Autobiographical – Page 6 – Mick and Liesel's Antics

Take a bow

Half a century ago, whenever we went for a walk in the countryside, we’d count the number of species of butterfly observed out in the wild. Today, we’re lucky if we see more than one or two single specimens on a given jaunt. So imagine my delight when I saw loads of butterflies all in one place.

Alright, maybe this is cheating. Still, it brightened up the day a little.

I went for a job interview.

“Do you have experience as a barista?”

“Yes, of course, loads,” I lied.

“Can you make toasties and paninis?”

“Yes, I have plenty of experience in that field.”

“And how do you get on serving members of the public?”

“Oh, I’m very friendly and efficient, and I have a good eye for detail.”

“That’s all good to hear. And how are your knot tying skills?”

“Knot tying?”

“Yes.”

“Why would I need to tie knots?”

“We have a drawer full of short pieces of string from the second world war, handed down from grandparents to parents and now on to us. After all these years, those pieces of string are finally being put to good use.”

“OK.”

“When we wrap out cutlery in a napkin, we tie the whole thing up with a piece of string.”

“Oh, sounds good to me. Will a reef knot do?”

“That sounds perfect.”

And so it came to pass that someone (not really me, obviously) now has the job of lashing up knives and forks inside a paper napkin with surplus WW2 string.

I think it adds to the experience of having a snack at this particular café, especially for someone like me who has only just cut their finger nails, thereby adding to the challenge of untying a short length of old cord.

By the way, the flapjack was pretty good too.

Meanwhile, in Alaska, Liesel and friends spent a couple of days in Hope. Lots of hiking took place and, I suspect, plenty of chatting and laughing.

Bench, featuring Monica, Jyoti and Liesel

Anchorage is somewhere over there, on the other side of the water.

On a previous occasion, we all visited Hope in the family motor home. Klaus was driving and, just outside Hope, the van broke down. It turned out to be a fault with the motherboard: there was no way to override the computer that controls the vehicle. Luckily, Liesel and I had our tandem with us, so we cycled the final few miles into town, while Klaus waited for a mechanic, not easy out in the middle of nowhere.

On this occasion, Liesel and friends experienced no such trauma and they had a high old time in their rustic accommodation.

I went over to Cheadle Hulme to watch the children swimming, after which, I sat in their garden playing and enjoying the sunshine. Martha and William were looking forward to a visit to the local toyshop to buy some weaponry.

I told Martha that the rubber suckers at the end of the arrow are not only safer, but they’re so you can stick the arrows to your Daddy’s forehead.

After a period of very unSummerlike weather (yes, I just invented a word), the Sun came out and the temperature increased. Some might attribute this improvement to Liesel and her Mom bringing better weather with them from Anchorage. It was a relief to see them both emerge into Manchester Airport which, just 48 hours earlier, had had to cancel several flights due to a power cut. I was also pleased to see that their luggage, unlike mine, had not taken a short vacation on its own. The rest of the day was spent trying to stay awake.

We didn’t see much wildlife this week, except on TV, where we spent a short amount of time in Kenya.

That elephant was motionless for a couple of minutes, I was beginning to think it might be a cardboard cutout, but it did eventually wake up, twitch and wander off. Sadly, the woods and parks of Northenden and Wythenshawe are not inhabited by such exotic creatures. On Wednesday, more people joined the regular walk than usual, about 20 of us altogether, including a couple of folks new to me. So it’s a good job Boxx2Boxx have moved to bigger premises, we’d never have all got into the old site at the same time! I did however take pictures of some local flora, thinking, this’ll do.

And this week’s radio show was Give and Take, songs about giving time and love and taking me out drinking and that look off your face, or something. You can listen here, as always.

Families

One thing you don’t expect to see too often is large mammals pretending to be small birds. Liesel witnessed a moose embedding itself amongst a gang of geese on the lagoon near her Mom’s apartment.

Can you see the moose?

Liesel remembered to take a picture of a sand hill crane family, spotted quite a long way off.

Can you see the chick? Clue: it’s the smudge between the two adults.

It’s been an exciting week in Anchorage observing wildlife.

Can you seee the cygnet?

Meanwhile, in Brookvale, Australia, Helen has a new neighbour.

I think it’s a possum, and I imagine it didn’t hang around long when it saw Helen with her phone camera.

Closer to home, William and Martha took part in the School Colour Run. They ran about half a marathon and ended up covered in paint. Yes, they earned their medals! Actually, I’m not sure how long the run was, maybe it was a whole marathon.

Sometimes, when I tell Liesel I’m busy, and she asks what am I doing, I’ll respond, “Things to do, places to go, people to see,” or some variation thereof. Well, this week, I re-discovered where I (probably) first came across this perfect response. I am still watching old, classic Doctor Who episodes, and I had to rewind this bit just to make sure…

Thanks for the memory, Tom Baker, the fourth Doctor, from about 1978.

Some of the things I needed to do this week included seeing the dental hygienist, visiting a GP and having a blood test.

Some of the people I saw this week were fellow walkers around Northenden and Wythenshawe. There’s a narrow, single-file path along the river, but it’s even narrower now because of all the overgown plants, brambles, grass, nettles and more.

This week, Summer Solstice coincided with a so-called Strawberry Moon. The night before, it wasn’t quite full, but the Moon did indeed look pink-ish as it set over Wythenshawe. I Tweeted (or should that now be 𝕏ed?) my best photo, but my phone camera really didn’t pick up the colour.

I can’t remember the last time I went to a cinema for a midnight showing. It might well be The Gate Cinema in Notting Hill, about 50 years ago. Anyway, this week, I took the plunge and visited Didsbury Cineworld for a once in a lifetime late night showing of the final two episodes of the current series of Doctor Who. I’d seen The Legend of Ruby Sunday on TV last week, of course, but this was the first time we’d seen the final episode, Empire of Death. It was fun to hear everyone in the audience respond in unison to the story, gasps and intakes of breath. And yes, of course I’ll watch it again on proper TV later on, but it was great to see it on a big screen.

On this week’s radio show, I decided to catch up with some of the new music released while I was away. So, to go with all the new releases, I made the theme of the show New Things. You can listen right here on Mixcloud.

