Autobiographical

Books and paintings

Haworth has been on our mental list of places to visit for quite a long time. And while Barbara took Leslie out to the seaside, Liesel and I drove over to Brontë country. It was a beautiful day for a walk around the village, following a really old route map.

Yes, an old postbox was the first real splash of colour we saw after parking next to the railway station.

This picture looks like a toy trainset, but that’s just because we were looking slightly down on these old things. There were a couple of engineers at work too: always good to see people working hard when I don’t have to!

It was a nice wander through the countryside, a few inclines but nothing too bad. Does the wind turbine ruin the view?

Well, having only one didn’t seem to be a big problem, to me. Except, it alone won’t generate much electricity! But later on, from a different perspective, we noticed there were in fact quite a few more.

Would you like to see a picture Liesel standing on a cute little stone bridge, watching a train go by? Here you go:

We passed by the house that features in the film The Railway Children, The Three Chimneys, known as Bents House in real life.

And then we passed through Perks’ Stile, not a real stile at all, just a gap in the wall. But this was a mistake. Thinking we were still on our intended route, we forced our way along an increasingly narrow path, being very intimate with all the overgrown vegetation, including nettles.

We passed by a few signs like this, so it seems the locals aren’t all that keen on wind turbines, after all. But I think on a really windy day, when you see those blades whizzing round at 45rpm, you could say, “Wow, look at them turbines, they’re wuthering well today”, thus bringing back that lovely old word into common usage.

So, having realised our mistake, we plotted our replacement, emergency walk back into Haworth itself. And yes, of course we enjoyed the views. And we’ll have to come back to Haworth sometime to follow the whole route correctly! I haven’t read Wuthering Heights since I was at school, maybe it’s time to read it again.

And another splash of colour, although sometimes when the blooms are in direct sunshine, the phone camera doesn’t always see the finer details.

We had time for a quick lunch at the pub before walking through Central Park and back to the station.

Ten years on and I’m still having work-related dreams. Total nonsense, in which the location doesn’t match the job and it’s the wrong manager for that company. Most days, I can’t remember my dreams, so it’s really annoying when I do remember and it’s this crap.

We drove to Didsbury, Liesel dropped me off at M&S, collected a lady with a cake, and they drove off to the WI coffee morning at the Metropolitan. I dropped a bag of CDs off at Oxfam, bought some bread and walked over to the Metropolitan where, after breakfast, Liesel drove us back home. Then, more excitingly, in the afternoon, we visited RHS Bridgewater again for a bit of a wander amongst the flowers.

We ate lunch outside, regretting that we hadn’t arrived at this restaurant just a few minutes earlier: then we too might have enjoyed shelter from the Sun under the home-grown parasols.

It was a very popular venue today: must be the weather. We sat down on a bench for a while to contemplate, watch people and just enjoy being outside. A hundred and one things to do at home but… they can all wait.

Banksy is maybe the Marmite of artists, you either love him or you don’t. In Manchester right now, there’s an exhibition of his works: The Mystery of Banksy: A Genius Mind. Unusually, we travelled into Manchester by train, from Gatley, since the venue, Mayfield Depot, is just a short walk away from Manchester Piccadilly. And we didn’t want to get too wet if it were to rain!

As the poster says:

BANKSY once said “I like to think I have the guts to stand up anonymously in a western democracy and call for things no one else believes in – like peace and justice and freedom.”

There is no need to talk about BANKSY’S creations any further since they speak for themselves louder than any description text ever could. Enjoy the experience, don’t look the other way and stop leaning against the wall – it’s wet.

Curator Virginia Jean.

Well, thank you, Virginia, we did indeed enjoy the experience, the skill, the humour and in a couple of instances, the absolute nonsense.

The “Barely Legal” exhibition was one of the most important moments in Banksy’s artistic career. He received both criticism and significant attention for this show. “A Three Day Vandalized Warehouse Extravaganza”, as it was called, was held in L.A. from 15th to 17th September 2006. “Barely Legal” took place not in a gallery, but in an industrial warehouse. The centrepiece of the exhibition was a 3.6 ton live elephant covered with red paint and a fleur-de-lis pattern matching the wallpaper of the exhibition. Distributed flyers read “There’s an elephant in the room… 20 billion people live below the poverty line”, an exaggerated metaphor for a problem that Banksy felt was not being addressed. The central theme of the exhibition was a critique of consumerism and the capitalist model which is also strongly represented in Banksy’s “Barely Legal” collection of images. Many of the pieces had been seen before on the streets of London and other cities, in books about Banksy’s work and on his website. Jude Law, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were among the most prominent Hollywood celebrities who attended.

This is of course the caption at the show, not my words, but it was all new information for me!

I seem to remember seeing this near the National Theatre in London many years ago, when he was just another street artist or graffiti artist, depending on your point of view.

Daisy Buchanan is a character in The Great Gatsby (another book that I should probably read again), but there is a writer who shares that name. I had the pleasure meeting her at Simply Books at the launch of her new book, All Grown Up. Much of the action in the story takes place in Bramhall, and Simply Books itself is mentioned in the narrative. So, I look forward to reading it, although I wonder whether I should read Little Women first, since that was its inspiration?

While in the shop, I couldn’t resist buying another book. So, the TBR pile continues to grow, while at the same time, we’re trying to reduce our book collection. Weird, eh‽

The regular Wednesday walk was attended by about 16 people, even though it had been raining torrentially, earlier on. I visited the dentist on the way and wished Sharon a long and happy retirement, we’ll miss her.

The old TomTom satnav device was still in the car: we’d totally forgotten about it. Within a few days, it found a new home via Freegle and I hope it doesn’t lead the new owners into trouble.

Last year, the Lowry 360 Show was fully booked so my visiting sister and her partner, Pauline and Andrew, missed out on the opportunity to live briefly inside LS Lowry’s iconic painting, Going to the Match. We were of course at the gallery/theatre complex named in his honour, in Salford.

