Alaska – Mick and Liesel's Antics

Exciting times

What an exciting week that was. The gardeners turned up and instead of just blowing the leaves around like they usually do, they actually collected them up and took them away. A lovely pile of compost for someone.

After losing that much weight, I can hear the old oak tree breathing a sigh of relief and stretching its limbs.

What an exciting week that was. I ventured into Manchester one evening to see Margaret Atwood speaking about her latest book, Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts. She told some funny stories and was very engaging. But I found the acoustics at the Opera House a bit disappointing. From where I was sitting near the back of the stalls, the reverberating audience laughter drowned out a lot of the dialogue from the stage.

This was the least worst of the two pictures I took. I was too intimidated by the ushers walking around with their ‘No Photography, No Videography’ signs.

Oh, and the other disappointment is that the books weren’t signed by the author.

Manchester is gearing up for Christmas, and I’m sure I’ll visit the Christmas markets sometime.

Thanks to recent solar activity, the aurora has been visible from Anchorage.

The southern version was visible from Manly, NSW, but Helen didn’t witness the event, having other things on her mind.

Storm Claudia brought strong winds and torrential rain this week. So loud, and of course, no chance of us seeing any aurorae through those clouds.

Under normal circumstance, you would expect tomatoes to be bigger than grapes. This week, I enjoyed these freaks of nature.

What an exciting week it was on TV too. A few weeks ago, Channel 4 put up a few select episodes of Brookside, the only soap that Sarah and I watched regularly. I’ve just found out that STV are showing (possibly) every Brookside episode, uploading five new ones every week.

Good to see these two together again:

It was an exciting week for young Martha too. She swam one mile, non-stop, and is rightly proud of her achievement and the certificate she received.

But of course the big news this week, the most exciting event, is the arrival of Keiran Michael. Helen and Brent have been blessed with this gorgeous little chap.

My heart is overflowing with joy for you all! For a moment, after seeing you on the video call, I thought about hopping on a plane straightaway to come over to see you all those miles away in Australia. Totally impractical of course. So, welcome to Keiran, our third grandchild! We look forward to seeing you in a couple of months time. Lots of love to you all.

I’m sure Keiran is looking forward to hearing his Grandad’s WFM radio show. The latest is on the theme of Water, for Our Earth Week which coincides with COP30. Listen here on Mixcloud.

Humungous fungus

Liesel took Holly to Whittier and on this occasion, the weather was kind enough to make a boat trip worthwhile. And they all had a great time out on the ocean waves, watching orcas breach and glaciers calve. I can only imagine the smell of the sealions as they (mostly) outswam the predators.

Meanwhile, here in sunny England, I enjoyed a walk with Jenny, Liam, Martha and William over the border in Derbyshire. The car park in Crowden was nearly full, but we squoze in easily.

The path followed Torside and Rhodeswood Reservoirs. Yes, reservoirs that haven’t (yet) been sold off by the privatised water companies. William was pleased to make friends with the smallest frog in the world. They met when William enjoyed the first of several bush wees. (He’ll be pleased to read that when he’s a bit older.)

Martha was equally impressed by the very bright toadstools.

We didn’t run up any of the higher hills, not on this occasion. No, we just appreciated the leisurely walk on a well-worn, slightly undulating path. However many steps we grown-ups took (17,500 in my case), I’m pretty sure the children ran twice as far.

I have visions of Liesel rolling her eyes when she sees this photo:

The temptation to bend a tall structure in this manner is irresistable. On the other hand, the view was very English.

Rhodeswood Reservoir with Suffolk sheep and a pylon

Only as we were on the home straight, did I see a sign confirming that we were on the Pennine Way. That’s another item on the bucket list, to walk the whole length of the iconic route.

This week, I felt I was fighting technology a lot. My main fight was with Microsoft. I’ve had a Schrödinger’s account for a while. It won’t let me log in because there’s no such account. Yet when I try to create a new account, it tells me there already is one.

This week, my Microsoft Office stopped working. They were unable to verify my licence. Go online to verify, it said. I’m already online, I replied, I can’t get any more online than I am, no matter how much you nag. In the process, my Word and Excel were disabled. I could view existing documents but I couldn’t edit them nor create new ones.

I got to a place where I could enter the Product Key, and it told me that Key had already been used. Yeah. By me. Three years ago.

There is no way to speak to a human at Microsoft. There is a phone number, but when you call it, the automated voice just says to go to the website.

When you go to the website, you go round and round in circles. I had to enter fifteen one-time codes, and my password several times, getting nowhere fast. In the end, I decided to delete the account. It asks 101 questions before you get to actually get to that point: mostly about features that I didn’t even know existed, that I’ve never used, and I won’t miss at all. And then, the account’s not actually removed for 60 days, ‘in case you change your mind’.

Then, if you open (in my case) Word or Excel, that is taken as to mean I want to cancel my request to delete the account. To avoid opening one of those by mistake, I uninstalled all the software.

A couple of days later, I received a marketing email from Microsoft. I don’t need that either, so I’ll unsubscribe. Easy, I thought. To unsubscribe, yes, I have to sign in. If I do that, then my request to delete the account will be cancelled.

The whole set-up is just nasty. Amongst all the big tech companies, I used to think Microsoft was one of the, if not ‘good’ guys, then one of the least worst. Oh well.

I’m now using getting used to Libre Office. It does 90% of what Microsoft Office does, it’s free and open source. So, a big razzberry to Microsoft.

On a lighter note, literally, Una sent some gorgeous photos of the Northern Lights from Anchorage.

Just as glorious, of course, is Northenden’s tiny village green, embracing the season.

Another technology fail. Booking flights to a holiday destination used to be fun, something to look forward to. Now, it’s soul-destroying, it just feels like you’re fighting the system all the time.

I’m visiting Helen in Australia at the end of January. After several days faffing about, trying to find a cheaper flight, it was time to pick a flight and book it.

After successfully entering all the details of my booking, double- and triple-checking (recalling Liesel’s faux pas last time, when we got tickets for March instead of April, oops, but never mind), Etihad declined my credit card, despite me confirming it was genuine via the bank’s app. I called the bank, there was no reason for my card to be declined, they said, the problem must be at their end.

I looked up Etihad Customer Support and being a bit flustered, I clicked on the first link that came up. Connect to our partner for a refundable £1 to get help. Cheeky bastards, I thought. When I did, I saw they want £1 then £24 a month subscription. At this point, I realised this was a con. So, back to the bank who strongly recommended cancelling my card and reissuing. This was a bit disappointing and annoying, and yes, inconvenient, but it was the right thing to do. Some rogue company might have my credit card details.

I still had to pay for my flights, of course: I don’t know whether the booking disappears after a set amount of time. So, I used my other card. This is one that I’ve been running down for a long time. I’ve not used it now for several months, and I’d planned to cancel it in due course. Again, to verify the card, I had to go to this bank’s app to say it was genuine. The payment went through.

So, I’ve decided to keep this second credit card, for just such an eventuality, an emergency, even if I don’t use it on a regular basis.

On my ‘main’ card, the one that was incorrectly declined, there are a couple of subscriptions so I’ll have to go in and change those, once the replacement card turns up.

Also, a reminder to myself, even if the heading in a big typeface says ‘Etihad Customer Care’, check the actual link before clicking on it.

I didn’t spend all week fuming in front of my laptop. I did go out a couple of times for some fresh air, some shopping and, oh alright, a coffee. I had a flu jab and a covid jab, one in each arm, to spread the load of the 5G microchips being injected into my body. But best of all, I went out to a gig.

I saw Frankie Archer at Low Four Studio in Deansgate, Manchester.

Yes I’ve been busy preparing shows for Wythenshawe Radio, after a break of very nearly a year. It took a while to recall how to use some of the software and, inevitably, new ‘features’ have been introduced that I’m not interested in. That’s progress, apparently!

The venue was intimate, and the audience enjoyed the support act, Satnam Galsian. She sang songs in Punjabi and in English, and played her own shruti box, a bellows that provides a drone to accompany the vocals.

