family – Page 4 – Mick and Liesel's Antics

Time to go Home

It’s not often I watch Doc Martin on TV while eating breakfast and chatting with Liesel’s Uncle Neil, but it happened today for the first time. Neil has one of the shortest email addresses in the known universe, just ten characters in total, which is great, except that some modern sites don’t accept it as a legitimate address.

As well as being a scientist and a mathematician, he’s a bit of a philosopher and has spent the last several decades researching and writing a now 80-page long document about his theory of, well, everything. Having exchanged email addresses, he sent me a copy which I look forward to reading.

While online, I came across a ‘Truth’ or whatever it’scalled by the President:

Donald J. Trump
@realDonald Trump

After visiting the beautiful city of Albuquerque earlier this month, I decided that it is disrespectful to America to have a state called New Mexico. It is surrounded by America so it should be called America. I plan to sign an Executive Order renaming the Land of Enchantment New America!

MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

Actually, I suspect it’s a fake, but who knows? It’s so believable these days.

As I was packing for my departure, I thought about some things that I’d observed here in Albuquerque, and beyond.

Piñons are very small nuts and the trees are prolific. The nuts are so small, that some of us just find it easier to eat them whole, shells included, rather than trying to peel them.

Indoors is very dry too, very low humidity. So, often I would touch the light switch, or the fridge door handle, or Liesel, and I would experience a static shock. Every time was a surprise.

When out and about, almost everything is covered in a thin layer of dust. It’s a dry, dusty old state. It is being modernised though: we passed by a few solar arrays on our various trips.

Also, while out and about, I was greatly entertained by the many adverts for lawyers on billboards by the highways.

• Do your research: the husband and wife law team.
• $1 billion recovered for clients
• Hurt? Call Bert
• Injured? Get more. Dial 4…
• Semi truck collision? Call…
• Dead? Call Fred

No, alright, I made the last one up.

There’s one infamous sign that I was hoping to see out on the road, but, disappointingly, it never materialised.

• Eat here and get gas

We didn’t have a barbecue at all here in New Mexico. No Abq bbq, so to speak. Yes, all this time, I could have been using Abq as an abbreviation for ‘Albuquerque’ instead of writing the word ‘Albuquerque’ in full every time I mentioned ‘Albuquerque’.

I know Americans don’t have the monopoly on mangling the English language, but there were a few times on this visit when my ears wanted to pack up and go home. Just a couple of examples:

• When we were in Europe forever ago…
• Hope you guys enjoy you guys’s lunch

This sort of thing is very common too: you see a discount on an item but no actual price. So this conversation was very common:

• That’s 50% off
• So, how much is it?
• Ummm…

Meanwhile, outside the weather was not conducive to a return visit to the Bosque, the Rio Grande River Loop Trail. It rained, again with huge raindrops. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the rumbling thunder was accompanied by a hailstorm. Hailstones as big as peas. There have been larger though. On one occasion, Buzz returned from Phoenix in a car that resembled a golfball. Someone may have been exaggerating, of course!

Helen and Brent called from Australia and Liesel and I had a very nice chat with them. Helen is very happy with her new car, a Toyota.

Liesel and I did get out briefly, though, Gabe drove us to see the storm drains after today’s extensive precipitation. The water was indeed flowing fast.

What a boring picture, I know what you’re thinking, so here’s a nearby, colourful, mural.

And so it was timefor me to say goodbye to our fantastic hosts, Buzz, Neil and Gabe. Liesel drove me to the airport. Now, usually, Liesel drops me off and I’m left to check in by myself. But on the way to the airport today, I received an email telling me that my second leg flight, from Atlanta to Manchester, had been cancelled. I always feel anxious about this aspect of travel, dealing with airlines and airports, because something will always go wrong, right? Well, not always. But this is the first time I’ve had to deal with a cancelled flight.

It was a short queue to check in, because, guess what, Manchester Airport, there were several members of staff working on the counters, all at the same time. Revolutionary.

Tiffany, my Delta agent was great, though. She fought through Virgin Atlantic and Air France’s BS and rearranged my trip back to the UK. I could have postponed the whole thing until the next day, but there’s no guarantee that Virgin Atlantic wouldn’t cancel again, for ‘technical reasons’.

So, rather than Abq to Atlanta to Manchester, I now have three flights: Abq to Atl to Orlando to Manchester. And I would arrive just two hours later than originally planned.

So after all the excitement and fun and places of interest in New Mexico, my fear and anxiety of travelling through airports was, today, fully justified.

In Security, I was patted down, because the poppers on my shorts lit up on their very fussy scanner. As someone else joked, rather riskily I thought: usually I’d get dinner and a drink for that.

At the gate, we learnt that our plane was arriving late so we’d be departing late. So of course, I am now more worried about not making the connections. Whereas my original schedule had a 3-hour layover in Atlanta, it was now 1½ hours. Even less with this late departure. Tiffany was at the gate so again I thanked her profusely.

My window seat was OK, but I couldn’t see anything other than the wing. After an uneventful flight, people with connections were allowed off first. Everyone had a connecting flight.

In Atlanta I walked and took the train to my departure gate, arriving with less than an hour to spare. I took more slow, deep breaths before going for a quick wander to find something to eat. A very nice, tasty tomato, cheese and basil crêpe was the best option.

I don’t know why I worry about the size of my carry-on bag when people seem to get away with bulging backpacks and antique Victorian trunks. Well, very nearly.

This flight was late taking off too, for which they apologised but offered no explanation. I had an aisle seat this time, sitting next to a very rude Italian man. He was upset because he’d been made to check his oversize bag but I didn’t laugh out loud: never mess with the Mafia.

And of course, I was now worried about making my connecting flight in Orlando.

My English accent did me no favours on this flight: I failed to get any milk for my welcome cup of tea. While in New Mexico, only one person had accused me of being Australian, but I still can’t recall the circumstances.

The plane landed in Orlando, and we taxied for ages and ages before the pilot announced that there was currently no gate available. Apparently, after a big storm yesterday, they were still catching up on a backlog of delayed flights.

After about half an hour, we were able to disembark. I’d not been to Orlando Airport since 1992 and couldn’t remember it at all and it’s probably changed anyway since then so I really hoped it would be easy to find my next, and final, departure gate. It was, and again I plonked myself down with much less than an hour to go.

I looked around, but there were no ads for Disneyworld, so I failed in my mission to take a selfie with Mickey or Minnie. There were no food outlets either nearby so I was very glad of the cheese sandwich Liesel had made for me.

Annoyingly, I wasn’t able to order a vegetarian meal for this flight. I’d asked at every opportunity, but no, because the flight is within 24 hours. But it was your airline, Virgin Atlantic, that cancelled my original flight. Oh well, never mind was the official response.