Gooses and Mooses

The family have been having a wonderful time at Disney World, enjoying the rides, the food and the exciting weather, thunder and lightning in between all the glorious sunshine. So here are a couple of final pictures from their trip.

Oh hang on, no, that’s not Disneyworld. That was Didsbury Festival. I’m sure there are no copyright issues here, and I am aware that Disney do have a team of very good, very expensive lawyers.

I should have walked over but in the end, I drove to Didsbury Festival and had a good look around. Apart from fairground rides, there were very many food and drink stalls. Several national organisations such as Greenpeace were represented, but I was more fascinated by the local groups. I said hello to Liesel’s WI mates. And I did think this group might have more calls on their time in Anchorage:

Liesel visited Talkeetna for a couple of days: it’s a long drive north of Anchorage. When we married, eighteen years ago, we had a party at Talkeetna Roadhouse. It’s tradition to leave a bottle top there on a door frame, and I’m pleased to say our Freixenet bottle top is still there, although our hand-written legend is faded.

Last year, there was no Women’s Tour of Britain Bicycle Race, but I’m glad to say it’s back, and I’ve been following it this week on ITV4 and via a podcast called On Yer Bike, hosted by my old friend Sanny Rudravajhala. The fourth and final stage took place in Manchester so I had to go along and support the riders.

I went by public transport, hoping to see the start and the end of the race, even if I didn’t witness the more challenging terrain along the 99 km route.

This picture shows how we dress for Summer in Manchester this year. Very few people in shorts and t-shirts, which would be my default dress code in June, which is supposed to be warm, after all.

Anyway, Manchester public transport. I left in very good time, but I still missed the start of the race at the National Cycle Centre. I heard the announcements from way over there, but I didn’t see anything. The bus got held up as a direct result of the roads being closed for the race, and the driver was reluctant to open the door and let us off. Jobsworth.

I did enjoy the musical entertainment though, provided by a group of drummers.

In fact, I recorded their rhythms and beats and I think this might become my new ringtone.

Oh well, I had plenty of time to get to Leigh to witness the end of today’s race. In fact, I had so much time, I thought I’d spend some of it in the Central Library. I wasn’t allowed in because it was closed, due to ‘an event’ which you had to book. What event? I have no idea. But, every cloud… I visited the café in the Art Gallery instead where I enjoyed one of their Cheese and Marmite scones.

As time went on, the rain worsened and I felt bad for the riders. The bus ride to Leigh was interesting. Part of the route takes the bus along a Guided Busway. What’s to stop cars driving along this former railway line? There are car traps, big holes, at road junctions.

I’ve never been to Leigh before, but I don’t suppose it’s always this cold and wet and miserable. Hooray, it was good to take shelter inside Spinning Gate shopping centre, but in a very British move, on a day when a big event is taking place in town, I noticed the public toilets were closed, as they always are, on a Sunday.

After the long, wet walk from the bus station to the sports centre, Leigh Sports Village, it was good to see so many spectators here. I found a spot 125 metres before the finishing line. I watched the race on the big TV screen but I was ready for the riders. Again, yes, I should have had a real camera.

The leading group were racing right up to the line, and in the end, it was quite a while before we discovered who’d won the stage. I think the announcer was building up excitement and expectations, but it worked, many of us, despite the downpour, stayed to watch the presentation ceremony. Ruby Roseman-Gannon won the stage and World Champion Lotte Kopecky won the overall Tour. Lizzie Deignan was Queen of the Mountains. I’m sure we’ll see all of them again at the Olympics.

Officials from British Cycling presented some of the awards, and they received a modicum of applause from the audience. Dame Sarah Storey takes the prize for the most support from the crowd, very loud cheers and lots of applause as she presented the prize to the Best Young Rider, Eline Jansen. Representatives from the sponsor, Lloyds Bank, well, they probably only expected half a dozen claps each from the crowd anyway.

Later on, I watched highlights of the race on TV and I was surprised and delighted to see my hat onscreen. Another small contribution to my fifteen minutes of fame.

News from abroad now. Jenny, Liam, Martha and William enjoyed their final day in Florida before returning home for work (boo) and for school (hmmm).

Meanwhile, in Alaska, Liesel was spotting some wildlife. By the lake in Talkeetna, a Mommy moose was looking after her twin calves.

I’ve known my friend Ruth for just about fifty years now, and it was lovely to meet up with her for the first time in at least a decade over at Quarry Bank. We had a good catch-up and a very pleasant walk. It was tempting, but neither of us were brave enough to pick the strawberry.

There were a few other visitors here today, but I think most of the other people we saw were gardeners, loads of them, all very busy. Lots of foxgloves too, but they weren’t doing much other than looking pretty.

Ruth went off to RHS Bridgewater and I returned home. I hope we can meet up again before another decade passes!

I scored a hattrick this week, attending all three of the regular Thrive Manchester walks. It was nice to see the old faces again, and some new ones.

Oops, I did it again. I left home in very good time with a view to catching a bus to one of the walks. A funeral procession held up traffic, including my bus. So I arrived late. But then so did Chantel, the leader, so I didn’t feel too bad!

In Painswick Park, it was hard to avoid all the goose guano on the path, and nobody can walk on tiptoes for that long. On the other side of the pond, we were approached by a herd, a swarm, a veritable gaggle of goslings.

If that wasn’t exciting enough, I set off on an adventure. I took a tram from Wythenshawe to the airport and then caught the bus back home. Why? Well, I’ve never done that before and I wanted to see how convenient the public transport option is at the airport. Will we travel by bus or tram with luggage? Very unlikely.

A schedule of Wythenshawe Radio shows is posted at the Forum. My show now goes out on Wednesday morning and I am described as ‘inimitable’.

I’ll take it as a compliment but… why the quotes? And no, I didn’t mention it at the volunteers’ meeting where it was nice to see some old faces and some new ones.

The theme of my show this week was Red Things. You can listen to over two hours of fabulous music right here on Mixcloud.