Frankie Archer herself bounced onto stage and performed several ‘dark’ songs, promising to sing some more upbeat ones in the second half. When playing her fiddle, dancing around the stage, you can tell she’s really enjoying herself. And I don’t know how she can keep on top of all her equipment, samplers, keyboards, pedals and other gadgets.

The Demon features in the video for her latest single, The Demon Lover.

If you would like to hear more from Frankie, listen to my latest radio show, now up on Mixcloud. As well as Frankie, there are some great songs which (sometimes inadvertently) namecheck other bands or singers.

Feeds and Weeds

I’ve heard of Hatcher Pass, but today was my first trip there. We drove towards Willow, a city that once very nearly became the state capital. My ears popped as we drove up into the mountains. Our specific destination was Independence Mine State Historical Park. Gold mining here was once a big operation, and we enjoyed walking around the site, always keeping an eye out in case someone had dropped a gold nugget or something.

The landscape looked a bit Scottish, although the tundra vegatation here is totally different.

A big surprise was to see a wedding party: they’ll have some fabulous pictures of the bride and groom with a gorgeous backdrop.

Some of the old buildings are in need of some TLC. Visitors are warned to stay on the path.

We walked up a few of the tracks and it was quite exciting to be here in the moutians. A couple of years ago, I might have been tempted to run up the slopes like a gazelle, but those days are gone, I fear. In Winter, the area is a popular ski resort. The amount of gold found in the rocks and minerals seems to be very small, it takes a lot of hard work to extract it, but 30,000 people thought it was worth the effort.

And as if the buildings being in a state of disrepair wasn’t bad enough, it’s a good job we weren’t planning to catch this train back to Anchorage.

On the drive home, we stopped at a place purporting to offer The Best Ice Cream in the World. It wasn’t. It was OK, and the scoop was American huge, nothing special, really. It began to rain before we arrived home, but our spirits weren’t dampened.

In the morning, Liesel went out on a mission, which meant that Leslie and I walked into the big city. The streets being on a grid network meant that we couldn’t really lose our way, but neither could we completely avoid the traffic.

Even though Autumn is knocking at the door, some of the flower beds in the parks are still very colourful. As is much of the street art. The murals in particular are delightful.

We met Monica in Midnight Sun for lunch and Liesel joined us a few minutes later. We spent some time across the road in the Museum. Dogs are very popular in Alaska so it’s no surprise that there is a Dog Show in the museum, a collection of photos and other exhibits celebrating dogs. Obviously, this exhibition is located in Patricia B Wolf Family Galleries.

On the drive home, we passed a wall adorned with some up to date graffiti, with slogans such as: Human Rights Matter; ICE – Due Process Only; Make billionaires pay taxes again; War Criminals not welcome in Alaska [Putin met Trump here recently]; We did not vote for Project 2025; No human being is illegal; Слава Україні!; No Christian Nationalism; Make America free again; Alaska is not for sale. Yes, it’s a very big wall.

Leslie once again joined Aaron to watch a football game. So Liesel and I had a rare date night. Our first thought was to dine at the Ethiopian restaurant. The car park was empty, and I tried the door, but no, it was definitely closed. Not even a notice on the door. Oh well, off to a Nepalese/Indian place instead. It was called Everest. Of course. The food was very tasty, not too hot and spicy, and, we think, prepared with a lot less ghee than they use in British Indian restaurants. We took the leftovers home in a box. Several boxes in fact.

Rather than go straight home, we thought it would be nice to visit Potters Marsh for a crepuscular walk. There were plenty of other visitors this evening too, and we managed to walk the full length of the boardwalk.

There were fewer birds than we expected, but for me, the most exciting one was the bald eagle sitting in a tree about a mile away. We made good use of the binoculars supplied by the local authority.

Again, I looked at the people carrying 2-feet long zoom lenses with a touch of envy.

Liesel joined Una for a jewellery making class over the road from the Museum. Leslie spent more time with Aaron. Don’t worry, I had things to do. I walked back to the Museum as I wanted to visit the Cold War to the Cosmos exhibition which we hadn’t had time for yesterday.

There are three magpies outside the Museum: they reminded me of the three magpies that live in the oak tree at home.

The Cold War displays were fascinating. I didn’t know, for instance, that America’s nuclear bomb tests weren’t confined to New Mexico and some south Pacific islands. They also bombed a small Alaskan island.

There was a lot of information about the cold war, early warning systems, and the cosmos, but also about climate change.

Lots of information. To me, some of the graphics were too detailed and I’m sure a lot of people would have just walked on by, I know I nearly did.

Later on, we joined Monica and Gregg for dinner at Pho Gia Đình Vietnamese Restaurant. I think Gregg is still adjusting to being retired. Well, me too, after nearly ten years.

Liesel hasn’t visited Thunder Bird Falls since she was a teenager, and that was a long, long time ago. We had a lovely walk there, even if the initial long and steep incline from the car park was a bit daunting. The smell of Autumn was in the air, nothing bad, just the normal seasonal decay. Which, unfortunately for me, brings back memories of cross-country running at school.

We passed lots of dog walkers and interestingly, every single dog was on a lead, as the signs requested. But it was a very pleasant hike and at the end of the track, we admired the waterfall while chatting to a couple from South America.

Nearby is Eklutna Lake, the main source of fresh water for Anchorage. The lake was too big to walk around, so we just wandered down to look at it. We didn’t even skim any stones on this occasion. The sign said ‘No camping, no fires’ so I can only surmise that the smoke we detected came from the official campsite nearby.

One thing we didn’t need to see on the way home, as we overtook another vehicle, was the moose’s head with a huge rack. It was accompanied by a chainsaw on board a Yamaha Viking Utility Terrain Vehicle (UTV) being transported on a trailer.

I spent much of the morning packing, and of course I was bound to leave something behind, it would just be a surprise in a few days time to find out what it was.

I also took pictures of all of Liesel’s parents’ records, maybe a new feature of my radio show will be ‘A track from my wife’s Mom and Dad’s record collection’ but with a more succinct name. These records were mostly from Liesel’s childhood, though, lots of Disney and children’s stories.

Liesel, Leslie and I walked to a popular restaurant, Fletchers, where we joined Una and Phil for a most enjoyable lunch. Afterwards, I paid a quick visit to a gift shop and on the way home, I stopped off at Fire Island for a coffee. Yes, I deliberately took a long-cut home.

Uh? Why take a picture of a hotel that we’re not even staying at? Well, the combination of a clear sky and slightly tinted windows gives out a lovely electric blue reflection.

I’ve mentioned it before but I do like the Anchorage Light Speed Planet Walk. Today I saw the Sun, and I passed by Mercury, Venus and Earth, walking at the speed of light. And at that speed, it would take 5½ hours to reach Pluto, so I decided to leave the rest of the Solar System for another occasion.

Aaron and Jodi joined us for dinner, and I said a quick hello to Gideon, who’d been out playing football again.

Well, that time arrived at last. Rain set in as we set off for the airport. I was heading back to sunny England, while Liesel stayed in Anchorage with her Mom. As always, I was unduly anxious about the airport experience, but this time, straight through security and lots of time just to hang around. Even moreso with my slightly delayed flight.

In Frankfurt, I enjoyed the bus ride from plane to gate. And I enjoyed the train ride to my departure gate, having taken a wrong turn somewhere and leaving the secure area. Again, the extra security measures here were blamed on the US government although why they’d be interested in us when we’re flying the UK, I have no idea.

Welcome home, me. Miserable outside. But I was greeted with a box of vegetables outside the door, thanks to Groobarb and Liesel. A few days ensued, adjusting to the new timezone, sleeping, unpacking, short walks, nothing too taxing. As usual, I have a long to-do list and I’m sure it will be even longer next week.

Bugs and bigger beasts

Liesel and I returned to her Mom’s apartment, which was just as warm as it always is, even without the heating being turned on.

After a bit of a rest, I was still jetlagged and bedazzled, but happy to join Liesel as we drove over to a friend’s house. Along with many other people, we’d been invited to a Henna Party, something us blokes wouldn’t normally attend, but this was an opportunity for everyone to meet and get to know Rupert a little better: that’s Jyoti’s fiancé Rupert.