My seat was in the back row, right in front of the toilet and I sat next to a nice lady with an English accent. Well, it turns out she lives in New York state, moved there when she was about 2 years old, and was now visiting her cousin in Chester.

I couldn’t sleep, as usual, so I watched two movies: Paddington in Peru, and Heretic, both of which I can recommend, especially if you’re a Hugh Grant fan.

There was just one thing left for me to worry about. Given my flights were late and the connection times were tight, would my checked in bag make it home on the same flight as me?

After landing, disembarking, walking a long way to Passport Control in Manchester Airport’s Terminal 2, the moment of truth. Along with hundreds of other dazed passengers, I watched the baggage carousel with a mix of excitement at being back on home turf and dread at the thought of the bureaucracy I’d have to go through again if my case didn’t turn up. But, no, look, is that it? Yes, is that the right label? Yes, yes and yes.

The taxi driver took me home the long way, but that meant he just got a smaller tip than otherwise.

Arriving home is always a bit of anticlimax. A quick walk to get some milk then I had a cup of tea and, despite my best efforts, a nap.

I managed to stay awake for the duration of the first episode of the new series of Doctor Who before going to bed properly. Good night.

Seeing Stars

There was no point in revelling in our success at the pub quiz last night, since we didn’t have any! We came joint last, but it was all good fun. In the morning, we left Tammy and Aaron in peace and drove into Santa Fe city centre for breakfast in Clafoutis, the French bakers. No, we didn’t mind sitting at a ‘communal table’. But our ‘companions’ left as soon as we sat down. We had the table to ourselves until a couple of ladies joined us. One from Colorado, the other from Pennsylvania.

Liesel and Tammy had had a great massage last week, so Liesel took me to the same place and we were pummelled and poked for an hour. I think it was a good massage. To recover, we spent a little time in the book shop next door. So many books to catch up on, both new and old.

The drive back to Albuquerque was quick, I think I nodded off for a bit and missed a lot of the stunning New Mexico scenery.

As a prelude to a visit to the zoo, I spotted some wildlife in the courtyard.

There was nothing special about these millions of ants apart from their speed: they were very busy, or at least, running around, looking busy. Fudgelling, I think, is the word.

Liesel drove Leslie and me to Albuquerque Zoo , or more accurately, ABQ BioPark Zoo. We had a nice wander around the place, which wasn’t as crowded as we’d expected, having seen how packed the car park was.

It wasn’t only the animals we were here to see: some of the plantlife was fascinating too. There were some bigger animals, as well, don’t worry. The polar bear here seemed to have a lot more room than that poor old thing in Chessington World of Adventures a few years ago. This one appeared to be having fun too, climbing rocks, diving and swimming.

The kookaburras responded to my recording of their cousin, made in Australia some years ago. It was mean, really, they probably think they have a new friend. Sorry. That’s nearly as bad as little boys chasing ducks.

In the café, the man had to show me how to order food on the touchscreen because it was too hard for him to listen to my order with his own ears. Having placed the order electronically, he then read it out to me from his own screen, just to confirm what I wanted. Anyway, my bowl of fries was very nice, just what I needed. Liesel and Leslie had an ice cream instead.

The sign on the fence told us there were zebras in this enclosure. Well, that small rodent with a fluffy tail looked more like a squirrel to me, it didn’t even have any stripes.

One of these characters is preparing to add some charcters to the mural, the other is playing hide and seek with his troop.

The hippos were very active, although Liesel was disappointed that none of them did the thing with their tail, spinning it round and round to spread the love from their bottoms.

The cutest thing was undoubtedly the Mum gorilla carrying her baby around.

Time for a return visit to the cabin. Neil and I left quite early and spent the day and night there, seemingly out in the middle of nowhere.

I helped Neil with a few odd jobs. Fixing a light fitting was OK. Attaching the fan was OK, I just let Neil climb the ladder. Fitting the fan blades was a bit of a let-down, because the wrong size screws had been supplied.

Another job was plumbing related, definitely not my favourite thing. But we succeeded without losing too much water from the system.

The most interesting job though was to affix a Moultrie Edge cellular trail camera to a tree, facing the cabin, so that from home in Albuquerque, Neil can keep an eye on the cabin and monitor the weather.

It can be set up with a motion sensor so that any passing wildlife will be captured on film too. Well, not literally film, but you know what I mean. The first animal it took a picture of was, er, me, posing by a tree.

Walking around the area surrounding the cabin cannot be done stealthily. There’s always something crunching under foot, leaves, wood, pine cones.

Later in the evening, I prepared my new Seestar S50. The Moon was easy to spot, but the sky was pretty much obscured by clouds, which was disappointing.

I also found Jupiter and its four brightest moons, but I couldn’t discern the coloured bands on Jupiter itself. As it got darker, more clouds moved in, so I went back inside, and very soon, it was time for bed.

At about 1.30, I woke up for the usual reason, and while outside, I couldn’t believe how clear the sky was, how many stars I could see. No clouds at all. Well, even though it was cold, I decided I would take the Seestar out on the balcony again and do some stargazing.

I was very impressed with these pictures, but I wasn’t so impressed with the how cold it was outside, brrr, apparently it was about 40°F, that’s so different to the daytime temperature. So I went back to bed.

Quirky places

Buzz drove me, Liesel and Leslie to Tinkertown Museum, one of Albuquerque’s more quirky attractions. On arrival, I couldn’t help but notice that they’re still celebrating the fact that in June, 1997, they were visited by the top TV show Good Morning America.

The next thing I noticed was that most of the walls are made from bottles stuck together with some kind of mortar. There must be a name for this innovative construction method.

Inside the museum, you see a wonderfully eclectic collection of objects: for example, we found ourselves treading on horsehoes embedded in the floor. There are hundreds of old vehicle registrartion number plates, some of which are just a small amount of rust held together by pure luck.

As one homemade sign says: Tinker Town was started as a hobby in 1962. It was not intended as a public display until your interest helped build our museum.

It was a fascinating character called Ross Ward who started the museum. Many of his wood carvings are on display, featured in displays of fairgrounds, wagon trains and other exhibits. Some are animated, and some have buttons to press. It’s all great fun.

The smallest wedding couple are fleas (I hope I’m not giving too much away). There’s a one-man band named Otto, who’ll play something for a quarter. Yes, Sarah, who greeted us, made sure to give us some quarters when we paid to enter.

I had my fortune told, and it looks like everything’s coming up roses. For another 25 cents, I shook hands with Uncle Sam and his conclusion was that I am a romantic. On the other hand, in the next room, the Career Pilot told me I was destined to be a fish seller.

There’s a 35-foot long wooden sailboat that Fritz Damler spent ten years sailing around the world, losing one wife, finding another.