I wasn’t allowed to take pictures, so here’s an official one.

It was a bit disconcerting watching the whole picture move around you, zooming into the crowd, panning around the stadium of a 1953 football match. The narrator sounded like Diana Morgan but was in fact Bolton-born Sophie Willan.

After waiting nearly a year to view this extravaganza, it was over within 6 minutes, leaving us plenty of time to view some other paintings. You can’t help but notice the spectacular wall painting by Camille Walala. As the description says, her eye-catching, colourful geometric designs have appeared around the world. Often inspired by cityscapes, she turns everyday places into bright, positive spaces for all to enjoy.

For Square Eyes, Camille responded to the unique views of MediaCity across the water and wanted to mirror the panorama by creating her own joyful metropolis.

And after Media City, we drove to the Trafford Centre, primarily to visit M&S, but why not have a late lunch slash early dinner here? There should be a single word that describes such a meal, equivalent to ‘brunch’ which comes between breakfast and lunch!

Music and Mash

Manchester Jazz Festival is an annual event that, for one reason and another, we’ve totally managed to avoid since we moved up north. But this year, we made the effort and travelled into the city, by tram.

We caught the tail-end of the performance by art-pop collective Dilettante while eating lunch, or late second breakfast in my case, which was disappointing. The good news is that today was the first time I felt confident enough about the weather to wear sandals.

The next band was Caraway, from Bristol, not to be confused with bands with the same name from Toronto, Los Angeles and even Manchester a few years ago. They were very enjoyable, and it was good to see someone playing a flugelhorn.

Another cup of iced coffee kept me going, and we kept our perfect seats before the arrival of the singer who was the main reason we came this afternoon: Satnam Galsian. She gave the premier perfomance of her new piece, Love or Sacrifice which explores themes of gender roles and the expectations of women in South Asian culture. Her songs are deeply rooted in her personal experiences. And her performance was very moving.

There was a Q&A afterwards and I was glad someone else asked about why she was sitting down on the floor while singing. I know I would have had cramp or pins and needles after a short while. But it’s a cultural thing, from north India.

Later on, looking at photographs of the event that other people had posted online, we were delighted to see that Liesel and I appeared in some of them. Another small contribution to our 15 minutes of fame.

Keiran tried mashed potato for the first time and he quite enjoyed it despite not quite knowing the difference been moisturiser and food.

But don’t worry, it wasn’t too long before he was able to rinse it off in the pool, with Dada.

We could have done with a swimming pool near us, to be honest, as we revelled in the hottest days of the year so far: in fact, the hottest May days since records began! And I don’t mean Tina Turner records.

What’s Love Got To Do With It? is the name given to a Tina Turner tribute show. Yes, of course, we would love to have seen Tina herself in concert but that’s not be. In this show, we heard all the hits and a couple of songs that were new to me. Leslie soaked up the music too. Holly Bannis did a great performance, with Tina’s big hair, Tina’s costumes and Tina’s singing style. The audience sang and clapped along, even when not explicitly invited to do so.

One guy a couple of rows in front of us was extremely exuberant in his dance moves, he really wanted to get noticed by the dancers. And he succeeded. He was invited to go to the front in and join in with a song and dance. After which, his moves weren’t quite as flamboyant.

I was surprised and a little disappointed that during the interval here at The Lowry, they played adverts! Never experienced that at a theatre before. OK, it was a trail for another performance here, but I really hope that’s not the thin edge of the wedge.

Liesel and her Mom went out for a quick walk early in the morning, and before they returned, I caught the bus to join the Thursday walk in Wythenshawe. Liesel hadn’t locked the door, they wouldn’t be that long, but I did lock the door. Then I got a message from Liesel saying she didn’t have her keys. They’d bought some shopping and were locked out of the flat!

So once I stopped laughing, I returned home from Wythenshawe Forum as quickly as possible, just missing one bus and annoyed that the next one never appeared, despite what the display said.

We rarely go out two nights in a row but that’s what happened this week! Last night, a fake Tina and tonight, a visit to Stoller Hall to see a Scottish band, Skipinnish. Again, Leslie dug the sounds, man. Rob Green from Nottingham was supporting and he was pretty good too. I had a quick word with him and he recorded a little jingle for my radio show.

Skipinnish were formed in 1999, so they’ve been going a while, yet somehow their music hasn’t made its way to our ears until now. But they put on a very good show, especially with their singer, Rachel Walker. The jigs and reels were great and at one point, Liesel said that she was surprised at how loud the bagpipes were.

We like Stoller Hall as a venue, becuse the acoustics are good, and there is seating, but it is also just over the road from Manchester Victoria Station, so we were able to travel in by tram. And a good night’s sleep was had by all.

London bye ta ta

And so, our adventures in London come to a close. Time to go back to reality. Back to Northenden. Packing up didn’t take too long, and after refuelling the vehicle, we set Google maps to take us home. Our accommodation was just off the A406, the North Circular Road and the last thing we wanted to do was negotiate the Hanger Lane Gyratory system, arguably the worst, most confusing roundabout in the known universe, voted the scariest roundabout in 2007. But Liesel just ploughed on, and we managed to turn off it at the right time.

The next surprise on this trip was that we were taken up the M1 before joining the M6. There were so many lorries, and all I wanted to do was take out a Sharpie and change every incidence of the word Haulage on the side of a lorry to Sausage. But would Liesel stop for me?

Vernon Kay on Radio 2 kept us entertained. But I thought the ‘Ten to the Top’ quiz questions were much easier than usual. Even the contestants on air both attained unusually high scores.

We stopped at a service station briefly and none of us could believe how much colder it was here than it had been in Ealing.

Nothing to report at home. Just 250 emails to process. And two physical letters.