The two bottles of Pimm’s that I’d successfully brought over were enjoyed by many of us at the party, mixed with lemonade and with plenty of fruit added.

Thanks to Melanie and Dave for hosting the party, there was an overwhelming number of people here, some of whom I have met before, including some to whom I couldn’t immediately put a name.

Many of the ladies had henna applied to their hands, in complex patterns, but as I’d been up for over 24 hours, Liesel dragged us away home before her hands could be decorated. Boy, I had a good night’s sleep!

My first full day back in Alaska was relaxed. So relaxed, we even went for a pedicure. The cheese-grater got a good workout on my heels, thank you very much. We paid a short visit to Amrit’s office to quickly address an administrative matter. The view of the mountains was unusual. Then I realised: there was no snow. Last time I saw this vista, people were speed skating on the ice that covered the park just over the road.

We lunched at Bear Tooth, mainly because Liesel’s first choice, the newly opened Eye Tooth, wasn’t open today

Later on, we visited Jyoti’s place for dinner. About 20 people came over, some from Anchorage, some from Talkeetna and a couple of folks from much further afield.

Jyoti’s dhal was as delicious as ever and I’m sure the carnivores enjoyed their chicken. Someone suggested going out for a quick walk, so we did. A very short walk, just to the bluff overlooking Turnagain Arm.

There were a few sandhill cranes down on the mudflats, hard to spot from this distance. Then from a distance, we saw a small flock of them take off and entertain us with a flypast.

Even more exciting was the sight of a couple of bald eagles in flight.

Someone remarked on how lucky it was that the cat that had been lurking nearby had now gone back indoors. It would have been a nice snack for the eagle.

Liesel drove us home around sunset, so it was interesting to see the Alpenglow on the distant Chugach Mountains, even without snow to reflect much light.

The first long(-ish) walk of this visit took place early(-ish) in the morning. We wandered down to Westchester Lagoon, Liesel setting the goal of turning around at the second bridge. Some people were paddle-boarding and kayaking in the lagoon, and after a while, we finally found the family of swans that Liesel had told us about. The cygnets are pretty much fully grown, but their plumage is still baby grey.

A few colourful flowers brightened the place up, and we noticed that some of the trees’ leaves have begun to change colour: Autumn is just around the corner.

Common toadflax or butter-and-eggs or brideweed

We walked slowly back home, and Liesel drew my attention to some skis in a most unusual place.

She said that round the corner, there was a stick library. I asked why someone would want to borrow a stick? She said that people don’t but dogs do.

Which makes perfect sense in a city where there are approximately 17 dogs per capita. I don’t know if that figure’s correct, but I extrapolated from the number of people we saw today compared with the number of dogs.

I was able to have a bit of a nap in the afternoon, before the main event of this visit.

Anchorage Museum was a great venue for a wedding ceremony, and this is where Jyoti and Rupert celebrated their nuptials.

Liesel, Leslie and I were amongst the first to arrive. We met some of the same people that we’d seen over the last two nights, at Melanie’s and at Jyoti’s.

It was nice to be reacquainted with Theresa, our companion when we walked Hadrian’s Wall a couple of years ago, and to meet her daughter Neela for the first time.

It’s a sign of the times, I suppose, that I was very conscious of not saying something that could be misconstrued. All the ladies were telling each other how wonderful, how gorgeous they were looking, all dressed up beautifully for the occasion. Several times, I too thought “You look nice”, but in this post-#MeToo age, I felt uncomfortable vocalising this, especially to the younger members of the fairer sex. What a shame. But they could all have come from the pages of a fashion magazine.

The food was plentiful, charcuterie, vegetarian samosas, lamb & turkey kabobs, tandoori chicken, potato chips, chocolate and enough cupcakes to sink a battleship.

The marriage ceremony was beautifully conducted by Una, who you may remember, joined Liesel and me in unholy matrimony all those years ago.

It was then time to party with nice mix of western and Indian music. I wandered around a bit, greeting people and even climbing the stairs for a better view of the proceeedings.

I’m glad I hadn’t eaten too much when the time came to make my mark on the dancefloor. I managed not to tread on anybody’s foot, so I’d call that a success.

People started drifting away, and the hosts were packing up as Liesel, Leslie and I left. Later, we found out that the bride and groom and several guests had moved on to another venue to continue their debauchery well into the night.

After all that excercise, I had a really good night’s sleep, even if the dreams were a little weird.

After dropping her Mom off at Aaron’s house, Liesel drove me for a massage. Debbie’s been around for a long time but this was the first time I’d met her. Her massage was fantastic, very relaxing, and highly recommended. And it was booked well before I decided to show off my moves on the dance floor last night.

Liesel had also planned a date with Catherine and Hans, and we drove up to their house for lunch. Cath had baked quiches for us which we enoyed, while watching the weather. The plan was to go for a walk, but it looked decidedly murky out there.

Cook Inlet viewed from Cath and Hans’s house

And yes, it did start raining, so our planned walk was delayed and eventually cancelled. Still, we had a good chat about this and that. They’re now off to Switzerland, but I forgot to tell them that I’d seen some skis up a tree, if they needed some.

Dinner was planned for Phở Lena but this venue was closed. Plan B then was So Thai, and that’s where we met up with Aaron, Jodi and Mom for a very nice pad thai.

No, we weren’t magically teleported to Guildford, Surrey, England: this is just one of the photos Pauline sent me from our old hometown.

After leaving the Thai restaurant, Jodi and Liesel visited the shop next door, Enlighten Alaska. The sign on the door said ‘No pets allowed’, so I didn’t go in.

At Alaska Botanical Gardens, the ticket clerk assured us that there had been no bear sightings recently, but we did notice a large ursine deposit by the boundary fence.

The gardens are very well presented and we enjoyed a very pleasant walk.

Although we’d come for a walk and to enjoy the flowers and other plants, we were also impressed by some of the sculptures.

Tempting, but we didn’t want to spend a few thousand dollars on a collection of rusty bicycle wheels pretending to be a tree.

There’s a pair of large magpies here, made from local willow, alder and birch branches.

Night and Day, by The Myth Makers, Doona Dodson and Andy Moerlein

Look closely and you’ll see a little Liesel and Leslie, just for scale.

We decided to follow the extra mile long trail, and we were joined by a young lady from Colombia, now teaching here in Anchorage. She said she was scared to walk any further by herself, as she was a bit scared. She apologised for her bad English, but there was nothing wrong with it. Plusl, our collective Spanish was no good. Dos cervezas, por favor.

We saw more evidence of approaching Fall, or Autumn.

Vibrant fall foliage of Mapleleaf Viburnum

We noticed as we wandered around that there were no birds singing. And apart from a few bees, there were very few insects. I did spot this well camouflaged little chap.

The separate Herb Garden was interesting too. The biggest herb growing here was rhubarb, but this is pretty:

A quick errand took us to Monica’s house after which we returned home for dinner and to watch some ~~cra…~~ thing on TV.

There must be something in the air or the water here, because I had more weird dreams. After breakfast, we left the city, visiting Portage, famous for its glacier which has now receded a mile and a half since Liesel was born. Not that I’m blaming Liesel, but we got nowhere near it. And it was on this drive that I saw the first snow of my trip. Just a few patches on the mountains across Turnagain Arm, but it all counts.

Of course, a few spots snow aren’t as interesting as the glacier which we saw from a distance.

We haven’t visited Whittier since that time many years ago when we joined Cath and Hans on their boat. The tunnel is longer than I remembered, two and a half miles, and just one lane, so vehicle convoys enter the tunnel in alternating directions every half hour. We were lucky in both directions, we didn’t have to wait too long at all.

The first thing we noticed as we emerged into Whittier was how much lower the clouds were on this side of the mountains.

We decided the visibility was too poor, there was no point in joining a boat trip today. But how lucky were we to see a train about to go through the tunnel.

We didn’t spend a lot of time here, just admiring the calm sea and its mineral rich colour, which doesn’t really show well in photos. This is when I wish I were a painter instead.

More sightseeing on the way back, of course.

Byron Peak and Byron Glacier in Portage Valley, Alaska, as seen from Portage Lake

We even stopped off at Williwaw Salmon Viewing area where we did indeed view some very sluggish salmon trying to make their way up the narrow stream.