We thought we’d finished wandering around the museum, but no, there was plenty more to look at outside.

It was a fun place to visit, but we both thought it needed a bit of TLC: many of the displays were dusty, but I suppose that can’t be helped in a desert.

Lunch was taken at The Cheesecake Factory but my Impossible® Burger didn’t leave enough room for some actual cheesecake. Also, we weren’t served by Penny from The Big Bang Theory.

Buzz drove us up the hill to give us a nice all-round view. I say ‘hill’ but that’s an understatement. We drove up and up a long and winding road, with plenty of nearly hairpin bends, to reach the top, Sandia Crest, the highest peak in the Sandia mountains. Albuquerque is about a mile above sea level and Sandia Crest is another mile above Albuquerque. On a clear day, you can apparently see 100 miles in each direction. Today wasn’t that clear. But it did feel a bit ooky looking down on what might have been a model of the city of Albuquerque, a mile below.

Another really noticeable difference was the temperature. At the top, it was 56°F (13°C) and back at the bottom, on the way back, the mercury reached a massive 81°F (27°C).

Liesel and I had arranged to meet up with Tammy and Aaron one more time in Santa Fe. So after packing, we set off in a northerly direction.

Highlights of the drive up the I-25? Seeing some horses by the side of the road. And we saw a few small dust devils, which would be called ‘willy-willys’ in Australia.

We stopped briefly at a rest stop: such a place wouldn’t normally be of interest to anyone, but here there was a sign for the New Mexico Historic Women Marker Initiative, founded in 2005 by the New Mexico Women’s Forum. The 2006 Legislature funded the project to recognize women’s contributions to New Mexico history with official historic markers.

This is one of nearly 100 markers erected across the state, recognising women’s contributions in various fields, including arts, business, education, government, healthcare, and science.

Both Albuquerque and Santa Fe are rightly proud of their murals. This very colourful one celebrates Adelitas, women who supported the Mexican Revolution. It’s outside a Mexican restaurant in Santa Fe, and we passed it on our way to Meow Wolf: House of Eternal Return. This is a large-scale interactive and immersive art installation, a 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m²) facility, including a concert venue.

‘Quirky’ is the word you’re looking for. As you walk through the different rooms, you’re supposed to be able to piece together a story. It’s probably easier with the app, but I was unable to download the app because, it said, I was in the wrong region. Probably it meant that my phone was UK-based.

There were many strange noises and effects, lots of user interaction, though I don’t think everything worked as it should. There were aliens, strange creatures, and it was very colourful.

You can crawl through fireplaces, climb into fridges, enter a wardrobe and come out through a bookcase.

It felt a bit like an escape room, but with no specific puzzle to solve. We’d still be there if we’d tried to read all the printed material lying around, newspapers, books, journals, video displays.

Some of the video games required tokens, which we didn’t purchase for our human dollars. And there were some obvious nods to science fiction characters such as those from Star Wars.

A couple of rooms were designed to look like cartoon strips, just black and white imagery.

You need to visit to see and enjoy the whole experience, of course: no more spoilers here.

We found a place for a delicious ice cream. Two scoops for me: green chili and vanilla flavour, a perfect combination. While sitting inside the parlour to enjoy our treats, a group of young people were outside decorating the pavement. There was no political message, just a lot of squiggles in blue paint.

We arrived at Tammy’s house bang on 6 o’clock, our agreed time, after driving via the local supermarket.

Almost immediately, Tammy whisked us away to El Dorado Fusion Tacos. We ordered our meals, said we were going to the pub next door, Santa Fe Brewing Company Eldorado, and the guy said they’d bring our food over.

No, I don’t know why sometimes it’s one word and sometimes two words: Eldorado or El Dorado? Anyway, it is the title of one of my favourite ELO records.

Aaron joined us straight from work and we ate, drank and prepared ourselves for a gruelling pub quiz.

In the end, there were only 16 questions, with a points system based on the TV quiz show Jeopardy, so 200, 300, 400 or 500 points for a correct answer. There were four categories.

After the main quiz, our team, Autopilots, was tied in the lead with Rolling Stones, both of us having a score of 3200 points. The quiz is decided though, again in a twist from Jeopardy, in which the teams wager a certain number of points on one final question. We bet all 3200, of course. But we got the answer wrong and ended up with zero. No wooden spoon for losers here, though!

Great fun, but all over by about 9pm. On the drive home, we observed a very thin crescent Moon just about to follow the Sun and set. I should have brought my telescope, but I’d decided not to because I thought the quiz would finish much later and we wouldn’t have time to use it. So what’s the best my phone could do?

PS I would have taken a picture of a slighly fatter crescent the following night if only there hadn’t been 100% cloud cover over Albuquerque, but that’s all to come…

Go west

Problems with plumbing always cause me more grief than is strictly necessary, even when it’s nothing to do with me. The fact that my shower leaked ino the bathroom below while I was using it was just pure bad luck. The shower hasn’t been used regularly for a long time and the seal around the drain had dried out over the years. Neil fixed the problem with the help of a friend.

By way of escape, Gabe drove Liesel and me to the Three Guns Spring Trail, a hike postponed from a few days ago.

I thought this was a good place to balance a large boulder, just above the car park.

From here, the trail was up and up. In places, the gravelly path was quite steep. Gabe was a good guide, both as a geologist and a cactus-specialising horticulturalist.

It was very quiet. I could hear the silence even above my tinnitus. Strangely, no birds and very few insects.

This pair seemed to be having a good time though, we look forward to seeing the next generation in due course. There were a few other beetles, including stink bugs. And later on, a couple of bees did buzz around.

I think this was the longest, continuous climb I’d done for several months, and of course my old issue, shortness of breath, affected my performance. We reached a point where reluctantly, I had to stop. I parked myself on a rock, in the shade, and listened to the silence. A gentle breeze cooled me down. Liesel carried on, reaching our erstwhile goal, The Post, and a bit beyond.

The Post (not much to write home about, is it!)

Sadly, neither of us saw the spring that gives the trail its name. Nor three guns, come to that.

Surely, there was other wildlife? Liesel saw a single lizard but most/least exciting was seeing less than 25% of a deer on the trail on our return to the car park.

At least my chest no longer felt like it would explode. But other things happened too. Dear body of mine, if I’m so dehydrated, why do you keep producing so much snot? Just stop it.

There’s a house on the road leading to this trail’s car park that is very well decorated. I for one didn’t expect to see this famous statue here.

This guy (I assume it’s a guy, a gal would have better things to do with their time) has built a bird house in the style of an old pueblo dwelling.

Lisa arrived tonight. She is Buzz and Neil’s daughter, Leslie’s niece, Liesel’s cousin. I really should draw up a family tree.