Arthur and Sheila

Flaming June, or as my Dad often referred to it, flamin’ ‘orrible June. The start of meteorological Summer but looking out of the window, walking the streets and taking on board all the weather forecasts, it’s not looking good. I don’t think this will be one of our best, warmest Summers. Maybe one of the coolest and wettest. Being British, I’m always going to whinge about the weather, I suppose.

While we were away, we missed seeing Count Arthur Strong at the Lowry. The tickets were passed on to some lucky listeners of Wythenshawe Radio. So you can imagine my delight when I found out that Count Arthur was appearing at the Plaza in Stockport. I bought myself a ticket and enjoyed a night out.

The venue is an old cinema, and rather than playing records before the start of the show, we enjoyed music played on the organ.

The show was very funny of course, and the second half educational too. If you ever get the chance to see the Count’s presentation on the history of The Beatles, grab it with both hands. I only remembered to take a picture right at the end of the performance, it was that engaging.

Afterwards, I walked back to the car park through the dark, brooding streets of Stockport. There were a few other people around, but it’s certainly not the hustling, bustling, vibrant town that Manchester is late on a Saturday evening.

Call me a sad old git, but I decided not to go to a gig that I’d been looking foward to. Local band Hann (who very nearly appeared on my show a while ago, but that’s another story) have a new record out. They were in concert quite locally. But then I saw that there were three or four other bands on beforehand, and that they, Hann, wouldn’t take to the stage until about ten o’clock. So, yes, I didn’t go: instead, I went to bed instead.

The car returned to the garage for some more work. Last week, it got a new battery, so it could start and go. This week, it received new brakes, so it can also stop, now. It’s a wonderful, ethically run garage, and reasonably priced too.

I paid a visit to Dunham Massey, and so did everyone else on the same day. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the place so busy, but I had a nice walk, thanks for asking. My day was ruined though because they no longer allow me to ride the deer.

These birch trees always look magificent, and I waited a long time until there were no humans in sight. The rose garden was very colourful, and I’m sure some of the flowers were scented, but my schnozz didn’t seem to be working fully.

It was good to see some busy bees going about their buzziness too.

I’m sure they know what they’re doing, but to me, it seemed more like a drunkard’s walk than a carefully thought out, methodical route, as they flew from bloom to bloom.

Although the place was heaving with people, the deer were very accessible. You had to be careful where you walked, and I’m sure they had to careful where they ate too.

While we’re thinking about wild animals, here’s one that Liesel saw over there in Alaska.

I was quite impressed that Liesel had encountered a black bear while on on a hike somewhere in or near Anchorage. But no. She said it had been at a wildlife reserve visited a few weeks ago.

And if a bear isn’t scary enough, what do you think of this beastie?

What else might be a bit scary is being stranded on an island. That is the premise of the play Sheila’s Island. I saw a performance of this, just up the road at Northenden Players Theatre Company, the amateur theatre group. It was very entertaining, funny and the set was really well done for such a small space. I arrived in a bit of a state though. I thought the performance started at 8pm. But when I checked my phone to confirm I had the ticket, I saw that it was in fact 7.30. I had ten minutes to leg it up the road and I arrived, puffed yes, but in good time.

We have a General Election on July 4th so to mark the occasion, the theme of the show this week was Elections. You can listen to it right here on Mixcloud. Really looking forward to having a new government.

First World Problems

While it’s great to be home, it’s always an anticlimax after being away in exotic locations for a while. Being tired and/or jet-lagged doesn’t help of course, so I was very sensitive to anything slightly amiss. I was definitely discombobulated after watching the carousel go round and round, delivering luggage to fellow passengers, and then, suddenly, the conveyor belt stopped. About eight of us looked at each other in disbelief, wondering where our bags were. Nothing for it but to report the missing items. This we did on awkward, vertically mounted, touch screens. Yes, it’s great that we can report missing bags at all, but in the heat of the moment, when you’re feeling tired and a bit fed up, having to try two or three times to enter every single response was so dispiriting. Anyway, I’ll never know where my case spent three days before it was delivered to my home address. The good news is, there was nothing missing, the bottles of wine were in tact. The Jumpy’s and crackers, for William and for Jenny respectively were slightly crushed, that’s all. Still, first world problems, eh?

The flat seemed to be in good nick, I just opened the windows to let in some fresh air. The two shrivelled black things in the kitchen? Well, I think we just forgot to pack the last two bananas before we set off. Oh well. At least the place wasn’t full of fruit flies, I think we were quite lucky there.

The bad news is that one of our pictures fell off the wall. Command Tape by 3M isn’t as strong and reliable as we would like. The good news is that, this time, neither the frame nor the glass were damaged. How annoying, though. It’s bad enough pictures falling off the wall, but then you can see just how dusty the wall itself is. First world problems, eh?

My first few days at home I spent trying to stay awake and adapt to the new timezone. I nodded off several times in front of the TV or while listening to the radio or a podcast or even attempting a puzzle.

After two months away, Northenden is now much more green and lush, some say overgrown. Some folks were having fun, messing about in the river.

I think those two were trying to shift an object from the weir. Very brave, considering what United Utilities have been dumping in our natural waterways recently.

After a couple of days, I thought I’d drive to the shops. Car said ‘no’. The battery was totally dead. I called on Liam who has a gadget, a gizmo, a device that would jump start the car. It got going, but I never managed to drive far enough to charge the battery enough to start the car next time. It may be the case that the battery needs replacing, of course. After a couple of jump starts, thanks to Liam, I bought my own jump start box, which we’ll keep in the boot of the car, just in case. Still, first world problems, eh?

I’ve been watching the old, classic Doctor Who series on BBC iPlayer for a while. I’ve just reached the Tom Baker era. I enjoyed the show at the time, but binge-watching it now just highlights how repetitive the storylines are. And compared with today’s modern, glossy incarnation with Ncuti Gatwa, the special effects are just laughable. ‘It is of its time, of course.’ But while the iPlayer is a great resource, it’s not perfect. There is no option to tell it, for instance, that you are not and will never be interested in a certain show so please stop suggesting it. Plus, every two or three days it apologises because the ‘Continue to watch…’ option is not available. Well, that’s no good is it? Why? This is the cue for me to eat more biscuits while searching for what I want. Still, first world problems, eh?