We had the pleasure of collecting Martha and William from school and we drove over to Bramhall, specifically to Simply Books. I had a book token to spend (thank you Pauline and Andrew for my birthday present) and we said we’d buy books for the children too. So we all left the shop with some exciting new reading material.

On the way to Jenny’s, we stopped off at Papa John’s to order and collect our pizzas. Ordering online proved to be too hard with the 4G signal available in the area. After consuming the bulk of the pizzas, we went over to watch Martha playing cricket, as we said we would. She is very proud of her own, real, wooden, cricket bat. But I’m glad to see they’re still playing with tennis balls.

Martha also made a good catch and later confirmed that her favourite position is batting or fielding, she’s not so keen on bowling. It’ll be interesting to see how she gets on when they start playing with a real, leather cricket ball. I was a bit of a wimp at school, I must admit, I was quite happy staying in the pavilion at school, keeping score, well away from that very hard missile.

It’s that time of year again. I had to get up early to take the car in for its MOT. While there, I went over the road to The Mess for breakfast and a coffee. Rain was forecast and I was busy at home so I missed the organised walk in Northenden. Liesel did make the effort to attend her exercise class though.

In exciting news, we received a ‘badge’ from WordPress, the hosts of mickandlieselsantics.com. We are a Globe Trotter now, because people from over fifty countries have viewed the blog. No trophy to put on the shelf. No vouchers for a spa day. Not even a real badge to pin on our t-shirts.

Your task is to identify this superhero:

Of course, it’s our Keiran, bringing villains to justice.

In local news, our car passed its MOT: we didn’t expect there to be any problem, but it’s always a relief.

In overseas news, we offer our love and congratulations to our nephew, (my sister’s boy,) Rob, who wed Cristy in Torreón, Mexico. Pauline was there along with Rob’s Dad, Tony, and Cristy’s much bigger family!

Thanks to the professional photographer Brenda Rodríguez for the fantastic photos! And thank you to Pauline too for your wonderful pictures.

Cristy’s family: Brother Roberto, Dad Roberto, Cristy, Rob, Mum Liz, Sister Lyn, Brother Ricardo

There was a mariachi band at the party afterwards at Cristy’s parents’ house and I can imagine my sister and everyone else tripping the light fantastic all night!

There is a river in Torreón which is dry most of the time thanks to a dam upstream. Let’s hope there’s never a reason to dam the Mersey: although if that river ever were to dry out, there’d be plenty of car tyres, bikes, fridges, sofas, supermarket trolleys and other débris to sell at a car boot sale. But on our walk to Didsbury, we just enjoyed the serenity provided by our slow-moving river, only slightly ruined by the background noise from the motorway.

On the way to our massage in Didsbury, we saw a solitary heron on the river. On the way back, we were pleased to spend time watching a family of ducks.

Oh, and our massages were great, thank you very much and I feel bad that we don’t know the names of our massagistes, masseuses, rubbers, therapists, whatever: see, I don’t even know what their job title is.

Lyme Regis is a bit too far away despite what my mouth said, so we visited Lyme Park instead. What a colourful place, you’d be forgiven for thinking that rhododendrons are taking the place over. Today Lyme Park, tomorrow the world. It was a perfect, warm, wind-free day for ice cream too, under the blue skies.

There were many people flopped out on the lawn that leads down to the lake. A family of goslings had also camped out there.

We joined scores, if not hundreds, of people wandering around the lake, some walking in the wrong direction: weirdoes.

Some of the plants were of course not identifiable by me, but unbelievably, even Liesel couldn’t name some flowers.

But apart from people, dogs and geese, there were some extraterrestrial beings.

The weather is slowly improving, by which I mean, getting warmer. And we know wind has been blowing in from the south, rather than from the north, because our car is now covered in dust from the Saraha.

Indoors, I continue to put together a two-hour show each week for Wythenshawe Radio WFM 97.2 and you are of course welcome to tune in each week on a Sunday at 4PM.

From top to toe

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.

Walking around

You should have been there near Quarry Bank when Liesel and her Mom attempted to shin up this tree.

Unfortunately, I ran out of film so there’s no photographic evidence. We did enjoy the walk however, through the woods, and back along the banks of the river Bollin.

Something I’ve always wanted to see on a walk in nature is a bird box with a magic square inscribed on the side. And my wish came true today.

Each row and column adds up to 111, the total for the square is of course 666. This magic square, known as ‘The Sun’, is often associated with Western esotericism and the planetary magic squares of Agrippa.

For bureaucratic reasons, Liesel and I paid a visit to Salford. Any excuse to go for a ride on a tram. And while there, we had a nice wander around, spotting plenty of wildlife.

Actually, the fish was in the aquarium in the office at the garage where we took our car for a service.

While Leslie visited Dunham Massey with a friend, Barbara, Liesel and I paid a visit to Stockport. We visited the oldest house in the town. Staircase House was first built in 1460, with numerous extensions built over the years and centuries following. It now houses Stockport Museum too. There was a fire in 1995 and you can still see scorch marks on some of the beams. It’s very slightly interactive in the sense that quills were available with ink, so we could have a go at writing the old-fashioned way.

We are planning to visit the famous Hat Museum one day too, but this display of old hats will have to do for now.

I tried one of them on which did not impress Liesel: she just assumed that I would have picked up some new friends. (I didn’t.)

I checked the time against the old longcase clock, and it was a couple of minutes out, but two people must have independently changed the time by one hour for British Summer Time, as it was really an hour and two minutes fast.

We walked by Strawberry Recording Studios, but I don’t think this venue wants visitors. Its association with the band 10cc resulted in some of the most memorable music being produced at these Studios, Paul McCartney, Neil Sedaka, Stone Roses, The Syd Lawrence Orchestra and many others recorded here. Not complaining, but if someone cleaned the window, I could have taken a better photo.