The following day, I went on a road trip with Neil. Neil and Buzz have a cabin near the Zuni Mountains about 80 miles west of their home in Albuquerque. On the drive, Neil and I had a good conversation about philosophy, even if I didn’t recognise many of the names that Neil dropped.

We saw a few long trains on the way too, including a couple passing by each other. Another great photo opportunity missed.

Once we turned off the main road, the bumpy road was a roller-coaster ride. Luckily, we’d come in a vehicle with plenty of clearance underneath.

The cabin is at an altitude of 8200 feet, significantly higher than the house, so lower air pressure and more chance of a nose bleed, grrr.

The second building will be Buzz’s design studio in the fullness of time. It’s definitely a remote location, and Neil should be very proud of having constructed the cabins pretty much by himself.

After enjoying the packed lunches carefully put together by our spouses, we went for a short walk towards Cinder Cone, through the woods, more of a forest really.

Lisa and her sister Andrea (Andi, who now lives in Richmond, England) used to play on this tree when they were younger, according to Neil. No wonder it’s bent.

There is quartz all over the place here in the woods, plus fir cones and all sorts of things that our grandchildren would love to pick up and collect such as…

We drove back along the old Route 66 as much as possible, through Grants. At least Route 66 is paved, not like this road through the Zuni Canyon as we left, which has been newly gravelled (if that’s the right word), so we left a cloud of dust behind us.

The canyon itself was stunning, more stratified rock structures than you could imagine.

By the time we arrived home, Hannah was there too, she’s Lisa’s daughter and you can work out the rest of the relationships yourself.

To Santa Fe

If we wanted to immerse ourselves in the local culture, we couldn’t have asked for better hosts than Buzz, Neil and Gabe. They’d arranged for us all to attend the Pueblo Immersion, organised by the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center (IPCC). Before leaving for this event, though, Liesel and I started packing for our next little adventure, side-trip, whatever you call it.

We drove past the Cannabis Dispensary on the way to the IPCC but made no plans to pay a visit, sample the goods or anything.

On arrival at IPCC, we were all presented with a Visitors’ lanyard and all of ours had a blue sticker which meant that later on, we would all be in the blue group for the tour around the museum.

We were seated at tables, all facing the front, like being in a school classroom again, not quite trusting the folks behind us to behave.

After an enjoyable lunch, we watched Flo and Lee with an interesting pottery demonstration: Flo making the clay bird while Lee very carefully painted a finished, fired plate.

The pottery is made using shale clay mixed with old pottery shards to create a water-tight seal. After “white slipping” with wet white sandstone, the pottery is polished. Orange paint is made from mashed and strained orange sandstone, while black paint is a mix of Iron Oxide and wild spinach juice. The Yucca leaf is used for applying paint after being chewed on to remove excess fibers and achieve the correct thickness for fine line and detailed painting. I would never have guessed that spinach was involved, but all the skills have been passed down through several generations. Flo and Lee are pleased that their grandchildren are now showing an interest too.

Anthony was the guide for the blue group’s tour of the museum. We saw how the different pueblos developed, how the people got on, even though there were several different languages being spoken. And the pots made in different places have distinctive shapes and designs.

We learned about Po’Pay’s successful Pueblo revolt against the Spanish invaders in 1680. The Spaniards were either killed or expelled from the province. Unfortunately for the locals, they returned 12 years later.

The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center (IPCC) is honored to collaborate with NSRGNTS, an Albuquerque-based duo comprised of artists Leah Povi Lewis (Laguna, Taos, Zuni Pueblos/Hopi/Diné) and Votan (Maya/Nahua), on a commissioned mural created for the Art Through Struggle Gallery. NSRGNTS is a successful Indigenous brand, business, and art collective that advocates for Indigenous rights. They are known for their murals of Indigenous resilience painted in vivid colors in a “kawaii” style – a “cute,” illustrative style similar to Japanese anime. Their seven-panel mural provides a visual story of Pueblo empowerment throughout the past, present, and future.

This, the middle section focuses on an integral event of Pueblo history – the 1680 Pueblo Revolt that resulted in the ousting of Spanish rule in Pueblo lands for 12 years. Holding a knotted yucca cord, Po’pay, the Ohkay Owingeh leader of this revolt, stands at the center as a role model and a figure of strength.

As soon as the tour ended, Liesel and I had to rush off to the airport, oops, sorry, Albuquerque International Sunport. Jyoti and her new man, Rupert, were joining us from North Carolina. We found them easily enough, hugged and all that, and took them back for a quick hello-goodbye with Buzz, Neil, Gabe and Leslie. The new arrivals were joining Liesel and me on our trip to Santa Fe. This will be the first significant amount of time Liesel and I have spent without Mom for about a year.

The drive to Santa Fe was interesting, as we passed many different landscapes. It seemed to me that the further north we were, the greener it was. Santa Fe is also 2,000 feet higher in altitude than Albuquerque and I was already fed up with the nosebleeds caused by, or at least exacerbated by, the high altitudes and low humidity.

This isn’t a volcano but a naturally eroded hill southwest of Santa Fe.

We arrived at Tammy’s house while it was still light. You remember Tammy? She walked Hadrian’s Wall with Liesel, Jyoti, Teresa and me two years ago. Sadly, Teresa, Tammy’s sister, wasn’t here for the grand reunion. We miss you, Teresa! For the first time, I met Tammy’s husband, Aaron.

After breakfast (Jyoti fixed me her world-famous fried eggs on toast, and I still don’t know why Americans fix food, it’s not broken, is it, but there you go, separated by a common language, now where was I…?) oh yeah, after breakfast, we all drove into Santa Fe and had a walk around the Old Town.

The original walls and altar of the San Miguel Chapel were built in 1610 by a group of Tlaxcala Indians from Mexico, who accompanied the early Spanish settlers to New Mexico. The site of the chapel shows evidence of previous human occupation from around 1300 A.D.

The chapel roof was burned during the Pueblo Indian Revolt of 1680. Evidence of the fire that destroyed the roof can be seen in the adobe bricks of the chapel today, since new adobes for the reconstruction were mixed on the site and bits of charcoal were inevitably mixed into the mud.

This city too is proud to show of its artworks, murals, sculptures and of course, the architecture is wonderful, and it’s always good to see a low-level place: there are few skyscrapers here

There are 300 art galleries along Canyon Road. We’ll probably visit them one day, but we’ll need to find something to do later on in the afternoon.

The locally made rugs attracted our attention. They’re not necessarily perfect, sometimes the colours run, but if we had the wallspace, I think we might have purchased one.

We viewed some phots taken by Edward Curtis. He was an American photographer and ethnologist whose work focused on the American West and Native American people. Sometimes referred to as the “Shadow Catcher”, Curtis traveled the United States to document and record the dwindling ways of life of various native tribes through photographs and audio recordings. I was going to buy a book about him, but the typeface was tiny, so I’ll get it on the old Kindle later on.