During my first week back, I didn’t make it to any of the regular Thrive Manchester walks, I was either asleep or just waking up. And then it was half-term, so these walks were cancelled. I’ll catch up with them soon.

Because the car wasn’t cooperating, my plans to go for more interesting walks further afield at National Trust properties were shelved. I tried not to wear the pavements out in Northenden but I wandered round and round, never meeting anyone I know. While we were away, Boxx2Boxx café has moved along the road to bigger premises, and I paid my first visit. It’s now over the road from Tesco, so I went shopping there. I usually go to the Co-op which is a bit further away from home, but on this occasion, well, I couldn’t be bothered. I needed a nap. I was beginning to think I was suffering from narcolepsy, not just jet-lag. First world problems, eh?

In other local news, some of those empty shops on Palatine Road are now occupied, hooray! One is a barber (because there aren’t enough barbers and hairdressers in Northenden) and one is a charity shop (because there aren’t enough… you get the picture).

There I was one afternoon doing a puzzle when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. The flat has been invaded by a spider. He’s a lovely specimen and I hope he survives outside. Our very own Boris.

In another attempt to get the car started, I went over to Jenny and Liam’s. I was thrown in the deep end. Did I want to take the children swimming? Well, yes of course, as long as they can show me where to go. We walked to the pool where they both have lessons every week, and as always, I am amazed at their skills in the water, both so much more competent and confident than I am.

Yes, after swimming, William did dry and brush his own hair. He has style.

The car limped to Sainsbury’s in Cheadle Hulme and I really enjoyed walking up and down the aisles of the very large supermarket. Honest, yes, I increased my step count a lot that day. Here’s a conundrum. I probably should go for a really long drive to charge the battery. But if I do that, I’ll need to stop somewhere to re-fuel. But if I do that, the car might not start again and then I’ll be stuck in a service station, blocking the way for other customers. Yes, I did have Liam’s jump starting device on board, but I’d be worried about sparks if I try to jump start at a petrol station, I don’t want to blow the place up. First world problems, huh!

Anyway, I was pleased to see that this shop, Sainsbury’s, will accept my old, used batteries for recycling, as well as gold and silver (!), currency, electronics and stamps. Well, I have a bag of stamps to donate but I suspect if I had any spare precious metals, I’d probably be selling them.

So, as I write, the car is at the garage for its MOT and they’ll check the battery too. Fingers crossed, after today, I’ll be able to go out, start the car and be on my way.

Jenny and Liam invited me over for a barbecue, and we had a very pleasant, fun afternoon in the garden. Martha and William had helped skewer the kebabs, all veggies, no meat.

Liam brought out his juggling clubs, and yes, he’ll be running away to the circus any day now. You’ll see. I had a go myself, but my juggling skills are very rusty. Maybe I should have been practising more during the last twenty or thirty years!

A couple of days later, I celebrated Jenny’s birthday by going to the blood shop, as she called it when she was little, for another blood donation session. And not just for the tea and biscuits. Earlier in the day, I’d witnessed Martha roller-skating around the house. I found that a little scary.

And so far, I haven’t mentioned the weather since I got home. Well, we’ve had a bit of sunshine and a lot of rain. I can’t wait until proper Summer kicks in and I can go out without a raincoat. I don’t mind getting a bit wet, but I don’t need my shirt to be so waterlogged, I can wring it out. I know, first world problems, right?

I mentioned the circus a little earlier. Well, they might not be going there, but the family are all off to Disneyworld for a little holiday. Yes, of course I offered to carry their bags or something, but no. In order to facilitate uninterrupted packing, I took Martha and Wiliam to the nearby playground where I heard ‘Grandad, look at this’ and ‘Grandad, watch me’ about four and a half thousand times. Great fun! So much energy. William said, after a while, that we should go home because it felt like rain. It did indeed try, but there were only about six raindrops on this occasion.

I’m not saying my grandchildren are noisy or antisocial or anything, but soon after we arrived, the only other family there left. Maybe it was is something I said?!

Well, Spring has worked wonders for Northenden, bring out the good and the bad. Firstly, in some hedges, the bindweed really is taking over. I lost a thirty year battle with this indestructible weed in our garden in Chessington, and it still brings back nasty memories of time I’ll never get back. First world problems, yep.

Of course, not all weeds are nasty. They’re just things growing in the wrong place. I’m not a fan of footpaths that are overgrown, but I can’t really complain about these poppies.

This week, I prepared and recorded a radio show for Wythenshawe Radio, WFM 97.2, online and now on DAB! I marked the occasion of my return home, plus there’s a track from a newly released album. You don’t want to miss this one, it’s here on Mixcloud. My show is now broadcast at the exciting brand new time of 10 o’clock on Wednesday morning, with a repeat on Saturday at 6pm.

Meanwhile, Liesel and Mom are still in Anchorage, still going for walks, still watching the snow slowly disappear from the mountains.

Oh, just before I publish, news just in: Angie from the garage called: yes, the car battery is dead, D E D, dead, it’s not holding charge at all.

And we’re off again

With just a few days to go before our epic trip to Australia and beyond, it was time to do all those last-minute jobs. Checking visas, finding passports, seeking out Aussie dollars left over from last time, and, of course, packing. For the first time in many years, even I am travelling with a large case, not just a backpack. So, one of the LMJs was to retrieve that case from the storage facility. We managed to consume most of our fresh fruit and veg before passing on the last few onions and spuds to our neighbour Ravi. The most exciting chore, though, was buying snack food items for Helen and her friends and for my sister Pauline, who’ll be joining us from NZ in a couple of week’s time. Lovely, tasty food items such as Hula Hoops, all flavours, Mini Cheddars, Cadbury’s Dairy Milk, Galaxy Minstrels, Twirls, Maltesers, Marmite, chocolate Buttons and chewing gum. Mind you, I visited six shops in Northenden before finding plain Hula Hoops.