Because she’d been away on her actual birthday, Martha celebrated here at home a couple of weeks later. It was a gorgeous day and we all gathered in the garden. During the course of the afternoon, I realised that I can no longer use a hula hoop, I’m not much good at Tetherball, hitting a ball back with a racquet, and my aim with a frisbee is absolute rubbish. Juggling three clubs is also a skill I seem to have lost. I did however make friends with a St Mark’s fly. It did not want to leave me, no matter how much I jumped about.

Happy birthday Martha!

I waited all afternoon for the right moment. Martha’s garden is under a popular flight path from Manchester Airport so there was a flight every two or three minutes. The aeroplanes kept missing the Sun, until 18.20.

Another thing I’m not much good at is Mölkky, the Finnish outdoor throwing game, comprised of wooden skittles and a throwing stick.

We still see the occasional reasonable sunset from our luxury apartment.

But where’s Keiran, I hear you ask? Well, he’s a big fan of avocado. And he quite enjoys eating it sometimes too.

It’s been a while, but it was a joy to collect the children after school again. We took them to Diamond Jubilee Park where they roller skated around and had some fun in the playground.

When Liesel and I walked over to Didsbury, we saw a few birds on the river. I hadn’t seen a heron for a long time, but it’s good to see him back. Or is it a new one? There was a nice pair of mandarin ducks and a pair of mallards just messing about on the river. Well, until the male mandarin decided to make a move on the female mallard.

We both enjoyed our massages, just a shame the cab ride home was a bit of a rush afterwards!

The three of us returnd to Dunham Massey to enjoy the floral colours it has to offer, But the first port of call was the ice cream shop. Double scoops all round, thank you very much!

Regular viewers will know that my horticultural and floral knowledge is extremely limited. But Liesel instantly recognised this tissue tree… only that’s not its real name.

Did I mention colours?

Did we have another ice cream after a very pleasant walk? Tempted, but in the end, no.

Meanwhile, back at home, I’ve been busy making radio shows, trying to sell stuff on eBay, unsubscribing from mailing lists, reading books, listening to radio shows and podcasts, doing puzzles and generally passing the time in a most enjoyable manner.

Don’t forget you can catch up with Mick’s Music Mix on Wythenshawe Radio WFM 97.2 at 4pm each Sunday, or listen to the archived shows on Mixcloud.

Trees and daisies

Liesel and Leslie returned from Anchorage, this time flying via Heathrow airport. In the lift at Manchester, Terminal 2, someone had left a trolley laden with some really big, heavy cases. I didn’t think it was a problem, but I couldn’t find any airport official to report it to. So much for ‘See it, say it, sorted’.

I waited at the wrong exit, of course, but we finally met up and went home, where we enjoyed talking about our family in Australia. Just this week, Jenny, Liam, Martha and William climbed Sydney Harbour Bridge, enjoying good views of the Harbour and the Opera House.

Martha celebrated her birthday down under, she’s now in double digits and very proud of it!

Before Liesel came home, I took the car in to be washed. It seemed only fair to give it a bit of a clean and scrape all the moss off. I was a bit concerned though, when I saw this vehicle which had shrunk in the wash.

Our car survived in tact though, just big enough to transport all the luggage home from the airport.

It’s always good when walking around Wythenshawe to see something that transports you back to the 1970s.

We used to see bicycle tyres on many lampposts, and I’ve always wondered whether someone is good at throwing the tyres up and over, or do they shin up the post and slide it carefully over the lamp.

Liesel drove us over to Poynton Park with a view to having a picnic. In the end, we just sat in the car, the only picnic table being occupied. The park as a whole seems to be a haven for dog-walkers and the best thing about this park was a tree.

For the first time in fifty years, I stayed up late to watch splashdown in the Pacific. Artemis II and its four crew members had flown further from Earth than anyone else, beyond the farside of the Moon.

We thought we’d go for a walk at Dunham Massey. Liesel drove but the car had a mind of its own and it took us in totally the wrong direction. After the rainstorm though, we did have a very pleasant walk around RHS Bridgewater.

Yeah, The Bridgewater Ent! It’s lived here for a long time and looked after all the trees in Middle Wood: it’s now too old to be climbed on. So when Liesel got back down, I took this picture.

I was delighted to come across this particular succulent. It’s a new one to me and I can add it to my very important and long list of words that contain all five vowels.

Amongst other plants, we saw daffodils, striped squill, grape hyacinths, purple tulips, hyacinths and, er, chickens.

The back door to our block of luxury apartments has been closed gently and been slammed a million times since we moved here. But it must have been slammed once too often. On my return from a walk, I couldn’t fail to notice the glass was shattered. Within half an hour of phoning the management company, a man with a van turned up to remove the shattered safety glass. There’s a sweepstake on when the replacement pane will be installed.

The Thursday walk took us through Painswick Park this week. Where other parks were covered in dandelions, this one was festooned with daisies.

There were far fewer geese than usual too, so the path was safe to walk on.

Liesel and I had another attempt at visiting Dunham Massey for a walk, and this time, we ended up at the right place. Unfortunately, the rain was quite hard so we had to have coffee and cake in the café instead. Oh well. We picked up tokens to view a Rembrandt self-portrait at a very specific time. The painting is on tour around a few National Trust properties. It was interesting to hear about how they deduced it was the original, painted by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn himself, and not a copy made by a student.

I don’t know how much longer the old oak tree is going to survive here, but the poor old thing is still worth taking a picture of.

It will be a sad day when it finally topples over into the Moat.

Leslie spent the afternoon with Barbara and she arrived home soon after we did.

