie tracks, and a few others from the old Those Were The Days shows. The tongue-twisting When did it all Begin was well-received by all.

Simon Adams played drums on a few songs. Jess played sax and kazoo but sadly not at the same time.

Frank Zappa wasn’t there today, but having his image outside the Accessible Toilet was quite funny, I thought.

Crispin ‘The Pump’ Taylor, a member of The Blow Monkeys, played the drums beginning with a fantastic cover of Son of a Preacher Man. Other covers included Dock of the Bay, Big Yellow Taxi, Lady Stardust, You’re so Vain, and of course, Those Were the Days.

I’m sorry I didn’t get all the names, but I think we saw and heard Laurie Wright on bass, Pete Doyle, Jules Hay and Peter Byrne from Coda Led Zeppelin. Someone White was visiting from Brisbane and I think I heard the name Mick Anchor. Nor did I get around to getting a copy of the set list.

Jessica with kazoo and Mr White on drums

I was surprised that there was no food available at this pub, not even crisps, so, during one of the breaks I visited Subway, next door but one, and bought a dozen cookies which I was happy to share.

Under Pressure, Locomotive Breath, Play that Funky Music White Boy, I Heard it Through the Grapevine, Pink Floyd’s Money, Video Killed the Radio Star, Twentieth Century Boy and possibly my favourite song of the day, Sandy Denny’s Where Does the Time Go?

The gig finished about 9.30, with two of Jess’s own songs that we all sang along to, The Less Said The Better and This is My Love Song, ending very nearly six hours of entertainment. I caught a bus back to my accommodation but I don’t know why I bothered, it was only two stops!

Thanks to Jessica for the invitation and for the entertainment. I’m sorry that your parents weren’t there but I’m sure they celebrated your half-century in their own way!

I said farewell to Rosie before checking out after another good, comfortable night’s sleep. Although I did hear some Buddhist chanting fairly early. From the bus on the return journey to the station I spotted Muffin Break. I had breakfast here and a coffee. The coffee was so good, I had a second cup along with a muffin. It passed the time until my train turned up.

I saw this train at the station and thought that’s what trains are supposed to look like. It’s very nearly the same shade of green that the old Southern Region trains were, the ones that took us into London as children for many enjoyable days out in the capital.

It was good to be back home.

And good to pick the children up from school on a very hot day. The post-school snack, for all of us, was an ice cream in the park. Both Martha and William were pleased that the zipwire had been fixed.

I accidentally left my phone at home on the day we went to watch Martha’s cricket team play a match. She batted well and bowled a wicket, so we were very pleased that she was announced Player of the Match.

The weather this week was challenging. Very hot. So, one afternoon, Liesel, Leslie and I went to the movies. We enjoyed The Tuner although it was slightly more violent than anticipated. Again, too many adverts and trails though.

And the following evening, Liesel and I attended one of the few performances of The Surge: An Ode to Sinéad O’Connor at Aviva Studios. It’s always good of course to hear Sinéad’s voice, whether singing or speaking, but the troupe of ten dancers made the show.

If I said they spent a lot of time dancing on park benches and moving them around the stage, you’d probably think, that sounds a bit daft. But no, it was a fascinating show, full of energy, skill and stamina.

While we were being entertained here, Martha was on the world stage. The Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup is taking place, and tonight at Old Trafford, Scotland played Sri Lanka. Martha was proud to be a mascot joining the Scottish team as they played and sang their national anthem, Flower of Scotland.

There’s a ceremony at the start of each match where they bring on the national flags, huge flags, and Liam volunteered to help carry the Sri Lanka one onto the field.

Of course, it was only fair that Martha lift the trophy, supported by her cousin.

Martha the World Cup winner with Annabel

It was well worth visiting Quarry Bank Mill for a quick walk. Mainly though, we went for the scones since Liesel and her Mom will be leaving very soon for America. Purple/pink flowers seem to be the flavour of the day.

There were plenty of bees and a couple of butterflies. But the insect we got closest to was a moth, back in our apartment block. Because it’s hot, we leave the windows open. And because the motion-senitive lights don’t work and stay on all night, loads of bugs fly in.

It was beginning to cool down, no more 30° days for a short while. Quite pleasant in fact, especially with a light breeze. We heard some thunder rumbling in the distance but didn’t see any lightning. Certainly nothing like the 93,000 lightning strikes they’d experienced in Oban a few nights ago.