Liesel and I had visited an exhibition of Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings at Tate Modern some years ago. It was good to visit the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum here in Santa Fe. She lived for a long time in New Mexico.

A painting by and destroyed by Georgia O’Keeffe

No idea what this picture was, but Georgia didn’t like it and cut it up just a couple of years later. What a shame.

I realised that I have a lot in common with Georgia O’Keeffe. She liked to dress in black or white. And all the socks I currently own are either black or white. I wish I had her artistic talent, though.

Have you ever seen a horse box?

We sat outside watching the Sun go down behind the trees and the mountains, listening to the birds and even a train tooting its horn as it passed by in the distance. And it did become noticeably colder as the evening wore on.

Science

The Karl G Jansky Very Large Array is a two-hour drive from home, about 130 miles. Neil, Liesel’s uncle, invited me to join him on his first visit there for several decades. I will always enjoy a visit to an astronomical telescope, whereas Liesel thinks she’s seen enough.

During the drive, Neil told me about many of the events that occurred during his long and varied career in the Air Force, some details of which are still classified. He explained why and how he and Buzz settled here in Albuquerque.

We drove through a lot of desert, what I expected New Malden to look like, no, not New Malden, New Mexico, no idea what happened there, muscle memory in the two typing fingers, I guess. Anyway, we even drove through an Indian Reservation, but if I hadn’t seen the sign, I wouldn’t have known.

Apparently pecans require a lot of water to grow, so it seems strange that there is such a large plantation here, in a state which is really quite dry. Even the great Rio Grande has been known to dry up sometimes.

On the way, we passed an array of solar panels much larger than I’d ever seen, anywhere. It must produce a lot of energy, but what a shame the panels aren’t a little bit higher, so that grass can grow underneath for the local flock of sheep, or other grass-eating food. My offer to drive a bit and give Neil a break was declined. I’m sure I would have coped on the long, dead straight highways with little other traffic.

After nearly two hours, we saw the VLA in the distance, through the trees and we soon parked up.

We took our time on the self-guided walk around the site. The solar radio telescope looks more like a musical instrument, being horn shaped, but no, I didn’t blow through it.

I was very impressed by the Bracewell Radio Sundial, though, so different to all the other sundials I’ve seen, and indeed, even made, in my youth.

I’m so glad Neil gave me the information sheet so I don’t have to remember all the details myself…

Using the Bracewell Sundial

The Bracewell Sundial has a large sphere mounted atop a slim metal post. Locate this sphere and note where its shadow falls. There are three major sets of markers – metal disks – set into the concrete that mark the hours from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at four dates of the year. The disks labeled “Summer Solstice” show the time on June 21; the disks labeled “Winter Solstice” are for December 21; and the disks labeled “Equinoxes” are for March 20 and September 23. Small, diamond-shaped markers indicate the hours at intermediate dates, such as July 21, August 21, etc. The sphere’s shadow thus indicates not only the time of day but also, roughly, the time of year. All the markers for a particular hour, the round disks and the diamonds, trace a line toward one of the concrete piers.

It’s a long way to go to find the time. Plus, of course, they have to pick up all the posts and move them round a bit to accommodate Daylight Savings.

The main attraction here of course is the Very Large Array, comprised of 27 radio telescopes, each of which weights 230 tons. They are moved along the ‘wye’, a Y-shaped configuration of railroad tracks, each 13 miles long. In effect, the array acts as a single antenna with a variable diameter. The angular resolution that can be reached is between 0.2 and 0.04 arcseconds.

The building in which we believe most of the work is done seemed deserted today: at least, we couldn’t see anyone as we peered through the window from the balcony.

Shiva: Shiwana by artist Jon Barlow Hudson

Funded through the New Mexico Arts Council, this three-armed sculpture represents the three tracks of the VLA and the floating, three-dimensional natures of the objects the VLA studies.

On the drive back, we stopped for lunch in Socorro and yes, of course, I couldn’t finish my avocado salad, the serving was far too big. Even Neil an acclimatised American, couldn’t manage that much food.

And of course, the problem with eating that much food meant that come dinner time, I wasn’t at all hungry.

Thank you very much, Uncle Neil, for a fascinating day out!

Liesel and I enjoyed seeing the petroglyphs in Australia a few years ago, so it was only fair to go and view some here in New Mexico. They’re hundreds rather than tens of thousands of years old, but just as fascinating.

On the way through the city centre, we passed a rather smaller array of dishes than I’d seen yesterday.

Piedras Marcadas Canyon looks like I expected the whole state to look like. Desert sand, a few volcanic rock, some cactuses, a few cacti as well. Because it was flagged as ‘strenuous’, we chose to do the Mesa Top Trail, a ‘quick’ mile and a half hike that would lead us to the Petroglyph Viewing Trail, another mile and a half of fun. We were also warned that on the mesa: no petrogyphs, no water, no shade, no facilities and definitely no bushes behind which one could take ones ease.

What we got instaed was a challenging hike up a fairly steep rocky and sandy slope to the plateau. The view of the city was stunning but sadly, my attempted panoramic picture just shows too much foreground. We did see a few small lizards, though, and a few ants. The hinted-at millipedes remained hidden from sight.

There were plenty of other people on the path which now was almost pure sand. The volcanic rocks, basalt, were well spread out, and it was onto these that long ago, people were happy to show off their artistic skills.

Among the petroglyphs, we saw stars, birds, hands with six fingers (proving that in fact, they were made by aliens), an alien face (see?), road-runners, snakes, reversed music notation and a man wearing a funny hat. One was dated 1541, but we couldn’t determine whether that was when the conquistadors turned up or if it was drawn in 1541 BC.

Ah, but here’s an explanatory plaque: Petroglyphs represent a valuable record of cultural expression and human occupation in the Rio Grande valley. They have deep spiritual significance to modern Pueblo groups as well as other indigenous people such as the Diné (Navajo) and the Apache. Similar images continue to have value in contemporary ceremonial life for many Southwesten tribes. The associated meanings of some petroglyphs are known by a few Southwestern tribal groups, while the direct meanings of other images have been lost over the centuries.

It was a really good hike, in the heat of the Sun, and looking around, we could see mountains in the distance and, again, just a few solitary clouds drifting by.

When we got back to it, the car was like most politicians: full of hot air.

Meanwhile, back at home, Martha took part in a performance of Annie at school, singing all the hits from the show with great gusto. Yes, Great Gusto and all her other class mates.

The sun will come out
Tomorrow
Bet your bottom dollar
That tomorrow
There’ll be sun!
Well, there’d better be, here in New Mexico, thank you very much.

At home, making use of one of her birthday gifts, Martha built a machine that blows bubbles. A scientist in the making.