This was as close as we got to seeing any wildlife. Not even a moose by the roadside.

Back in Anchorage, we had a late lunch at South, a popular restaurant. While Liesel and Leslie had proper, big, American meals, I was quite satisfied with my Cauliflower Tacos (v, gf): cornmeal crust, sofrito, roasted poblano, avocado, cilantro, flour tortillas. All washed down with a long refreshing gin and tonic based beverage.

The two moms sitting near us with their young children left enough food on the floor to feed the 5,000. I believe a reasonable tip was left for the staff!

We thought it would be a nice day out to visit Alaska Zoo. I remember the first time I was taken, many years ago, in the depths of Winter. It was so cold that day, even the Siberian tigers didn’t emerge from their dens. Today was pleasantly mild, but I think the Siberian tigers must have moved on to that great celestial zoo with much bigger plains on which to roam.

The thing that struck us today was just how much fencing and chicken wire and mesh there is. Plus how much plastic there is in the animals’ pens. The place seemed a bit worn out, shabby even, compared with, say, Chester Zoo. It needs a bit of a touch up, some new signs, some fresh paint. And they really should think about replacing all that tight mesh. But despite this handicap, I did get a few good photos.

I took some pictures through the mesh, believing that I could use an AI tool to ‘remove’ the cage elements from the image. No luck there. I’ll try again when AI has grown up a bit.

Two hours at the zoo was plenty, and back in town, we had a late lunch at New Sagaya, Midtown Market branch, not the one just over the road from Leslie’s apartment.

The good news is that on this visit to Anchorage, my nose hasn’t been bleeding nearly as much as it usually does, for which I am very grateful.

AK, AI and AG

The Online Safety Act has been in the news a lot recently. Ostensibly, it’s to protect children and others from harmful content on the internet. Well, some sites are being a bit over-zealous. I tried to access something quite innocuous, and for the fiorst time ever, it wanted to check I was old enough. This site chose to do so by looking at me and estimating my age. I made sure my boatrace was in the designated ellipse, which it called a circle. It then had the nerve to tell me, “That doesn’t look like a real face.” Well, it’s the only one I have, so I guess I won’t be visiting this site again any time soon. Rude.

Helen flew home after a relatively short but welcome visit, looking good and ready for the next adventure.

Pauline and Andrew returned from their side trip to Thirsk and beyond. They had a splendid time visiting Newcastle and Alnwick and came back with Geordie accents.

Suddenly, there was an exclamation from their room. What’s wrong, Andrew? It sounded like a big deal. It wasn’t really. While staying with Yvonne and Ian, Andrew had hidden the loudly ticking alarm clock amongst his soundproofing clothes. He just realised that he still had it. Pauline consulted her old school chum who revealed that other visitors had merely removed the batteries from the clock!

While berating Andrew for inadvertently stealing a clock, Pauline came across Yvonne’s copy of the English Heritage brochure in her own bag. I told them that in view of their criminal record, I have taken a full inventory of items in my own luxury apartment.

After a leisurely start to the day, we walked over to Didsbury again. It’s a nice walk and I wanted to see the refurbished path on the side of the river that’s been closed to pedestrians for a couple of weeks.

The path used to be notoriously bumpy, with bricks and rubble peppered along its length. It would be nice to see it nice and smooth and flat, like the path at the Didsbury end.

The level of anticipation as we approached the new bit was almost unbearable. I was on my own at this point, as Pauline and Andrew walked along the upper level path, not fully appreciating how important and exciting this new path was. It’s white gravel, not solid concrete or anything and while it’s better than what we had before, I wonder if it will survive next time the river’s in flood?

Then round the next corner, the renewed path came to an end.

Disbelief followed by manic laughter was the only possible response. I guess we Northenden folk don’t deserve the same riverside walking experience as the posh people of Didsbury.

Andrew found a golf ball which he decided to keep, adding it to his collection of purloined items.

And then, just before Simon’s Bridge, there’s another stretch of white gravel to enjoy.

Even the upper level path has been treated, just a little bit.

How good is AI, part 1? I showed this picture to Google, to see whether it could identify the location. I knew it wouldn’t identify the people. But here’s what it said:

The image captures a moment of two individuals, possibly a couple, [true] walking outdoors on a sunny day. They are on a path surrounded by lush green foliage, suggesting a natural setting like a park, countryside trail, [true] or a garden. The man has his arm around the woman, indicating a close relationship. [true] In the background, other people can be seen, suggesting a public area. This image was shared on Facebook with the caption “Me walking into danger”. [Utter rubbish, the similar picture on Facebook is of a total stranger] Don’t rely on AI for anything important.

We stopped for coffee and a snack in Fletcher Moss Park before wandering around the rockery, admiring the plants and the baby moorhens in the murky water.

Some people are so talented, and this woodpecker certainly lifts the mood.

And finally, in this small collection of bird related pictures:

Obviously not a real chicken, but the name given to this fungus that likes growing on rotten wood. Apparently it’s edible and tastes a bit like chicken. None of us were willing to try it out.

In the parsonage garden, we were greeted by another wood carving.

The weeping ash tree was planted nearly 200 years ago, but succumbed to ash die back disease in 2022. The Green Man that has been carved into an old tree stump is believed to be an ancient symbol of life, death and rebirth. The work was carried out by Andy Burgess, wood sculptor, September, 2023.

We visited the Parsonage where we learnt some local history. Shouldn’t laugh, but Didsbury gets its name from Dyddi’s burgh, from a long time ago.

The place has been lovingly restored over the years, the highlight for me being a stained glass window which acts as a sundial, one of only 44 such in the whole country, apparently.

And in the garden, perhaps the mosts surprising thing was seeing late blooming magnolias.

As if the metal heron in Northenden’s Riverside Park isn’t impressive enough, here in Didsbury, there’s an eagle perched above the lychgate leading to the parsonage garden.

We walked home after a quick visit to the Art of Tea café and bookshop. By now, the temperature was a welcome 28°.

In the evening, after a sunny day with clear skies, I was hoping to see, and maybe photograph the thin cresnt Moon just after sunset. Sadly, a band of cloud appeared low in the sky, ruining my plans.

While Pauline and Andrew visited Manchester Art Gallery, taking the bus into the city, I stayed at home to prepare for my own next adventure. The to-do list was successfully tackled, even though for a while, for every item I ticked off, I thought of somegthing else to do.

I did something today that I very rarely do. I went clothes shopping for myself, specifically to acquire a pair of blue socks. Can I just say yet again that the men’s clothes department in M&S is so depressing. It could do with some colour. Even the socks I found are a dull shade of blue.

Later in the afternoon, we all watched some cricket on TV.

Early Wednesday morning saw P&A go out for a walk. I joined the regular, organised stroll and Pauline accompanied us too.

How good is AI, part 2? I saw something interesting, took a picture of it and asked Google, what could it possibly be?

It said:

The object in the image is a puffball mushroom, likely a species from the genus Calvatia, such as the Giant Puffball (Calvatia gigantea) or the Skull-shaped Puffball (Calvatia craniiformis).

Such certainty. But, just round the corner, there was a whole bunch of these things, some of which had burst, revealing them to be wan-coloured balloons.

We enjoyed a coffee back at Boxx2Boxx. Sitting outside, we felt about three spots of rain, but the rain didn’t start properly until after we’d returned home. The threatened thundersturm didn’t materialise, in the end, and I think we were all a little disappointed.

At Pauline’s request, we joined the children and their parents at Piccolo, an Italian restaurant in Didsbury.

Liam, Martha, William, Andrew, Pauline, Mick, Jenny

This was by way of another farewell meal. Next morning, I was up before 5am, and ready to catch my cab at 6am. P&A were staying at the flat for one more day, before catching trains all the way to Guildford, the birthplace of me and my sister.

Manchester Airport, Terminal 2, was where my next rip to Anchorage began. No major upsets, other than the Baggage Handling system being down, so even though loads of us had checked in online and just had to print our baggage labels and attach them to the bags, we couldn’t just quickly drop them off. In security, we didn’t have to take anything out of our bags before screening, no electronics nor liquids. So civilised. But I had to take my belt off or the personal scanner would have been confused.