The latest radio show was on the theme of Antisocial Behaviour. Listen here, or else…

Pink for Stink

Just about a year ago, I was in Albuquerque and while I was there, I really enjoyed one of the best recent science fiction stories, Project Hail Mary. You can only imagine how pleased I was to see that there is now a new film based on the story. So, I drove over to Parrs Wood Cineworld to watch it. And while a film is seldom as good as the original book, too many fine details missed out, I did enjoy it. As did the other six people in the cinema. The trouble is that by the time the adverts and trails had finished, we’d all finished our snacks. Note to self: next time, turn up 40 minutes after the publicised show time.

It’s that time of year again and I was pleased to receive birthday greetings from Keiran. Well, with his Mum’s help.

A strange birthday which I celebrated by myself since Jenny and family were flying to Australia on this very day. I enjoyed my scone, jam and cream prior to refueling the car at the slightly cheaper Sainsbury’s garage. Petrol locally is now 155.9p per litre, up from 138.9p just a few weeks ago.

Jenny, Martha, William and Liam in Sydney

It’s always good to see the world burst into colour during Spring and sometimes a photo doesn’t do justice to the real thing, so it needs a slight tweak.

Too much? Well, here’s the original

My memory suggests the true colour was somewhere between the two. Still, delightful, though.

I returned to Manchester for a short wander prior to donating blood. The biscuits and tea were very welcome, thank you.

What was I saying about Spring? I heard the rain, looked out and thought it looked like snow. But, no, that can’t be right, it’s just the angle of the Sun, obviously. Well, no. When I went out later, I saw this:

A pile of hailstones on the car. It didn’t feel that cold outside, but as Liesel later commented, we often do have a bout of bad weather around my birthday.

A bigger group than usual walked around Wythenshawe, through the woods and the parks.

Usually, we end up at Costa after this walk, but today, as part of the Greater Manchester Live Well Spring Festival, we met in a Public Living Room for a cup of tea and a chat.

Having a go on the pedal exerciser was not compulsory but it’s a great way of going nowhere fast.

And how lovely to see all the cousins together.

Who let the pigs out? Someone at Wythenshawe Community Farm, that’s who.

I think we enjoyed the walk around Wythenshawe Park and a coffee afterwards. Not so keen on finding a discarded, abandoned, child’s bicycle though.

Jenny and family are having a blast down under, and Keiran experienced his first flight at the grand old age of 4 months, as they all flew north, spending some time at Port Douglas. Which just escaped the worst excesses of Cyclone Narelle.

Liam, Jenny, William, Keiran, Helen, Brent and Martha

In other overseas news, Liesel and Monica attended their first embroidery class. Liesel learned five new stitches and achieved this work of art. Not bad for a first go.

Don’t talk to me about how Rage Against the Machine got their name: they were just trying to use their printer too, right? Grrr. [Full details omitted, for now.]

As it was April Fool’s Day, I suggested to the Northenden Walkers that we’d previously all agreed to wear something pink. Nobody fell for it, except this lady who brought the correct handbag.

In the coffee shop, I was disappointed to find that this gorgeous bouquet was not actually for me.

Walking by the Mersey on another bright day, watching the eddies and whirlpools, but oddly I didn’t see any duck families on this occasion. I wonder where they’re hiding?

The latest radio show is Wythenshawe Radio’s Greatest Hits in which I play tracks played by other presenters over the last few weeks. It’s here waiting for you to enjoy.

Getting warm

Suddenly it’s halfway through March, the temperature is hovering around -11°C and the snow, slush and ice is piled up outside. Not content with building ordinary snowmen or even snowhuskies, some creative folks have been very ambitious.

I am of course referring to Anchorage, Alaska, where Liesel and her Mom are actually not responsible for this snow sculpture. This one and many others were part of the annual Fur Rendezvous (Fur Rondy) festival in Anchorage. They enjoyed a variety of traditional events such as dog sledding, fur auctions, and outhouse races. And I can’t wait to see what manner of fur coat they bought for me to help cope with the much milder Manchester Winter.

The Statue of Liberty was created by Steve Lukshin and won first place in the solo division of the Alaska State Snow Sculpture Championship. Who knew there was such a thing?

In other overseas news, lovely Keiran in Brookvale, NSW, seems surprised to have reached the grand old age of 4 months.

Nearer home, it is warming up. Whereas we used to see a family of three magpies outside our apartment block, there is only one at the moment.

And yes, It does bring sorrow to see him on his own. On the other hand, there’s a very cheerful blackbird living in a bush near us. I don’t know yet whether there’s a young family of chicks, but his song is delightful.

Sunshine and blue skies always lift the mood, so visiting Quarry Bank for a walk was an offer I couldn’t refuse.

I met Jenny and the family there, and we wandered along the river Bollin towards The Carrs, just before Wilmslow. However many steps we adults took, William and Martha must have taken double. I wonder at what age you stop running about like that and just walk in a straight line, using the least amount of energy.

We played Pooh sticks on one bridge and failed to spot any fish in the stream. And of course, trees are there to be climbed.

Sadly, in 2020, Chris Hall, 48, was struck by a 22m mature lime tree whilst walking his dog Benson on the the main public path in The Carrs Park at lunchtime on August 28th 2020, along the same route they had used for the last 11 years. This was a tree that council bosses had failed to make safe after a previwous incident. Cheshire East Council failed to investigate when a large branch had fallen from the tree a year before and was subsequently fined £500,000. I mention this, because we passed the attractive memorial, and only later did I learn the story.

Oh, and where’s Martha?!

We all played with a frisbee for a while and I embarrassed myself by no longer being able to throw the thing with any skill. Maybe it’s just intrinsically easier to throw a frisbee up on Epsom Downs than it is here near The Carrs skatepark.

The playground equipment include a zip wire which was most enjoyable. As was the climbing frame. Martha and William had an ice cream while we grown-ups had a coffee.

On the walk back to the car park, we passed horses and gorses. By the river, when William climbed down into a deep hole, not one of us followed him.