We collected Martha and William from school. William proudly waved his wrist-band at us: “I bashed my head today” it said. He was alright though. We walked to the playground having said we’d buy them an ice cream in lieu of the normal snack. Upon seeing that the ice cream shack was closed today, William burst into tears. Thank goodness the nearby café sold ice cream and was still open. The children had ice cream, Liesel and I had carrot cake. The café was meant to close at 4pm, but the guy said the place would remain open for longer as it was such a lovely day. And it really was a nice day. Later on, both the children were running around in short sleeves. We said hello to the ducks as we passed by.

At the end of a school day, William especially has loads of energy to burn off. We ran around the playground, some of us faster and for longer than others. He climbed a lot and used the slides and swings. Martha had a good time too, and spent some playing with her friend Katie.

Somebody lost a friend today, let’s hope they’re reunited soon.

One unexpected surprise was seeing this newly married couple posing for pictures in the park. Very elegant and with gorgeous outfits and yes, I did ask permission before taking some pictures. Unexpected surprise? Isn’t that a tautology? Oh well, too late to edit that now.

Congratulations and best wishes to this happy couple

For the second week in a row, we had to return the children home quite early, as we had tickets for another gig in Manchester. This time, we didn’t even consider taking a tram.

After parking up, we looked for somewhere to eat. Lots of options, and the first venue we tried was full: we’d have to wait half an hour. I suggested hijacking a Deliveroo driver, but Liesel vetoed that idea. Eventually we found a pizza place, Noi Quattro, which I think is Italian for Northern Quarter, and that’s funny because it is actually located in Manchester’s Northern Quarter. The pizza here is possibly the best we’ve ever had. Highly recommended.

And then on to Gulliver’s, tonight’s venue. Sadly, we had to stand for the whole show, and that’s not something either of us enjoy doing any more. Support was Nathan Ball, who was with Martha last time we saw her, in Bath.

We enjoyed Martha Tilston’s set as usual, but she has such a large repertoire of songs now, she doesn’t always sing our favourites. And while I enjoyed her covering Kate Bush and Portishead, it seemed a wasted opportunity: she could have performed a couple more of her own songs!

The drive home was straightforwrad, thank goodness, straight to bed, and up early for the start of our new adventure.

The taxi was on time, and for the first time, we flew out of Manchester Airport Terminal 2. Check-in and security were no big deal. Singapore Airlines is probably our favourite at the moment. Although we’d forgotten to order vegetarian meals, two of the stewardesses in particular went out of their way to make sure I didn’t go hungry! As I told Liesel, my next wife will probably be a Singapore Airlines air stewardess.

Both of us had aisle seats and unoccupied seats next to us. My near neighbour was flying to Brisbane and then taking a cruise up to Cairns. I thought, we should do that one day too.

For a 13-hour long flight, it wasn’t too bad. I managed to watch three whole films, two for the first time: Oppenheimer and Barbie, both being on my ‘list’ since realeased last Summer. The third was Chocolat which I don’t think I’ve seen since it was released 24 years ago, and the book itself is about to celebrate its 25th anniversary. I thought I’d watch it again because right now, I’m reading another novel by Joanne Harris, Gentlemen and Players, and I thought, well, I’ve seen it before, so if I do nod off, it won’t matter so much. Reader, I stayed awake.

Watching the flight progress, I was quite excited when we flew the length of Malaysia, past some of the places we’d visited a few years ago…

In totally unrelated news, it seems I am practically related to JRR Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. How so? Well, before we left England, and before our subscription to the service expired, we watched the biopic Tolkien on Disney+. In this film, John Roland Reuel Tolkien’s wife Edith was played by Lily Collins. She is the daughter of Phil Collins, the musician. I was born at Mount Alvernia Hospital in Guildford, and so was Lily Collins. How do we know? Because at the time, Sarah was working at Mount Alvernia Hospital, and she told us that Phil Collins’ wife was having a baby there. That baby must have been Lily. Possibly born in the maternity ward where I first saw the light of day a few decades earlier. And she ‘married’ the renowned author. I can’t work out how many tenuous degrees of separation are involved here.

Bikes, Boxx and a Beatle

It was a nice surprise being invited to babysit one night, when Jenny and Liam visited an Escape Room. I had to reassure Martha and William that of course, Mummy and Daddy would be home later but at the back of my mind was: suppose they don’t manage to escape from the Escape Room? Spoiler: they did.

William in particular wanted to stay up until midnight, so I’m grateful that he can’t quite tell the time yet: midnight arrived at about 7.30pm.

Martha’s been learning about the state of the planet at school, and in addition to a bedtime story, she told me about plastics in the sea, and microplastics, and how they get into the food chain. Good night, sleep well!

While they should have been winding down, it was necessary to perform some acrobatics on their beds. Run and jump. Martha had to jump onto William’s bed though, she couldn’t quite manage the height of her own, bunk, bed.

I joined Kyle and the Wythenshawe Star Gazers one more time, but again, it was too cloudy to see anything interesting in the sky. The Moon tried to peek through and I attempted to capture it.

I don’t know whether I’ve mentioned it at all, but we’ve had a lot of rain recently. The ground is totally saturated, so even the (rare) shortest of downpours now results in huge puddles. They make for interesting, challenging walks around the neighbourhood.

Some of the other walkers were talking about wearing wellington boots, or waders, and who knows, sometime in the future, we might have to wear life jackets on these organised walks.

Some bad news now. Even though it was raining (what a surprise) I took the car in to be washed and valeted. It all went well until the guy hoovered up our National Trust car parking sticker from the window. Now that’s a powerful vacuum cleaner!

And so my hundred years of solitude came to an end. I collected Liesel from the airport and managed to drive straight home, without missing a turning and going home via Chester or Edinburgh.

Anchorage is still colder than here but the snow is beginning to thaw. Somehow they have more hours of daylight than we do in the UK at the moment.

Liesel had 24 hours to get over the jet lag before we went cycling. Not actual cycling, but we went to Manchester Velodrome to watch a session of the National Track Cycling Championships. We met up with the family there, and after being ejected from the seats we’d wrongly occupied, we had a good time.

The cyclists hurtled towards us down the back straight for about four hours, in various races, sprint, pursuit, keirin, scratch race and a very exciting women’s points race: overall, a much longer session than anticipated. Martha and William were really good though, and they went home suitably decorated.