The worst experience though was probably walking through the fume cupboard that is the duty free shop with its sickly combination of perfumes. My sneezing fit could probably be heard at my final destination.

The flight to Frankfurt Airport was uneventful but after landing, we had to while for someone to find the bus. The bus ride to the arrival gate was nearly as long in duration as the flight itself.

More stinky perfume in this airport, something that my old Chemistry teacer would have described as ‘Sewer de Paris’. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, the inky stench from the complimentary copy of the New York Times provoked another sneezing fit.

The officers here made it very clear that the extra, unwelcome and unnecessary, passport check at the departure gate was at the instigation of the US Governement. It slowed down the boarding process, but in the end, the flight to Anchorage departed just a few minutes late.

I understand the science, but it still feels weird, taking off at 3.30pm and arriving at 3.10pm, same day, 7000 miles away. The flight was a little bumpy in places, but I noticed from the on-board screen, we were deviating a bit from the planned route, presumably to avoid the worst of the stormy weather.

It took a while, but I finally realised what Condor’s new livery reminds me of. Pippi Longstocking.

It was lovely to be collected at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport by Jyoti. In an unexpected and exciting turn of events, she drove me straightaway to Fred Meyer to buy some groceries. Liesel met us here, and while I ran towards her in slow motion, she didn’t reciprocate. Indeed, she was quite rude about my ‘silly walk’.

How good is AI, part 3? I was chatting with a chatbot about some David Bowie lyrics, ahead of me re-starting my radio show very soon (spoiler alert!)

Here is what it said. Yes, there are factual inaccuracies, so not to be relied on:

Here is a list of David Bowie songs that mention specific numerical times, including the ones you noted:

Songs with Specific Numerical Times

1. “Five Years” (The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, 1972)

· Time Mentioned: The title itself, “Five Years.”
· Context: This is the most famous and impactful use of a specific time period. The news announces that the world will end in five years, creating the album’s central apocalyptic tension. It’s a countdown that hangs over every song.

2. “Time” (Aladdin Sane, 1973)

· Time Mentioned: “5:15”
· Lyric: “Time, he’s waiting in the wings / He speaks of senseless things / His script is you and me, boy / Time, he flexes like a whore / Falls wanking to the floor / His trick is you and me, boy / Breaking up is hard, but waiting for you is the hardest thing I’ve ever known / (5:15) and I’m still waiting for you, don’t you know?”
· Context: This is the prime example. “5:15” evokes the “angel hour” or a very specific, anxious moment of waiting, possibly after a night out. It’s a time suspended between night and morning, perfect for the song’s themes of anxiety, decadence, and wasted time.

3. “Young Americans” (Young Americans, 1975)

· Time Mentioned: “9:25”
· Lyric: *”**They pulled in just behind the factory / That’s where he, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know /

This is about one-tenth of the regurgitation, so I pressed the Stop button at which point it continued…

he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know / He took her, you know, he took her, you know

This response is Al-generated, for reference only.

I said:

sorry to interrupt but I think the record’s got stuck

It said:

You are absolutely right! My apologies, that response went completely off the rails and got stuck in a very long and bizarre loop. Thank you for catching that -it was a technical error on my end.

Let me correct that and provide a proper, concise answer to your excellent question about specific numerical times in Bowie’s lyrics.

Nah, I’m good, thanks.

So, to summarise, AI stands for Absolutely Useless.

Antipodean visitors

The most recent post suggested I wasn’t having work-related dreams. Well, since then, I have done. Unusually, not about postal delivery, but a conflation of all the IT jobs I’ve had and the busy-ness of the office and rearranging the desk layout for no good reason and panicking because the computers won’t work and trying to do the right thing but knowing I wouldn’t satisfy all of my bosses – yes, I was reporting to many so-called ‘managers’ in the end. And then I remembered, I’ve retired, I don’t actually have to be here in this hell-hole in the first place. The sense of relief persisted long after I woke up.

I remember scrumping on the way home from school sometimes, near the top of Holloway Hill in Godalming. Apples hanging low over someone’s garden fence. A bit maggotty sometimes, but very tasty. I was reminded of this on the day we visited the Gauntlet Birds of Prey Eagle and Vulture Centre in Knutsford. There’s an apple tree outside the place, and, really, it would have been rude to ignore it. So a couple of apples were liberated to add to our picnic.

We all enjoyed our day out with William and Martha. A lot of the birds were in cages, and they were definitely at their when best flying around. They’re free to escape if they want, but I think they’re so well looked after, they’re happy to return by the 5.30 curfew! It’s a family run business, and they’re doing a lot for conservation.

First stop though was the playground.

Here are some of the birds who seemed happy to see us.

But it was much more fun watching the flying display. One of the hawks nearly gave Martha a haircut when she stood up suddenly. Mostly, they were too fast for this videographer but I captured a couple without wasting too much film.

There was a nice quiet picnic area where we ate our picnic lunch, without being pestered by pigeons. I suspect the local vultures and hawks may have been the main deterrent.

Liesel joined the WI for some litter picking in Riverside Park, even though it was raining, on and off.

In fact, we had quite torrential rain for a couple of days, thanks to Storm Floris. But once the storm moved on to Scandinavia, we were back to a proper, warm Summer.

Which Liesel and her Mom will miss. I dropped them off at the airport for their flight back to an Anchorage Summer, just a little bit cooler than ours.

William sent us his first ‘Make and Create’ videos for his putative YouTube channel. I’m just glad he didn’t start each presentation with a “Hey guys, um…”, which, for me, is pretty much an instant turn-off. He did invite us to “Like and subscribe” however, so that’s promising.

Parking at Wilmslow station is notoriously difficult, but of course, I forgot that fact when I suggested picking someone up there rather than driving into Manchester city centre. Still, it was great to see my sister Pauline, along with her partner Andrew, on their first visit to the UK from NZ since Jenny and Liam got married three years ago.

So, within the space of a couple of days, I swapped a wife and mother-in-law for a sister and a brother-in-law.

Jetlag notwithstanding, we joined Jenny and the family for an Indian meal in Bombay to Mumbai, an Indian (did you guess?) restaurant in Bramhall. The food was lovely but ‘medium spicy’ in this case was just on my limits of comfort! And the waitress (apols for the old-fashioned word) was very friendly too. Some music started and I thought we were in for another round of ‘Happy Birthday’. No, it couldn’t have been more different. She performed an aria from Don Giovanni which left everyone stunned, and she deserved the rapturous round of applause.

It’s been a while since we’ve visited Lyme Park, so that was the venue for a nice Saturday wander on a beautiful day. We (my sister) prepared a wonderful picnic as did Jenny. And a millon other folks: even the overflow car park was overflowing.

From this point of view, there’s usually a beautiful reflection of the house in the lake, making for a fab photo. But the lake is being or has been drained, by the looks of it. Maybe this is for the renovation/refurbishment promised after the floods a few years ago.

It was a perfect day to visit, so many colourful flowers are out in bloom, and we even saw more than a couple of butterflies.

William put on a very half-hearted puppet show: I think he much preferred just running around. I quite agree. Not that I was running around. Although I did get a message from a local group on Instagram asking how my running was going.

Afterwards, we all gathered at Jenny’s where Martha showed off her collection of gemstones, rocks and seashells.

At last, after years of us all moaning about it, the path that we walk along to Didsbury is being fixed. Until now, it’s been a very bumpy stroll, it looks like someone just dumped tonnes of broken bricks and rubble along its length. But soon, we hope to be able to walk along a nice, smooth, flat path. Maybe even as good as the path they already have at the Didsbury end. So, when Pauline, Andrew and I decided to walk over to Didsbury, we had to stay on the other side of the river. We even took a shortcut through Dogshit Alley. Last time we three went this way, with Liesel, three years ago, we turned right and were challenged while we were looking at the allotments. We didn’t risk it today, turned left straightaway, said “hey” to the horses in the field and proceeded to Simon’s Bridge. Golf is supposed to be a nice, gentle relaxing game. But to drive to and from the course, it seems obligatory to drive along the narrow road at no less than 90 mph. Not ideal when you’re a pedestrian.