Branching out

We were sorry to miss Martha’s birthday again, but we spoke to her briefly online. She was about to sink her teeth into her third birthday cake. Not to mention a delicious beverage in a Greek restaurant.

Just as exciting, for me, was the continuation of my own birhday. Jenny and Helen had arranged for their present for me to be sent here to Buzz’s place and I wasn’t allowed to see it until we were all together, chatting online. It was lovely to see them both nd we had a good chat.

Half of Jenny, half of Helen and a whole Mick

I opened the box online, and it did feel like one of those influencer-style unboxing videos on Instagram that come up and bore us from time to time. Thank you Helen and Jenny, it was a fantastic idea, something that I’d never thought to have asked for. I am now the proud owner of a Seestar S50, a smart telescope that (of course) is controlled via an app and will let me take some fab pictures of the night sky.

It’s a bit of a learning curve (where did that phrase come from?) but I’ll get there. Being the middle of the afternoon, the obvious celestial object to look at right now was the Sun. After several failed attempts, due to incompetence, plus clouds getting in the way, here is the very first decent image.

I have so many ideas of objects that I’d like to capture myself in the coming weeks and months. I have admired (and been envious of) many of the pictures taken by others over the years.

The following night, I stayed up late to see the night sky. The Moon was the obvious next target: it’s big, and just a few days from being full.

Because of street lights, and other issues, I couldn’t focus on any stars or planets, but that will come with time. Watch this space. Again, thank you very much, Jenny and Helen.

One of the best ways to see a city is on a bus tour. Here in Albuquerque, Liesel, Leslie and I chose to go on a Trolley Tour of the city. Our guide (sorry, I can’t recall her name) was very informative and, given all the various jobs she’s had over the years, in several states, she must be about 120 years old. Half Indian and half Spanish/Mexican.

Explora Science Center and Children’s Museum

I wondered whether all the landmarks would feature domes, but no, I think these were the only two. We passed by several buildings and sites that feature in the TV series Breaking Bad, but of course, not having watched it, despite several recommendations from lots of people, they didn’t mean much to us. Our guide was once a carpenter, and she was responsible for laying a floor in a room for a scene in Breaking Bad. One of the characters said it was a lovely wooden floor. Now, that is a claim to fame.

We drove along a section of the old Route 66, 18 miles of which is within the city boundaries.

The city supports local artists and is very proud of the murals that appear everywhere, on pretty much every otherwise blank wall.

What we find amazing is that none of the artwork has been spoilt by graffiti or tagging. So civilised.

The local Minor League Baseball Team is known as Albuquerque Isotopes, so named following a sequence in an old Simpsons episode, and a popular name due to the large number of scientific facilities in the state dealing with nuclear research. Remember that for your next pub quiz.

In the afternoon, Liesel and I visited the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. Not at all because we wanted to escape the heat of the day! Actually, it’s a great place, lots of focus on dinosaurs and climate change.

Greeting us in the museum was the Bisti Beast, an animated model of Bistahieversor (meaning “Bistahi destroyer”), an early
ancestor of Tyrannosaurus rex.

Yes, of course I had to take a selfie using the camera on the life-size replica of the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. Does that make us Martians?

In the planetarium, we watched Life: A Cosmic Story, telling us how life bgan on Earth. Being narrated by Jodie Foster wasn’t enough to prevent Liesel from nodding off a bit. Well, it was warm and dark and the seats were so comfortable…

Another video we watched was about the asteroid that ultimately made the dinosaurs extinct.

The Chicxulub Impact

The Chicxulub (CHIK-shoo-loob) crater is believed by scientists to have been created by the asteroid impact that ended the Cretaceous Period. The crater was named after a nearby village. “Chicxulub” is a Mayan word that means “sign of the horns.” Half of the crater is buried beneath the limestone plains of the Yucatan and half beneath the water and sediment of the Gulf of Mexico. Instruments have shown that the whole crater is about 112 miles in diameter. The object that created this crater was probably about six miles in diameter and traveling at a speed of 9 to 12 miles per second when it struck the Earth. On impact, it released energy equivalent to the explosion of more than five billion tons of TNT.

The plaque onsite has a typo, which I have corrected here in this reproduction. But what amazed me was, what great quality the film was from 65 million years ago,

Outside it was now 88°F according to the car’s display, 31°C.

Settling in

After arriving in the cold, I thought maybe that was just a hiccup, and that normal service would be resumed the following day. No, sirree. It was still cold, so, reluctantly, I wore a coat for our visit to The 15th Annual Southwest Chocolate and Coffee Fest. The event was very popular, hundreds of stalls, and hundreds of visitors. I’d like to say we tried hundreds of samples, but no, just a few. The pecan and green chilli cookie sounded intriguing. But my small sample was enough to set my tongue on fire and for steam to erupt from my ears.

It wasn’t all chocolate and coffee, lovely though that was. We tried cheese curds, various jams and bread, but not the candy floss. This girl did, though.

On this day, we saw a roadrunner ahea⁰d of us on the road, but the following day, I was quick enough to capture one, photographically speaking. It ran across the road in front of us rather than along the road like the cartoon character, but still, this was our first New Mexican wildlife.

Well, I say ‘wildlife’, but some of the locals do feed these birds. We visited Albuquerque’s Old Town and learned some history of the place. Here, it was the Spanish conquistadors who arrived and changed the way of life of the indigenous peoples. We visited the Romero Street Gallery and enjoyed a wide variety of different art.

To name just three artists, we liked David Schneider’s photographs. He must hang around for hours just to get the perfect lighting, the optimum number of clouds and nothing to distract from the shot. He does no digital editing afterwards, making the large, printed pictures all the more remarkable.

Paul Uhl’s pottery at first sight looks a bit wonkey, but the decoration is superb. One piece in particular appealed to Liesel and me, featuring aspens, which look very similar to silver birches.

Digital art is the forté of Barry Reithmeier. His pictures look very futuristic, recalling the covers of some old 1970s science fiction books.

Why no pictures here? Because we weren’t allowed to take photos in the gallery. You’ll just have to visit yourself, come on in.

Next door, we had one of the best cups of coffee ever. Santa Cecilia is the name of the place, and you can imagine our disappointment a couple of days later when we turned up only to find it was closed.

We walked around the Old Town some more, and it wasn’t long before we came across another animal. Dead, admittedly. And only a small part of the beast. Some shops are decorated with skulls.

Another common sight was chili peoppers hanging up outside many of the shops. There are a lot of chilis in Albuquerque, whether hanging outside to dry, or being sold in shops, or appearing in most meals.

It was Sunday and there was probably a service taking place, so we didn’t explore the church.

This church was built in 1706 and is one of the city’s oldest buildings.