We look forward to seeing some of today’s winners, champions all, as their careers progress. Look out for Lauren Bell, Jenny Holl, Hayden Norris and Sam Fisher in particular. It was fun to see Jody Cundy in action again, and the children were pleased to see him too: they know him from Strictly Come Dancing.

As I said, the session was longer than we expected, so we decided to dine out in the evening. Wagamamas, since you ask. The sky was obscured by clouds but again, the Moon peeked through, albeit shattered.

It’s funny how we can book tickets for events really far in advance, and then they all arrive together. Like buses. Two days after the cycling, we went to see Seth Lakeman in concert, in Manchester.

It was our turn to collect the children from school and this time, we took them to a bookshop, with the idea of buying a book each. And what a lovely shop it is too. If you’re in the area, drop in at Simply Books, Bramhall, fantastic ambience with friendly and helpful staff.

Martha and William chose their books, after which we took them to Gusto for a pizza.

After dropping the children back home, we thought we’d go into the big city by tram. Huh. Given the local traffic conditions, it would take us nearly as long to drive to our chosen tram stop as it would to drive all the way into Manchester. Ridiculous, but that’s what we did: drove into Manchester. It was worth it though. Seth always puts on a good show, and this one was celebrating the twentieth anniversary of his second solo album Kitty Jay, and the first half of the show was devoted to that set of songs. Did we sing along? No, not as much as usual. Did we dance? Again, not so much, at least not until he told us to get up. But I was fidgetting in my seat quite a lot, not necessarily in time with the music, but trying to find a comfortable position to ease the discomfort of my sciatica. Still, mustn’t grumble, eh!

No disrespect to the rest of the terrific band, but those pictures are, as my Chemistry teacher used to say, nbg.

It’s cold. There, I said it. I even said it out loud this week, it did feel cold outside. But the Spring flowers aren’t deterred, they’ll always cheer us up.

After the Thrive walk, we visited Boxx 2 Boxx for a coffee as usual. I didn’t realise at the time, that we would become part of the Instagram marketing campaign for this little coffee shop.

I enjoyed what will be my last Thrive walks for a while, despite it being cold. The Sun came out briefly, yet it’s still cold out. It’s not my birthday for a few weeks, but Jenny and Helen had plans for me. Liesel and I had to keep March 1st free but until we arrived at the venue, The Plaza in Stockport, I didn’t know what we were going to see.

I think the last time I saw a stage show about the Beatles was with Sarah in 1975 or so, a superb production called John, Paul, George, Ringo and Bert. Barbara Dickson performed all the songs on that memorable occasion.

Tonight though, Daniel Taylor told us George Harrison’s story, and performed the songs. The band was good, and after the show, I felt I should go back and listen to George’s albums again. They played a couple of songs from The Travelling Wilburys too. Some folks believe that to be the greatest ever supergroup: George, Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan.

Thank you Helen and Jenny for the early birthday present! Did I sing along? Sotto voce, yes. I can recommend Something about George if you’re at all interested in the so-called quiet Beatle.

Speaking of George Harrison, he famously gave his ukulele to Sam Brown, who now conducts ukulele lessons in Oxfordshire. Well, that’s too far for Martha to travel, but so far, she is enjoying learning the instrument. She already has a couple of chords in her repertoire.

Since the last proper post here, I have sent two Wythenshawe FM radio shows out into the universe. The themes of the shows are Doctors and Wales, respectively. Set aside 4 hours for some marvellous music.

I don’t often write about the books I’m reading, but I do have to recommentd one that I have just finished. I’ve been a fan of Kerry Hudson since she came to Manchester Literature Festival a few years ago to talk about her then new book Lowborn. Well, the follow-up to that has recently been published. Newborn is just as personal, honest and moving as its predecessor and you can’t help but wish Kerry and her family all the best for the future. Highly recommended.

Disbelief

Things are looking up now, Spring really is icumen in. Oh hang on, that’s Sumer, and we’re not quite there yet. No idea why the Cuckoo Song should come to mind though. I still think the best line in that 13th century poem is the one about the goat farting, but then I am, at heart, still 12 years old. Maybe the birdies singing in the hedges reminded me; no cuckoos though. Where are the photos, Mick? Well, it helps of course if I remember to take my phone camera out with me. Yes, I forgot my phone. I couldn’t believe it. But here’s a bird I saw another day in Didsbury:

Lapwing in Lapwing Lane: what re the chances?

We celebrated World Radio Day this week. I toddled over to Wythenshawe Radio with a few other volunteers to be interviewed for the occasion by students from the University of Salford. You can view the results here. Skip to 11m48s for our bit. I say ‘our bit’, but somehow, by mistake, they missed my bit out.

Thomas from the University of Salford with Marie

On Valentine’s Day, I took my girl out for a meal. Yes, Martha and I had a nice meal at Pizza Express and while waiting for our meal, we enjoyed a few games of hangman.

This was a prelude before going off to Wythenshawe Star Gazers. We were hoping for clear skies. Huh. By the time we arrived, well, at least it had stopped raining. Even though there was nothing to see in the sky, Martha helped Kyle set up a telescope.

I think it’s great that Martha is so interested in the night sky. Her favourite planet is now Mars: a while ago, it was Saturn.

In a previous post, I was worried about the number of ‘senior’ moments I was having. Well, this week, I went to the Forum in Wythenshawe for a meeting and as I pulled into the car park, my body decided to have a sneezing fit. So I stopped the car, natch. After my nose settled down, I locked the car and walked away.

This meeting of the Wythenshawe Radio volunteers was one of the best attended, so much so, I had to grab a chair from the pile in the corner. I had a chat with a couple of folks before leaving. On returning to the car, this is what I saw:

Liesel and I often laugh at the way some people land their cars almost in a space, and here I am, turning into one of them. I couldn’t believe it.

Our world is in grave danger. We face a set of existential threats that put all humanity at risk. We need solutions that seek to solve these issues, not just manage them. We propose a new approach: long-view leadership!