Andrew suggested that golf might be easier and more fun if the holes were a little bit bigger, because so often the ball misses by a small margin. I thought football would be more exciting if the goals were a bit wider too. Basketball would be easier for short people if the baskets were lower down. And I’ve always maintained that I would have enjoyed cricket more if the ball wasn’t so hard. I spent most of my cricket ‘career’ at school hiding in the pavilion keeping score, because George, the games teacher, refused to let us (me) play with a tennis ball.

We did see a very rare sight though. No, not a heron, nor a family of ducklings. We passed a jogger, not unusual in itself, but she was actually smiling, almost like she was enjoying herself. Weird.

Due to restoration of the embankment in the Diudsbury area, following extensive flood damage, we had to walk into the village directly, not via Fletcher Moss Park. Somehow, I found myself in La Chouquette, so I bought a gorgeous loaf of sourdough.

We admired the many, colourful planters in Didsbury and visited a few shops before settling for a coffee at FFS.

We wandered around Didsbury Park, I think my first long visit there without there being a fair taking place. We came across several animals carved from wood: some people are very talented.

Walking home always feels quicker for some reason. Two young lads approached us on the narrow path next to the river. They were riding an electric scooter travelling fairly fast, so we stood aside for them. But the thought occurred, one untimely bump in the path and they could easily end up in the water!

Round at Jenny’s in the evening, we played Pictionary. This is the actual game that Sarah and I had all those years ago, including some of our ancient works of art. Tonight, it was Boys v Girls, and of course, we Boys went into the lead very easily. But in a strange turn of fate, the Girls finally won.

We’re experiencing the fourth heatwave of the Summer now which means it’s hot and sticky at night again. So, once again, I reversed the polarity of the electric blanket, so I have a nice, cool surface on which I can push up the zeds. I’m having some funny dreams though. Not sure if that’s due to the heat or the new medication I’m taking.

We all, that is me, Pauline, Andrew, Jenny, Martha and William (Liam was working) met up at Alderley Edge for a more hilly walk. As usual, we tried to follow one of the named trails, kept changing our minds, and finally got lost.

I ended up walking along the road while the others walked up a long, long series of steps that we’d just walked down, me being very happy that we weren’t walking up them! Unfortuantely, the road I was on wasn’t the one I thought it was. From this point, I had a half hour stroll back to the car park, where our picnic lunch was locked in the car. The road was flat thought, and I knew I’d get there eventually. But no, I turned onto Swiss Hill. And what a hill. Incredibly steep, and cobbled. After it levelled out, I thought I was OK. But no. Another steep hill as I turned left again.

This was where Jenny collected me in the car! A quick drink at the café was made even quicker after we were joined by numerous pesky wasps. But we ate our picnic lunch in peace. Martha made a new friend, one with fourteen spots!

This evening’s game, again round at Jenny’s, was ‘Out of the Loop’. It’s a social deduction party game where players try to identify who among them is out of the loop, who doesn’t know a secret word in a given category. Players ask questions of each other, questions suggested by the game, an app, itself. Great fun. But I’m rubbish. I ended up with zero points, while everyone else scored in the hundreds. What a strange scoring system!

Liesel and I have lived here up north for six years now, but we’ve never joined a bus tour of Manchester. Well, today, Pauline, Andrew and I did just that. We joined the ‘hop-on hop-off’ bus outside Bridgewater Hall, where I saw posters for a couple of shows that I might be interested in. But that’s all in the future.

The commentary was informative, no serious attempt at humour. Although a poster on the bus had definite Aussie vibes.

We hopped off at the Football Museum, which, despite my lack of interest in football, I found quite engaging and informative. Lots of fun and games, especially for young fans. Of course, the biggest photo is that of the 1966 World Cup winning England team. A black and white picture, blown up, with the kit colourised. I don’t remember seeing a picture of the England team that recently won the Euros. But they were girls, banned from playing on FA grounds until 1971.

The queue for the penalty shoot-out was too long for us, so we let the lads wearing football shirts have a go instead.

We hopped back on the bus on its next circuit and enjoyed the trip around Manchester and Salford. I realised again, I couldn’t be a bus driver in Manchester, the streets are too narrow, and too many people park their vehicles in really daft places. But our driver managed.

In Salford, we hopped off again and spent a couple of hours at The Lowry Theatre. The immersive ‘Lowry 360’ show was unfortunately sold out, but we enjoyed looking again at other works by LS Lowry. There were some miserable people here though…

… at least, in this picture. Happier folks in this next picture, though. Pauline and I again bemoaned the fact that we don’t have the photos taken of us at Bourton on the Water, standing on the little bridges, when we were about 6 and 4 years old.

Next to the LS Lowry exhibition is another one, celebrating the work of top illustrator Quentin Blake. In contrast, his pictures are very bright, colourful and joyous. And there were plenty of children here having a great time, drawing their own pictures.

We hopped on the bus again, after waiting for just a few minutes at the stop near Salford Quays.

We had a late afternoon date to meet up with Jenny and the family at a restaurant in Cheadle. I’d been to Yara before, but this time, we sat outside, in the shade, which was very pleasant.

I,for one, was taken by surprise when I walked in and saw Helen. My daughter Helen, all the way over here from Brookvale, NSW. Helen and bump! Yes, I am pleased and excited to confirm that Helen is expecting a little chap in November. Yes, I had to look twice. What a fantastic surprise!

Martha, Helen, Mick, Liam, William, Andrew (leaning back), Pauline and Jenny

A video exists of me walking into the restaurant like I’ve just got out of bed or something, taken by surprise and uttering “What are you doing here?” So embarrassing: thanks, Liam! And sorry, Helen, not the best of welcomes! But I really am pleased to see you!

Pauline, Andrew and I had been pretty busy since their arrival and Andrew decided he needed a down day. So, it was just Pauline who joined me for the regular midweek Thrive Walk. What I didn’t realise at the time was, someone was videoing us enjoying our coffee outside Boxx2Boxx. See if you can spot me and my sister.

After which, we caught a bus to Sale where we met Jenny, Liam, Martha, William and Helen at the King’s Ransom pub, right on the Bridgewater Canal.

King’s Ransom pub and the Bridgewater Canal

We spent another evening round at Jenny’s: mainly because, as Jenny said, their place is bigger than my apartment. And she’s a far better chef than I am.

Pauline and Andrew are now spending some time in Yorkshire and beyond. I drove them to Oxford Road station, only going wrong once.

So, within the space of a couple of days, I swapped a sister and a brother-in-law for a daughter and a future grandson. As Phil Collins once said, “Funny old world, innit?”

I took a leaf out of Andrew’s book and had a down day. Catching up on emails, real mail (just one letter in a week, as it happens), a bit of tidying up, laundry and again, looking at the long list of things to do and then going off to do something totally different.

Meanwhile, how’s Liesel getting on in Anchorage? Working a bit, spending time with friends, and most definitely not commenting on a heatwave. Presidents Trump and Putin had a meeting in Alaska, but this won’t affect Liesel and her Mom at all, unless of course, Trump gives or sells Alaska back to Russia.

Forever Changes

It was a bright and sunny morning so I set off, on foot, towards Didsbury. The route that we dubbed ‘Dogshit Alley’ is a lot more overgrown than the last time I saw it. I must remember to take along some secateurs next time. I’ve said that before, I know. But I did buy some cheap ones to cut back whatever bush it is that grows above where we park our car and deposits tonnes of sticky sap all over our erstwhile pristine vehicle. They were cheap, not all that strong and I should buy a decent pair at a garden shop one day. A sticky car was not something I’d expected to come home to. But it was well worth a tenner to have it washed.

Where were we? Walking along what is now basically a tunnel on the way to the river.

The Riverside Residential Park now seems to consist of proper buildings rather than the caravans all up on stilts.

Recent floods have washed away part of the path and there are still barriers up preventing our passage. Well, with a bit of clambering, it’s quite easy to get by.

I made it to Fletcher Moss where I couldn’t help but notice a very big bee on a tree.