We dined at Monroe’s, Albuquerque’s top(?) Mexican restaurant. The booking was for six, but in the end, Neil didn’t come. It transpires bookings are often made for more people in the party than will actually turn up, because then, everyone gets more space.

On the drive home, I couldn’t help but notice how the clouds look fake. Like a painting of clouds. They look like how clouds used to look in my childhood, fluffy and white, not the solid battleship grey slabs we get in Manchester now.

Note also the mountains over there, covered in snow. Yes, it has snowed quite recently in New Mexico, all around Albuquerque.

Gabe had recommended to me and Liesel that we visit the Rio Grande Nature Center. Yes, the actual Rio Grande flows through the city, and it wasn’t too far to drive to the Nature Center. It was warmer today and the weather forecast looks promising too, getting warmer every day this week. On the drive, we encountered one of the city’s few roundabouts.

It’s heartlifting to see this sign, confirming again that not everyone in America is a magat. Just like the sign in the coffee shop yesterday. There are plenty of decent people around, despite what the news outlets would have us believe. In fact, Gabe attended one of the many ‘Hands Off’ protest rallies across the country.

While expecting to see birds out on the water, we were surprised to see several turtles soaking up the heat of the Sun.

Have you heard of a red-eared Slider turtle before? No, us neither, yet here they are in all their red-eared glory.

We did see some birds as we explored The Bosque, well, a small segment of the 300-mile long forest ecosystem along the valley of the middle Rio Grande in New Mexico that extends from Santa Fe, through Albuquerque and south to El Paso, Texas.

Running roughly parallel to the river is the riverside drain. Which today was dry. Even the great river itself was very low and for a long time, we couldn’t see any flowing water. But then, a glimpse through the bushes.

Liesel and I had planned to do some proper touristy stuff today, and our next destination was the Coronado Historic Site and Kuaua Pueblo, north of Albuquerque. A pleasant drive, and for the first time, it was hot enough for mirages to appear on the long, straight, undulating roads.

We enjoyed our stroll around the old Pueblo, admiring the adobe buildings, basically made from the local mud.

The history of this place was intriguing because, while Coronado was ‘exploring’ Mexico and searching for the seven golden cities, the Tudors were in control in England and yet our school history lessons never mentioned what was going on in the American continent at the same time.

Lunch was taken at Bosque Brewing Company in Bernalillo. I was glad to find this place, because should the opportunity ever present itself, I will be welcome to bring my child bride here.

Our final attraction today was the Petroglyph National Monument. This would entail a long walk, longer than we came prepared for. We’d brought no water with us and it was beginning to warm up nicely. So we decided to return on another occasion.

We returned to Buzz’s place for another filling evening meal, thank you very much, followed by another night, for me at least, of weird and wonderful dreams that I can’t remember.

United in Atlanta

After a day of packing and ticking things off the to-do list, we collected Martha and William from school. It was a nice enough day to spend some time in Bruntwood Park. Of course, that meant their snack for the day was ice cream. Martha spent most of her time spinning in the small thimble in the sandpit, allegedly to prevent the smaller people from filling it with sand.

Meanwhile, William ran about all over the place, climbing both the climbing frame and a couple of trees. Then, being a slightly smaller child, he put some sand in the newly vacated thimble

After dropping the children off at their home, the three of us returned to ours. Some more packing before a very short night’s sleep.

At 3am, we arose, bleary-eyed, excited and trepidatious. I took Liesel and Leslie to the airport for their very early flight to Frankfurt. They had a great time in Michelstadt and Heidelberg with our friends Fe and Gabi, whom we’d seen last year. I can’t describe in detail what they all got up to, but here are some photos, thanks, Liesel. Naturally, I went back to bed for a few more hours.

Half-timbered house in Michelstadt old town

I think it’s fair to say they had a better time for a couple of days than I did! I was busy at home, packing, eating, washing up, taking out the rubbish, booking a taxi, putting an address label on my suitcase, but most interestingly, replacing the battery in my Kindle. A straightforward job that I’ve done before, but this time, I managed to damage the screen in the process, grrr. I copied all the photos from my phone to the PC. I drove over to see Jenny, briefly, to drop the keys off and offload some vegetables that will just rot over the next few weeks. You’ve probably guessed, I’m going away too, and I had a lot of last-minute jobs. I missed out on the regular walks this week, but I did go for a quick stroll via the barbershop.

My flight wasn’t quite as early as Liesel’s, and I was more worried than usual about flying into the USA, given the stories we’ve heard about visitors and students and others being detained or even deported by ICE. Other than the tag-printing machine not working, I sailed through the processes at Manchester Airport, no problem.

My flight to Atlanta was great, in the sense that I managed to watch two whole films, Le Comte de Monte Cristo, in French, but with English subtitles, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Director’s Cut), which was probably the version I saw many years ago, then known as Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Special Edition)!

In-flight afternoon tea, thank you Virgin Atlantic

The moment of truth. Deep breaths. Try not to look guilty. But the Customs and Immigration Officer I met today in Atlanta was the most friendly, welcoming, smiley one of the many who have ‘greeted’ me over the years.

I caught the Plane Train to another Terminal, rode the escalator up and met Liesel. She and her Mom had arrived from Frankfurt just a couple of hours earlier.

I had a plate of nachos before we walked to our gate for the next flight, to Albuquerque. We’re staying with Liesel’s aunt (Leslie’s sister) Buzz, not forgetting Neil and Gabe.

They all met us at Albuquerque Airport… oops, I mean, Albuquerque International Sunport, and drove us back to their house. It had been 27° in Atlanta, but here, it was a miserable 7°. What a contrast.

We’d all been up for over 20 hours, so it wasn’t a hard decision to make: yep, let’s go to bed straightaway.

Stones and Jones

As I think I mentioned last time, I was delighted to receive so much chocolate for my birthday. But amidst all the excitement, of course there’s a reminder of why our great nation is often referred to as ‘Rip-off Britain’. There’s even a TV programme with that title. I opened a box containing a large bar of chocolate, I couldn’t wait to sink my fangs into it. Very nice, very tasty, but also, very small. A lovely cardboard box containing a plastic tray holding a bar of chocolate much smaller than the depiction on the outside packaging.

Yes, I’ve eaten some, but look how much smaller the actual bar is, compared with the picture. And the plastic tray, lovely and sturdy as it may be, is no good for anything else apart from recycling.

Haha, and you thought that by passing my three-score year and ten, I wouldn’t be whingeing nearly as much! You’ll be lucky.

So, let’s look up and not down. Nothenden is becoming more colourful as time goes on. Cherry blossom, magnolias, daffodils, even more blue skies. And when the northerly wind stops, it can even feel quite warm.