That’s just one of the totally meaningless adverts I wasted time on this week while on 𝕏 formerly known as Twitter. Here’s another one:

Data delivery architecture is something people don’t discuss enough in DeFi and DEX trading. Even a millisecond lag in getting live blockchain data can prompt suboptimal decision-making and financial outcomes. The solution is real-time, decentralized streaming across DeFi.

What’s the point of adverts if you don’t know what they’re trying to sell? Block and move on, that’s the way forward.

A couple of times this week, I’m ashamed to say I didn’t go out for a walk because it was raining so hard. Just call me a wimp.

The theme of my radio show this week was Lost and Found. Listen here. I found some good songs to play.

Books, Bats and Bikes

As part of my regular wanders around Northenden, I sometimes check up on the little library in Riverside Park. I really didn’t think it would work this well, but it is great to see it being used. It’s full of books, adults’ and children’s.

I keep meaning to fix the door locking mechanism, but I need to remember to carry tools with me, a sonic screwdriver or something.

Speaking of which: I have reached the episode of Doctor Who that brought me nearly to tears when I was a young 14-year old. The one in which companion Zoe Heriot left the series, and was returned to a point just before she set off on her travels with the Doctor. The Time Lords erased her memory of these adventures, and I found that incredibly sad.

I’d forgotten that this episode was also the last one with the second Doctor, played by Patrick Troughton who was replaced by Jon Pertwee. It was also the last one in black and white. The third Doctor’s stories were shown in colour, but of course, I didn’t know that, it was a couple of years before we had a colour TV at home!

I don’t spend all my time watching classic Doctor Who, honest. I’ve also been catching up on Planet Earth 3, something that Liesel doesn’t really get on with, especially when the animals catch and eat each other, although there’s not a lot of that.

There was time for my own adventures too. When I give blood, every few months in Manchester, I go by bus. I’d rather not drive because, if I were to feel faint after the session (although this has never happened) I would be unable to drive home.

So I went out and stood by the bus stop. I was surprised and delighted to see a new litter bin there. There’s always been one on the other side of the road, but not by this particular bus stop.

Sod’s law dictates that whichever bus I’m waiting for, one travelling in the opposite, wrong direction will appear first. And so it was today. I thought it was strange that the sign on that bus said it was was going to Manchester Piccadilly. Weird, I thought. But as it pulled away from the bus stop, I suddenly realised: I was waiting on the wrong side of the road. I should have caught that bus. What a prat.

Now, of course, I’m concerned that I’m going to be late for my appointment. But I wasn’t. I gave my name at precisely 2 o’clock. Not on the list. They only take platelets on a Monday, not full blood. Monday? I thought it was Tuesday. So, rather than being late, I was a day early. What a plonker.

As I said to someone, I’m glad I wasn’t trying to donate my brain, nobody would want that particular organ today, it really wasn’t firing on all cylinders.

Twenty-four hours later, I successfully donated, enjoyed a small packet of Bourbons and a small packet of digestives and was about to grab some custard creams when the nurse took the trolley away.

Still, it was good to see the first signs of Spring on the local village green: crocuses and snowdrops here, and a couple of daffodils elsewhere.

I was sad to learn of the death of Christopher Priest. He was one of my favourite science fiction writers in the 1970s and ’80s. I met him once, when he came to our Science Fiction Society meeting when I was at Queen Elizabeth College, so nearly 50 years ago. He was a top bloke, very generous with his time. I still treasure the email he sent me after I got in touch wih him after he wrote an obituary for Harry Harrison. Who, by coincidence, was another guest speaker at our SFSoc all those years ago.

Reading Chris’s obits, I discovered that he was born in Cheadle and attended Cheadle Hulme School, a mere stone’s throw from where Jenny and the family now live.

Wythenshawe Star Gazers provide opportunities to use other people’s equipment to view the night sky. I went along this week, despite the 99% cloud cover, and we were able to just about see Jupiter through a telescope, not in any detail though thanks to the more local clouds.

Plan B is to have a talk indoors, and Kyle spoke to us about the planets. Dave was there with some great photos that he’d taken, despite living so close to the airport with its bright lights.

Let me blow my own trumpet and say that the leek and potato soup I had this week was the best I’ve made in a very long time. So glad it lasted two days.

Jenny and Liam went out for a meal with friends Matt and Amy, and I was delighted to be asked to look after Martha and William. We played a couple of games, Uno and Furious but best of all, we watched a few episodes of Bluey on TV. Don’t tell Mummy and Daddy, but they stayed up a little bit later than they were meant to, shhh!

I don’t want to know what Martha was doing to this poor old teddy.

It was, as always, fun to watch the children swimming too. Martha had been kick boxing earlier while William was playing football. I can only imagine the complexities of the speadsheet that helps their parents coordinate all the children’s activities. I joined the family for lunch after which, we spent some time in a park in Gatley.

For the first time in many years, I played tennis. Five minutes of that exercise was enough for this short-of-breath old fart. William and Martha had cycled to the park, and they proceeded to ride around the skateboard park too.

What else did they bring apart from bikes and tennis racquets? Well, the remote controlled car and cricket bats, of course. In the end, we didn’t play cricket. but it was a full-on afternoon. Thankfully, the car stayed in one piece despite William’s efforts on the skateboard park. And, it was a surprisingly warm afternoon, hence Martha’s decision to remove her coat.

The car survived, OK, but the radio show this week was about Breaking Things, breaking up, breaking down, breaking out. You can pass or waste two hours by listening here.

(Mis)adventures

As always, Liesel set off in good time for her physio appointment. Usually, she’ll go for a short walk before the session. Left to my own devices at home, I continued work on this week’s radio show. Imagine my surprise then when, fifteen minutes later, Liesel phoned to tell me that the car wouldn’t start. At first, I couldn’t believe she’d even been trying for that long. But no. She’d been waylaid by our neighbour Ravi, and they’d been chatting all that time.

The first thing was to make sure Liesel didn’t miss her appointment, so thank goodness for Uber. Which I had to book because Liesel doesn’t have the app. Next, make use of our breakdown cover. But, it turns out, the car’s not covered for breaking down at home. The paperwork says it’s included, but then, in very small print, in a lighter colour, it says this is an optional extra. Well, I thought we’d opted for this extra but apparently not.