The reason I visited Fletcher Moss park, gardens, whatever, today, was to see the Didsbury Pop-up Cultural Market. I found it in the Parsonage Gardens. There were two stalls with artists displaying their paintings. Is that it, I wondered? Well, there were more arts and crafts on show indoors, in the actual parsonage, I guess. Lots of stuff, some well done, some should have stayed in a bottom drawer somewhere, but just stuff, really, and we don’t need any more stuff.

I tried to get a coffee from the machine but it refused to believe my phone was the source of my spending money, so even the coffee machine lost a customer that day!

I wandered through Didsbry village, nothing new there.

I hadn’t visited Marple Locks before but it was a good venue for a walk with Jenny, Liam and the children.

A narrowboat approached the lock and Martha and William were both keen to help open the gates.

We walked along the Peak Forest Canal for a while and in the end, completed a large loop. Glad I brought some water, but a bit disappointed there was no coffee shop halfway round.

It could have been a bit scary walking along the tallest masonry arch aqueduct in the UK, designed by Benjamin Outram and built between 1794 and 1800.

Marple Aqueduct is one hundred feet above the river Goyt, and we walked down the bank so that we could follow the river for a while. Martha spotted a frog trying to climb out of the water but as she leaned over to help, it panicked, dived and we haven’t seen it since.

William spotted some cows in a field that turned into horses as we approached more closely. So, for the rest of the day, cows and horses were always mis-identified.

We were above the Etherow, a tributary of the Goyt, part of which once formed the boundary between Cheshire and Derbyshire.

With two young, energetic and loud children with us, we were unlikely to see any interesting wildlife. Well, apart from horses that thought they were cows and cows that identified as horses. So here’s a nice family portrait instead.

This bridge has been restored fairly recently, to mark its 200th anniversary.

After finding our way back to Memorial Park, Marple, we had some fun in the playground. William also found a tree to climb. No health and safety considerations, no risk assessment, I blinked and there he was, twelve feet up in the branches.

Nearby in the park, we found some gym equipment. I had a go on some of it, but, er, let’s say I just hadn’t warmed up properly. I spent a couple of minutes on the stationary bike, burning a whole 7 calories, ‘riding’ 0.3 miles. That’ll do.

Not saying the children misbehaved at all, but, well, this is the sort of punishment they could appreciate.

Meanwhile, Liesel was having a good time in sunny Hope, Alaska.

On returning to Anchorage, Liesel packed, and she and her Mom caught the plane to Seattle, where they ate at the vegetarian place, Floret, before the long flight to Reykjavik and then the final leg to Manchester. This is where I met them. And what better way to celebrate their return to England than by going out for a meal at Zumuku with the family.

Both Martha and William had a jolly good shot at eating everything from the restaurant’s stock room. They’d need the energy for the next week or so in Disneyworld.

Sadly, and annoyingly, the Manchester sunshine was replaced by rain to coincide with Liesel’s return. So we had some soggy walks around Northenden.

As I was walking along, I heard the sound of horses behind me. As the empty hearse passed by, I was very tempted to tell the driver that the corpse had fallen out the back. But I resisted the urge.

The regular Thursday walk was well attended this week, but on Friday, there were just the three of us.

Liesel and Leslie are now, slowly, getting over their flight induced sleep deprivation and jet lag.

And in Florida, the grandchildren are having a Mouse of a time.

Some things that fly

Well, that was a most satisfying and long sleep with very few interruptions, thank you. And on waking, I realised I actually felt more dazed than tired and jetlagged.

I had to get up to receive the Ocado and Groobarb deliveries. Otherwise I might have stayed in my pit all day, I don’t know.

For the rest of the day, I fought the urge to have a nap while upacking. And it was good to wander round the streets of Northenden again. Nothing much has changed. The new guy in the Post Office is more grumpy than the old guy.

The weir now seems to be fully repaired. But I did wonder where the bodies were. The whole of Northenden was infested with zillions of small flies. I thought people were being nice, welcoming me home by waving at me, but no, they were just swatting those swarming flies away.

Meanwhile, Liesel and Leslie were flying from Albuquerque to Anchorage, planning to stay for the duration of an Alaskan Summer. Liesel plans to work a lot for Amrit and to go on a few hikes.

For me, the rest of the week was getting back to normal, really: reading, writing, walking, watching a little TV, listening to a lot of podcasts, radio shows and especially music. I didn’t quite make it out for any of the organised walks this first week back.

Veronika from a downstairs flat sent a message to say that our missing wheelie bin bad returned from its holiday and was on the pavement around the corner. I doubt the local council will buy back the replacement that we bought a few weeks ago.

Medical matters managed to make an early appearance, but I was plaeased to see the big bee at Wythenshawe Hospital again.

Sneezebee created by Pam Smart, Michelle Turton and Rose Chapman

The audience had a great time at the local theatre here in Northenden. We heard many old folk songs, some written nearly 200 years ago. The songs were all unfamilar to me, so I coudn’t sing along: a disappointment for everyone, I’m sure.

But Harp and a Monkey are the go-to band for songs about cuckolded molecatchers, Victorian bare-knuckle fighters and much more. Look ’em up!

They did have CDs for sale but I said I would just download their music from Bandcamp instead. Liesel wouldn’t appreciate even more CDs in the house, especially at this time when I’m supposed to be reducing the size of our CD collection.

While walking home, using my phone camera, I tried to get an artistic shot of the Moon and a streetlamp but it didn’t really work.

One thing I didn’t miss about Northenden was the fact that as soon as we have a couple of sunny days in a row, someone lights a bonfire. Another thing I didn’t miss about Northenden was the fact that as soon as we have a couple of sunny days in a row, someone thinks it’s OK to leave their dog outside in the garden, barking all night.

Oh, and don’t forget the fireworks, I missed those!

I was happy to witness one most unusual event though. A fly flew in through the open window, had a good sniff and a look around the apartment, and flew straight back out again, through the same window.

Wythenshawe Park hasn’t changed much. There are still some deep ruts in the grass from where heavy vehicles have been driven, maybe for a circus. Where there used to be a coffee shop, there are now a few trucks, one selling coffee, one offering pizza, and the building itself seems to be permanently closed.

I visited the farm: well, I just followed the smell, whether of other visitors or the livestock, I’m not sure.

Well, I can’t complain about the weather, it’s been warm and sunny and bright, and that makes it easier to go out each day. But, after 40 days of no rain in the area, the water companies are threatening us with a hosepipe ban.

I mentioned reading, writing, walking and all that, but sometimes I let myself get sucked into Instagram. A couple of genuinely good or interesting clips, and then press next, next, next, and suddenly an hour’s gone by. I think that’s my worst habit at the moment.

Jenny picked me up and I stayed at her place for a night. The children were camping out on sofa-beds downstairs and I enjoyed kipping in Aunty Helen’s bed. Or is that Auntie? Neither version looks right, so I’ll leave them both, so you can decide.

No, she’s not assisting a taxiing aeroplane, she’s blowing bubbles. More specifically, sticky bubbles. They stick to your skin rather than bursting straightaway.

He’s enjoying a milkshake through a straw fresh from New Mexico. The flavour comes from little balls of food-adjacent chemicals inside the straw so that the milk absorbs the flavour as it’s slurped upwards.

And here they are relaxing with their tablets, playing games that are beyond my understanding: another side-effect of getting old.

On the way out of the house, I did a double-take. I don’t know why this strikes me as being a bit spooky, but, well, it just is. Scary too.

Martha and I played a game of Backgammon, and she’s picked up the rules pretty well. It won’t be long before we’re playing for real money, using the doubling dice and everything.

And back again

And so, it came to pass, our final full day in Anchorage. And what an exciting day it was, too. The US Postal Service offer a service in which your mail is scanned, and they send you an image of what to expect. This way, when we’re in England, we can tell someone which of Leslie’s items to open and which bills to pay. Liesel took her Mom to the Post Office to show ID and set this up. They both had their hair cut before going into the office for one final session of work.

Meanwhile, this morgenmuffel emptied the bins, sorted out the newly dried laundry, did some writing and packed the bulk of my stuff. My reward was to watch the last couple of episodes of Our Universe on TV. It’s narrated by Morgan Freeman and while being interesting, some of the links made between life on Earth and the history of the universe were a bit tenuous, I thought!