For the first time in ages, I thought I’d order a pizza from Pizzeria, here in Northenden. Sadly, I discovered that it had closed down in November. So I tried one from the place over the road. How disappointing. The Deliveroo driver stopped somewhere else to pick up another order, so by the time my meal arrived, it was cold. I complained and got a refund of the delivery fee, but even after re-heating, it wasn’t a very nice pizza anyway.

Loyalty cards, pah. I just want to do a bit of shopping, or buy something. I don’t need a loyalty card for everything, I don’t want to become a member, register, join up: just lower the prices for everyone. I don’t need to collect points, rewards, tokens, coins, airmiles or anything. No I don’t want to make a charity donation or give a tip. And I really don’t want to give feedback for every service I receive. Just stop it. Whinge of the week.

One of my current favourite writers is Joanne Harris: she wrote, Chocolat and its sequels. A year ago, a prequel came out too, Vianne. To mark publication of the paperback edition, she is touring the bookshops of Britain. So of course, I had to go and meet her at Simply Books in Bramhall. She makes writing a novel look so easy. She was interviewed by Kay Crewdson who I’ve only known before from the BBC’s North West Tonight programme, when she tells us how bad the weather’s going to be.

That’s not a bookshop, I hear you cry. No, the venue was St Michael and All Angels Parish Church, a 12-minute walk from the shop.

It’s officially now warm enough to wear shorts, and show off these gorgeous old pins of mine. Although a trip into Manchester was ultimately pointless on this occasion, I revelled in the warmth: surely the warmest day of the year so far, 19° apparently.

Of the three weekly organised walks, I made it to all three. Everyone is happy with the new, improved weather.

Martha starred in a production of Shrek at school. And as usual, all the participants did very well.

I’m now torn between spending time outside in the (probably limited) sunshine and staying in, in front of the PC, preparing a radio show. As I discussed with someone the other day, I have no idea how I ever managed to fit in a full-time job.

The latest show is right here.

Thinking about the children

My Dad liked the odd flutter down at the betting shop. Mostly on horse races, sometimes the dogs. And in the olden days, he dutifully filled in the football pools coupon each week. Actually, he won about £100on the pools once, in the 1960s, worth over £2000 in today’s money, so quite a substantial amount. He opened a bank account for the first time ever in his life. When the winnings had all been spent, he closed the account. The bank manager wasn’t happy: “Well, that was a waste of time, wasn’t it?” On the whole though, he wasn’t very lucky. As he said one day, he never had a nice holiday in Jamaica but he was sure Mr William Hill enjoyed a few.

I’m not saying he was a gambling addict, far from it, but I’m glad that that particular, harmless pastime doesn’t appeal to me in the same way. And when it comes to 50-50 chances, I’d never bet, because I’m more than 50% sure that I have genetic architecture that predisposes me to a higher probability of adverse outcomes.

This all came flooding back when I began using buses regularly again, here at home. Whichever bus I’m waiting for, I will almost always see one going in the opposite (wrong) direction first.

And another observation: many buses that pass by are ‘Not in Service’. I know the drivers have different shift times and need to return to the depots or wherever, but there is a very high percentage of buses on the roads here that are not in service. I think I only became aware of this again having seen very few buses in Sydney not picking up passengers for this reason.

The display on this bus wasn’t very helpful. The Airport and Piccadilly Gardens are in opposite directions, being the two termini for route 43. Still, I got to my destination OK.

I do miss this little chap.

After being tortured (slight exaggeration) again by the dental hygienist, I joined the Wednesday walking group. There were 22 of us on this occasion, the first noticeably warm day since I returned.

There’s a lot of confusion between International Book Day, World Book Day and International Day of the Book. Whichever it was, Martha and William joined in the celebrations this year.

The Thursday and Friday walks were less populated and by the end of the week, it was beginning to cool down a bit too.

It’s early stages of World War III since Israel and USA attacked Iran last weekend. That’s presumably just the excuse our local BP garage needed to increase its fuel prices. Wednesday: 138.9p/l, Thursday: 140.9, Friday: 142.9. No, I didn’t join the queue panic-buying petrol. For one thing, I was on the bus and didn’t have the car with me.

On TV, when I can find it, I’ll watch some Paralypics Curling. And I enjoyed another episode of Call the Midwife. It was a somewhat harrowing storyline, to be honest. But, equally, perversely, the best episode ever since it included a beautiful song performed by Mary Hopkin.

Happy International Women’s Day! You can listen again to my Wythenshawe Radio show right here.

Here is your slightly irregular reminder not to rely on AI chatbots:

I asked: if you were to spell out all the numbers from 1 to 1000, how often would you write the letter A? Here is the response:

Alright — let’s work through this step-by-step.

We want to know: how many times does the letter ‘A’ appear when writing out all numbers from 1 to 1000 in words (standard English, no “and” except as part of a number name like “one hundred and one” – wait, let’s clarify that).

—

Step 1: Understanding what we count

When writing numbers in English, there are two common conventions:

1. Without “and”
Example: 101 = “one hundred one” (no ‘a’)
2. With “and”
Example: 101 = “one hundred and one” (one ‘a’ from “and”)

The problem doesn’t specify, but if we want maximum ‘A’ frequency, we use “and” between hundreds and the rest for numbers 101–999.

Let’s also note:

· Zero is not counted (1 to 1000).
· The only letters containing ‘A’ in the standard English number names are:
and, one, eight, hundred, thousand, and maybe others? Let’s check:

Actually:

· and
· hundred
· thousand
· eight? Wait, “eight” has no ‘a’. “Eight” is E-I-G-H-T. No ‘A’. Let’s list properly.

Let’s list all number names and see which have ‘A’.