Anyway, the car just needed a jump start and it’s been alright ever since. So what happened? I think I must have nudge the internal light by mistake, and it stayed on all night, draining the battery.

A couple of days later, Liesel was due to fly over to Anchorage to stay with her Mom for a few weeks. The first hint of trouble was when she told me she was flying out of Heathrow. In my early morning stupor, I thought she meant we had to drive to Heathrow to catch her first flight. The booked route was Manchester to Reykjavik to Seattle to Anchorage, three flights in all. But the message Liesel receieved was that the first leg had changed, so: Manchester to Heathrow to Seattle to Anchorage. Why? The weather in Iceland was so atrocious, all flights in and out were cancelled.

But then Liesel read her emails. There were several from Iceland Air. The first one said her flight was cancelled. The second said that she had been re-booked onto British Airways, to Heathrow. The third said that her original flight to Reykjavic had been postponed to later in the afternoon. Confused? Liesel was. I was. Ambigious at best. When Liesel called the helpline, she was answered straightaway and a very helpful assistant confirmed that yes, she would be travelling via Heathrow.

I can confirm that after dropping Liesel off at the airport, everything went pretty smoothly and she arrived in Anchorage tired, relieved and on time.

A few days later, I needed to drive somewhere, and I was expecting to find the car again covered in dust from the Sahara, as predicted. But no. Instead in a localised avian conspiracy, the birds have been using our vehicle for target practice.

Apparently baking a potato in the air fryer is quicker and cheaper than baking it in the oven. Well, it worked out beautifully last time. This week? It took flippin’ ages. It had a nice crispy jacket, that was the best bit of the whole tuber, but the very centre still wasn’t cooked properly after what felt like 24 hours. I was hungry by the time I ate (most of) it. I think it’s fair to say, there is a knack to using these new-fangled contraptions which I have yet to fully acquire.

But it wasn’t all distasters this week, oh no. Some things worked out quite well. For instance, I joined Jenny, Liam and the children for a walk at Quarry Bank Mill.

Despite his best efforts, William didn’t fall down any muddy slopes, nor fall into the river. If he had, I was quite prepared to take pictures while Daddy rescued him. It’s great that he’s so adventurous, but if I were still in the habit, I would have been biting my nails.

Martha wasn’t averse to performing her own stunts either.

It was a very pleasant walk, along paths that we don’t visit very often. There’s a small beach by the river, which Martha studied in detail, looking for interesting stones.

Here’s a novel idea. Coffee cups that you can reuse. Yes, at National Trust Quarry Bank Mill, they’re experimenting with reuseable takeaway cups. I don’t know why this has never been thought of before. I suppose they just don’t want us walking around with china mugs of coffee.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the planet, my sister Pauline, and Andrew, had a lovely day in the Botanic Gardens in Christchurch. Late Summer is so colourful.

We collected the children from school and brought them to our place where, unusually, we watched TV. Wallace and Gromit in A Close Shave. We all enjoyed it and I felt a bit sad that William and Martha wouldn’t get some of the gags because they don’t have all the cultural references that we old farts do. Indian food tonight: dahl and saag paneer with rice, yogurt and grated, spiced up carrot. Liam and Jenny joined us, and there was far too much food. After Liesel left for Alaska, I ate Indian leftovers for two days!

For a few days earlier in the week, we enjoyed listening to the chainsaw outside, over there somewhere. They were cutting down a tree, and I was worried that it was this beauty.

But, phew, no it wasn’t. It looks a bit bare right now.

The victim was the next tree, a bit further down the road. It was growing just a few feet away from a telegraph pole, so it was probably a harder job than usual to cut down, because of all the phone lines. But it’s always sad to see a tree murdered in this way.

I enjoyed a few walks in Northenden and Wythenshawe, in a group or by myself. In fact, on one of the organised walks, there were just the two of us so we agreed to shorten the route: it was probably quite muddy in the woods, yeah, that was the reason…

For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been completing another one of those giant crosswords from Teazel, 1284 clues solved in 8 hours and 19 minutes. Quite an achievement, right? But I did take issue with one clue: To provide with complete dress, full equipment, etc (3,3). Easy I thought, but it wouldn’t accept any of my answers ‘_I_/O_T’ – obviously ‘something out’, right? The answer was ‘Rig Out’. I’d tried ‘Fit out’ and ‘Kit out’ to no avail, but I think they’re all acceptable solutions to the clue. Still, it didn’t affect my enjoyment too much.

Speaking of enjoyment, I am continuing to watch the old Doctor Who series from the 1960s. I’m so glad I didn’t have such a critical mind as a young child. The wobbly sets, the acting to camera, the naff pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo dialogue, all a given. What I’ve now noticed though is how often a character changes outfit halfway through a scene, when there’s no realistic way they could have changed.

And while I’m thinking about TV, the second series of ITV’s Trigger Point has started. Embarrassed to say, I binge-watched all 6 episodes over two days. Vicky McClure playing the main character will I’m sure win awards for her performance. But there are more ‘bloody hell, I didn’t see that coming’ moments in this series than anything I’ve seen for a long time. Highly recommended if you like a thriller, a bit of suspense and some surprises.

Here’s another picture from Grandad’s boasting photo album.

This is the children’s latest activity: kick boxing. They both enjoy it, but I personally don’t get the appeal of kicking boxes around.

How is Liesel getting on over there in Narnia then? Narnia business! Well, it’s apparently warming up: the temperature was up to -23°C a couple of days ago… not my cup of tea at all. I accept that it looks pretty, especially the frost.

I mentioned the radio show earlier. I usually start preparing it on Monday, with a view to uploading by Wednesday evening. Sometimes the editing is dead easy, straightforward, the timings work out nicely. Other times, it takes ages to adjust things by a few seconds. Liesel has commented in the past that occasionally I spent far too long on the toilet. Well, this week I spent way too long on the Toilet Humour show, for that was the theme. You can listen to two hours of songs, some obliquely, related to or about toilets here on Mixcloud, if by any chance, you missed hearing it on Wythenshawe Radio on Friday afternoon; where were you?