In the evening, to celebrate Asa’s birthday, we joined him, Gideon, Aaron and Jodi for our final meal out. Happy birthday, Asa!

Thanks again to Jodi for the picture.

We rose at 3am. Yes, there is such a time. Aaron kindly drove us to the airport before going back to bed.

Anchorage to Seattle to Reykjavic to Manchester. Three flights, no major issues although again, the three of us were separated in the cabin.

At one airport, we sat beside a vending machine selling accessories for iPhones etc. I said to Liesel that if I ever needed a floggle toggle for my phone, I too would wait until I was in an airport and could buy it from a machine. Liesel didn’t know what a floggle toggle was, and all I could think of was, it’s a thingy, a wossname, a wotsit. But where does ‘floggle toggle’ come from? I was surprised to see it’s from the old radio series The Navy Lark, which I listened to on Sunday lunchtimes in the 1960s.

Sitting in Seattle’s South terminal was a strange experience, having been in the frozen north for so long. The Sun was streaming in, and I for one was looking for a seat in the shade.

From the plane itself, I was able to do some sightseeing. The sky was perfectly clear.

On this long flight, I did have three seats to myself and was able to catch a couple of hours of sleep.

Having the window seat, I was able to take pictures of the Aurora Borealis. The best photo includes Orion, which I am very pleased with.

Unbeknownst to me at the time, from a few rows behind, Liesel was also taking pictures of the Aurora.

Even though it was -7° when we landed at Keflavik International Airport, Iceland, I was glad to walk to the bus in my shirt sleeves, it had been ridiculously hot during the flight and the little ventilators couldn’t cope. We always enjoy the bus ride in Iceland from aeroplane to terminal.

One day, we’ll probably spend more time in Iceland, but the worst, burnt, bitterest coffee ever, here today, wasn’t a good selling point.

Flight number three took us straight into sunrise before arriving at Manchester.

And what a wonderful sight this was, B&Q Stockport, a shop that we’ve managed to avoid during our time living in Manchester.

Typical Manc weather welcomed us, a bit dull, a bit grey, but so much warmer than Anchorage had been. Glad to be home. Helen reported that she’s not faring much better down under. From the local paper: NSW weather: Wet and drab start to summer for NSW. There is no end in sight from the damaging storms and heavy rain that lashed Sydney over the weekend, with more forecast for the first week of summer.

And now we’re back to normal, slowly adapting to our new time zone, but never quite having enough sleep.

We joined a couple of walks this week, and I went into Manchester to donate another armful. Having listened to the phone conversation from the girl sitting next to me on the bus home, I’m glad I didn’t make the effort to visit the Christmas Market in Manchester. It sounds hectic, far too many people, some items far too expensive.

Best of all, haha, is that I am able to continue watching the old, classic Doctor Who series on BBC iPlayer. But I am aware that I have reached the point where I gave up on it the first time round, because it was becoming stupid. In modern parlance, it jumped the shark. But I shall persevere…

Strolling

Liesel and I went into the office where I observed a new sport taking place on the skating rink in the park over the road.

Skating while pushing a buggy will be a Winter Olympics sport at some point, I’m sure. Maybe not as spectacular as Extreme Ironing, but it’s nice to be an observer right at the start.

While Liesel was sweating over a hot PC, I went for a shorter walk than planned, because, yes, it was cold, but the wind made it really unpleasant outside. I could feel my desiccated skin flaking off. I took respite in the library with a coffee. The homeless man rolled his own, put it in his mouth but didn’t get as far as lighting up, thank goodness.

Happy birthday Gideon! We went round to his house to celebrate and it was good to catch up with some folks I haven’t seen for a long time.

Here he is, slicing the cake that he baked himself, I think. Thanks, Jodi, for the photo!

Opportunities for a walk around the track in the Dome are now limited: our remaining time here in Anchorage is short. We did a few laps plus I spent a whole five minutes on the bike, on the hardest saddle known to humanity.

After Jyoti picked up her newly repaired car, she took me shopping at Carrs (hooray, my favourite occupation) and I realised how modern this place is. By the entrance are two vending machines. One will cut keys for you, fair enough, and on the other one, you can buy ₿itcoin. Of course, I should have bought one of those things ten or fifteen years ago, they’ve increased in value so much.

Jyoti kindly gave me lunch at her place, tyvm. I introduced her to the latest series of Doctor Who, which she seems to be enjoying. The only problem was, neither of us could work out how to bring up the subtitles on Disney+.

After driving me most of the way, I bought a coffee from New Sagaya to take home. I walked over the road in slight drizzle which, within half an hour, had turned to snow. Oh, no, not more snow… But it didn’t last long.

Since we’re leaving the apartment soon, it’s time to unsubscribe from some services. My mission, which I accepted, was to cancel some of the TV services. You should be able to just click on a button that says ‘Cancel Subscription’, right?

One service that we signed up to to watch just one football game just once, we have to unsubscribe via a different site, which I don’t have the login detials for. So I’ve passed the buck to Aaron.

Apple+ TV provided the worst nightmare. You have to go to the website. The website was locked for security reasons. To unlock, I had to have Leslie’s phone number. Luckily, Leslie had left her phone at home while she went to work with Liesel. Ah, but Leslie’s phone didn’t recognise my face, of course. Luckily, I know the passcode. I unlocked whatever it was that was locked. Then I had to sign in again. Then I had to receive a code on her phone and type it in on the website on my phone. Then, I was granted access to the golden ‘Cancel Subscription’ button. Which worked. I screenshot the confirmation because, for some reason, I have zero faith in this whole ridiculous system.

By comparison, Netflix was a breeze. The website did complain that my browser was out of date (a lie) but I had access to another one. Cancel, you say? Of course, sorry to see you go. Easy, straightforward.

One more session at the Dome, but I didn’t bother with the bike this time. Jyoti again drove me home, she’s a star. I had coffee, she had chai. Meanwhile, Leslie went over to friend Shyla’s place to help prepare for Thanksgiving dinner. All the local turkeys were looking worried.

Black Friday and if it weren’t for the zillion TV adverts and posters and fliers, social media posts and Leslie’s junk mail brochures, I don’t think I would have noticed. We visited the Museum again, this time for Crafted in Alaska, to browse through a curated selection of handmade treasures, from jewelry and textile art to pottery and printed designs at the Museum’s annual holiday craft event.

There are some very talented craftsmen and women around the state and there’s a a lot of support for this Thanksgiving weekend event. Wandering round the Museum, I learned that we were a mere 1,998 miles from the North Pole.

And, while I’ve been taking pictures of unusual, special car number plates for a long time, I didn’t realise that if I’d ripped off and saved tha actual plates, I could have had a display in a Museum. Like this chap did:

The music, very gentle music, was provided by Denise Martin on hammered dulcimer and, on guitar, Jim Kerr. He’s done very well since leaving Simple Minds.

Having not used the car for a whole day, it surprised us when it didn’t start. Again, the battery is totally dead. So again, we asked Monica if we could borrow hers for just one more day. While waiting in the foyer for Monica and Gregg to pick us up, I thought, I haven’t taken a selfie for a while. So here it is.

We enjoyed dinner at My Shawarma where even I used my hands to eat the vegetable injera, and, several hours and washes later, I can still smell the spices on my fingers. If they ever need a tune for an advert, I know just to song to murder: My Sharona by The Knack.

Phil was with us too, while Una was in California, and he led the way to 907 Alehouse and Grill for some musical entertainment.

The band, I Like Robots, plays popular songs from the ’80s and I was surprised to see people actually dancing. I was even more surprised when Monica, Jyoti and especially Liesel ran onto the dancefloor! I stayed behind to, er, look after the coats, yeah, that’s it.

I confess, I did sing along a bit and tap at least one of my feet while they played songs from Pet Shop Boys, Prince, Paul Simon and many more.

Even though we got to bed later than usual, this librocubicularist managed to read a few pages before visiting the land of nod. One thing I’ve noticed is that we never hear the sound of birdsong from this apartment. I know, if they’ve got any sense, they’ll all have migrated south, but it’s still an eerie silence sometimes.