—

Digit names (0-9):

· zero (no A)
· one (O-N-E) → no A
· two (no A)
· three (no A)
· four (no A)
· five (no A)
· six (no A)
· seven (no A)
· eight (no A)
· nine (no A)

Teens:

· ten (no A)
· eleven (no A)
· twelve (no A)
· thirteen (no A)
· fourteen (no A)
· fifteen (no A)
· sixteen (no A)
· seventeen (no A)
· eighteen (no A)
· nineteen (no A)

Tens (20–90):

· twenty (no A)
· thirty (no A)
· forty (no A)
· fifty (no A)
· sixty (no A)
· seventy (no A)
· eighty (no A)
· ninety (no A)

Hundred, thousand, and:

· hundred → yes, 1 A in “hundred”
· thousand → yes, 1 A in “thousand”
· and → yes, 1 A in “and”

—

So the only words with ‘A’ are:

· hundred (1 A)
· thousand (1 A)
· and (1 A)

And digits/teens/tens have no A.

—

Step 2: Counting numbers with ‘A’

Since no 1–9 have A, and 10–19 have no A, and 20–99 have no A, it means only numbers where the word “hundred”, “thousand”, or “and” appear can contain ‘A’.

1. Numbers 100–999:

Let’s pick the pattern:

· 100 = “one hundred” → one A (from hundred)
· 101 = “one hundred and one” → two A’s (hundred + and)
· 110 = “one hundred and ten” → two A’s (hundred + and)
· 115 = “one hundred and fifteen” → two A’s
· 120 = “one hundred and twenty” → two A’s
· 199 = “one hundred and ninety nine” → two A’s

So:
For 100: “hundred” → 1 A
For 101–199 (except 100): each has “hundred and” → 2 A’s.

Let’s check 200–299: same pattern:
200 = “two hundred” → 1 A
201–299: each = “two hundred and X” → 2 A’s

That pattern holds for all hundreds blocks (100–999):

Block N00: “N hundred” → 1 A
Block N01–N99: “N hundred and …” → 2 A’s

So per hundred block:

Count of ‘A’s for that block:

· N00: 1 A
· N01–N99: 99 numbers × 2 A’s = 198 A’s

Total for block = 1 + 198 = 199 A’s.

There are 9 such blocks (100–199, 200–299, …, 900–999).

So A’s from 100–999 = 9 × 199 = 1791 A’s.

—

Step 3: Number 1000

“One thousand” → one A in “thousand”. So 1 A.

—

No. 1–99 have no ‘A’ because none of their words contain ‘A’.

Step 4: Check if 1–99 have any ‘A’

—

Step 5: Total

From 1–99: 0 A’s
From 100–999: 1791 A’s
From 1000: 1 A

Total = 0 + 1791 + 1 = 1792 A’s

Home Alone

At home, there have been a few schemes over the years where we can recycle the blister packs that medication now comes in. All of these schemes soon stopped for whatever reason. Here, in Sydney, we can leave such blister packs in Chemist Warehouse and they then either recycle them (we hope) or just throw away. And this morning, I disposed of three weeks worth of blister packs while waiting to meet Helen, Brent and Keiran by Warringah Mall.

Liesel and I took the bus from our b&b and Helen pushed the pram from home. The B-line bus was packed, so Liesel and I had to sit upstairs. A nice quick ride into Sydney and we finally had a chance to say a proper hello at Wynyard. Where the postcode is 2000.

Here is a rare photograph of Sydney Opera House taken from the upper deck of a B-line bus as it crosses Sydney Harbour Bridge.

We walked to The Rocks, another historic area in Sydney. The walk was mostly downhill and we even had to negotiate a few steps with the pram.

PaniQ Room is Sydney’s original and favourite Escape Room. It’s a fun and exciting way to spend some time with friends, family or colleagues and exercise your mind. This was our venue for an hour of adventurous missions, puzzles and riddles. Our mission was to restore a video tape to a hidden safe before The Godfather realised that it had been stolen. We enjoyed solving the puzzles, and following up a couple of misleading leads that led nowhere.

The music from The Godfather played throughout, and I for one felt it was time to watch those films again. There are no photos from the escape room itself, of course, we can’t reveal the secrets. We escaped with seven minutes to spare: Liesel and I were very glad to have Brent’s and Helen’s younger brains ticking over a bit faster than ours.

The successful escapists with Mafia hats

Yes, Brent is holding some gak while Helen and I are sporting cigars.

The Saturday market was crowded, and I wondered how many of the people were passengers from the cruise ship, Discovery Princess today.

Ancient Feelings (2025) by Thomas J Price

This sculpture caught my eye outside the Museum of Contemporary Art. The 1.5-tonne, 3-metre-high head of a woman is cast in golden bronze.

We wandered around Circular Quay to the Opera House where we enjoyed lunch, outside, in the shade, avoiding the bright sunshine. Food and drink was ordered by QR code and disappointingly, the servers just walked our food and drink to the table, no roller skates involved.

Actually, we were underneath the Opera House, quite a daft place to sit, in retrospect. 161,000 tonnes of bricks and tiles above us, all held up by this pillar.

Helen and Brent lending their support too

My last ferry ride of this visit down under was enjoyable, and we then spent some time in Manly, listening to a busking sax player and buying a couple of things, before catching the bus back to Brookvale. We walked to 4 Pines Brewery where we met Nat and Rob. Later, Jacqui joined us, but it was a very brief, hot in the Sun, final meeting.

Walking along the road, we passed this delightful, attractive and very tasty plant.

No, I didn’t taste it: we all know that everything in Australia is designed to kill us! It’s very pretty, though.

Fuel by Night was the venue for Liesel’s and my final dinner here on this trip. This venue is a coffee bar by day, and is open for meals a couple of nights a week. Liesel and I caught the bus back to our b&b while Helen and Brent walked back home. Some quick packing before bed.

We’d walked quite a lot this week, further (for me, at least) than any single week at home since Winter set in.

Our final breakfast, at SeaSprout, was more than satisfactory, eggs benny, but without the ham, thank you very much. We’d finished packing at our b&b and Brent and Helen took us backbac collect it and drive it around to their flat.