Forsythia (nice to see you, to see you, nice)

In local news, progress is being made to repair the weir. I wonder if it will be finished in time for the annual Northenden Boat Race, at the end of August?

We went into Manchester for a lunchtime concert. As we walked down the road behind the prestigious Midland Hotel, we couldn’t help but admire their enterprising thinking by providing tents on the pavement for their less affluent customers.

The concert itself was most enjoyable: a performance by the Royal Northern College of Music Brass Band. They played three pieces by unknown (to us) composers. I especially liked Flight by Mario Burki, which included a thunderstorm halfway through as we ‘flew’ across the desert.

Afterwards, we had lunch in Society, just along the road a bit. I was tempted, but did not choose ‘Big Mick Fries’.

We packed for a weekend away, just a couple of small bags, you’d think, but we took a tonne of food with us. We were meeting Jenny and family in a cottage on the Isle of Anglesey, Ynys Môn.

As we crossed the border into Wales, we saw our first red dragon. Soon after, we noticed some pink elephants. We watched as a herd of cows walked across the bridge over the road in front of us. And then, an old lady pussycat on the back of a bus that is the venue for afternoon teas. When we drove closer to the sea, we noticed a few white horses, it was that windy.

Mainly though, animal life consisted of sheep with many, many newly born lambs gambolling in the fields.

The drive was mostly uneventful, just a 5-minute hailstorm that was loud and a bit scary, coming on as suddenly as it did, but we were absolutely delighted by how stunning the views were, all the way through the Welsh mainland.

After a bit of a fight with the GPS, and Google Maps thinking there are two Ship Inns close together and close to our final destination, we parked up at our lovely new home in Red Wharf Bay.

The view from the living space in this house was pretty good too. We could have sat there and looked out over the bay for the whole weekend.

Jenny, Liam, Martha and William set off straight from school and arrived a couple of hours after us.

It’s an upside down house, in that three of the four bedrooms are downstairs, while the living room and kitchen are upstairs. Very disorienting yet exciting from the children’s point of view.

In the evening, we walked up to the Tavern on the Bay for dinner. We were happy to pass by some fairies in the bushes.

I think we agreed that our house was a much nicer place to stay than in one of the seemingly hundreds of caravans, all made out of ticky-tacky and they all looked just the same.

By the time we’d finished eating, it was dark, so the walk back home was a wee bit challenging. Torn between needing a few more street lights so we could see where we were walking, and wanting fewer artifical lights so that we could better see the night sky. I was very proud of Martha for spotting Orion’s Belt, and of William who realised he couldn’t see the Orion Nebula because of the light pollution. Still, we got home without anyone falling in a ditch.

After a good night’s kip, and after a jolly good breakfast, including Coco Pops, we all went for a walk a bit further along the coast, starting near Moelfre. The cold wind came back, and was determined to find its way into my very sensitive lugholes. Other than that though, we had a good time. And yes, William probably walked and ran twice as far as anyone else.

All the while, I was looking to see the partially eclipsed Sun, but with the clouds that thick, it was hard enough to even see where the Sun was. Folks in other parts of the country got some great photos. Oh well.

We walked by a couple of small shingle beaches, where Martha, Liam and I had a go at skimming stones. I got nowhere near my personal best of 14 skips. Selsey, since you ask, in the mid 1990s.

The other interesting beach at Moelfre is covered in cairns or stacks of stones. My effort was just about knee high, but there were some very tall stacks here.

In places, the path was quite rugged, but we all managed, including Leslie who was walking with her stick. Martha and William lapped it up: they’re a pair of mountain goats, after all.

After a big lunch, we went over the road to the ‘beach’: the tide was out again. It was still windy, an ideal day to fly kites. I stayed out with them for a few minutes but that wind was too strong for me so I went back inside. It was also too much for the kites, just blowing them inside out, so no lift and they kept crashing to the ground. A little bit disappointing, really.

Liesel and Leslie watched the activity from the comfort of the nicely heated living room: whoever decided to install large windows here is a hero.

In the evening, we dined at The Boathouse, a much shorter walk. The menu didn’t really sell the meat to me. ‘This morning, this lamb was playing in a filed, now, it’s sitting on your plate.’ No star-gazing this evening though, due to the clouds.

Back indoors, we played games. Martha is fascinated by Backgammon. Then we all played a game called GoGoGo!, the party game, in which over several rounds of different activities, we compete to win three crowns. William deliberately picked a yoga pose that involved balance skills, knowing that his Grandad would be wobbling all over the place. Still, it was all great fun.

A huge breakfast comprising of waffles and fruit and Liesel’s family chilli eggs was a good way to start the day, before a much longer walk than yesterday. So glad the wind had died down. We thought the children would be impressed by the place with the longest name in the UK, even if none of us could pronounce it correctly.

We continued our drive to the west side of the island, and set off on a hike through Newborough Forest. Somehow this felt like a proper forest, moreso than the woods back home. Tall trees, silence and the possibility of seeing red squirrels. If we saw any at all, they were disguised as ravens.

Some of the paths and tracks were covered in thousands of seashells, making a nice crunchy sound but providing us with a nice dry surface. I kept thinking how nice it was to be out of the cold wind, today.

Eventually, we found our way to the beach, and I for one was surprised to see so many people here, in quite an isolated place. We walked along the beach and up and down the dunes as far as the lighthouse, Goleudy Tŵr Mawr.

Martha picked up several shells from the beach, with which she plans to decorate a picture frame back home. Liam spent a long time opening an oyster shell, but sadly, there was no pearl inside.

William is happiest away from terra firma. Any opportunity to climb, he’ll take it. If you glance away for a couple of seconds, he’ll be waving at us from the top of a rock formation on the beach.

Although it’s a bit scary to watch hime someties, I really hope he doesn’t lose his sense of adventure.

Surprisingly, there were some ponies up near the lighthouse. One of them approached Martha and William, presumably looking for some grub, but it soon lost interest and wandered off.

We walked back along the beach to the car park. But with brilliant foresight, Liam and Jenny brought kites for the children to fly. And once the kites were launched, the string unravelled to its fullest extent, they remained in flight for the whole length of the beach as we walked along. A much more successful kite-flying day than yesterday, when the wind had just been, ironically, far too strong.

In the evening, Jenny and Liam packed, we all ate dinner and there was time for one more game of GoGoGo! No acrobatics for me this time. It was sad to see the family depart, but I know we all had a great time.

In the morning, Liesel, Leslie and I packed for our departure: we had to check out by 10am. As requested, we left the house as tidy as possible, and we even left the tide all the way out, just as it was when we’d first arrived.

The drive home was uneventful, no problems with traffic, we just stopped for coffee once, arrived home, unpacked, and… time to relax.

Interesting question of the week: if there is no letter J in the Welsh alphabet, how come Jones is the most common surname?