Unbelievably, it was Liesel’s and my 20th wedding anniversary the following day, and we would be away from each other. What a lovely surprise to receive a present from the whole family: Helen, Brent, Keiran, Jenny, Liam, Martha and William.

Grandad, Oma, Martha, William and Keiran

Yes, we are officially a pendemonium of cockatoos! This picture was drawn by friends of Helen and Brent and I was able to pack it in my case to take home.

It’s always sad saying goodbye after such a good visit. I took an Uber to the airport. Liesel’s flight was several hours after mine, and Helen drove her, later on. I’m not at all jealous that Liesel spent a few hours longer with Keiran, honest.

The airport experience was OK. The flight to Abu Dhabi was long but OK. Glad I ordered Indian vegetarian food this time.

I didn’t expect to see a camel in the airport, but life is full of surprises.

I saw more of Abu Dhabi airport this time, there was a much longer walk between my arrival gate and the departure gate. Plus, I had to go through a security check this time.

It’s a very clean place, and the architecture is very interesting. Every posh shop you can imagine is here, and I walked right past every single one. Sorry, Liesel, wedding anniversary or not, I can’t afford the jewellery here!

The flight to Manchester was OK, long, and I just wanted to get there.

A quick taxi ride home and then straight to bed, having been awake for over 30 hours. Nice to be in my own bed, of course, but not so keen on the significantly colder temperature at home.

Most of the week, I was either asleep, thinking about sleep or fighting off sleep. At the last minute, I booked a ticket for a concert, hoping I wouldn’t nod off in the middle of it.

I took a bus into Manchester and a cab back home after the show. In late 1974, I had the opportunity to see Tubular Bells performed live at the Royal Albert Hall. I didn’t go. I’ve waited half a century for this. Yes, I saw Tubular Bells performed live, in its entirety, at the Bridgewater Hall.

Part one of the show featured excerpts from Tubular Bells II and III. And a fabulous performance of Moonlight Shadow. The composer, Mike Oldfield, wasn’t here but if he were, I’m sure he would have received a rapturous round of applause. The actual players certainly did. The 7 (or was it 8?) -piece band was led by Robin Smith, one of Mike Oldfield’s long-term collaborators

Did I fall asleep? Not a chance. The music was far too engaging, even from the Gallery, which is like the Upper Upper Circle, the only section with tickets available by the time I bought one.

For some reason, maybe I was still tired and a bit more fragile and sensitive than usual, but I found the music to be very emotional. It took me back to 1974 when I shared accommodation with the two best flat-mates anyone could ever wish for, so I’m sending lots of love and positive thoughts to Ann and Chrissy 😊❤️.

That late night was followed by an early morning visit to a health professional who extracted some blood for a few tests. Did I go back to bed when I returned home? I might have, I know I missed the 11 o’clock walk!

When I did venture out, though, I was very happy to see early signs of Spring. A bed of crocuses adorns the village green.

And then, on the Friday, I dragged myself out of bed so that I could join the regular walk in Wythenshawe Park. There was nobody there. Has the venue changed? Have they changed the start time? Have they all been abducted by aliens? I waited with a coffee for a while, and then I remembered: it’s half-term and the walk was probably cancelled. Did I do the walk anyway? Well, some of it.

The blood test results were all ‘normal’ so I felt safe to book my first donation for nearly a year. I was on the bench because of all the medical tests that I had last year.

Walking on a treadmill at home is just as boring as walking on a treadmill in a gym. You have a treadmill at home? I do, now, yes. Just a cheap one. But it’s been raining so much, I often stay at home rather than go for a walk outside. I thought this piece of equipment might help me get some steps in. One big advantage is, I can listen to my own podcasts and radio shows at home, and not have to listen to the loud EDM in a gym. Watching TV would be good, too, if only the room were set up differently.

And of course, sod’s law. The day after the treadmill was delivered, it was sunny, and said to be the warmest day of the year so far. So, yes, I was encouraged to get out a bit more!

In administrative news, it took a week for me to catch up on emails. I keep unsubscrbing but I still get too many.

I prepped a show for Wythenshawe Radio and sometimes, it takes much longer to go through the process. Too many songs a few seconds shorter than the listed duration mean I have a gap to fill: sometimes a whole new song can be squeezed in, usually I pad with a mix of jingles and old adverts.

While typing on the phone, I kept wondering why the colon (:) was displaying as a semi-colon (;). Don’t tell me the shift key isn’t working? No. The solution was, of course, to wipe the dust off the phone’s screen. Just one speck exactly in the wrong place.

Maybe I just haven’t noticed it before, but this tree in Riverside Park children’s playground jumped out at me this time. Not literally, but I noted it with some surprise. The river was a little higher than usual, not surprising after all the rain. (So glad I was away for three weeks of it.)

This week, the walking group did meet up in Wythenshawe Park. A further sign of Spring grabbed my attention and cheered me up.

A daffodil. This was the first one I saw, but there were plenty more elsewhere in the park. And further afield in Wythenshawe and Northenden.

I watched Martha and William swimming, and they are both so good, much better swimmers than I’ll ever be. Then round to Jenny’s for croissant and coffee, thank you very much!

My latest Wythenshawe Radio show is Ships and Boats

but don’t forget, there are plenty of other shows to listen to here on Mixcloud. Mickscloud. Or, tune in to Wythenshawe Radio WFM 97.2 each Sunday at 4pm to be amongst the first to hear the latest extravaganza!

While I was settling in at home, Liesel was taking her time going back to Anchorage. She spent a couple of days in Honolulu with Trudi and John before flying to Seattle. One night there before the flight to Albuquerque. After a couple of days here, she flew back to Anchorage with her Mom. Temperatures are still below freezing, so although I might complain about it being cold here in Northenden, it’s not that bad, relatively speaking.